City Council - Regular Meeting

Alright. Good evening. It's Thursday, February 12, and we're gonna convene this session of the Regional City Council. Would you please rise and join me for the flag salute? The Thank you very very much. Much. Mister Stewart, any late changes to the agenda tonight?

No late changes, mayor.

Okay. We will move on. We do have a proclamation to lead the night off this evening. It is Black History Month and we have Larry Nelson who's the president of the Vancouver chapter of the NAACP here to receive it today. We're glad and honored that he has joined us for this.

I'll read the proclamation and then we'll have mister Nelson come up here and we'll do like a quick photo op and then allow him to say something as well. So the proclamation says, whereas the theme of Black History Month for 2026 is a century of black commemorations marks a century of national commemorations of black history and whereas Black History Month traces its origins to the work of historian doctor Carter G. Woodson and others who sought to ensure that the history, culture, and contributions Americans are studied, preserved, and taught. And whereas the founders of Black History Month urge us to explore the impact and meaning of black history to reflect on the struggles and sacrifices made by generations of African Americans and to gain perspective of black life and the contributions to global, national, and local communities. And whereas we are a commemorative two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of United States independence this year, it is important to recognize the extraordinary achievements of African Americans and their central role in shaping the story of America.

And whereas we reject the notion that challenges lie only in the past and reaffirm our commitment to the initiatives that promote equal opportunity, economic security, and civil rights for all Americans, and to build a future where diversity is embraced and every individual, regardless of race, can thrive in a society free from discrimination and prejudice. Now, therefore, I, Matt Colmair of the city of Ridgefield, Washington, do hereby proclaim the month of February as Black History Month, and I encourage all residents to honor the legacy of black Americans to educate themselves on their past and present struggles for justice, and address the inequalities of injustices that linger. Dated this February 2026 in Ridgefield, Washington. Sign that real quick. Okay.

Thank you very much. Mister Nelson, would you please come forward? And we'll present this to you, and we'll come down for a photo. Thank you.

Yep. Council, would you join me up?

Wait till everybody gets seated. For the record, my name is Larry Nelson, president of the Vancouver NAACP, Branch 1139 B. Today is with great honor and pride that we gather here today to recognize and celebrate Black History Month. This month is not just a time to reflect on the past, but also to acknowledge the ongoing contributions and resilience of African Americans in our community and beyond. And today is of particular significance because it is our hundred and seventeenth anniversary for the creation of the NAACP today, so we're very proud of that in our history in America.

I would like to thank the Richfield City Council for officially proclaiming February's Black History Month and paying tribute to the countless achievements and struggles of African Americans throughout history. It goes without saying, we all know the contributions that African Americans have played in shaping our nation. But as we observe this month, let us take time to learn about the lesser known stories of African Americans who have made significant contributions to our society, and let us celebrate those achievements and honor their sacrifices. And let us commit ourselves to continue the work of understanding and learning from these histories, ensuring that the contributions are recognized And to

work that

to

able

And log on to our website, ndoublei'macpvancouverwa.org. We have a list of activities, that will be ongoing this month. And if you would like to be a member, I would also like to extend the invitation for you to come and join the NAACP as well. So, again, thank you for this great honor today, and look forward to seeing and working with you guys in the future. Thank you.

Thank you again. We definitely appreciate the partnership we've been able to develop at the NAACP. So again, we're thankful that you're here. We have an appointment this evening as well. This is an appointment as a city representative to the Clark County Arts Commission.

This is a little bit different one than we've done in the past because we don't this one only comes up every few years. So I'm excited to nominate Eva Kelly as an appointment to the Arts Commission. The Clark County Arts Commission, if you don't know, is an 11 member volunteer body of thought authorized by the count the county to promote and support arts across Clark County. Its mission is to increase access to our experiences, celebrate cultural diversity, build partnerships that strengthen the creative sector, and support artists and art organizations in collaboration with the county and local cities. Those commissioners actually advised elected officials.

They advocate for arts programming and resources and help ensure arts remain an integral part of our community life and economic development throughout the region. And as our council considers in our comprehensive plan update, the formation of a possible creative or arts district, this is kind of a significant appointment to us here as it projects us more regionally. So Eva is actually a Ridgefield resident. She's got deep roots in our local creative community and a proven record of leadership. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Washington State University and has worked as a freelance artist and arts educator for more than sixteen years, spanning community programming, creative entrepreneurship, and nonprofit service.

Here in Ridgefield, Eva serves as secretary of the Ridgefield Art Association and as a team lead for the newly established Ridgefield Art Gallery right here downtown where she strengthened systems, expanded opportunities, and connected artists with community and regional resources. She brings thoughtful, collaborative energy and a deep commitment to arts advocacy as representative to the arts commission. She will ensure that Ridgefield's creative voice is heard and that our artists and arts organizations are supported and that our community's growing creative culture contributes meaningfully to the cultural and economic life of Clark County as a whole. So, I'm confident that Eva will be a strong and effective advocate for both Ridgefield and the broader arts community. So, with that council, I would entertain a motion to appoint Eva Kelly as our Clark County representative to the Arts Commission.

I make a motion to appoint Eve Kelly to the to the Arts Commission. Second. Second. Second.

Okay. It was moved by Chipman, seconded by, I believe, Favela. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Thank you very much. And also the motion passes. And Eva, we are glad to have you here. Thank you very much.

And I think Melody wanted to get a photo too. Right?

She's a Nobody's ever said

that before. Do you want

us to come down?

Do you

want us to stand up here? We can do the whole shuffle again.

Do you

have a preference?

Oh, I would love the whole

shuffle. Okay. We'll come down again. Yeah. We're gonna shuffle. We were gonna shuffle when we're done. Yeah. We're getting our steps in. We might be a long meeting otherwise. There we go.

Next.

Part of this, so I apologize. My name is Eva Kelly. I'm the secretary for the Richfield Art Association. I'm one of the gallery managers from the new gallery downtown. And I just wanted to say thank you so much for appointing me to represent Richfield. And it means a lot to me, and I hope I do a good job representing our town. Sure you will.

Thank you very much. Glad to have you. We are gonna move on to public comment. Anyone wishing to speak to city council regarding items not subject to a specific public hearing may come forward at this time to the podium or use the raise hand feature located at the bottom of the toolbar of your Zoom screen. For controls over the phone, press 9. To raise your hand and press 6 to mute or unmute. Please state your name and limit your comments to three minutes.

Hi. I'm Mary Lee Asa Lee. I'm one of the committee members for the Ridgefield Art Gallery. And a couple of updates that we've got going on for you. We're gonna have a poetry reading at the Ridgefield Art Gallery on Sunday, February 22 from two to 4PM. So you can come and enjoy another form of art, poetry. We are working with the Lions Club on some things. We'll keep you up to date on that later. Of course, we'll be working with youth arts month in March, and we just love partnering with the city. You guys are amazing.

You're the best. Even our police department pops in to look at our art. So we are really, really pleased. And thank you for bringing in Eva to support the community this way. I have the privilege of working with Eva, and I think there's one really important thing. Everything Matt said is true, but there's one other feature that I've seen working with Eva. Actually, two that were not mentioned. I think this one's real important. Eva's personality just naturally reaches out and includes everyone. She just does it.

Just the it just is her, and I think that's gonna really benefit all of us. And then also, oh my gosh, that woman has the most amazing work ethic. So yay. Thank you for including her. Oh, and don't forget, art gallery hours, Wednesday through Sunday, 11AM to 6PM. So we'll see you at the gallery.

Thank you.

My name is Michael Jennings. Thanks of good management is being aware of and being careful with all of the money. I'm impressed with what finance director Kirk Johnson says. Thank you, Kirk Johnson.

Good evening. I don't know if you want me to say my name and place of birth or that kind of stuff.

Just your name is fine.

I'm Bill Baumann. I'm Box 817 Richfield. I'm here to tell you a little bit about last year's green bag project results. I'll be as brief as I can possibly be, although I did run across a number as I was looking at this stuff surprised even me. In 2025 well, let me go back.

In 2024, the green bag project gathered 47,119 pounds of food. And in addition to that, we had donations of $9,362 In 2025, we gathered 58,851 pounds of food, which boggles my mind for us to have increased by 10,000 pounds. And in addition, we gathered $10,910. Since we began in 2018, we have gathered 257,573 pounds of food, which also boggles the mind. Clyde and I did this together in 2018.

We were under the canopy up in front of the high school that used to be there, and we were so happy with two eighty pounds of food. We were ecstatic because we didn't think we were gonna do that well. And here we are. I did a quick calculation. There's a number that the food bank I don't know if you call it industry, but food bank people use, and they generally say a pound of food is valued at about $1.72 Clyde and I did a quick calculation this morning, and I think that's on the low end of things, but we'll use that calculation.

So if you take our total of two hundred fifty seven thousand five seventy three pounds and multiply that by a dollar 72, you get $443,025. If you add the donations, which are $56,003.86 over the span of the program, we're over a half $1,000,000. Mhmm. That is donate has been donated by the citizens of Richfield for the citizens citizens of of Richfield. Richfield. So I thank everybody. I thank our people. I thank you for the support. I thank Steve Stewart for helping me work out a problem that we had a little while oh, not a little while, a while back. That was very helpful. And so I think this is phenomenal. And I appreciate all your help.

Thank you. Thank you. We appreciate the updates like that. Thank you so much. Is there anybody else wishing to give public comment this evening? Miss Julie, anybody online wishing to give public comment?

Not seeing anyone online, mayor.

Okay. We're gonna go ahead

and close public comment, and we will move on to our consent agenda. Council, I'd accept the motion.

I move to accept the consent agenda as presented.

I'll second.

Okay. It's been moved by Wells, seconded by or moved by Virkil, seconded by Wells. Any discussion, counsel? All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Thank you. Motion carries. Alright. On to the business portion of our evening. Our first item of business tonight is the second reading of ordinance number fourteen sixty three. This is the MAJ Bosch Mau RMUO zone change. Miss Las, we'll go to you.

Thank you, Mayor Cole. Good evening, council and members of the public. Item before you this evening is the MAJ Bosch Mau zone change, which would add a mixed use overlay to roughly nine and a quarter acres on the East Side Of 65th. Next slide, please. There's your site location with some surrounding landmarks just to get reoriented.

Next slide. The shows what the zone change would look like. The current zoning is commercial regional business. The proposal would be to add a mixed use zoning overlay to those nine and a two five acres. The impact of the zone change would be that as opposed to the current zoning which would allow only commercial uses, the mixed use overlay would require slide.

To So going able and is producing including the junction sub area plan and the ongoing update to our comprehensive plan Envision Ridgefield 2045 which does envision a mixed use hub near Clark College campus including these properties over the next twenty years. Next slide. As you know, the request before you is for a zone change only. It is not a development proposal. However, in anticipation of future development facilitated by the zone change, the applicant has provided a concept plan, which you've all had a chance to see a couple times now.

It includes, commercial uses to the south, residential uses to the north, including apartments and some live work units along 65th. Next slide. Previously, this went through public hearings at both Planning Commission and City Council. After the council hearing, you directed us to work with the applicant on a concomitant rezone agreement, basically a contract establishing conditions of the rezone, to allow the proposal to move forward. And those are on the screen before you.

The portions I've highlighted are parts that have been updated since you last saw this based on your discussion and requests. So chiefly making the made the And then, progress ability to make in to to

make that

we're we're is that, the applicant has stated they do not anticipate any full closures of 65th during construction, that would impact service to and from the CCFR Firehouse. With that, I will turn it back to you, mayor, for any further questions. Great.

Thank you, Ms. Les. Okay. Council, this is our second reading on this one. I will look around. Is there any questions for staff at this point? Councilor Davis?

Yeah. Thank you, mayor. For one, I I I really I'm in support of this becoming mixed use. Obviously, we've been asked to take on housing units. I think this is an appropriate place for it. I think this helps, for a lack of a better way of putting it, our math problem of figuring out how all that fits together. And so I appreciate the applicant and staff for working together to to bring something forward. I have two questions. For one, I saw that we have the apartments at the top, but then others are designated as live work. Can we define what live work is?

Yeah. Live work unit is typically and I'm work in we that future. Space for the work person who does the work in the that studio.

Oh, perfect. Are there any other, like, ground for retail type opportunities in the the whole project or no?

So the the southern portion of the project, the three southernmost buildings are entirely retail on this concept plan

Okay.

Including Ground Floor. And then I guess the last piece for me would be when we think about 65th, I appreciate them responding. They don't anticipate any full closures of 65th. If something came up that it was like, we have to entertain this, what would that look like? How would we go about working with the fire district to keep things moving?

Sure. So any work in a right of way requires an encroachment permit, and full closures require vetting by both the city engineer and city manager, and I'm certain that through that process, we would be coordinating with CCFR due to the location of the site.

Okay. Alright. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Councilor Pavella.

Yes. Thank you. I also like the concept, but my only question is, similar to what counselor Davis asked. Not only just impacting the fire district, but we have a new elementary school opening near this project and making sure that what we did similar on pioneer the lessons learned for any closures that during peak traffic times, especially with school that we don't have flagging happening so we can keep the flow of traffic in those peak times. Moving thoroughly would be my something I would make sure we want to see happen. And that's it.

Great. Thank you. Councilor Burkle.

Thank you, mister mayor. Just a quick question. On the far back side of the development, there appear to be some buildings. Would those be car shelters or garages?

That's correct.

Thank you.

Any other questions for staff on this one, council? Okay. Seeing none, miss Julie, would you please read the ordinance into the record?

Ordinance number fourteen sixty two, ordinance of the city of Richfield, Washington, adding the Richfield mixed use zoning overlay for three commercial parcels with the commonant rezone agreement.

Great. Thank you very much. Okay. At this point, council, I would entertain a motion for this ordinance.

I'll make a motion that we approve ordinance number fourteen sixty two, MAJ Boschma RMU of zone change as presented.

I'll second. Okay, it's

been moved by and second by Burkle to print to adopt ordinance number fourteen sixty two, the MAJ Boschma RMUO zone change as presented. Any discussion?

No.

Okay. Miss Julie, would you please call the roll? Davis. Aye.

Council Member Favela. Yes. Council Member Wells. Yes. Council Member Burkhold.

Yes.

Council Member Hamilton. Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Shipman. Yes. Mayor Cole.

Yes. Thank you. Council motion carries and is adopted. Appreciate it. Alright. Our second item of business this evening is the second reading of ordinance number fourteen seventy two. This is the Kelly Windy Hills petition to annex. Miss Les, back over to you.

Thank you again, mayor. This is a second reading following up to a public hearing at a prior meeting on the Kelly Windy Hills petition to annex. Next slide, please. So just to touch base on the background of the project. Once again, this originally came to council as an intent to annex for the single parcel shown on the screen in front of you.

Through the intent to annex process, council determined that the, maximum annexation area should include six adjacent parcels as well to kind of square off that area. Next slide. And you did modify, do a geographic modification as part of the intent to annex approval to expand the annexation area, at which point the applicant went back to those neighbors, and they did, end up agreeing to sign on as part of the petition to annex. So the total area is, just over 32 acres. It is in the GQ Plateau Subarea.

Next

I'll I'll

the question

turn

over

good

year.

That's first the year 20 to capital deficiencies addressed. I believe that's all I have to share on this one. So with that, I'll hand it back to you, mayor. Thank you.

Thanks. Council questions for staff on this one. I'll look to my left first. Anybody here? Nope. Okay. Just one question from me then. I guess, so it will be an urban holding until services are provided, of course. But I know that the Kelly's do intend to keep the winery portion, which will be grafted in. We had spoken about maybe like a nonconforming use or even a just remaining urban holding overlay on that. What would be the plan from there?

Correct. So the solution we've come up with and it is a simple one to ensure that the winery if that area is not to develop which is not in the applicant's plans, is to remain a conforming use. It is an allowed use in the urban holding zoning solution would simply be to keep urban holding on that portion of the site as long as the winery needs to be operating.

And would the applicant have to then put, like, file an application to remove their overlay with the city if they're ever ready to develop it or would it just stay in perpetuity or what?

Correct. The city has a process to apply with a standalone land use application to remove a an urban holding overlay. It's an administrative process.

Okay. Great. Sounds good. Other questions, council?

Alright. Hearing none. Miss Julie, would

you please read the ordinance into the record?

Ordinance number fourteen seventy two, ordinance of the City Of Richville, Washington, annexing into the corporate limits of the city of Richville, approximately 32.63 acres identified as the Kelly, Windy Hills, annexation area and assigning the zoning of the annex area areas residential low density four with the residential cluster overlay and urban holding 10 overlay.

Thank you. With that, council and accept the motion.

Mister mayor, I moved to approve ordinance number fourteen seventy two, Kelly Windy Hills petition to annex. Second.

Okay, it's been moved by Wells, seconded by Favela to accept ordinance number fourteen seventy two, the Kelly Windy Hills at NX as presented. Any remaining discussion, council? Seeing none, mister Lee, please call the roll.

Council Member Wells. Yes. Council Member Burkle. Yes. Council Member Hamilton. Yes. Council Member Davis. Aye. Council Member Fevella. Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Chipman. Yes. Mayor Cole.

Aye. Thank you, council. Motion carries and that ordinance is accepted. I appreciate it. Okay. Third item, third item of business this evening is the motion to approve Sanderling Park phase three final plat. Miss Lust, third time, here we go.

Three out of four. Thank you again, mayor. The item before you on this presentation is Phase 3 of Sanderling Park Subdivision, for final plot. Next slide, please. Wait till the floating message goes away. Alright. So, as you're aware, Sanderling Park good question. I that's first half second 20. Lot

of of

lots, with the majority of those being single the family detached lots, but single family attached lots included as well. And that is what phase three is, is one of those, townhouse areas. Next outlined in orange in the Northwest. Next slide, please. Right.

Here is a more detailed plot of phase three. It is 28 lots. As I mentioned, these are townhouse lots, and they have access from alleys serving each of those lots off of public streets. The lots range from 2,600 to 3,700 square feet, which is consistent with the preliminary planned unit development as well as its guiding development agreement that established a variety of housing types throughout this large subdivision. You'll see actually on the next slide, there are a couple of tracks on the northern boundary.

This is the northern road map. To to that that lot we're in

of

the And that we're able to to to cases. So with that, I'll go ahead and once again hand it back to you, mayor.

Sounds good. Thank you very much, Liz Lust. Counsel, any questions for staff on this one, go to mister Davis.

Thank you, mayor. Yeah. I for one, I'm a big fan of townhouses being part of bigger developments like this. I think it's such a great entry point in the home ownership for folks. And so I just I really applaud the developer for including this.

The one question I have is related to the alley widths. As someone that drives a full size truck. I have found some of those developments to be a little bit tight. Do we know how, for lack of a better way of putting it, navigatable these alleys are? Because I feel like somebody buys one, they have a vehicle close to my size. They might not be using it. They might be using the street, which kind of defeats the purpose of the alleyway.

Yeah. So the width of the alley is designed based on fire access standards and it is 20 feet, which is their minimum. So that's the standard we're concerned with in our review and along with CCNR staff review.

Okay. Thanks for clarifying.

Other questions, counsel? For me, just out of curiosity, and one thing I like about this development because exist elsewhere in the city, but they're not super common. But to have the the mixed types of housing in there and then see townhomes put in there as well is is good. What is the price point of are they are they gonna sell those for? Do you know off the top of your head?

I do not know off the top of my head.

Yeah. Sorry about that. That's okay. Do you know if the applicant intends to just sell them individually or is there any sort of notion that they could sell these like these could all just be eventually become block a block of rentals?

That's not something I have information on either at this time.

Okay. Thank you very much. Yeah. Other questions, council councilor Hamilton?

Thank you. I don't have a question. I just wanted to to kinda piggyback on what councilor Davis said. I think this opportunity, especially it's one developer. They have a vision. They have a higher end product that they're gonna put forward. I think this is a great addition. Like you said, for people that are looking for that price point. I think sometimes those alley lots can be a little bit tight, like you said, for the bigger vehicles. But I think overall, it offers such a great solution. And I think you know that when you're buying it. So, you know, that can be taken into consideration. Appreciate you thinking about everybody's drivability though. I think this is great and I like the trail connectivity and I just wanna say that I think this all works really well in this development.

Thanks, councilor. Councilor Burkle.

I would just like to say I really appreciate the fact that these are rear loading garages. As a result, all of the fronts of these units will be pleasant and not just big garage doors. So I really, really like this idea of alleys. I'm from Chicago. So guess what? We had alleys.

Anybody else with questions or comments for Seth? Okay. Seeing none, I'd accept the motion, counsel.

I move to approve the Sanderling Park phase three final plot as presented.

I'll second.

Okay. It's been moved by Hamilton, seconded by Chipman to accept Sanderling Park phase

twenty twenty

We're quarter of

be be

quarter in the of And And

Mayor. We've So the city has long had a program in its downtown whereby businesses, business owners, competition council for reductions or full waivers of traffic impact fees. Back in November 2025, council U adopted a code amendment that expanded that program to the commercial neighborhood business business that has approached staff to perhaps take advantage of that program is Cheeky Noodles. This business is located in the Hillhurst Commercial Center on Hillhurst and Severe. They were assessed for traffic impact fees at the time of tenant improvement building permits in middle in twenty twenty five in in a dollar amount of $18,011 and $73 Since that time they have received building permit approval and are under construction going through inspections.

So the applicant has submitted a memo to you counsel, petitioning for a traffic impact fee waiver. The amount again, 18,011.73 is the full amount. Per our code and per statute, this this amount would need to be paid out of the general fund into the impact fee fund. This is why it comes before council is that that is a public funding source. So the first of So, of

to get

what

We're Easy. Okay. Oh, so with that, I would then accept the motion. Oh.

So is this the first is this the first time that we've had this come before us? I'm sorry.

It's the first time for a business in the commercial neighborhood business zone. Previous councils have reviewed and approved TIF waivers for downtown businesses under the existing program. Yes.

Okay. No. I think this is the right thing to do. I'm in favor of it definitely. Yeah.

Thanks, pro tem. Councilor Hamilton.

Thank you. I agree. I think this is great and it's really neat for us as a council I think to see this come to fruition so quickly. I think this is such a huge help to a small business that's adding so much value to that neighborhood and I'm thrilled that we got to see this opportunity turn around so quickly and so I'm I'm definitely in favor.

Great. Yeah. Likewise. Other questions or comments at this point? Alright. I would accept the motion. Oh, wait. Yes, accept the motion.

I'll make a motion that we approve resolution number 672.

Oh, could you do it again? I'm sorry.

No. There it is.

I make a motion that we approve resolution number 672, reduction of TIF fees for Cheeky Noodles.

Second. Okay. It's been moved by Chipman, seconded by Davis to accept Resolution No. 672, the Cheeky Noodles TIF reduction. Counsel, any questions or or discussion at this point? Hearing none, all those in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed? Thank you. Motion carries. Alright. Our last item of business tonight is the first reading of ordinance number fourteen seventy three. This is repealing the establishment of temporary speed limits and establishing a process to administratively approve a temporary closure or speed limit. Ms. Parker.

I will learn. Good evening, counsel. Thank you very much. I have been working with the engineering department on some legal authority issues about the the ordinances before you this evening. So, with that, I get to bring before you this ordinance and it has two parts.

The first is going to rescind a temporary speed reduction on in a couple of areas within the city that were was enacted in 2024 in September 2024 and then the second part of the ordinance that I've been working on is actually going to change the process from a legislative process that requires the two ordinances that that you've used for this and to create an administrative process that might make it a little more efficient. So, with the substantial completion of the public works projects that led to ordinance fourteen thirty one in September 2024, the city has that the reduced speed limits are known are no longer necessary in those locations and so one of the things, the first thing that the proposed ordinance does is to repeal ordinance fourteen thirty one and in doing so, that is going to repeal repeal the temporary Speed limits that were established in chapter ten point eight point thirty five. And so that's the sort of the first half of the ordinance that's before you. And then in the course of going through this process, staff started looking at the process that we used to establish these temporary speed limits and try to make this a little bit more streamlined and a little bit more responsive to the needs of the construction process.

So, based on that review, did a little bit of research and the ordinance before you adopts a new chapter 12.17 of the Ridgefield Municipal Code. And that will authorize the city manager in consultation with the city engineer to to close or restrict speed in when there are is construction or other issues going on or in or in an emergency with certain public process, and that would include notice in the newspaper as well as posting on either side of the of the particular zone at least three days before the the speed change would take effect. And so oh the other thing is that the violation would be an infraction just like any other speed violation. So that, I'm happy to answer any questions. I did understand that there might be an interest in waiving second reading.

This is entirely possible and if so, the motion would be to waive second reading and adopt the ordinance fourteen seventy three on first reading. So, with that, happy to be before you. I didn't have any visuals but I'm happy to answer any questions.

All good. Thank you, miss Parker. Questions for the city attorney council on this one. Alright. That's easy. Pretty straightforward.

I like those.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Is there a maximum length of time that we can set a temporaries that is is that run into the process for a temporary speed speed limit to be set?

So, the the ordinance does say for a definite period of time but it doesn't set that. So, generally, I would assume that anything over well, any, I would, I would tie it to a construction. So, you have, it's not uncommon to have construction projects that last a couple of years. So, I we didn't want to put a timeline because we weren't exactly sure where we didn't want to restrict that and so, there isn't a timeline in the ordinance but it does have to be for a definite period of time. So, it is it is time to

We We We do do

second reading and approve ordinance number fourteen seventy three, which repeals establishment of temporary speed limits and establishes a process to administratively approve a temporary closure or speed limit.

Second.

Okay. It's been moved by Davis, seconded by Favela. Any further discussion? Hearing none. Miss Julie, would you please read the ordinance? Oh, shoot. Did we do wrong? Did you have read?

Okay. Think.

Yeah. Ordinance. We, it's the whole wave second thing. So.

Thank you, mayor. Remnants number fourteen seventy three, ordinance of the city of Richville, Washington, repealing section 10.08035 concerning the establishment of temporary speed limits to resend certain temporary speed limits and creating chapter 12.17 to to establish a process to administratively approve temporary closure or restricted use of city streets.

Great, thank you. With the ordinance read into the record and a motion on the table, I'll look to council for any remaining discussions, seeing none. Mister Lee, would you please call the rule?

Council Member Davis.

Aye.

Council Member Favalla. Yes. Council Member Wells.

Yes.

Council Member Burkle.

Yes.

Council Member Hamilton. Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Shipman. Yes. Mayor Cole.

Aye. Thank you council. Ordinance passes. Alright, that concludes our business. That was, like, really well timed. Yeah.

Hey, mister Garrison. Just turn our lights on. Mister

Garrison. Now this is one that

sparks switches, and I'm not smart enough to run.

It was gonna be a boring meeting otherwise. Yeah. She didn't even start the month. Sorry

about that.

Okay. Alright. We are going to go to public comment now. I see what you did. You just want to be first in line. Yeah. Anybody wishing to address city council regarding items not subject to a specific public hearing may come forward at this time to the podium or use the raised hand feature located at the bottom of your your Zoom screen. For controls over the phone, press 9 for raise hand. Press 6 to mute or unmute. Please state your name and limit your comments to three minutes. Mister Garrison.

Roy Garrison, 1186 South 30th Place. I'm in the G Crack Crack Plateau. I'm trying to get out of the way from the donut hole. But I would like to address you folks and the staff here to take under consideration the fact of annexations. The city has the plateau surrounded.

You have already annexed all the roads as I understand. And we're going through these processes every month or so to get individual properties to come in. And I think it would be very common sense and more efficient if the city took the responsibility and annex that whole area because I understand by RCWs, it can be done to be at this surrounded by the by the city. And it's just initiative of you guys to grow a little hair on your head, you know, and take the action. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to give public comment this evening? Miss Julie, anybody online remaining?

Not seeing one on that online.

Okay. We'll move on from public comment and go to council and staff reports. Is there anybody pitching to go first this evening? Alright. Mister Wells is a senior most member of this council. Would you like to go first?

I would love to. I gotta turn my speaker on first. I've been gone for a little while. I turned around and ended up in Hawaii, And so I come back. But since I've been back, I had a briefing, ribbon cutting for premier management, briefing, but I have another comment I'd like to make.

9095% of the time, I go south during the daytime. I go towards Vancouver. Once in a while, I go north during the daylight. Last night, I was coming back late, and I needed to go to Woodlet. It was after dark.

And as I went by the Ridgefield Junction, I was impressed with everything that I saw with all the lights on. I didn't even know what we had in this community after dark going north. But it it really looks impressive, West Coastal, the plane. I think this is personal stuff. But anyway, when I was on the plane, the lady, I did have a Ridgefield hat on.

I didn't wear my vest, but I had a hat on. And she said, I was one of the stewardess. And she said, oh, I'm headed home to Portland. She said, you got in and out, and you got a Costco too. That was her comment. So I've heard a lot of positive comments, and I haven't ever heard any negative comments. So, just wanted to share that as my experience in the last two weeks.

Thank you, counselor. Councilor Wells, would like to go next?

Second. Sure.

Oh my gosh. That's the second of the night. Councilor Burkle.

Thank you. I too attended the city manager briefing. As well, it's always a pleasure for me to go to an a ribbon cutting for another new business in our city. And we had that opportunity Tuesday with Premier Property at I'm sorry. North Main And Simons, I think. But, again, just for me, very, very rewarding to see another organization decide to come and put a business in our community. We have everything they need and they want to be here and they're coming. So most appreciative.

Thank you, counselor.

Councilor Hamilton.

Great. Thank you so much. I also went to said ribbon cutting. I was a little late, so I missed the actual ribbon, but still was there to see an incredible turnout. There really was a lot of people there. It was very cool to see that. I had some chamber of commerce meetings, school board, Richfield Main Street, and I am making a bit of a career shift. So my time has been a bit occupied right now, but I'm very excited for all that in the future and how that plays into the city and all the things. So that's all that's all I got.

Great. It's good. Alright. Councilor Davis.

Alright. Thank you, mayor. You know, I just I have a few things. Tuesday night, I went to we had a C TRAN board meeting. There was a lot going on there.

Couple of big ticket items were, for one, we got a rundown on the creation of a subdistrict, a potential subdistrict and what that would take. That would be a smaller footprint within the C TRAN service area that would that could potentially go to voters that would help fund operations and maintenance for light rail over the new interstate bridge. And so that is something that smaller ancillary cities have been very much advocating for, you know, tying in some of the operations and maintenance closer to the communities that are gonna benefit from those assets on the new bridge. So we'll see what happens with that. We did end up approving the final environmental impact statement as one of the eight signatories on the bridge.

So that would be on the final the application that that goes to the Department of Transportation. So we did sign that off. More things continue when it comes to the board composition committee. That train just keeps rolling down the track or bus going down the road is probably the more appropriate way to put it. Updates on that as they come.

I guess one that I hadn't planned on talking about when I walked in this morning, but I'll tell you, the just now or earlier in the meeting with the the art association, I did not know who Eva was, and I couldn't figure out who she was because all four of the people back there were were beaming. Mhmm. And they were excited for the you know what I mean? And to me, that it was a a really cool thing, and it was just this small, like, microcosm representation of community and what can happen. You know, people coming out to support each other and be genuinely, like, proud of, you know, what somebody else is doing, and that was just a really cool thing I didn't really anticipate witnessing tonight, but it was impactful, and I wanted to be able to share it with you.

And then the last thing I wanna share is shout out to the Super Bowl champion, CL Seahawks. Right

on. Thank you, counselor. Yeah. Counselor Favela.

Yes. Thank you. I actually have some pretty big or not big updates, but lengthy. I'll try to make it quick. The ECHO board, ending community homelessness organization, this is a board that's compromised out of Clark County, but has a representative from council from all of the jurisdictions.

And they are currently working to request the city participation in a county wide homeless systems analysis. So this would look at many different service areas in the community such as behavioral health, health care, affordable housing, land use, child welfare, criminal justice, education, these systems often act in silos. And what happens when you act in a silo is you get a fragmented system that prevents people from accessing the care that they need when they need it. So there will be a proportional cost share that will go out to all the cities based on the Council for Homeless data of how many percentage of population from each jurisdiction for Ridgefield, that is a nominal fee. When we were talking through this process, though, about what does it mean for a city to participate in such study?

Does it hold your feet to anything? Does it require anything of you? We needed to make it very clear that this system study does not compel or mandate any jurisdiction to do anything it does not want to do when it participates in this study. So I believe when it comes before us or when we get more information on this, I felt that would be beneficial for everybody to be aware of. Following up with that, we will be hosting a law enforcement panel on April 14.

All the jurisdictions will be invited to that. Representatives from city councils and our legislative representatives will be attending. So I will be reaching out to different partners. We're hoping to have our very own Ridgefield police department there along with the CARES program. We decided to lump fire into this conversation because they do respond to the same population, and this really is to make sure that when people are making policy and how this impacts service, that we have the service providers or the people who are it's impacting the most saying, hey.

You're gonna do this for but where are the gaps at? Because those conversations are not happening, and it's easy to sit up and make a a decision when you really don't know how this really plays out in real life. So I'm really excited that we're having these conversations and we can maybe get somewhere and get policies changed so we're more aligned in what the policy is, but how does that play out in real life, who it impacts, and ultimately, the the served services get to the people that need it. The boathouse down here at the waterfront caught fire some time ago and needs repair. In the process of the fire department trying to find somebody to repair, you need a longshoreman with a whole host of certifications to do that repair.

So we will see the boathouse disappear for about a month. So it will come back, but it has to go over to Oregon to get the repair needed by the certification, the special people, and then they'll tow it back whenever they're done with those repairs. The fire department is also planning a strategic plan, public outreach and engagement. This would include representatives from council, tribe, and community from all the jurisdictions that it serves. They're hoping to have this done in September.

And this is really wanting to get from the community and their own employees envisioning what their fire department looks like in their communities. I'm very excited about this conversation and bridging that community back to the service it's provided and who ultimately gets that service. Outside of that, I attended a Boys and Girls Club Youth of the Year meeting that was really empowering. There were five youth that were nominated for youth of the year from Boys and Girls Club. This means they will go into a state competition and then ultimately a national competition for youth of the year.

All of these students, these young people have experienced adversity in their own way, and I've said it up here before. I always root for the underdog. And I watching them talk about the things that they've gone through, how they've overcame those things and positioning themselves to be leaders at their high schools or in their own community, I was all over that in a heartbeat. The young lady who who won the award, she is a a bright and shining person, and I'm really excited for her. And I I was glad to participate. And those are all my updates. Thank you.

Thank you, counselor. Okay. Mayor Potem.

So I was very pleased to see Bill Baumann here tonight. Bill and Clyde Berkel have pretty much single handedly started this whole green bag program in Ridgefield. And it has done fabulous work. And being on the board of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, 50% of what they collect comes to us. And it is a huge, huge help in feeding people in Richfield.

And the Ridgefield Resource Center gets half of it, and we get half of it. And so when he talked about the totals tonight, it was just kind of mind blowing. I know that it has grown every time we get, you know, a collection, which is this weekend, by the way. But they do amazing work. And I we can't thank you enough, Clyde and Bill both.

So it was fabulous to hear the numbers. I am the representative to the art board, and so it was fun to see. Eve was so excited about being able to be on on this on this committee. And so she was so excited about coming tonight when she I was at the art meeting on Monday. So they are doing a great job too, and they are so excited about having about having that art gallery. So I hope if you haven't been there yet, I hope you get a chance to stop by and see what they have there. They've done a great job. Attended the Clark Regional wastewater meeting on Tuesday. Of course, the ribbon cutting. And then I think that's about it for me for this week.

Great. Thank you, mayor pro tem. I thank you, rest of the council, for your updates. I have a couple of things just to briefly update the council and everyone else on this evening. Before I do that, I want to return really quickly to Black History Month because we did a proclamation earlier.

And I think it's worth the significance just being the centennial of what Black the founding of Black History Month and also the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of United States Independence. And so those things kind of in tandem kind of speak to who we are as a country and maybe how far we've come and how far we've got to go. But I did want to touch on it again really quick just because I was we've done these proclamations every year and I didn't realize the history behind that, but it doesn't happen by accident. This goes back to, as I said in the proclamation, it goes back to historian Doctor. Carter G.

Woodson and others who believe that history, culture, and contributions of African Americans have been overlooked for far too long. And this goes back to 1926 or '25, I guess. And what began as Negro History Week eventually grew into Black History Month, not as a symbolic gesture, but as a deliberate effort to ensure that black history was studied, preserved, and taught as an essential part of our own American history. And the centennial moment invites us to reflect on more than just the past, especially if you look at what America continues to struggle with. They also ask us to consider the impact of black history and the commemorations of themselves and how they've helped shape our identity as a nation to expand our understanding, to deepen our collective sense of who we are as a nation.

And that reflection, I think, feels very important as we also mark the two hundred fiftieth anniversary of American independence because you cannot tell an honest history an honest story about this country without recognizing the extraordinary achievements of African Americans and their essential role in shaping America's history both locally, nationally, and even globally. So here in Ridgefield, Black History Month matters because history lives in our classrooms, lives in our libraries, it lives in our workplaces, in our community conversations and acknowledging that every year isn't just about remembrance, it's about learning, understanding and recommitting ourselves to a future grounded in equal opportunity, dignity and respect for all. So that's why I was proud to proclaim it again to do that again this year and encourage our community to engage and reflect throughout the rest of the month and honor the legacy that continues to shape our shared future. With that, a couple of other quick updates for you. Councilor Davis did mention it.

I did attend the board composition review committee of C TRAN the other night. Consequently, I found myself the chair of that committee now. So, I was hoping it'd it'd be for one meeting, but it looks like we're going to have to do one more meeting. That committee is interested in hearing how a potential subdistrict could work for the PTBA. So, we may have a little bit of work ahead of us.

C TRAN's attorney did provide a updated schedule of legal proceedings that could happen if this were to go any further. Lord, let's help us not get that far because we don't want it to. We want to resolve this thing, but it looks like it could be pushed out. If it were to go to trial, it would be February. So we have a little bit of time, but we do have some urgency because I think that that committee and the C SRAM Board in general are anxious to get back to doing the work of transit in Clark County.

Yesterday, I participated on a panel for the National Association of Professional Mortgage Women. It's always good to go to an event like that. I sat on that alongside Mayor Ann of Vancouver, and we got to talk about our respective cities and what we are doing going how we are continuing to develop and talking about the housing development and our need to add density and about add affordable housing. So it always a good opportunity there. I also sit on the Urban County Policy Board.

That is another regional board within the county. And each year, they distribute grants for community development block grants. The other night the other day was significant because we heard presentations from all the applicants. I think there's over 20 applications there. That is to decide where things like micro business enterprise assistance goes, a lot of housing or rental assistance programs, really good things.

We get federal money for that. It's about $1,500,000 a year. And then we vote on we rate those applications and then that committee awards those, not to all 20, but as many as they can. And so, we'll be rating applications here pretty soon, and next month we'll be selecting who receives those grants. And then lastly, been a couple of weeks, but I did wanna point out that I attended on behalf of the city. I attended Molly Cawson's celebration of life. Molly was the former mayor of Washoe Gold, most recently a council member. She was chairing the C TRAN board and the BCRC up until the time she passed suddenly last fall. So, it was a great opportunity to sit and join other community leaders and just celebrate her life and all of her contributions not just to the community at large but just to the world around her. She's a fantastic person.

She will be terribly missed. With that, that's my update. We'll go to mister Stewart.

Thank you, mayor, members of the council, the community. Just a couple of updates. First of all, on the federal legislative front and council is aware of this and certainly on our social media circles, we have put it out as well but a lot of great work by our council and our community over the past two years have netted positive results for the community in a couple of key projects. First of all, the South Royal Road project, which is the last segment of Royal Road to be fully completed to an urban standard, and a lot of work has been going on in design and engineering and permitting to get it ready for construction. There's been money pulled together from grants from the state as well as the federal government.

Most recently, we found out that, we are receiving a $2,000,000 allocation from the federal government for that project, which will help us that much further along toward, construction completion. We are looking at a 2027 construction time frame for that project, which is obviously huge for a variety of reasons, for safety, for the kids that are walking back and forth to the schools there, the sports complex there, that entire area, not to mention an undersized culvert that will be replaced with a fish bearing culvert to increase opportunities for fish passage. So, great project. Really nice that we were able to secure funding for that and $1,100,000 from the federal government in an allocation for Kennedy Wells project. And that is in the South side of the city, provides additional capacity for necessary water for now and in the future and produce better water resilience for our community.

That project is well underway. There's been a of work going on on that already, to move that toward construction, and we're looking to start construction this year to make that happen for the community as well. So great work on the federal, front, and thank you for all your work council to help make that happen. And in other good news, once we get the money, as was mentioned earlier, we have a lot of confidence in the people who are assuring that it is well spent, and that is our budget and finance group led, of course, by our budget finance director, mister finance officers association stating that the GFOA is awarded the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting to the city of Richfield for its annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year ended 12/31/2024. The report has been judged by an impartial panel to meet the highest standards of the program, which includes demonstrating a constructive spirit of full disclosure to clearly communicate the financial story and motivate potential users and user groups to read the report.

Certificate of achievement is the highest form of recognition in the area of governmental accounting and financial reporting, and its attainment represents a significant accomplishment by a government and its management. This is the eleventh year in a row that mister Johnson and his team have achieved this result. We started as the smallest jurisdiction to, actually get this award and have since grown quite a bit, but have not grown out of that success. So, kudos to mister Johnson, his entire team for making sure that our money is well spent and that the public's trust is maintained. And with that, I would, welcome any questions.

I would wish you a happy Valentine's Day and remind you that Monday, city offices are closed to recognize President's Day. So, happy to answer

any questions.

Great. Council, any questions for city manager? Alright. Thank you very much

for the update. I have one. Oh. Not not a question. Just a comment. Mister Stewart, could we get a timeline of tentatively how long Royal Road I know it's in 2027. Mhmm. How long it'll be shut down putting in that box culvert compared to what we had on Pioneer Street too? I mean, people who we can be talking about it ahead of time rather than being a surprise to everybody.

We can certainly work on that and get and kinda work on a timeline. We certainly have we have a lot of good experience that we've gained from the Pioneer widening project in those kinds of activities with the North Main Ave, the black grant that was received when we installed a fish bearing culvert bridge in that location as well so we can use those experiences to help put something together.

I remember North Main when they done that one. And and that was exactly opposite of what we had on Pioneer but Pioneer was wider too. So.

Very true.

Thank you. Of course.

Other questions for city manager? Alright. Thank you. Mister Fehmer.

Thank you, mister mayor. I don't have anything tonight but happy to answer any questions.

Any questions for public works? And

it kind of called it off.

Yeah. Probably might get freezing rain, but we're not. So

Alright. We're safe. Thanks. Mister Johnson, Citi Finance.

I do not have anything tonight, but we'll answer any questions you have.

Great. Thank you. Congratulations on the award. Again, by the way, That's commendable. This is how many years in a row did you

say? Eleven.

Eleven. Mhmm. Wow. I love it.

I too just wanna extend my sincere appreciation for the job you do for the city of Ridgefield. Thank you very, very much.

Yep. Thank you.

We'll look for a

trophy case to

be invited. You're gonna need that. You're gonna need it. Miss Parker, what are you?

I have no report this evening. Just happy to answer questions.

I like where you chose to sit. That's that's what I gotta say. Like, not on screen, and so then you don't get to go last anymore. It's right right there in the middle. It's strategic, I bet.

Oh, I think I'm still juggling because it seems to be a different place, periodically, but we'll we'll get it sorted out.

Miss Luss.

I don't have anything else tonight. Thank you.

Great. Thank you. Deputy city manager, Leon Ottenaris. Thank you.

I also don't have anything tonight.

Alright. And last, chief Dorit.

I'll wrap it up. I don't have anything as well, but I'm happy to answer any questions.

Too easy. Questions for chief, anybody? Alright. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you, staff. With this, this minute's your turn.

We'll give it to Clyde.

Oh, Clyde.