City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everybody. It is Thursday, February 26, and I'm gonna call to order this session of the Richfield City Council. Would you please rise and join me for the pledge of allegiance? 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. Thank you. Be seated. Alright. Miss Julie, would you please call the roll?

Council member Davis. Present. Council member Fevella. Here. Council member Wells. Here. Council member Burkle.

Present.

Council member Hamilton. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Chipman. Here. Mayor Cole.

Here. Thank you very much. Mister Stewart, any late changes to the agenda tonight? No late changes, mayor. Okay. Great. We do want to kick things off tonight with a proclamation. We are going to do this in honor of Youth Arts Month and I believe we have Maureen, are you part of this as well? And Mandy, are both here to receive it? Okay.

Okay, great. I'm going to read it and then we'll have you come up and we'll do like a quick photo op and do, yeah, do the whole thing. So thanks for being here. The proclamation reads, whereas Youth Arts Month founded in 1961 is a national celebration to promote art and art education for students grades eight k through 12 to encourage creative expression, critical thinking, and communication through artistic artistic exploration. And whereas in 2026 national theme, the world needs art highlights the the vital role art plays in our lives and communities, emphasizes how art enriches our world, connects us across cultures, and helps see the beauty challenges and possibilities of the world around us.

And whereas Barbara Wright, a local artist and founding member of the Ridgefield Youth said it well, quote, in Ridgefield, Youth Arts Month developed from a tiny spark of an idea, now it has ignited into a month long celebration of all the arts during March. And whereas Ridgefield Youth Arts Month is a collaborative we're to that events and classes across five districts, schools throughout the local businesses and organizations. And whereas the kickoff for Youth Arts Month twenty twenty six is Missoula Children's Theater adaptation of Cinderella beginning March 2 and the Ridge Association Color Run and the Arts Activities on March. Now therefore, I, Matt Cole, Mayor of the City of Ridgefield, Washington, do hereby proclaim the month of Ridge the month of March as Ridgefield Youth Arts Month and encourage students, community organizations, and residents to make a commitment to artistic expression and arts education and the positive impact it has on the Ridgefield dated this February 2026 here in Ridgefield. Thank you very much.

Come on. Come on up.

Thank you.

Thank you. More. West One more. Sorry. Okay.

Thank you again.

Yeah. Okay.

Okay, we are going to move into public comment now. 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 raise hand feature located at the toolbar at the bottom of your Zoom screen. For controls over the phone, press 9 for raise hand and press star 6 to mute or unmute. Please state your name and limit your comment to three minutes.

My name is Michael Jennings. Thank you very much for your excellent management of Richfield. I just walked in with somebody who was talking about lots of other places that are poorly managed. Thank you again.

Thank you, Michael. Is there anybody else wishing to give public comment?

Mayor and city council, I'm Angela Zwingli and I would like to personally invite each of you to walk the new trails at Richfield Heights and spend a few quiet moments looking north from the new common area shelter. What has been created there is something many of us have long hoped to see, something that preserves the natural beauty of the area. The trails wind through pasture and mature trees. The shelter provides a gathering space that feels integrated into the landscape rather than imposed upon it. Neighbors, both longtime residents and those new to Richfield Heights, have expressed appreciation for seeing natural areas protected rather than cleared. For many of us, this

is the first time in this development process that it truly feels like something has been preserved. However, if the 35th Avenue corridor red option is chosen, much of what has just been protected will be removed. Additional Douglas fir trees would be cut down, adding to the significant stand of Douglas firs at the corner of South 25th and South 10th, was previously removed, a loss that surprised both city council members and many residents who faithfully attended Richville Heights public hearings and city council meetings. We ask you to come see what exists now before making a final decision, walk it, stand beneath the trees, listen to the quiet, consider what cannot be replaced once it is gone. The 35th Avenue Corridor green option will go through undeveloped land where green space, trails, and land overlays can be designated with the 35th Avenue Corridor Road in mind.

Please protect what has been finally saved. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, mayor, members of the council, members of the public. Honored to be here tonight. My name is Mike Bomar. I serve on the Richfield Main Street board and past chair of the organization, currently working on the Richfield Main Street tax credit program. So appreciated the opportunity to speak last year and wanted to give you a quick update on some of the work that we've been doing related to the tax credit program in this first quarter.

So as you know, the tax credit program provides an opportunity for businesses to pledge contributions to their Main Street program, and they receive 75% credit on their next year's B and O obligation towards that contribution. So great program, great opportunities for businesses to keep their tax dollars local. And what we've done so far, we did some board training initially this year. We also updated and refined our database to make sure we had complete and accurate and up to date information. We have 163 businesses that we've been reaching out to to see if they're interested in contributing.

We also sent a broad broad introductory email. We've sent three social media posts so far. We've been in Greek Magazine and also included tax credit program in our monthly email. We've announced it at our evening community meetings, our gratitude breakfast, breakfast, the microenterprise event that we've held, Richfield Art Association, as well as the Richfield Retirees Group. Additionally, we've had 53 targeted emails to businesses.

We have a variety of voicemails left, as well as five in person meetings we've already had with businesses. The results so in our first couple of months, we've already generated over $34,000 in pledges. We also have verbal and written commitments from another 12 businesses who've said that they are going to participate this year. So very encouraged by that. However, there's a lot more work to be done this month. March will be our last dedicated credit month for us. So we're really going to be hitting the pavement and talking with businesses, trying to get in person with them as well. And just encourage everyone here tonight, if you have businesses you think would be interested in keeping their tax dollars local, to please connect them with us or encourage them to reach out to Main Street. We'd love to chat with them. And that's my update for today.

Thanks for the time. Appreciate it. Oh, also, I'd be remiss if I didn't congratulate Councilmember Chipman on your nomination for the Iris Award. Well deserved, and we're very proud of you in Richfield. Nice job. Good

evening. Evening. My name is Kevin Stallman with I live at 3348 South 10th Way here in Ridgefield. Really have asked you guys before, and I'm asking again if you please come take a look at 10th Way. We're talking about putting the new road through two different areas. I now bought a radar gun to check the cars because I'm retired, and I watch all the people. There was two girls I pulled out of the barbed wire fence that got pushed off by a truck. They were bleeding. We've seen several cars go through the neighbor's semis go through the yard and get tipped over and have to be towed out. The road's not wide enough.

You have people every day ride their bikes, little kids riding their electric bikes that are now cutting through the grass everybody's grasses because of the road not being enough for semis and the cars going through. The gentleman came out today to move a sign because they put a sign where I can't get my trailer out. And they're very nice. He said he'd move it. Cars were whipping by him and I standing on the road.

They do not care. There are school buses going 33 miles an hour, not only by my radar gun, but also the the new signs you put up that say the speed. There's a sheriff that lives in the new development that was 44 miles an hour last night, and he wasn't going to work. He was going home. I got in the truck. I drove down there. I'm gonna put a note on his car. We got to get the traffic slowed down. There is bikers through there all the time. Someone's gonna get killed.

K? I came around the corner down where just when you pass the winery, if you guys know where that is. Hopefully, you do. I got shoved into the mud in a Ford pickup because the semi took that corner way too close. And I make a point to go 25 miles an hour because I wanna slow everybody down.

Mhmm.

And it's crazy. They'll pass you. I was back in my boat into the driveway. They didn't care. They swung behind my boat. I did not see them. That could have been huge. So please, just one day, just go up there and just watch the amount of traffic there is and how fast they're going. School buses at 33 miles an hour. I've been working with Kathy. I think Kathy's here. She's great. She tries to help. I know she's there's tons of other things to take care of besides our road. But there's going to be a death. And I hope it's not one of my family members or somebody else's that lives in the neighborhood. So please. Thank you.

Thank you for your comment.

All right. Good evening, mayor and council members. Ian Harkins on here behalf of the Building Industry Association of Clark County and our seven fifty members. Thank you for the opportunity to comment tonight on the proposed municipal code amendments. We respectfully request additional time for the housing industry to fully review and evaluate these proposed changes before formal adoption.

We sent a letter earlier today. Hopefully you all received that and take some time to review it. Several of these provisions, particularly those related to grading, slope, and retaining walls, have significant technical and financial implications. And in a community like Richfield, where topography varies widely, these standards could meaningfully impact project feasibility and ultimately housing costs for the end consumer. Housing providers, like our members, need adequate time to analyze how the changes may affect not only subdivision design, but the various engineering requirements that come along with it, and at the end of the day, overall affordability.

These are very complex issues that deserve careful, collaborative review. And we, as an association, are committed to working with the city to ensure that the final code supports both community goals and practical attainable homeownership. So thank you for your consideration.

Thank you, Commissioner Harkins. Is there anybody else in the room that I wishing to give public comment? Mayor Julie anybody online? Oh, we have one more. Come on up.

I am Cathy Burton and I live on South 10th Way. And I second what Kevin Saddleman said. I live right across the street from him. So I see the same cars. I see the same activity.

And with the proposed development of 35th going through, when you come on by South 10th Way notice the limited visibility. And if you could think about what can be done to protect the people driving, the people walking, the people riding bike, granted those are all choices people make to their own danger or safety. But with the driving, there's limited visibility. And so like limit you did awesome making it 25. Thank you for doing that.

But people don't understand. One time my husband and I and Kevin were standing out there by the road and it was dark and the sky was whipping by and we stopped him. We said, you need to slow down. And he just and he just drove off. It's I mean, people are gonna be people, and and we all are. But with added traffic going down that road own. That's is think

comment. Is So, there anybody else here tonight wishing to give comment? Miss Julie, anybody online?

Not seeing one online.

Okay, seeing them. We'll close public comment. We're going to move on in our agenda. Thank you for everybody for coming and sharing. We have the consent agenda next. Council, I'd accept the motion.

I move to approve the consent agenda as presented. Second.

It's been moved by Burkle, seconded by Favela. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say

aye. Aye.

All opposed? Thank you, counsel. Motion carries. And we will move on to our presentation. We have a presentation tonight. I'm going to turn over to Mr. Johnson. This is a presentation on Bond 101,

an update the 2026 LTGO bond issuance. Mr. Johnson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and counsel. Tonight, we're just going to do a very high level overview of the potential bond issuance for the community center here in 2026. At the podium, I've got Duncan Brown from PFM Financial Advisors, who will be our financial advisor for this issuance. Online, I also have our bond attorney, Stacy Lewis from Pacifica Law, if there are any legal questions. So for that, I'll turn it over to, Duncan.

Great. Thanks, Kirk. Mayor, council, thank you for having me. Again, I'm Duncan Brown with PFM Financial Advisors. We are the financial advisor to the city.

So we have a fiduciary responsibility to the city in connection with its bond issues. I have been here before, but it has been a couple of years. So if you don't recognize me, I won't take that personally. And I'm just going to spend about ten minutes speaking about the proposed 2026 community center bonds, kind of a general overview of how these bonds work, what you might expect as far as the interest rates, and then kind of where we are in the process. I will certainly invite questions if they arise during this brief slide deck, or certainly happy to chat about to answer questions at the end.

So maybe with that, I will turn to slide one. And this is just an overview of the city's existing bonds. And bonds, I really mean borrowed money. So that's really all we're talking about here. There are two series of bonds for the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex from a few years back.

One series of bonds, which was placed directly with the commercial bank for the city's public works facility. And then two years ago, most recently, the city sold bonds leveraging its tax increment area. And you can see the annual debt service, the principal and interest requirements down there at the bottom in shades of blue and orange. The orange payments represent the tax increment area bonds, and that's why they're a little lumpy because those revenues are not flat. They tend to grow over time.

So I'll turn to the next slide. So the plan of finance in 2026 is and the proposed bond ordinance that the council will be asked to consider in a few weeks would authorize the issuance of bonds to finance a new community center, which would be adjacent to a privately owned recreation center. The estimated bond finance cost of the community center is $15,000,000 and we expect to have a twenty year term on the bonds. On Slide four, we've got some estimates for what the new debt service might look like. Where we are today or where we were as of, I guess, last week, we are estimating interest rates of around point 65% that is subject to change.

And that results in annual payments of a little under $1,100,000 The expected repayment source is primarily rate and park impact fees. And again, you can see that twenty year term shown there in the chart. Slide five summarizes the city's debt capacity, and I always like to preface this by saying this is not a measure of debt affordability. But in the state constitution, there are limits on how much general obligation debt the city can issue. General obligation debt is generally debt that's paid from some sort of tax revenue.

And there are two tests. The one that matters the most in this context is the top test, which is the nonvoted general obligation debt capacity. That is 15% of the city's assessed value. You can see currently that the gross number is about $68,000,000 The city has about $44,000,000 of non voted general obligation bonds currently outstanding. So with that additional $15,000,000 there would be about $54,000,000 in remaining debt capacity.

Again, that's not a measure of affordability. That is simply one test that the city has to meet in order to issue general obligation bonds. The city maintains a strong credit rating from S and P, which is one of the three credit rating agencies that provide ratings to municipal governments. That rating is AA, which is two notches below the highest rating of AAA. And it also has a stable outlook, meaning there's no expected changes to that rating in the near term.

You can see some of the credit strengths and challenges as they put it summarized here on this page. And a lot of good things to say. And a few challenges that are not unique to Richfield, but really are fairly common among any growing community that is leveraging that is issuing debt for new projects and to accommodate growth. Turning to slide seven, which is really my final slide. We're kind of at the beginning of the process here.

The council will be asked to consider a bond ordinance. The first reading would be on March 12 and the second on March 26. That bond ordinance would delegate authority to the city manager and finance director to approve the bonds that I briefly described within certain parameters. So maximum size, maximum term, maximum interest rate, among a few others. Sort of separately, but along the same time, the finance team, which includes myself, the city staff, the city's bond attorney, we work to prepare a new application to S and P for a new credit rating, as well as a disclosure document that is subsequently presented to investors who may wish to purchase the bonds.

That's called the preliminary official statement. So those processes are just getting underway. The dates here on this slide are a little fluid and will be influenced and may change based on the construction timeline. So at this point, I think the week of March 16 may be a little optimistic for that rating agency conversation, but those are all steps that will need to occur prior to the city actually selling bonds. Once that rating has been received, the disclosure document is prepared, we present that to prospective investors, solicit bids from investment banks, and award the bonds to the lowest the investment bank that provides the lowest interest rate in their bid.

And that whole process takes a few months. Again, we're subject to change, and we're trying to time that to not get too far out ahead of construction actually beginning. So I'm going to pause there. I flew through that a little bit. Happy to talk, happy to answer questions or clarify anything on that

Great. Thank you very much. Yes. We'll start with questions. And then do you have more after this?

I do not.

Okay. Okay, great. Council questions? A question. Mister Wells.

Did I hear you say, Duncan, that probably our credit rating will remain the same at a double A potential?

That is a great question. I don't want to put words in the mouth of the S and P rating analysts. But no, I don't see any credit stress that jumps out and suggests a change in that rating.

I have the other question I have, and you may not have the institutional knowledge on it. What are our other bonds that we're paying on now is probably a good question for Mr. Johnson. But what are our past bonds? What the rate on them have been?

That is also a good question. And actually, on slide two, we do have the outstanding coupon rates, which are the nominal rates that the city's paying on those bonds. And those vary from the mid-two percent all the way up to 5%. Those are the stated rates, not the yields. And so these bonds, most of them were actually sold at a premium. So the effective interest rate is going to be a little below what's shown here, sort of like paying points on a mortgage. Yeah.

Okay. Thank you.

Could we go forward a couple couple of of slides slides to to the the timeline? Timeline? I'm going ask a question. I'm not sure if I'm asking the right question, so maybe you can help me. But looking at when we go for rating, which is going to be late March or early April, is that correct?

I think that's the original schedule called for that to be in mid March. I think in conversations with the in in the the the in

in

is there will does the Fed impact our I mean, the Fed impacts our rate, but does it impact our rating or the type of rate we get? And I know that there's like this speculation of rates coming down later this year when new Fed chair takes office. What is the prognosis there?

That is a great question. I will say and I'll answer it in two parts. One is that the city's credit rating from S and P really should affected by that type of monetary policy. The city's S and P credit rating is really a function of your tax base, fund balance, management and governance characteristics, characteristics, and what kind of taxing authority is available to you under state law. In terms of the interest rate on the bonds and what we might expect there actually, I'm going to flip to the appendix, because there is a brief if we can go to the slide 16.

This is not a PFM forecast. This is just taken from a Bloomberg survey. But there is a forecast of long and short term rates. And I won't go through details, but you can see on that right side of that page, those rates are mostly flat for the next two years. That's not to say they couldn't change.

That's just to say that the market, at least as of last week, didn't expect them to. If the Fed does start to lower rates, that will primarily, or should primarily, impact the end of the yield curve, so very short term rates. So I don't expect it to have a material impact on the city's aggregate interest rate because that's really on a twenty year bond, you're kind of borrowing money at a longer farther out on the yield curve. But it doesn't hurt.

Yeah. Okay. Thank you. That's helpful. I think my actually, I do have one more question for you, and then I have maybe a couple of questions for staff on this. So when you went through the pros and cons of us, one of the things, the challenges we had is a, quote, weak debt profile. Can you elaborate on that a little bit? Is that related to the 2024 bond for the Pioneer widening project we took out? Or is that just kind of a pretty standard line?

That's a good question. It's specific to the 2024 tax increment area, Pioneer widening financing. It's a measure of how much debt does the city have outstanding relative to how big you are. How big you are, meaning how big is your balance sheet? How many what's the population?

And again, it's not necessarily it's something that sometimes comes with the territory of a growing community. Because it takes a while sometimes for balance sheets and population to kind of catch up to what S and P's medians are. Because they're rating not only growing communities, but also very older and more developed and built out communities nationwide. So it's not necessarily it's an evaluation that takes place relative to other AA rated cities throughout the country.

I don't

know if

that Yeah, that helps. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Okay, cool. And I guess my last couple of questions for staff. Before I do, any other questions, counsel? Okay. So, when we look at our our debt capacity, how given that capacity, how much of that is council manic? Could you remind me that that so that we can approve?

We do not have any voted bonds. All of our debt is councilmanic.

Right. Okay. But there's a threshold, right, which is councilmanic and the Correct.

And that's from the slide that mister Brown had showed which is up on the screen right now.

Okay, the non but okay, gotcha. Yeah. Okay, great.

24.

And then my last question is, are there any other upcoming projects where that we forecast down the road in the next few years where debt issuance would be required and that could be impacted by this bond effort?

So with the tax increment area, we had talked about a second bonding paid for out of the tax increment area funding sources, for the the 10th, 11th Overpass. So that is one that was planned in the 2030 to 2032 time frame. We are also actively looking for grants as well for that. We do have some grants to help with the design portion of it currently and then we're looking for additional grants to finish that out then begin the the process of looking for outside funding for construction.

Okay. And those wouldn't likely be if if we had the two bond for that project, that wouldn't be impacted by the community and recreation center bond?

So that all depends on our tax assessed value and what we can do and what we can't. So tax assessed value can go up. It can go down. We haven't seen it go down very often. But if you remember back during the great recession, values did go down quite a bit. So that's where it could impact. We saw a pretty significant increase in assessed values from 2024 to 2025.

Yeah. Okay, great. That's all the questions I have. Any other questions, council? Go ahead.

Just a quick am I correct that we're looking at 3.65 possible percent at the moment?

If the bonds were sold last week, that's our estimate. There's an asterisk there because it may be a few months before the city's actually in the bond market. Yeah.

Thank you.

Great. Thank you for being here. Thank you for the information.

Thank you.

That's all from us. Yeah. Okay. We're going to move on to some business. Our first item of business tonight is a motion to approve the Pioneer widening contract amount. We're going go to miss Lang for that.

Thank you, mayor. Good evening, council. So, the city of Richfield has delivered one of its largest projects to date which is the Widening of 50th Avenue Place roundabout improvement project, which 50th Avenue is now Discovery Drive. There was a previous council action taken back in 2024, which resulted in construction contract amount of $21,442,442 an additional $820,000 is requested to complete the project, bringing the total cost to $22,202,205.65 And this is the project experience cost overruns, primarily due to unexpected site conditions, modifications that were necessary to achieve the project requirements. The funding for this project is comprised of financing from the 2024 limited tax general obligation bond issuance and various projects in the tax increment area.

We do there are bond funds remaining, which will be used to cover these costs. And a budget item would be brought forth at a later date to account for these funds in the 2026 budget. Okay. Are there any questions?

I'll I'll the

project, where did it come in relative to engineers' estimates?

Yeah. So, the original project budget was under the engineers' estimate which was $22,133,648 So this puts us slightly above.

Thank you.

Other questions, councilor? Whoops. Other questions? Councilor Davis?

Yeah, I guess I just wanna back up and then also look forward when you know, I think anytime we go through something like this, I'm looking at the list of the reasons for the overruns. They all seem reasonable, like unexpected site conditions, modifications that, you know, are just unforeseen. Have we been able to identify any of those to then be able to apply going forward so that maybe that engineer's estimate could be even that much more accurate to reduce this kind of dollar amount for future projects?

Absolutely. Yeah. That is one thing that we're constantly learning from from all of our projects. We are doing a lessons learned on this one I question.

Good good think appreciate that. Thank you. Sure. Thank you. That's

I guess on that note, I just prompted a thought is, I know that public projects are notorious for going over budget. This in the grand scheme of things feel like it's pretty on point, just just a little over. Like is there a sort of a benchmark variance which we typically see over under on a project budget like this? I don't expect to have that information, but if you did, it's just I'm curious.

So historically, we would like to stay within 10% either side of the engineer's estimate. That's when you know you were pretty spot on.

Yeah.

I don't have our statistics here at Ridgefield where we've come in but I I mean, this one really was pretty close.

Yeah. Yeah.

That's great. Okay. Great. Other questions, counsel? Alright. We'll keep it simple if that's the case, and I would entertain a motion. Alright.

I move to approve the amendment to the construction contract with active active Construction Inc. For the Pioneer widening and 50th Avenue roundabout project in the amount of $820,000 for a total contract of $22,262,205.65

I'll second. Second.

Always moved by Davis, seconded by Chipman. Any discussion, counsel? Hearing none. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. All opposed? Thank you, council. Motion carries. We will move on. We get you for round two. Okay. Our next item of business tonight is a motion to approve the splash pad permit requirement improvements. Ms. Lang, back over to you.

Awesome. Thank you again. So the city of Richfield, we actually do need to perform minor modifications to the existing splash mechanical system and this is to allow us to be in compliance with Clark County Department of Health, the aquatics facility permit for 2026. So, when we are when we were issued our original permit, DOH, Department of Health, overlooked the fact that we did not have an air gap. This is required for our permit.

So what we have proposed is looking up here at the slide, I do want to point out, Julie, if you could go back one slide to the title. This is Eva. This is the daughter of Jason, our project manager on this project, and she was part of the testing crew. So she's just the joy that this brings. Thank you, Julie. So this is an aerial view of what the vault looks like, where the existing sand filter is. It's highlighted there in yellow. We would not need this sand filter if you could go to the next slide which is large. It creates a really large footprint for us to work around rather than with. It's kind of frustrating.

We do require a vac truck to switch out the sand, which is also challenging to get the vac truck in there. And then it does require a backwash process. So the proposal is to switch it out to a cartridge filter, which is the next slide, it which this does have a smaller footprint. It's a lot easier to clean. You just need to wash the filters off.

There's no backwash required. And then by switching to this filter, we also would achieve the air gap requirements. So we are seeking $50,000 in funds to bring this up to operational standards for 2026. Funding will be from other parks budget items, and a budget item will also be brought forward later in this year to account for it. I do also want to thank Jason for all the work that he's done on this project. It's definitely become one of his babies to get it across the finish line.

And his daughter.

And his daughter. His testing crew.

Yes.

Are there any questions?

Any questions for miss Lang? Counselor Davis?

Yeah. Just curious. What is the anticipated lifespan for like the filter compared to like the sand?

You know, that's a great question. I don't know that answer, but I can find out for you.

Yeah. I'm just curious if they're comparable. I mean, seems like there's other advantages to this, of course, but just kind of curious if there's a longevity advantage as well. Thanks. Okay.

Councilor Burkle.

Thank you. Just a quick question. Will we actually have the splash pad up and running May 2?

That is the goal. We already in conversations with land land expressions. All of a sudden, I was wait, that's not the right one. That is the right one. To have them on-site to start performing work, pending whatever this outcome is here tonight. So they are ready to come up, get it done in about a week. We'll do some additional testing, make sure we're good to go, and then we should be set.

Thank you.

Anybody else? Okay, great. I think that concludes our questions. If there's no other questions, council, this is a business item. So, I'd entertain a motion here as well.

I'll make a motion to approve the splash pad. Let me see here. The required improvements and the extra $50,000 to get it into compliance. Second.

Okay. It's been a motion by Chipman, second by Favela. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Thank you, counsel. Motion carries. Thanks, Ms. Lang. All right. We have another item of business tonight. This is a resolution number six seventy three authorizing purchase of property as a voluntary mitigation identified in interlocal agreement with Clark Callis Fire Rescue. Mister Johnson.

Thank you, mister mayor to complete multiple infrastructure projects around the junction area. Specifically, the biggest one, obviously, was pioneer widening. So with that, we funding up the funding source. Source. And And what what the the funding source is is it locks the, property values in that tax increment area at the time that council approves that, tax increment increment financing plan.

And any increment, after that goes into the funding source, which is diverted to the city to pay for any, bonds or costs for those projects. So as a part of that, there was no requirement for the city to, provide any mitigation. But we worked with Clark Callets Fire Rescue because there was some impacts to the district, to offer voluntary voluntary mitigation. And the majority of the mitigation, the biggest part of it was to work with them to purchase land for a new fire station on the west side of the freeway for up to $2,000,000. So what we're bringing to you tonight is the resolution so that, the city manager can take the necessary steps to do two pieces.

One is to purchase land from the fire district that is next to Roark on Hillhurst, for land that they were going to use at one time for the fire station, but was deemed not to be, necessary for that. And so it's land they're no longer using. So we are buying that from them for the, assessed value or the appraised value, I should say, of $310,100 so they can use that in addition to, get this land. And then, provide one point, or 1,689,900 up to that full 2,000,000 to purchase land on Royal Road where they will have the fire station, and then they'll build build that after the fact. What we're hoping to do is get council's approval tonight.

The one requirement that we did ask the fire district to do was give us assurance that this meets the voluntary mitigation which they have already done and then I believe that they did approve that at tonight's meeting. Is that correct? Yes. Purchase and sale. Okay. So the purchase and sale agreement has been approved. What we're hoping to do is go to closing on both of these properties by mid March. With that, any questions that you may have, I'll answer those.

Any questions? My only question is just going back to originally, and I don't know if we ever found out, but like what the potential what what the city is is giving up and and potential tax revenue that would come from that property because it'll be a public for public use now versus commercial. Is is did we ever get any sort of idea what what that looks like?

Well, that that's a hard one to answer because it depends on what would have located there. So we don't really know. You know, could it have been a medical facility? Could it have been a retail establishment? The way it was zoned would have been, high retail. So the highest and best use was retail. So, we will forego sales tax and and there would be a a higher property tax on that land. But it's hard to say exactly what that would be. But with the studies that the fire district did do, it showed that, for, their service time and response time that that really was a great location. And all of that was presented to council to look at and add into this decision.

Great. Okay. Thank you. Other questions or comments, council? Alright, if there are no other questions for staff on this one, I would accept the motion.

I move to approve resolution number six seven three as presented.

Second.

Okay. It's been moved by Burkle, seconded by Favela. Any further discussion? Here in none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Motion carries. Thank you very much, counsel, and looking forward to moving ahead with this one. This is going be good for our community. Okay. We have one final item on our agenda tonight for business. This will be the second reading of ordinance number fourteen sixty eight. This is the Ridgefield Municipal Code amendments part three. Miss Lust.

Thank you, mayor. Good evening, council and members of the public. This is the second reading of the third part of this year's big batch of code amendments Part three. As as council and I'm sure some other folks with us today will recall we've we've worked together on, a number of code amendments since 2025. These are have all been amendments based on feedback from council, feedback from our, boards and commissions, members of the public, customers, and staff who work with the code day in and day out.

And all these stakeholders come up with ways to improve processes and and outcomes and and that's where where we get to with these code updates. So, part three, the focus of it, originally was on the sign code. It still is. Some some bits and pieces have been added in throughout the process, as well. So this covers, a few different topics, but the sign code updates are still a major part of it.

So with that, we'll go ahead and go through the topics. So the first slide here I have is all the proposed sign code amendments. These are all topics that council has and planning commission have gone through previously. And in the summary table included in your packet has notes about what planning commission's comments were and then what council's initial feedback was back at the first hearing this fall. So, I'm not gonna go through everyone because we have talked about them in in quite some detail at previous meetings but I will turn it back to you mayor for any discussion or questions on these sign items.

All right. Thank you, Ms. Last. Counsel, any questions on any of these? Any comments? I start with you, Councillor Davis. Yeah. Oh, sorry. You want to go first? No. No.

You can go. For sure.

Okay. No. I appreciate I appreciate the diligence. Like, obviously, we have a lot of variance in signs. And so it seems like it's a remarkably difficult, like, arena to really define, you might say, just because of all the the changes.

But I guess I just wanted to say I I appreciate the thoughtfulness of taking some of the examples that we have kinda gravitated towards and public has, like, kinda expressed admiration of. And then some of the ones that it was like, oh, that probably didn't turn out maybe how we'd preferred, but it is what it is. So I I just really want to say and appreciate your thoughtfulness on the sign element.

Okay. I I have one question. And the question is that in the sign code, it states that the signs have to be turned off whenever the business closes or 11:00 at night. We do not enforce that. And if we've got a law on the books, we should enforce or we should eliminate it is my comment. So can you comment on that?

Sure, counselor Waltz. You're you're you're correct on on what the code provision currently states, for illuminated signs. The current code requirement is that they're turned off when the business closes or 11PM, whichever is later. Does that make sense? Yes. And you are correct that, as with any code enforcement, enforcement is complaint based. And to my knowledge, our our code enforcement staff has not received complaints to enforce on on that standard.

Yes. I I agree a 100%, but they have not received a complaint. But what happens if somebody doesn't like their neighbor and starts complaining? Then what are we gonna do?

Then it would become a code enforcement case, enforceable under under title 20, same as as any other reported code violation. Our code enforcement officer would investigate the violation. And if they they find it to be present or ongoing, would go through the the standard procedures of first warning, second warning citation.

K. I'm gonna still rebut. I think that we should eliminate it from our sign code. If we're not enforcing it, and it's a law that we are supposed to enforce it if somebody complains, then why do we have it? And everybody most everybody leaves, and I can't say everybody, most everybody leaves or signs on after they close. So it's a potential issue down the road. We haven't had it as an issue but that's that's my comment.

Thank you, Councilor. What a Councilor Pavella and then Councilor Davis.

During our last conversation, I don't recall the topic that I'm bringing up being discussed, but I will not name where I see these the towers that have multi businesses or you see the business complex with many business signs in them, you there are places I have seen where there's no business, so it's hollow, and it looks very rundown. Do we have something in place that if there is a tower that has many businesses slated for that, that the even when it's empty, that it's still showing some sort of opaque plexiglass in place and not just hollow so that it's kind of uniformed?

We do not have any standards that currently speak to that. No.

I think we should probably look at that then maybe or add that at some point.

We can look into that. Yeah.

Thanks, councilor. Councilor Davis?

Yeah. Thank you, mayor. I guess speaking to councilor Wells' concern, I guess I'm curious before we repeal it, I'd like to know why we have that rule on the books that to that requires when they're closed or by 11PM to turn off the exterior light sign?

While we don't have a clear legislative history on it, it was developed at a time when additional sign code elements were being created to minimize light glare at the nighttime with response to Pacific Flyway. So it was part of the ordinances that were adopted to minimize nighttime light glare that might affect migratory bird populations. Forgive my

is it zoned? So commercial neighborhood, business, or downtown sub areas? Is it different?

It's not specific to a zone. It's a a city wide sign illumination requirement.

Okay. Thank you. Council, other questions on this one?

Alright. Oh, was somebody else? Oh. Would it be appropriate to turn around and pass this ordinance? Is it an ordinance? Yes. Pass the ordinance and delete delete the shut off period on signs?

It is possible, counselor, that you, as a council, could do that. The title that is before you for amendment does it is the sign code, which does include that provision. So we have checked with city city attorney and with the planning director and yes, it is possible and appropriate that you could amend that subsection of code out if you so prefer as a council.

I so wish to amend having having that that subsection subsection out. Out. We

we need to have a motion first and then you can amend it, right? Or you'd include it, I'm sorry, you'd include it with your original motion.

I was concerned with the original motion.

We have other items to go through. You're wanting to pass pass this as a package like we've done before. Right?

This is a package. Correct. Yes.

So we can pull it out if you want, but I think that it'll be good to go through everything. And then when we get there, make a motion and include that in your motion.

Okay. We got other things to go through. I thought it was all we had was on the script. No.

Yeah. A a motion can take this package. Of

we're a

of the to so

team.

On. Perfect. And So these are the rest of the amendments proposed amendments in this batch. A few different topics. Think most of them are me. One of them is mister Stewart. Save the best for last there. But the, let's see. The ones I wanna talk through, first of all, making hours of construction forcible under title 20. That's just a procedural fix for our staff.

Codifying our existing practice of calculating impact fees at the time of building permits submittal, collecting them at final occupancy for residential or building permit issuance for commercial. My goodness, that was a large bug. And being able to defer commercial traffic impact fees to final occupancy. Again, this is our existing practice. It's something that is supported by code in a few different areas.

This would just kind of consolidate that and make it crystal clear. The other two I have to talk about here are one has to do with commercial building design. This is sort of the outcome of the long conversation both Planning Commission and Council had about color on the And we're excited code team. Is And soft on contrasting trim. This would change that to a requirement that's proposed as something that would complement the existing code that calls for earth toned base of of

a

on behalf of the BIA during public testimony earlier this evening. The code to require steep slopes in residential developments to be terrorist to preserve usable open space. This is something worked on with our city engineer to get some draft code language in place, which is included in your packet. I'll I'll leave that conversation there, but no council may have feedback on that one as well. And then I will hand it to mister Stewart for the last item in this batch.

Last item in this batch is to codify right of way use standards adjacent to parade routes, including placement of chairs on public property after 12PM the day day prior to a parade. This comes this is a codification of an existing condition for special event permits associated with the parade on the July 4. The history of this is that every special event permit goes through a review process at a staff level, and then conditions are created along with the event organizers to assure the public's safety and enjoyment of those events. One of those conditions that has been developed over the years is having some semblance of order associated with putting chairs out the day before the fourth of July parade. Some years ago, it got to the point where chairs were being placed out many days in advance of the fourth of July parade, blocking right of way, blocking ADA accessibility, accessibility, and ramps.

Thus, the event organizers and city staff, including police, administration, executive, got together to figure out what a safe standard might be. The standard that we have most recently been used to that is enacted as part of that condition is that people can bring chairs down to the parade route at 6PM. They can leave those chairs overnight have them there the next morning. If they do not, stay stay with their chairs until 6PM, those chairs are removed from that area, and then, they can be picked back up at Ridgefield Police Department. The goal of this is, again, to codify what is currently a rule as a condition of an event permit to get better clarity for the public and for those who are seeking to enforce those guidelines.

The guidelines do get more specific about when people can arrive with those chairs being noon on the day prior to a parade. Also, how many chairs people may bring. In this code update, it would be five chairs per adult that may be brought and that they may be placed out between twelve and 6PM so long as that one person remains with the five chairs that are adjacent to one another and not just strung into wider areas together with rope or ribbon or otherwise. So basically, trying to keep it relatively straightforward and simple, but give better clarity for the public within this. The only thing I would add is that there have been questions about whether this is a tightening of code.

This is actually an allowance under the code. Currently, the code does not allow the disposal of personal property in public right of way at any time. So three hundred and sixty five days a year currently, if people left chairs, blankets, otherwise, in the public right of way, they would be removed as disposed of property. So this is an allowance during the time frame between 6PM and the next day for people to actually leave that pub private property in the public right of way without having it removed. Happy to answer any questions on that and then turn it back over to Director Lass.

Great. Council, any questions on this one specifically? Okay. I do have some questions on going back to the think question. Question. That's that's a We'll start with counselor Hamilton. We'll work our way down. How about that?

Thank you. Okay. So thoughts on the BIA letter that we got today and the slope and how that relates. We didn't get the letter till 04:15, so these are newer thoughts here. But we put a lot of intentionality into talking about slopes. Mean, these conversations have been had. So I'm a little bit I don't want to impact affordability, but I want us to shape the way that our city looks. So that's what's the most important thing to me. I would love to discuss or have other opinions on that affordability factor. But we also need to have for how things look and this has been very thoughtfully dove into for hours and hours by city staff. So, that's my initial thoughts.

Great. Thank you, councilor. We'll go to Councilor Brickwell.

My question regarding the steep slopes, do we have any idea at all as to what the impact could be on the cost of the home to the end user?

That is not data we have at this time.

Thank you. Councilor Wells.

I would like to address the codified practice of calculating impact fees at the time of building permits and collecting impacts at final occupancy. It's only fair to the people that are investing on building infrastructure in the city. And so I am in support of it because that way then they only have to pay that huge impact fee when they start occupying. Mhmm. Or it's it's they can open their door. Where Whereas they had to do it upfront. So, it it only makes sense. And.

Great. Mayor and council, if I might, on that, just to clarify that provision, why it's being brought forward to you and that it is already a practice as councilor Wells stated, kind of the fairness associated with the, those who are making an investment. The practice is that there are developers who are building, overbuilding the infrastructure that is necessary to support the growth that they are bringing. They're building more, more parks, more roads than they can be required to by law. And they're doing so to actually provide a public benefit as well as a private benefit.

They are credited for that work that they do because they can do it quicker and cheaper than we can and get the work done. The Storybook Hollow is a great example of a new park that is just getting ready to open in the city. It is gorgeous. It is a lot more than we would be able to do in the time and with the money that the developer has been able to do it. There's a public benefit beyond the impacts they've created.

So what they've asked is, if they create that credit, can they then have the people who are building the houses pay those impact fees later so that once the park opens and we give those credits to the developer, that they're available for that developer to then sell to those builders and have the builders pay down the credits that have been earned. If we don't delay when they pay their impact fees, then they'd pay those impact fees to us. The developer who's providing that extra benefit to the community would not be able to recoup their investment. And as such, then they would be left out in the cold, and they would not make that investment. That's the end of this, is that ultimately, if we do not allow for this, then that extra benefit to the community would not be created.

Thank you. Whoops. Thank you for that. You good? You good? Okay. Cool. Mayor Pro Tem?

I'm good.

Okay. Councilor Vavela.

Yeah. I'm wondering if we, with this steep slopes conversation, this has been an intentional, this is why it's here, we've had intentional conversations. We've seen development happen that is less than ideal that maybe we want to see repeated in the future with the steep slopes and how they have built through that. But I'm wondering if we talk about affordability and then the engineering, if we want to if I can talk tonight, steep slopes on the building, if we only want to do that on the houses that you can the the yards that you can see from the the street view. If you cannot see the slope from the front of the house or the side of the house, we can leave it up to the owner to determine if they want to terrace their slope or not.

Certainly, it's within the purview of the council to determine sideboards, any restrictions associated with any new code. We do have examples of some codes that are design element codes that are only only applicable when they're visible from a street. We do have some of those. I will state that the purpose that we received from council on this, some of it was that you see it. A lot of it was the usability of the space

Yeah.

And the degradation of the slope Mhmm. Which is which is not does not change regarding Right. You know, whether you see it from the roadway or not. Right. So we can do that. Certainly, it would just change the scope of the analysis a little bit.

I think my comment could also be a little knee jerk after receiving the email from BIA, and you have these other things that kinda start percolating in your mind. So I think it is worth, you know, more discussion discussion or or pausing pausing or kinda doing a little bit more digging before we go ahead and finalize anything.

And certainly, again, that is council's purview. If you would like us to create formal have more discussion. As council indicated, this was received this afternoon not only by council but by staff. So, we have not had a chance to create any formal responses or address any of the concerns. If council so wishes, it's certainly something that we can work through and provide you more formalized answers and ideas.

Great. Thank you, Councilor Davis.

Yeah. Thank you, mayor. I mean, I I guess I go back to my own personal home in which we have a a retaining wall out back. And the irony is is I wish that we had actually gone with the slope instead of having the retaining wall and being able to have maybe a nice little daylight basement down there. But I also go back to how much more expensive would my house have been for that additional square footage.

And so when I was going through this time was I in in the the I ishly like for my own house is in compliance. The But when I think about an affordability perspective, that gives me pause. And when I think about, I might not be necessarily a fan of how my lot sits. It's mostly because of wanting to have that extra square footage as opposed to not liking the retaining wall and how high it is. And so the thought of having it's a six foot max, Right?

A

a city engineer is online and can

answer that question. So mister Cast?

Yes. Good evening, council. So just to clarify, the six foot retaining wall maximum height is currently in the code. And we are adding a maximum fill depth of 10 feet as well as the terracing requirement for slopes that are three to one or greater. There's also a process to allow a 20% administrative adjustment to numerical standards. So if there's a particular site that is challenging with topography, they could ask staff to exceed that six foot in that case, the retaining wall or 10 foot in the case of Maxville dimension by up to 20%.

Okay.

I appreciate that insight. Obviously, I am not an engineer. So almost given the fact that none of us are engineers, I would support the notion that we should maybe dive a little deeper before we pass anything. Right? I support that.

Right. Mayor Potem, did you have a question or comment?

Well, had a comment because I mean I think there's a very big difference in slope. So we're talking I think this is driven because of Richfield Heights. It feels to me like because we all went to Richfield Heights and saw you know the yards or whatever and we were all concerned but I mean other than Taverner Ridge and there's a lot of of houses in Taverner Ridge that also have a slope that goes down into a canyon and people are really happy with that. They don't want us they don't want to terrace it. They're really happy with having the slope go down. So I think that we have to be careful not to put a rule around the whole city that actually maybe only should be required in certain spots. And I'm not sure exactly how we would make that determination, but I'm not ready to agree to this yet.

Great. Thank you, Mayor Rotem. I got a quick one quick and I'll go to you next. Mr. Katz, I'm glad you're online. I know it's late for you, so thanks for joining us. I have just a question just comparing what we have in our proposed code that you put in there, like the three to one slope limit versus, I guess, what the BIA is claiming two to one is generally accepted and workable as well as the cut and fill limitations. Could you elaborate on both of those? Like what are the contrasting two points of view, I think, to what you came up with as well as what submitted in the letter on those two items?

Yes, absolutely. And we actually we met with BIA staff earlier this afternoon and clarified. I think there was a little bit of confusion about whether we're limiting steepness of slopes. So the terracing requirement actually kind of mirrors a requirement that's in the International Building Code. And it states that if you have a three:one or steeper slope, then you are required to provide these terraces at a 30 foot interval.

Couple question I from of would determine what the maximum is. We're not saying you can't exceed a three:one slope. But if you have a three:one slope or greater that is over 30 feet, then you would add these terraces in at that 30 foot vertical interval.

Okay. Okay, great. Thank you. Oh, go ahead, Councilor Paul.

Yeah. I agree with the fellow counselors. I think we need to review this a little more before we set it. Yeah. They rise. I'm on. My voice is a little bit bad. But I am fairly familiar with some of the houses that are on steep slopes, but they're not on great blue in Taverner Ridge along the Refuge Road if you want to say that. A lot of them parcels run down into the canyon there.

Uh-huh.

Off of the back of their houses and they're happy with it Right. Because they're on a green belt. Right. And I know of another development that's on the green belt too. And a lot of them, some of them have terrorist them, but a lot of them have just let them run. So think we need to address this a little more before we turn around and set it in stone.

Great, thank you. Other comments or questions at this point?

Thank you. I think the thing the thing in the letter specifically that is sticking out to me that's like, we want to recognize and respect the city's intent to promote thoughtful site development. Like, that's our number one concern, concern, we have to think about that. I do think the affordability piece needs to come in, of course. But it feels like we understand you guys are trying to do a really nice thing, but it's gonna cost us a lot of money. So that's why they sent us a letter. And it feels a little right before the meeting, feels a little bit intentional. So that's just my thought on that.

Yeah. I mean to that end, I I I mean not for nothing. I would point out that this has been on our agenda a couple times before. We've debated this very stuff before. And so I'm I'm a little I'm a little that the BIA would come in at 04:15PM and throw a wrench in this thing when they've had literally months to do this. But I also appreciate the point of view. So counsel, whatever you want to do here. But I appreciate Mr. Caste's rationale as well Those are the two things I had concerns on. So are there other things to discuss here? No. Okay.

One second here.

Erif, I had to add one clarifying point. Sure. For these properties that are on a green belt, they wouldn't necessarily have to provide these terraces unless they are actively grading the hillside. So if you have a house on top of a hill and you're not doing anything on that hill, not grading it, you wouldn't have to terrace it. Only if you are, you know, doing some sort of cut and fill and grading and sort of having that consistent sort of artificial looking three to one or steeper slope would you be required to provide these terraces.

Okay. And mister Cass, were you saying that that the terrace had can be has to be 30 foot? I mean, go out 30 foot before you drop down to the first terrace spot.

There would be, like, a six foot wide terrace on a 30 foot vertical interval. So if you had a, you know, a 30 foot slope, you'd have one terrace. If you had a 60 foot tall slope, you'd have at least two. And so it'd only be on 30 foot or taller slopes terrace requirement would apply.

So I guess I'm thinking of families with small children or whatever in the backyard wanting to play or whatever. And, I mean, you know, what do you fence off the I mean, I'm just thinking of all these different scenarios with families and how, in some cases, this literally might be dangerous for them. I mean, if they're falling

off Yeah.

I mean

Typically, a three to one slope is considered to be, you know, not a danger to fall down, steeper than that. It's generally, you know, somewhat of a concern and you might wanna put a fence at the top of it.

Yeah. I I mean some of these I don't I'm sure you've seen them but some of these are pretty egregious. Like there's was driving up the other day and there's one. It's like there's a backdoor that goes out and it just the backdoor just goes off a cliff. Oh. And, you know, I I mean, there's a there's a certain point where there's a marketability here too. Right? It's like what the market will bear. I personally wouldn't buy a home like that ever. I wouldn't trust a home builder who would thought that was But a good I do think that, you know, there is some guardrails we can put in place too. So Okay. Councilor Wells.

I've gotta give councilor Chipman of Mayor Pro Tem a bad time. We all lived through it when we were kids.

Did we ever? That's that's it.

The steep

slope.

Okay, other other commentary right now. Seeing none. Miss Julie, would you please read the ordinance into the record?

Thank you, Ordinance number one four six eight. Ordinance of the City of Richland, Washington, mending chapters within titles five, nine, eighteen, and twenty of the Richland Municipal Code.

Great. Thank you. At this point, council, I would accept a motion. Oh, you take take a minute. We don't we don't we're not have to we don't have to rush through the center. There's a couple of thing considerations here. So, if we want to discuss at this point to figure out what we'd want the motion to be or what it should include, please, please do.

So Councilor Wells had something you wanted in your you wanted to amend a motion

to I would like to delete the sign sign shut off time. Yeah. That's the only thing that I want to put in there and I did make a comment on on the fees at occupancy rather than that I just agreed to that. So, there was no difference. The only only thing I wanted to throw in was not having to eliminate the sign shutoff time.

Okay.

That portion of the code.

Will that suffice, or do we need to actually cite the code?

Suggestion would be again, sorry. My suggestion would be that you take up you would take a motion on the entirety of what is being presented, and then councilor Wells would move to amend Yep. And amend to add, is a weird way of saying it, but to include a deletion of that subsection of the code with the he doesn't need to state the exact code provision. We have it. And then if he gets a second and then you would vote on that, then it would be added to that overall that overall motion. Then if you wanna make any other changes, pulling anything else out, like, for example, if you wanted to pull out the conversation about the slopes Okay. Then you could pull that out as an amendment as well before taking any action on the the rest of

it. Great.

Great. That that'll suffice too. Okay. Does somebody want to go ahead and move ahead with emotion? And then we can go through amend his notice. Take one for

the team,

mayor of Potem.

You got it.

No. Brian's got I

moved to adopt Ornitz 1468.

Second.

Okay. It's been moved by Davis, seconded by Wells to adopt ordinance number fourteen sixty eight as presented. Council, any discussion?

I have discussion. Yeah. I'd like to amend the motion and delete the portion of the ordinance that requires signs to be turned off when you close or at 11:00 at night.

Okay. It has been moved to amend the motion to remove the apartment to shut off lighted signs at 11:00. Do I have a second council?

Second.

Seconded by Favela. Any further discussion?

Yes, I'd like to amend it, amend it to pull the part.

No, We let me pull the just have to discuss this amendment first. Okay. We'll do one amendment.

Voting on the amendment? Yeah. Alright.

Anything else on this one? Okay. The motion on the floor to amend. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All opposed? Okay. That carries. Thank you.

It's off the screen now, but I would like to see us further deliberate at another meeting the steep slope portion of it, which is no longer on the screen so I can't read it to you. I would like to amend and hold out the part that says require steep slopes in residential developments to be terraced to to preserve usable open space. I think

a think of

of the residential developments item from this ordinance.

For further consideration.

For further consideration on the road. Any further discussion, counsel? Okay. All those in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed? Okay. Thank you. That amendment carries. Councilor Davis.

Yeah. Mister Mayor, I have an amendment to the parade route component. I'd like to offer an amendment that requires a minimum of 10% of the route cumulatively to be set aside and unreservable and unoccupied until four hours prior to the

And think good I feel like

it that's still offers a a good 90% of the ir parade route as reservable the day before and preserves that tradition, but also allows people that might have conflict with work or whatever or just a change of heart and wanna go down to the parade the day of, the opportunity to participate.

Is it's been moved. Is there a second on that one?

I second that.

Okay. It's been moved by Davis, seconded by Chipman. Discussion. Mister mayor,

I I I've got a question for mister Davis. Sure. I support your concern. But who is going to monitor it? That that's my question I have. I agree with you a 100%. Yeah. But how how are they gonna figure out where the 10% is?

I mean, I would offer an answer, I guess, independent of being tied up in the motion, But I would envision it would be up to the city manager to determine the way to do that. And I feel like it would be partitioned off. He thought he

was getting away from this.

Yeah. Yeah. I so appreciate.

Yeah. Yeah.

I would love to.

I mean, I think it's as simple as roping off and making some sides that said, this is reserved for day of.

You're you're the idea is that the city manager or staff Sure. Designate Yes. Would would designate that 10% area?

Yeah. And yeah. We would identify a cumulative 10%.

So So as far as how we enforce it, the way that the ordinance would be enforced as it is written is very similar to how we enforce it now, which is that in working with event coordinators, the event organizers work with city staff to identify the parade route and identify where those areas are that are safe to be able to reserve. We already do that work to block off areas like ADA ramps, accessibility requirements, those pieces. It would simply be part of that process is that we would identify a portion of the route. We would do the overall linear length of it, determine what 10% of it is, and then it would end up getting blocked off similar to how we block off the streets, similar how do we block off, don't park here the night before. You're gonna get towed kinda thing, for that.

So it would be part of the normal process that we do. And then as far as enforcement, if you move forward with something like this, it would be enforced the same way that we would be enforcing the rest of the ordinance which is this as we talked about would be codified and enforceable by law enforcement or code enforcement officers.

Okay, great.

Councilor Stewart, I have a question. Yes, sir. The question is, are you going to use a tape and measure down to inches? Or are you going to just step it off?

The good news we have is that GIS for the county has an excellent linear measurement tool, and we would use that. We would use GIS measurement and use the aerials and do a linear measurement using that.

Thank you.

You're very welcome.

And mister Wells, I would add that I was very intentional in my addition of the word cumulative in that I'm hoping that it might create a variety of smaller zones at different parts of the route minimum of 10%.

I've seen Jesse at work with his little pole and says where he's at and how many feet. So I see that they can do that.

Okay. Councilor Favela.

I really appreciate the sentiment, counselor Davis, but I do wholeheartedly disagree. This parade has been going on for so long, and people figure it out all the time. They bunk up with friends to have friends bring the chairs down and stay with them, and then they all group up in the morning. They line up behind people on the sidewalks. You have I mean, look at the Hazel Dell parade. They're they're not prescriptive. I just I don't wanna get into a place where we're, like, put so many things and sidebars on this because it should be a really fun event and people make it, they just make it work. But I do appreciate the sentiment and that is just my own take on this.

Councilor Davis?

Yeah. I I guess I would state that I don't think this makes it any less fun. I guess I'm just trying to make it more accessible to people. I feel like it's at a reasonable percentage. It's not reserving half. It's the vast majority of the parade route is still gonna be available. And I've talked to plenty of people who have said, like, I just don't go down anymore because it's too many many people. And by the time I go down, all the front row is occupied and, you know, the whole point is going with my kids. And, you know, front row is occupied. They're not getting the candy and all the stuff.

And so it's just trying to make that accessible for them and trying to find that balance.

Great. Thank you.

So we need to throw the candy further at back

too. I

do I am curious that, you know, to counsel for Vella's point, I how many people maybe are deterred from going to parade because they don't wanna deal with that. I know my parents have had that before. They don't reserve till the day of. So I just wanna make sure that, you know, I I the inclusivity or the just making it equitable for people. So and it's just a small portion of it.

I agree with the sentiment being very nice too. I am worried about who at two in the morning is gonna double check someone's not sneaking down there and putting a chair. I mean, I I know we've talked about that kind of stuff, but I think in theory, it it is very sweet and makes a lot of sense. I just don't know if in practice how that's my only worry.

Guess we'll find out.

Yeah. I mean Do you mind?

Everything we do is gonna have people that figure out a way to maybe, you know, get around it. But I'd like to think most people in Richfield, if they saw a sign that says, hey, this is not to be occupied until four hours before, they'd be like, oh, well, okay.

Other comments or questions at this point? Okay, there is a motion to amend. It's been seconded. So if there's no other discussion, all those in favor, the motion is to also just reiterate is to allocate 10%, a cumulative 10% of the parade route for nonreservable space. Is that a good way of saying that?

Yeah. And I up until four hours before the Up until four

hours before.

Of the event.

Yeah. Okay. All those in favor, aye. Aye. All opposed? Okay. Thank you, counsel. So, we have three amendments. Is there any other amendments anybody would wish to offer at this point? Okay. We can return to the main amended motion. Is there any remaining discussion? Okay. So, do I need to reiterate that? Or is it are we

We got it.

Okay. Good. Hang on one second here. Lost my sheet. It's right here in front of me. Okay. Miss Julie, would you please call the roll?

Council Member Davis.

Yes.

Council Member Favela. Yes. Council Member Wells?

Yes.

Council Member Burkle?

Yes.

Council Member Hamilton? Yes. Mayor Proton Shipman? Yes. Mayor Cole?

Yes. Thank you, council. The ordinance passes. Appreciate all of your thoughtfulness on this one this time. Okay. We are going to move on to a public hearing this evening. This is a the first reading of ordinance number fourteen seventy four. The Windy Hills phase two petition to annex. Miss Lust.

Thank you again, mayor. This agenda item is a gonna be a brief presentation and then council discussion on public hearing. No action is being request at the state. This is the Windy Hills phase two petition to annex. Next slide, please. Oops. Forgot to change the title. It's a petition to annex. Alright. So just as a background

So I question.

A

ir

of this petition to annex. It's three properties in the G Creek Plateau sub area. Total acreage is about 8.4 acres. These properties are designated as urban low density residential. On the G Creek Plateau sub area plan, the zoning designation is residential low density four or four units per developable acre.

And the parcels as with all of their parcels in the sub area have the urban holding 10 zoning overlay. At this time, the signatories to the petition to annex have not indicated any future plans for the parcel, including any any future, conceptual development proposals. This is simply an annexation request. Previously, the this group of three parcels went through the intent to annex process. On January 8, council approved the resolution of intent to annex, resolution number six six nine, which also also authorized circulation of this petition to annex.

The 20, to quarter we're the results step in the process, which is the public hearing. So So with that, I will see go ahead and hand it back to you, mayor, for any questions.

Thanks. Great. Thank you, miss Last. Counsel, any questions for staff on this item? Seeing none, we're gonna go to public hearing. I'm I will now open the public hearing to receive testimony. If you sign up with the city clerk before the meeting, your name will be called and you will receive permission to unmute your microphone or step up to the podium. If you did sign up in advance but would like to speak, please use the raise hand feature on your toolbar. If you're joined by phone, press 9 to raise your hand and press 6 to mute or unmute. The city clerk will grant you permission to speak.

And when speaking, please state your name and keep your comments to three minutes. There will be no back and forth discussion with city council. This public hearing is now open. Is there miss Julie, is there anybody signed up to give comment during the hearing?

I do not have anyone sign up.

Okay. Is there anybody in the room this evening who wishes to comment on this public hearing?

I will turn the lights out tonight.

That made it exciting though.

I'm glad he woke up.

Roy Garrison. 1186 South 30th Place. I'm in support of the annexation. As you're aware, I think you guys should grab the bull by the horns, throw the damn thing to the ground, and annex that whole area that you surround us in because you've annexed all the roads and everything. Must take that responsibility as, to me, I would you get me in the city, I'd vote for every nag on one of you.

Not that that's why we would do that. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to give comment during this public hearing? I'll give it one more shot. Anybody in the room? Miss Julie, is there anybody online who is willing to give a public comment?

Not seen in one line.

Okay. I'm going to close public hearing. Thank you very much. Public hearing is now closed. Hang on a second here. Miss Julie, would you please read the ordinance into the record?

Ordinance number one four seven four, ordinance of the city of Richfield, Washington annexing to the corporate limits of the city of Richfield approximately 8.4 acres, identified as the Windy Hills Phase two annexation area clustered overlay and urban holding tent overlay.

K. Great. Thank you very much. This is first reading only and will be come back to us at a later time.

So I'd like to make a motion that we waive second reading.

Hang on a second.

Council, I believe that you can waive second reading on this ordinance and and adopt it on first reading or adopt it tonight if you wish. I I I believe I'm going to check with Claire because I think there's some specific notice requirements but I they may have already been met.

Yeah, the follow-up on that, we have received a certificate of sufficiency from the Clark County assessor's office, which is the only documentation we needed from them. So I believe all of our procedural and noticing requirements have been met.

Okay. So you made you're moving to waive second

reading? Second.

Okay. It's been moved by Mayor Pro Tem Shipman and seconded by Councilor Favela to waive second reading on ordinance number fourteen seventy four. Is there any discussion on that council? Hearing none? Okay. If that's the case, miss Julie, would you please call the roll?

Yeah. Council member Davis?

Aye.

Council member Favalla? Yes. Council member Wells? Yes. Council member Burkle?

Yes.

Council member Hamilton? Yes. Mayor Pro Tem Chipman? Yes. Mayor Cole?

No. Thank you very much. Much more curious. Alright. That concludes our public hearings and our business for this evening. So, we're going to move back into public comment. 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 a raise hand feature located at the toolbar at the bottom of your Zoom screen. For controls over the phone, press 9 for raised hand, and press 6 to mute or unmute. Please state your name and limit your comments to three minutes. Chief Noor.

Mayor Cole and counsel, just wanted to take a few minutes to bring up three items. One, I want to thank council's support for the purchase sale agreement for enables the fire district to buy a piece of property on Royal Road to build a fire station. We had our longest commission meeting tonight in the ten years that I've been there. But that's because we had an extended educational opportunity for bonds, which I see was on your agenda too. But you must have got it through it quicker than we did.

So we got the legal update on all the ways we can get in trouble with bonds. And we got the update from the seller on how we're going to purchase bonds. And that is our intent to move forward with that, get bonds, and initiate construction just as soon as possible. So looking forward to closing on that. The second thing is we were happy to help out by providing multiple letters of support for grants and other congressional earmarks for infrastructure projects here.

And I had mentioned to Councilor Favela at the last meeting, anything we could ever do to help you? Because when you have a great transportation network, we can get our big heavy fire engines and ladder trucks up and down those roads. So if there's anything we can do to work together to improve emergency response for all of the residents of the area, really appreciate that. And my third item is I want to thank Mayor Cole and Councilor for participating in a training burn that we had this past week. It was a good opportunity for me to talk about all the great things our firefighters do. And I hope that you enjoyed your opportunity to see it in action. And we survived, and I'd only have one little bruise on my hiney where I fell over.

We weren't going to mention that.

If it turns up in video, I'm really going to be upset. Thank you so much for participating and all you do to support the fire districts. Districts. Really appreciate it.

Great. Thank you, chief. Thanks for being here. Is there anybody else wishing to give a public comment? Okay. Michelle, anybody online?

Not seeing anyone online.

All right. That's easy then. We will go ahead and move forward with if sure not I'm I'm

if I'm

attend a history on tap at our own Liberty Theater hosted by the Clark County Historical Society. It's an ongoing event that is generally held at the Kiggins Theater in Downtown Vancouver, show to our town, I had to make sure to attend. We are annual members of the historical museum. They do fantastic work. And this presentation was no exception to that.

It was on the Kaiser shipyards and the history of it and just the growth. The first Permanente was right there on the shores there, kind of water resource center ish area, if I read the map right. So it was really neat to see that little bit of history and to, I don't know, hoping it's not the last one.

Great. Thank you. Awesome. Hey, gentlemen over here in the left. Could I ask you if you wanna continue conversation, could you go out in the foyer so that council can conduct their business? Thank you. I appreciate it. Okay. Councilor Vavela.

I'll be quick. My son is home today from the military, and I would like to get out of here and go spend more time with him. But the highlight of the week was the training burn that mayor Cole and I participated with the fire department. As you all most of you know, my husband is also a firefighter, so he made me this beautiful pink glittery fire helmet that I could wear during the training burn. And we learned so much.

Chief Nor was taught us so many things. We had the best time. And the funniest part of all of this is when Mayer and I got our gear on, I'm looking at him, and he is like he looks like a kid who put last year's winter coat on but had a girl's spurt. But he was really gonna hang in there and, like, he was gonna tough it out. And then we realized we had each other's cold. So

man in a little coat.

We do not wear the same size. And I was swimming in mine. So we we swapped it out. And once we got comfortable in our gear, we had an incredible time.

Yeah.

Yeah. And we ran into Steve from the city, I believe. Mr. Themert got a selfie. But Mr. Steve stopped by and was like, oh my gosh, I didn't know if counsel knew this was happening. But I saw the pink hat. And I thought, you know what? I bet that's her. And it was. It was me. That's it. Thank you.

Great. Counselor Wells, you wanna go next?

Okay. Can

I put on you the spot? Are you sure? I'm I'm positive, sir.

I attended a three meetings and response for the city but I'm going to report on two pre apps. I'm going to do it briefly and

to going

you ask ask history with that. I'll share in a second. It is located on 10th Avenue and 2 59th or 85th And Avenue and North 10th in Ridgefield, corner of the city limits on the north hand. I couldn't figure out how it was called John's Farm, and I'll look at Roy. And I know Roy will know.

It was Turkey John, John Luxenberg. From years ago, he used to raise turkeys. What do we got? That's probably one of his turkey flies or one of his turkeys. That was one parcel that's being asked to be brought in 20.4 acres. It's under employment zone, and they're gonna ask for a zone change. So, anyway, that's that's the short part of it. The other one is a pre op for O'Reilly's auto Yeah. Yeah. Parts.

And it's is that Taps by by Rose Hours? Mhmm. It's across to the east of it or across the street from Les Schwab, right on the corner there. And it's a seventy three eighty five foot square foot building. So that's two potential pre ops. Doesn't mean that they're gonna happen, but it's a good, I gotta say, good likely that it will happen.

Thank you, counselor. Councilor Burkle.

Thank you, mayor. Having been out of town for most of the last two weeks, I did have a very very informational meeting with city manager Stewart and that's what I did. Thank you.

Thank you and welcome back. Councilor Hamilton.

Thank you. I have started a new job as of this week. So my activities have shifted a little. So I'm figuring all the balance of that out, and I'm really excited about my new position. And, yeah, that's Thank you. You.

Mayor Poten?

I only had a couple things actually in the last couple of weeks. One of them was the ribbon cutting and grand opening of the OnPoint Credit Union, which I actually missed the first part of that I was supposed to forget. But it was have a beautiful branch. Great turnout. Vancouver Chamber of Commerce and the Ridgefield Chamber of Commerce both participating in that and a lot of people there. And at their grand opening, they gave Neighbors Helping Neighbors a check for $5,000 which was a very big deal for us. So we're really glad to see them come to town. And other than the briefing, that was the only two things that I had this last couple weeks.

Okay, great. Well thanks for your contributions. Real quick for me, of them have just been touched on, but I did want to touch on them again. Number one, just thank you to Chief Moore and your team for showing Councillor Favela and I the ropes and the hoses and all the other things too about fire operations. That that was it was a really like, it was a lot of fun, but it was also really educational.

And I you you expect no less from a fire chief, but this is a man who has a wealth of knowledge and shared only just a fraction of it to us. But I was just very impressed because he was walking us around. Was showing us the things he looks for and all the things I think that you can only get from experience. And so that's the cool part about what we get to do is go do that and see just a little bit of a sliver of experience and know what these guys go through on a daily basis. It was just really cool experience. I had not done that before. I had not like had to fight a fire since the Navy and I was in training as well. And it was just fun to just kind of be a part of that and then to be personally escorted by the fire chief through that. So thank you to you and your team. That was really good.

I learned a lot and look forward to doing it again someday. Also Mayor Pro Tem touched on it, but OnPoint Community Credit Union opened their doors last and I'm really glad they're here and not just because it's another business for another business sake, but we are really fortunate in Ridgefield that we're not only attracting businesses, but we're attracting good businesses. We attract companies like Costco who invest back into their employees, provide who payroll provide great quality, who have great values that they stand on. And I really appreciate that companies like In N Out who are world renowned for their level of service and their quality and their culture that they bring and for them to bring a little bit to Ridgefield. And OnPoint is no exception to that.

I said this in the at the ribbon cutting, but I think it's worth reiterating. They have over 50 team members serving 53,000 customers throughout the region. And they actually have 40 different local nonprofits, not just Neighbors Helping Neighbors, but there's 39 others that they support with over six sixty volunteer hours per year. And they have given I thought I had to figure of how much they've given, but they give back to the community. And so when institutions like OnPoint, Costco and an outcome here, we often look at it as a business opening, but it really reinforces that this is a community worth investing in.

So I'm proud to represent that and to just acknowledge them and welcome them to the community and just looking forward to their partnership going forward. So with that, I will go to the city manager.

Thank you, Mayor. Members of the council, my voice has told me I've used all my words this week. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Any questions for the city manager? Alright. Save your voice then. Mister Thamer.

Alright. Thank you. Tonight, I just wanted to note it's been mentioned several times about the burn at the side of East Side Water Reservoir. After over two years of design, our teams have been working very hard to get to the point where we are making the official switch to the construction phase of the East Side Reservoir that was marked by the building structures being burned. And today, we had the bid opening for the construction contractors for the project itself.

So it's just we talked, I don't know, maybe six months ago about how the water department is growing. We have a lot of projects coming. This is just one of those. I wanted to highlight a couple other things that we've been doing in the water department. We completed some rehab of some wells down at Abrams Park.

With it being the off season, we didn't need all of our wells. So we were able to take some offline and, do some rehab. And we've been seeing, 30 to 40% increase in production out of those wells in our first couple weeks of running them. We also kicked off another project at a potential new well field at Refuge Park or the dog park, a grant that we received from the Department of Health. And that will be looking into whether that site is going to be viable for a future well field, maybe a couple of wells at that site.

So we are working to bring more source and more storage capacity to the water system.

Great. Thank you. And I think it is worth noting that that's a significant effort this year for the city. I think we're investing $19,000,000 this year in capacity and storage, which is no small change for a city of our size. And so thank you for the work you and your team are doing. It was pretty cool at the burn site we were at the other day. We saw where the there's like a little seal and where the well is right there and it's kind of dead center. So we got to see where the new tower is going to be. And it's going to be good to see that online soon. So thank you.

I have a question. Mr. Themer, I got a question. Did you that you had bid opening today?

Yes, we did this afternoon.

So how did we come with the engineer's estimate?

So the the bids did come in very good. We had five bidders. All of them came in under the engineer's estimate. I don't wanna give details now because we're still going through the responsibility checks. But, based on this is the second, bid that we did for this particular project. Four of them came in at or below the previous low bid. One of them was slightly above but also below the engineer's estimate. So they're all good bids.

Okay. Thank you. Other questions for public works? Please.

Do we have an estimated start time on this project?

So we're currently, like I said, going through the responsibility check. We plan on coming back to council. I believe it's on the twelfth to award this bid and the construction management contract. So then it would just take the time for contracting to get completed, have the precon meetings. That will be up to the capital team and then to, get a construction schedule from the contractor that receives the award.

Thank you. Great. Other questions? Alright. Great. Well, we'll just let hang on to the microphone. We'll go to finance, mister Johnson.

Thank you. Question for councilor Favela. Is there a video on YouTube of you in full gear carrying the hose running up the training tower? No. I was hoping to go home and watch understand that, councilor Wells had some questions for me.

Oh, I do? I do. The question I have or the question is is how many businesses do we have registered in the city of Richville?

Okay. Well, thank you for giving me twenty four hours to run down the the information. I got the best information that we could get in that time. But what I could see, it's a little bit difficult because it's in the 9642 ZIP code, and that also includes some of the county. But trying to weed that out, it looks like we have 679 total business licenses for businesses city in 2025.

392 of those are home businesses and then 287, businesses that are, brick and mortar. Compared to 2024, we had 585 businesses with 340 home based and 245 brick and mortar. So, that would be 42 additional businesses in one year.

Wow. Okay. I do have one other comment. I was cleaning out some things in my office in the archives. And in 07/22/2009, seventeen seventeen years ago, we had a grand total of 57 businesses.

Oh. That

was at the end of the downturn in the economy, but we had 57 in 2009. You

born today.

Thank you.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you.

Don't have anything else tonight.

Okay. Great.

Do have any other questions though?

Other questions for mister Johnson? Alright. Thank you, sir. Miss Parker.

Nothing this evening. Just happy to answer questions.

Council questions for city attorney. Alright. Thank you, ma'am. Miss Lust. Sorry, couldn't see you for a second. I was trying to figure out who's there.

Thank you, mayor. I am still here. In light of that latest batch of code amendments, I just wanna take the opportunity to to recognize the hard work that that my staff does on those. You know, they're often the ones through their work recognizing the need to make a change, which sometimes that's the biggest hurdle in the process is is just having that awareness and coming up with solutions and and working them through. So just a shout out and a thank you to them for all that hard work.

Thank you. The sentiment is shared. Thank you very much. Please pass along our thanks. Ms. Najnaris? Okay. Nothing for anything with the deputy city manager? Alright. Thank you. And last, chief Doriot.

Not really much to add, although I'm feeling a little pressure now to get counsel out on some police maneuvers and tactical training. So happy to answer any other questions, though.

Great. Oh, okay.

Does that come with pink gear? Okay. Alright.

Other questions? Okay. Seeing none, thank you very much everybody for being here tonight. This meeting is adjourned.