City Council - Regular Meeting

All right, it's Thursday, July 9th, and I'm going to call this session of the Ridgefield City Council to order. Would you please rise and join me for the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilor Lee Wells?

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

All right, thank you. All right, Ms. 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. Okay, Mr. Stewart, is there any late changes to the agenda? No late changes, Mayor. Okay, we're going to move on. We have a proclamation tonight to kick off. ADA month. I'm going to read the proclamation and we have our friends from Community Motion, Mr. Walt Gordon and Ms. Holly Hill are here to join us tonight. So we're going to read this and we'll have you come up and receive it. We'll do a little photo op and then we'll let you watch. You're going to give a brief presentation after that. So you can say a few words, but you can save it for your presentation as well. But I'll read it. It says, Whereas the Americans with Disabilities Act signed into law on July 26, 1990 by President George Bush establishes a clear and comprehensive mandate for the elimination of discrimination based on disability and guarantees equal access to public spaces, employment, government services, and transportation. And whereas the theme for the 36th anniversary, The World Works Better With Us, acknowledges that the ADA has expanded opportunities for people with disabilities by reducing barriers and changing perceptions and increasing full participation in community life. And whereas while there has been progress, the full promise of the ADA has not been reached. Equal access issues have been expanded from removing physical barriers to creating digital accessibility, website and mobile app usability, non-discriminatory use of AI-assisted hiring tools, remote work accommodation and transportation challenges. And whereas Community in Motion helps ensure that Ridgefield residents with disabilities have reliable transportation options that support healthy, independent living, CIM provides a shuttle service and personalized door-to-door services to help residents reach medical appointments, shopping centers, places of employment, and community events. And whereas founded in 1957, CIM services are made possible by dedicated staff, volunteer drivers, and community partners such as C-TRAN, Washington State Department of Transportation, and Washington State Health Care Authority. Now therefore, I, Matt Cole, Mayor of the City of Ridgefield, Washington, do hereby proclaim the month of July 2026 as Americans with Disabilities Month, and I urge all residents to raise awareness about CIM, recognize that progress has been made in providing equal access, and commit to breaking down barriers that adults and children with disabilities face every day, dated this 9th day of July, 2026. Thank you very much. Yeah, come on up.

There you go, thank you for being here. Thanks for being here. Yeah.

Do you want to go down there in front? Yeah. Okay.

Thank you again.

Okay, since CIM has a presentation, we're gonna move into public comment. It's now time for a public comment. Anybody wishing to address City Council regarding items not subject to a specific public hearing may come forward to the podium at this time or use the raise hand feature located at the toolbar at the bottom of your Zoom screen. For controls over the phone, press star nine for raise hand and press star six to unmute. Please state your name and limit your comments to three minutes. Is there anybody wishing to give public comment this evening?

Good evening. My name is Mitch Paskin. I'm a resident of Ridgefield. Not for very long, though. I'm sort of kind of a carpetbagger. And I just wanted to make some comments. Trying to get my notes up here. about fireworks allowed in the city. A couple of my neighbors decided to spend a large amount of money on fireworks. They blew them off in front of our house. So I do what I do in decision making and ditch a bunch of pros and cons. So I came up with a con list of a lot of noise, scaring the animals. I don't know what the injury report. I hope nobody in the city of Ridgefield got hurt. But I did see a very heavy presence of police that night, which I'm sure that cost the city some overtime. And I'm sure the fire and some paramedics were available for that evening, which I'm sure cost the city a little bit of overtime. I didn't see any tents or anything selling fireworks in the city of Ridgefield. So I don't know that there was any tax revenue for all of this stuff. So to offset the cost to the city, there was a huge amount of residue in the middle of the street. My neighbor told me that the city was going to come and clean it up. We live by a riparian area. I'm sure some of that stuff, I told those guys to go clean it up, and they did. But I don't know what happened in other areas. It ends up in riparian, then in the river. You know, fragile ecology, I don't think that's necessary. There's also refuge on our roof, in our yards. You know, you could go up on the roof, sweep it all off. Disturbance to the neighbors, disturbance to the animals and the pets. My dogs do not do well with all the noise and the fire, the fireworks. I made a list of pros, and I couldn't come up with one pro. So it was heavily weighted to one side. I myself have never liked fireworks, blowing something up. I'm a Vietnam-era veteran. I don't need the noise. I don't need the violence. I'm sure people that do it enjoy it. I don't see any purpose in it myself. I heard that there was a very nice display that evening put on by the city. So I don't know how this works in this city. I've dealt with municipalities before. Hopefully, three, oh. Yeah, your time is up, sir. Queensberry rules, three minute rounds. Yeah. I'm hoping that I can get some comments from the city and some staff. on how this affects the revenue.

Yes, yeah. If you were to hang out and talk to staff or wait until after the meeting, we can get some information from you. But thank you. Yes.

All right. Hello. So I have a new topic for you guys tonight to piggyback after this nice gentleman. So I have, um, a petition. My name is Shauna Fisher. I have a petition that I started the day after the 4th of July said it's called make rich shields 4th of July celebration, safer and banned consumer fireworks. So, The issue is this petition asks the city council to adopt an ordinance prohibiting the sale and use of consumer fireworks within the city limits while encouraging safer community centered celebrations that bring people together. This is not about taking away the celebration. It's about creating celebrations that are safer, kinder, and more inclusive for everyone who calls Ridgefield home, including our pets and the wildlife that make this community so special. If you believe Ridgefield can lead with compassion while still celebrating our nation's holidays, please, it's talking about signing this petition, and also as together we can build traditions that future generations can be proud of. As Ridgefield continues to grow, we have a chance to decide what kind of community we want to be that celebrates our nation's independence while protecting our neighbors, animals, and wildlife. And also too, I had somebody that did a comment on here, and it says, as a community that cares about our wildlife, our neighbors, No, that's what makes our community. We need to care about it all year, including the fourth. The disturbance this year especially was unreal. Even if pets and cells are medicated properly, the impacts and the neighbors' mortars staking my home with every blast is too much. I also watched a confused year in my yard. and listen to the devastated community over lots of pets during the festivities. And also, too, so you can have a dog or cat or a horse that maybe does OK one year for the fireworks, and then suddenly that can change. And that's the case for one of my dogs. She was fine, and then now she's not with the Fourth of July. And you can medicate them, and maybe it doesn't work, right? And then there's also, too, in the Ridgefield community page, there was somebody that part of their fence caught on fire because of debris. And then there was another house where and disposed of fireworks and disposed to unproperly caused a little fire. And then there's the debris and all of that. And that's just not, you know, I think there's other ways that we could maybe start a new tradition in the city of Ridgefield. And there is actually two. I mean, I think it'd be nice to not have any solo fireworks, but there is also two low noise fireworks and silent fireworks as well, because it's just those mortars. It's like it went on for hours. And what's the reason and what's the logic behind that? That's what I don't understand. I think it's just people just wanting to be heard in a way that maybe other people don't want to hear. So that's what I wanted to share. So thank you.

Thank you.

I agree. I would like it if there was no fireworks, that there's no connection with making a lot of noise and the beginning of the United States. So one suggestion, if we have to have fireworks, you start the fireworks after we're all awake. It would be good if you would stop the fireworks at 9 o'clock so we can go to sleep. On the 4th, I had to stay awake till midnight because of the huge amount of noise around our house. So the best thing would be to say, no fireworks in Richfield, but that would be a minimal thing. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is John Dotson. I'm a tenure resident here in town. First year I was here, I loved the fireworks. Sorry, everybody. It was great. Coming from a place where they strike them down this day, not so good. The reason I'm here, I'm going to change my thought here. This whole problem we have with the city city council, the port commission, the people, uh, I'd like to see where one time the city, the port could have an open discussion with the population and what they'd like to see. I have one, one side is all tied up with nothing. No, no housing. I agree with that because I've, I've seen this in a different location and it failed. But making a visual idea. I think the port is a gold mine down there for many reasons. First of all, they should have these little boxes where you can go rent if you want to stay for a while. They should have picnic tables. You could put Well, let's put it this way. I saw it coming out of Vegas and driving to the drive back and forth to Arizona. These little angled covers for the sunlight down there. There's a little town. It's a mile or two miles or three miles of just sand on a lake coming down the road. And it's beautiful. And that thing is full of people all the time. But I think there's a real, we need a conversation between all the branches, the city, the port district, and the citizens, and find out, bring us your ideas, put it together. Again, I'd put the hotel up on the other side of I-5. But I have seen that before. when they put it on the Willamette River, and they've suffered ever since. But anyway, thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of council. Just a quick update on behalf of Chief Knorr. For the 4th of July, there's always interest around that, around responses. For the 4th of July, it was a little bit slower for us than typical as we had a little bit cooler climates and some rain recently before the 4th. This 4th, it actually happened where we had exactly double the number of calls we have on an average day throughout the year. Typically, it's a little bit higher than that. So on an average day, we'll run 16 responses. We had exactly 32 on the 24 hours around the 4th of July and an additional uptick usually on the 3rd and the 5th as well. With that, we had of the 32, we had 15 fires, usually about 10% of our response volume is fires. So we were close to about 50% on fire response volume, which is pretty typical for the 4th of July for us. With that, five of those were structure fires. We had one of those that you've probably heard about that was of consequence here in Ridgefield. The others are reported as structure fires, and oftentimes it's vegetation, shrubbery, fences, or things immediately threatening structures or small fires on structures that can be extinguished from the exterior. The fire that you probably heard about on the 3rd, Unfortunately, we had a quick response. So the way we staff on the 4th of July is it's a blackout day for vacation days. So no firefighters can take vacation on the 4th of July. And then we up staff in addition to that. So that allows us to have full crews plus two additional crews out there. So we had the fire on a 3rd that was a little bit of a complicated response because it was determined to be fireworks in the area of a trash can next to a home. But it was between two homes. On arrival, our crews found two houses on fire at the same time, which complicates our response, as you can imagine, because you kind of have to double what you have to address there. And shortly after our response there, we had a second structure fire toned out in Ridgefield that was a fence threatening a structure. That complicates response a little bit because we have the first six or so units tied up to the first response. We're already assuming that we might need additional units because it's two houses and not one. And then the additional structure fire response complicates that a little bit further. Um, we were fortunate. a good quick response and pretty quick impact on that initial fire. And our incident commander was able to divert a resource and address the fence fire before it spread to the house that was attached to that fence. So that's just kind of a quick summary of where we're at and certainly happy to follow up or if you have any other questions, we can do that or follow up with additional details in a report. So that's what I have unless you have any questions.

Thank you, Chief. We appreciate the update.

Great.

Come on up, sir.

Hello. My name is John Cole. I've lived here in Ridgefield for 30 years. I appreciate the opportunity to speak. So along with the robust conversation that's been going on about the port, part of what is going to happen to Pioneer Street has been a side conversation. And a lot of us are wondering. I mean, there are times where we're already basically in a gridlock situation. And the solutions I've heard to try to solve the traffic, there was rumor rumors range from eliminating street parking on pioneer, widening the street, making sidewalks more narrow and possibly increasing the street to four lanes. I did look for some information about this on the public records portable, but I couldn't find anything. I think the citizens of Ridgefield, especially as townies deserve to be kept informed about these plans. We know the city owns the properties on the south side of Pioneer at Hillhurst, and that a roundabout will be coming there, but please don't make us guess until a plan's announced. So I look forward to the city communicating to this as soon as possible. Thanks for your time.

Thank you.

Hello, I am Wendy McIntyre, Ridgefield resident. First, thank you for your continued service to our community and for taking the time to listen to us residents. I'm here again because I deeply care about Ridgefield's waterfront and I also wanted to share with you guys an update. The preserve Ridgefield waterfront petition has now surpassed 2,800 signatures from community members who want this waterfront to remain a place that reflects Ridgefield's character and values. That number is significant because the port has repeatedly pointed us to its 2023 market analysis and development strategy document as the basis for the current waterfront vision. That strategy relied heavily on the 2022 community survey with approximately 1,500 responses. So today nearly twice that many people have signed a petition expressing concern about the current concept. I believe that level of public participation deserves meaningful consideration. We've shared these concerns directly with the port, but we've been told that the future conversations will only occur during the public engagement sessions. Many residents have attended those meetings with thoughtful, well-researched questions, yet many remain unanswered. At the same time, we've been told that phase one is now considered confirmed, even though permitting, environmental review, and other required processes have not yet been completed. that has left many residents wondering how public input is being incorporated. I know you're wondering why I'm sharing this with you because I know we've been told to divert to the port, which we have diligently, they will tell you that. But I also believe that whatever is built on the waterfront will shape our city's future affecting our neighborhoods, our infrastructure as John presented, and our quality of life. The number of residents speaking up make it clear that this is not simply a small, vocal minority and not something that the city shouldn't be involved with as well. And as I reviewed the planning documents, which they had referred me to, I also noticed that the waterfront redevelopment has consistently been described as a collaborative effort between the city and the port. So my question is this. What role did the city play in shaping the assumptions, priorities, and land uses that led to today's concept. And if the city helped shape that vision back then, what responsibility does it have to advocate for changes if the community believes that vision no longer reflects Ridgefield priorities? I understand the city can't dictate what the port builds. My question is not about legal authority. It's about leadership and influence. Residents are asking for your advocacy because they want to know their voices still matter. I feel like there's a way, again, like one of the gentlemen suggested earlier, where we can all come together and have open conversation about this. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. McIntyre. Ms. Knight, good to see you.

Good to see you all. My name is Robin Knight. I also was going to give you an update, which Wendy covered, about the 2,800 signatures on Preserve Ridgefield Waterfront petition. Our Facebook group has now over 630 members and growing and a separate informal poll on the Ridgefield Washington Facebook page last week received over 575 votes. The results are consistent. Ridgefield residents overwhelmingly want the waterfront to remain open, natural and recreational, not developed at the scale the port has currently proposed. This isn't a small vocal minority, It's a broad, sustained and significant expression of community interest. Our movement continues to grow and while we appreciate the ports attempts to reengage the community, we continue to be concerned by their unresponsiveness to direct questions and their claims that aspects of the development plan are quote confirmed before traffic and environmental impact studies have been completed, a development agreement signed or their summer of engagement even halfway over. I do have two questions I would like council to address. First, will the comp plan update and land use alternatives impact the waterfront mixed use zoning? Does adopting any particular comp plan alternative change the density standards that apply to waterfront mixed use? Or does its zoning remain governed by its existing development standards regardless of the land use alternative the county adopts? Second and related, we understand the waterfront site to be vested until 2028 under existing zoning. Given that, does the city currently have legal authority to further define or amend waterfront mixed use standards, height, density, buffers, et cetera? before that vesting period ends? Or is that authority constrained until 2028, no matter what land use alternative is adopted? I ask because it matters practically whether this planning process is something residents should engage with as an opportunity to shape the waterfront's future. I also ask these questions because our community has and continues to show up with thousands of signatures, hundreds of poll votes, public comments, and a consistent presence at port and other public meetings. And we just want to know where energy is actually going to make a difference. If the answer is that the waterfront mixed use density investing are locked in regardless of the comp plan update, we just want to know that so we can direct our advocacy where it counts. If there's any authority the city has to further define zoning before 2028, we want to be a part of that conversation now, not after decisions are already made. Thank you for your time and I look forward to your response.

Thank you. Is there anybody else in the room wishing to give public comment this evening?

Good evening. My name's Rick Granz, a Richfield resident for 38 years. There are several points I'd like to address. Number one, the busy boating season is upon us, which coincides with our annual low water levels, which creates unsafe conditions at the port's Mill Street boat launch, specifically an abrupt drop off at the end of each concrete launch lane that has resulted in boat trailer damages, shallow water at the end of the loading dock, as well as the day dock, which is frequently resting on the Lake River bottom, resulting in frequent propeller damage for the motorized boaters. Since the city of Richfield is responsible for enforcing their shoreline master program under the Washington State Shoreline Management Act, then I'd expect this not to occur as it has for at least the past five or six years that I can recall. Number two. Since the city and the port are in partnership regarding the redevelopment of the port's waterfront property, then they both need to follow the requests of the large majority of Richfield citizens that do not want high-density housing or a four- to five-story hotel built, even though the waterfront mixed-use zoning would allow it. There are many other better options to consider than housing in a hotel at the waterfront, especially with the Richfield National Wildlife Refuge in close proximity. Number three, the Port of Richfield's waterfront redevelopment survey should have included one very important question, specifically, do you or do you not want high density housing in a hotel as part of the waterfront development? The simple answer has been a unanimous no. It was unanimously agreed among many other, many Richfield citizens that I spoke to that there needs to be an expansion and improvements made at the ports existing mill street boat launch facility. There was an effective grading system of desirable, acceptable, undesirable used in a former port survey that I'd like the port and the city to use once again in a new survey of the waterfront redevelopment. Number three, A large number of Richfield citizens that I've spoke to are unhappy with the lack of road traffic capacity that our existing infrastructure can handle. These same citizens know that this is an existing problem today on downtown Pioneer Street, even before additional traffic is added from the waterfront development. A traffic impact study will not fix the problem unless you build a four-lane Pioneer Street and a four-lane Pioneer Street overpass to handle the expected traffic increase from the future Richfield waterfront redevelopment project. Thanks for your help. Thanks for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Grenz. Is there anybody else wishing to give comments this evening? Seeing none in the room, Ms. Julie, is there anybody online?

Not seeing anyone online.

Okay, we will close public comment and move on with our agenda. We're gonna move to the consent agenda. Council, I'd accept a motion as presented.

I move to accept the consent agenda as presented.

Second.

It's been moved by Councilor Buerkle, seconded by Councilor Fevella to accept the consent agenda. Council, any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Thank you, council. Motion carries. All right, we have a presentation in line with our proclamation from earlier this evening, a presentation by Community in Motion. We have Holly Hill here on behalf of CIM, along with Walt Gordon. The floor is yours.

Before I start my presentation, I had a few words to say. So good evening, Mayor, council members, and community members. My name is Holly Hill, and I am honored to be here as a member of the Board of Directors for Community in Motion to accept this proclamation recognizing ADA Accessible Transportation Month. The ADA law passing made it clear that accessibility is not optional. It is a civil right. And it is something that touches more lives than people realize. How many of us have used curb ramps for moving, for baby strollers, for helping a loved one, for carrying something heavy? Accessibility is something that when done correctly, it benefits everybody equally. That is its true impact. 1990's law did not remove every barrier overnight, but it did change the expectation. It said, no, people with disabilities should not have to fight their way into public life. Actually, communities have an inherent responsibility to build spaces, services, and systems that people with disabilities can access, use, and participate in fully. Access does not start inside of a room. It starts with whether somebody can get there at all. That is why accessible transportation is so essential. It is the foundation that makes every other right, service, and opportunity actually reachable. A public meeting, a school, a grocery store, or a community event may technically be open to everyone, but without a reliable way to get there, access literally stops at the curb. That is something I understand not only as a board member, but as a daughter. My dad is one of my favorite people on this earth. He is incredibly smart, funny, stubborn, and one of the strongest people I know. He is also annoyingly one of the best looking people in every room and will never, ever let you forget it. And at first glance, you would never know that my dad is disabled. You might notice his incredible head of hair or that he looks a little bit like that one guy from Chips. All of that is true. And he has also lived longer with a disability than without. When he was 17 years old, his life changed in an instant. He was the victim of a sudden act of violence and consequently suffered a traumatic brain injury. He spent what should have been his senior year of high school relearning how to walk, talk, and exist again in this world. He was a kid when he was forced to relearn how to move through this world. Then he entered adulthood in a world that was not yet legally required to make room for him. My dad is now 62 and he has recovered incredibly. He still lives with lasting effects, of course, including mild aphasia, which is partial speech loss, mild memory loss, vision, hearing, and partial paralysis on his right side, and seizures. Some of those disabilities are visible, many are not. To me, he has always just been my dad. When my sister and I were young, my dad was a dog trainer and our primary caretaker during the day so that my mom could pursue her career in speech language pathology. When we were three and five, my dad had a grand mal seizure and lost his license for six months. This is just the standard medical precaution and yet it completely changed how we lived. For six months, my parents had to coordinate childcare, work, appointments, errands, groceries, and everyday life with one driver, one car, and no alternative transportation options. Despite all of that, We were still very lucky in many ways. My mom had a car. She had a union job that eventually paid enough for my dad to become our full-time parent at home. That job also provided our family health insurance, something their marriage would have excluded my dad from accessing through disability systems because their combined income was considered too high. Those aspects gave my family options a gift that many families do not have. But even with those advantages, we could not rely on public transportation because the routes that we needed did not exist. There were no bus lines available to get my dad where he needed or to support the daily rhythm of our family. For us, transportation was more than just getting about from A to B. It shaped our choices, our time, our stress, and what we had left to give at the end of the day. My dad has never known adulthood outside of a marginalized community, and as his daughter, neither have I. Disability has intrinsically shaped the way my family has had to move throughout the world. Many people only notice accessibility or marginalization when they are forced to, when a barrier affects them directly. But for many people, there is no choice. Accessibility is on the forefront of their minds every day. In a previous role serving low-income senior citizens and residents with disabilities, I saw the same issue from a professional lens. People I worked with were struggling, not only financially, but from isolation, mobility barriers, and lack of transportation. For them, accessing services felt like another barrier in and of itself. Some didn't know that transportation services existed. Some didn't know there were programs available to help them get to these other services. And without staff who were able to leave the office and meet these folks where they were at and conduct home visits, many residents would not have been able to access the help that they qualified for. These experiences along with my service on community and motions board solidified for me that accessibility is not an isolated issue. Transportation is often the thing that determines whether every other service can actually be reached. This is also a part of what has shaped the next chapter of my own work. This fall, I will be pursuing my master's degree in infrastructure planning and management with a focus on how policy, accessibility, and community planning intersect. I know that the decisions that we make about infrastructure are not just about concrete or roads or sidewalks or systems. They are about people. They determine who can participate, who can connect, and who gets to fully be a part of the communities that we are building. That is why this proclamation matters and why this conversation is so relevant today here in Ridgefield. As Ridgefield continues its own thoughtful work on ADA planning, curb ramps, sidewalks, and accessibility improvements, the city is helping shape a community where growth and access can move forward together. These investments matter because accessibility is not only about improving what already exists. It is about choosing to build a community where people of all abilities are included, considered, and able to participate fully, and about making decisions today that create a more accessible future even after we are long gone. That is where Community in Motion shines too. They help people all across Southwest Washington get to where they need to go. Services like The Current through C-TRAN and the North County Shuttle through Community in Motion help fill the gaps that traditional transit cannot provide. It connects people to jobs, appointments, meal sites, and community gatherings. Those rides may look simple from the outside, but when you are the one who needs them, they can mean everything. Your treatment is received. You have groceries. You are able to keep an appointment. You're able to attend a community event or a public meeting or see somebody after a long period of isolation. That is the heart of accessible transportation. It is not just about movement. It is about dignity, connection, love, warmth, independence, and health. It is the difference between being told a service exists and thinking great and great. How the heck do I access that? The fight for accessibility did not begin and end in 1990. That work continues today, including in communities developing and updating their ADA plans like here and now in Ridgefield. The ADA helped establish that accessibility is not something that communities should address only after somebody struggles. It is something we have to build into our planning from the beginning. A world built accessible is a world that works for everyone. There are decades of progress to come, but every curb ramp, every accessible route, every shuttle, every ride, every donation, and every decision made with accessibility in mind moves us closer to the kind of community people deserve. I am very proud to stand with a city like Ridgefield, committed to recognizing that progress, and also to stand with an organization like Community in Motion, dedicated to serving that mission. So on behalf of Community in Motion, thank you, Council, for recognizing ADA Accessible Transportation Month and giving us the opportunity to share more about our services and acknowledging the importance of mobility, independence, and inclusion in our communities. Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your help.

So now I'm just gonna do a brief presentation about community in motion. Matt already went over kind of what the ADA changed in the proclamation, but really it just created a foundation of what is missing and what are the barriers that we can eliminate? So accessibility is no longer treated as optional. It's a legal requirement. That means that there is no waiting for cities to catch up. They have to catch up. Everybody has to catch up back then. If you weren't able to get into a building, that's just where you were left on the outside. Now everybody is able to access services, places, community that they need and deserve to and live their full lives. So. When someone can't get a ride, it impacts more than just transportation. They can lose their job. They can miss a health care appointment. They can not get groceries or go to the food bank. They can become socially isolated, not see friends, family, loved ones, and they suffer losing their independence, their autonomy. So it can assist with health appointments, work and training, just getting to your daily needs and that connection. Transportation is a huge connector of independence and autonomy. And really that's the heart of it. So about us, this organization actually was established in 1946 and has kind of worked with a bunch of other social service organizations in the community to eventually become what we are today, Community in Motion. So we became community in motion officially in 2021, just to reflect our official role and our commitment to providing community transportation services. We actually serve five counties, which I don't think a lot of people know. So Wakayakum, Cowlitz, Skamania, Clark, and Klickitat all have access to these services and all have kind of home-based offices where they can get in connection. We provide transportation most commonly to seniors, so folks age 61 and up, folks with disabilities, and low-income residents. And we are just here to connect our neighbors to reliable transportation. So a little timeline of our history in 1995, we launched our non-emergency medical transportation, which is our largest program by far. Um, this provides medical or Medicaid recipients with rides to appointments. And this is still one of our champion programs in 2003. This was our employment transportation launch funded through WS dot grants. And then in 2007, reserve a ride began to help those without Medicaid get to other life-saving medical appointments. In 2011, we had our first Bike to Work training, which helps people who don't live on bus stops find an alternative to get to work. In 2015, our mobility management program launched, and that helped to identify transportation gaps and also gaps in social services to connect people to a holistic kind of care. Um, in 2019, we launched volunteers in motion, which was rides for folks, 65 and up, or with a disability via volunteer drivers, which we appreciate so much. And then in 2021, that was like I said, when we updated all of these connections and updated our organization entirely. We offer a lot of services. So employment transportation and non-emergency medical transportation are our big ones. We do give away a lot of bus passes, help folks with bike to work. The North County shuttle is one of our most relevant services up here. That is one that connects people from all over North County and takes them to go groceries, social services, any kind of appointments they need. That's huge. another one that i'm a huge fan of is volunteers in motion our volunteer drivers really really help our hired drivers and take some of that um that extra you know ride load off of them and help shoulder that burden there are always more rides that can be given and these volunteers really really are a huge part of our success so um we have a lot of programs and clearly i'm a yapper but i would love everybody to get online and please research one of these because If not relevant to you, then absolutely to somebody you know. And so here's how you can help. Keep your neighbors moving. A ride can mean treatment, groceries, connection, and independence. So if you scan that, you can see how to get involved. If you would like to donate or sponsor a ride, that's a huge thing. Volunteer as a driver. I would encourage all of you to do that or tell somebody else to do it. If you know someone who's retired and looking for something fun to do, that would be fantastic. If you know somebody who has spare time on their hands, that would be fantastic. We need people and we would love to connect. Refer partner, when I worked at a previous jobs, that's how I got connected with Community in Motion is because I saw that transportation was a huge barrier to accessing actual county services. connect people where you can. Lead, stay connected, connect with me, Walt, Jeanne Ann, anybody from our staff, from our board of directors, all of us are super friendly and not all of them will talk as much as I do. And just follow our social media, check out our website and please, please stay connected. The work we do is really, really important and thank you so much for allowing us to be here today.

Thank you again for sharing a wonderful, wonderful story to tell. Thank you for sharing your personal story with us and as well as giving us a presentation on community motion. I would like to open it up for council who might have any questions to look around. We have some questions, so we'll start at my far right and we'll go to Councilor Davis and then we'll work our way down.

Yeah, I appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor. I absolutely love the comments, the presentation. I also serve on the board for CETRAN, and so you referenced the current. And so I guess I would just offer that however we can be a partner in the work that you guys do, if you need help connecting with staff over there, please reach out to me and I can I'd be very passionate about making sure that we are as big of a partner for you in that realm as we can be. But I just appreciate the advocacy of the work. Accessibility is something that is really close to my heart. And so I really just want to thank you for the focus and the effort that you both put into that and your entire team. So thank you.

Councillor Fevella.

Yes, thank you so much for this presentation. I'm equally excited that this information is being shared with the community. I sit on the Community Action Advisory Board through Clark County and we review the community needs assessment and transportation was one of the biggest issues that came up in that community needs assessment. I was also in a meeting today for youth mental health. And we were talking about a 30% increase of referrals, emergency room visits for youth who are experiencing suicidal, self-harm, really significant behaviors that are increasing year after year. And 50% of those very specific referrals did not follow up with care for many reasons and transportation is one of those. It's very hard to get children who have high youth or high need behaviors in a vehicle safely and do it with a volunteer driver who may not know how to handle So it is a huge need, and I do appreciate all of your volunteers that participate in getting people to where they need to go because it's life-changing. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor. Mayor Patel, any questions?

Just a thank you for coming and for your presentation and the work you do. Sounds like it's a very big job and that you handle it very well. Thank you very much.

I would also like to thank you. There's an aging population, and an aging population, some people, they lose their right to drive, and it is very necessary for them to get their appointments, and you're providing a wonderful service.

Thank you, Council. Thank you.

Just a question. A volunteer driver, would I, as a volunteer, would I be required to transport people out of Ridgefield or only from Ridgefield?

Sat down preemptively. So that's kind of the fun of it. You can choose kind of where you can go. We are flexible with pairing. I would say the kind of introduction into getting qualified background checks, et cetera, can be kind of lengthy for the beginning of volunteer drivers. So that is one thing to keep in mind. That's why I did recommend folks with extra spare time. But you are welcome to kind of pick a little radius if you want. And if you wanna stick to that, you're super welcome to. I think we would be more inclined to help you stay within your community to help out folks here.

And as a volunteer, would I be transporting the same person? Regularly that depends.

So there is the opportunity to build relationships with folks and kind of become regular transportation There's also opportunities to kind of mix it up with different folks and get new rides as much as you would like So once again, I think we can we could talk kind of talk anything out with our staff They're just so awesome and they're super willing to work with you But all of that would would very much be on the table.

Thank you. Thank you Thank You councillor councillor Hamilton

Thank you. Thank you so much for your presentation. I am known to be a crier up here, and I was doing my very best to not. But thank you for sharing your personal story. That was very thoughtful and impactful. So it sounds like everyone in the room, the easiest way everyone can get involved, and I don't want to speak for you, would be volunteers in motion. That's an easy, accessible way, or telling people about the program. Number two, I'm curious, do you have a focus on corporate or community partners that would be helpful? I'm thinking, OK, you have volunteers driving people around. Would getting gas cards, would getting like, are there any of those partner opportunities that we could keep our eyes and ears out for you as well?

Absolutely. All of that would be fantastic. I would actually connect you with our executive director, Jean Ann Edwards. She's fantastic. We have a lot of community partners who are fantastic and partner with us. Seatran is one of them. There is a whole long list, and I almost put it on that slideshow, but man, that was a lot to read. So yes, we are always open to more and more opportunities. Okay, fantastic.

And then just also donate or sponsor a ride would be an easy way for people to get involved as well.

Yes, I think that's the easiest. If you don't have extra time, I mean, honestly... $20, $25, you know, a couple gallons of gas, and that's right around the neighborhood. So gas is crazy anymore. But yes, so that would be wonderful. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Great. I'm looking around, no other questions. So I'll just close it out and just say to you and to Walt, coming here tonight, thank you so much. You know, we did a, we've been looking at our downtown area and our parking and the traffic flow and, you know, some ADA plans for that as well. And so I think that it's really important to kind of have that perspective and knowing that you guys are around and having you available to provide input on that. And I think we'll I may reach out to you on that as well and maybe even volunteer, but what you're doing is very important work, sometimes understated work throughout the community. It's good to see that you guys have been around and so active in our community for so long. It's a long time. I didn't know that you'd been around that long, but I do want to thank you, and Holly, thank you again for sharing your story. That was really touching and very powerful to hear. It's always good to have a personal connection to that. I come from a family, my parents did foster care growing up and we have, I have brothers and sisters who have disabilities and some of them are not able to get around either and so I'm taking notes here and looking at, I scanned the QR code while we did this really quick but just to see that to make sure that we have resources for everybody and make sure that we're all doing our part. So thank you again for being here. Okay, great, thank you again. We are ready to move on with our business items of the evening. We're going to start with the second reading of ordinance number 1483. This is our stormwater management code update. And for that, we'll welcome Mr. Thamer to the desk.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. As you said, tonight we're here for the second reading of Title 19 Stormwater Code Adoption. And with me again is Sean Mulderig, our Stormwater Program Supervisor, to present tonight.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council, members of the public. At the June 18th Council meeting, I provided an overview of the proposed Title 19 Stormwater Management Code. Tonight's presentation is intended to be a brief recap of the proposed ordinance before council's consideration of the second reading. So the primary purpose of this ordinance is to establish Title 19 within the Ridgefield Municipal Code, which would consolidate stormwater management regulations into its own standalone title. In doing so, Title 19 would also align the municipal code with current MS4 permit requirements and provide the regulatory foundation needed to support continued implementation and future expansion of the stormwater management program. Now to briefly review the new chapters proposed for adoption. Chapter 19.1 provides definitions and establishes the legal framework and authority for administering the city's stormwater management program. Chapter 19.4 establishes requirements to prevent pollutants generated by commercial and industrial businesses and other regulated properties from entering the city's stormwater system in the first place. Chapter 19.5 prohibits unauthorized discharges to the city's stormwater system and establishes investigation and response procedures that are specifically required in the permit. And Chapter 19.7 establishes erosion and sediment control requirements to reduce erosion and prevent sediment from entering the city's stormwater system and local waterways during construction activities. In summary, the proposed ordinance would adopt the four chapters we just reviewed in the previous slide. repeal the existing illicit discharge and erosion control chapters 13.8 and 18.755, amend the related provisions within titles 18 and 20, and maintain penalties through the city's master fee schedule. I also want to state again before this second reading that as reflected through the city's existing stormwater management program and as part of the Ridgefield philosophy, Our approach will continue to emphasize education, technical assistance, and voluntary compliance with enforcement available only as a tool if needed. So with that, thank you, and we'll be happy to answer any questions Council may have.

Thank you, Mr. O'Barrick. Good. Okay. Council, any remaining questions? Councilor Davis has one.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor. Just wanting to get some clarification on that enforcement piece. So what staff training is going to be involved for them to be able to... go and actually know what they're looking at to be able to get a, is there a specific certification they're gonna need through, I assume Ecology, to be able to recognize that and understand what mitigation might be required? What does that look like?

Yeah, so staff training is actually part of the municipal permit. It's something that we have to document every single year and submit actually as part of our annual report. And yeah, there is sponsored ecology training on that, as well as we have support from our code enforcement officer, Tammy, who is... is well-versed in enforcement if needed.

Okay. And it doesn't sound like this is going to be something that we're going to need to bring on a growth position. We're going to be able to absorb that into the current staff, right?

Correct. Yeah. I've been involved in multiple enforcement-related issues in my past positions.

Okay.

As well as this one.

All right.

Thank you for clarifying.

Other questions, Council? Councilor Hamilton.

Thank you. I don't have a question. I just wanted to say that I appreciate us doing what we can to keep things in-house and to provide a high level of service and standard. And the education and voluntary compliance piece, I think, is something that sets us apart. And I just wanted to commend you guys for coming up with that and putting that into practice. Thank you.

And I'll piggyback on both my colleagues on a similar thing. So the part, I think it was 19.7, where there's an investigative authority and the corrective action you assign. So do you anticipate that all of that stays in-house, or do you have to inevitably refer something out to a college or even administrative law for corrective action? Or does it usually stay within your department?

Yeah, it would stay within the city for the most part. There are permits in certain activities regarding construction or industrial activities that Ecology has their own permit with the applicant. So there are times where that coordination with Ecology and directly with the applicant would happen in that there is overlap with the city program. But there is coordination both ways, like with Ecology and with the applicant. I guess the business or the activity.

Okay, gotcha. The word, I think the trigger word for me is investigative. And so anytime you do that, I think it always gets open to subjectivity, you know, like where the business or the tenant or whatever would have maybe a dispute on what they do. Does it tend to be pretty objective? Like it's pretty matter of fact, like here's what we see, here's what the corrective action is, or does it go through a process of actual adjudication?

Do you want to touch on that, Ryan?

For the most part, it tends to be very straightforward. A violation is a violation. And we have code for that. We also have a stormwater manual from the Department of Ecology that is a very large manual and goes into great detail. So we can reference that. during our investigations and enforcement.

Okay, that works. Thank you very much.

I can touch on that a little bit more too. We need that as part of our code as a tool that we could potentially use if further investigation is needed. We just didn't really have strong code language in there previously. And part of this addition or amendment is to kind of just beef up that language that gives us ability to investigate if needed.

Okay, great.

Thank you. Councillor Buerkle. Thank you. Just a question. We go out and find a violation. How long would a violator be given to correct the violation, depending on the severity, and what would occur if after the appropriate amount of time to correct, it was not corrected? At that point, would fines or whatever be enacted?

So, counselor, I think you kind of answered the question partially on your own. Like, it's a case-by-case basis. So depending on severity, depending on the situation, well, first, we're always going to go down our enforcement procedure. So we're going to provide education and then provide technical assistance. And then we're going to try our best to get voluntary compliance. if multiple chances are given and that timeframe can vary, then yeah, enforcement would be a tool that we could lean on.

Thank you. Okay.

All right. Thank you both. We appreciate the work you guys have done on this to beef up the code and make sure that we are covering all of our bases. So we do appreciate it. If there's no other further questions or discussion from council, I'm going to ask Mr. Lee to read the ordinance into the record.

Thank you, Mayor. Ordinance number 1483, Ordinance of the City of Richfield, Washington, repealing Chapters 13.8 and 18.755, amending Title 20 and Chapters 18.100, and adopting a new Title 19, Stormwater Management, to the Richfield Municipal Code.

Thank you, Ms. Julie. Okay. At this point, I would ask the Council for a motion.

I move to adopt ordinance number 1483, the stormwater management code update as presented.

I'll second. Okay, it's been moved by Hamilton, seconded by Chipman. Any discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Lee, would you please call the roll?

Council Member Davis?

Aye.

Council Member Fevella? Yes. Council Member Wells? Yes. Council Member Burkle?

Yes.

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

Aye. Thank you. Council, motion carries and passes. All right. very much all right that concludes our business for the evening we're going to go back into public comment to anybody wishing to address city council regarding items not subject to a specific public hearing may come forward to the podium at this time and use the raise hand feature located at the bottom at the toolbar at the bottom of your zone screen for controls over the phone press star nine for raise hand and press star six to mute or unmute, please state your name and limit your comments to three minutes. Ms. Fisher, good to see you again.

All right, I know, there you go. So I want to just continue my, Shawna Fisher, again, I just wanted to continue my thing about the fireworks. So also too, somebody reached out to me and there was a dog of theirs, I don't remember when it happened, but they got into fireworks debris and they had a big emergency vet bill and luckily their dog was okay, but that's another, you know consideration for fireworks is the debris for pets and you know wildlife and even small children too right and then the smoke and all the stuff and then also to um on the fourth of july I've worked at a couple different humane societies in my life, and on the 4th of July, that is the day that most pets go missing, is on the 4th of July. Dogs, cats, you know, freak out in a panic. Horses, and even if somebody maybe has their dog on a leash, they still might, you know, break free. And I can tell you, with my two 40-pound dogs, walking them, if there's a firework, it's like, oh boy, okay, like... You know, so there's that. And then also to another concern I wanted to mention, and I'm glad that the chief is here for the city of Ridgefield. I mean, it's a great community when a pet does go missing. You know, usually get they usually get reunited fairly quickly. But as the community grows, I feel like there should be something to address, like a proper place to house a dog or a cat. if they go missing because right now if an officer catches a dog then they scan it for a chip and if they can't get a hold of their person then they have to take their resources and take their time and drive all the way out to camas to drop off the said dog i mean we do have microchip scanners here which is great so i think it'd be great for the city to look at as we grow because there's you know not just ridgefield here there's the center and you know, battleground and outlying areas. I mean, Ridge Shield could maybe take the lead and maybe there's a expansion of a building somewhere that could be to help with that. You know, maybe just like one or two kennels or something like that, I feel like would be very valuable and very very impactful so that's that's all i want to say and then also too if you could um let me know i know you can't let me know now but maybe afterwards if it is the county that i need to go to or if you guys have power to ban the fireworks in the city maybe too i know a lot of it is for fundraising activities but there's a lot of other fundraising that can be done that doesn't uh you know disrupt a lot of things so there we go thank you thank you again

Is there anybody else wishing to give public comment in the room? Ms. Julie, anybody online?

We do have one online, Mayor.

Okay.

Michael Jennings again.

Please make one second, Michael. We have somebody online and they're going to go first and we'll come back to you, sir. That's fine. Yep. Okay.

All right. My name is Nancy Fagan. Earlier commenters mentioned surveys about the waterfront. And as you know, the port is currently promoting their survey. So these are my comments to the port at yesterday's meeting. When I was working on my advanced degree in college, I had to take classes in designing good research questions and surveys. When I took your survey, I found that many of the questions were extremely biased towards supporting your plans, which are considered confirmed and non-negotiable. According to the Pew Research Center, when asking close-ended questions, the choice of options provided, how each option is described, the number of response options offered, and the order in which options are read can all influence how people respond. Continuing from Pew, Accurate random sampling will be wasted if the information gathered is built on a shaky foundation of ambiguous or biased questions. My question to the port is, how do you plan to quantify the data you receive from the written comments in order to report out a complete picture of the responses received? To the council and the public, I would say, Use caution in your discretion when looking at their results. Really dig into the data and the comments. Thank you.

Thank you. OK, Mr Jennings.

My name is Michael Jennings. One suggestion, please make fireworks illegal in Richfield. Thank you, thank you.

Anybody else wishing to give a public comment this evening, either online, Ms. Julia, or in the room?

Not seeing anyone online there.

Okay. We were going to close public comment for the evening, and we were going to move on to council and staff reports. I'm going to look through my colleagues. Anybody itching to go first? We'll go to Ms. Chipman first. Yeah.

It was a busy week with the Fourth of July, and I think participating in the parade, which is only the second time I've ever done that. What a fun event. I mean, I did a little running to catch up because I was handing out candy, and I kept stalling. But anyway, I made it. And no, it was great to see the crowds and everybody enjoying the city. It's just a great day to be in Ridgefield. That is the extension of my report.

Okay, great. All right, Councillor Fevella, you wanna go next?

Sure. Thank you, Mayor. We participated in the city tour that we do. It has parks board and planning commission and city council. And we tour the city and we talk about different topics and why these are really important is because it's not just sitting up here in a meeting. We are out in the community touring these sites, talking about future plans and really having that eyes on visual, which is so helpful. And then being able to have the other perspectives from the different boards and commissions and I want to thank Mr. Corey Crownheart for participating and that was his most favorite day ever. He made that very clear and I am so happy I got to be a part of your favorite day ever. Fourth of July parade was incredible. I really appreciated sitting outside for six days Hours in a chair on a sidewalk just like everyone else It was a great time. I love seeing everybody out and mingling and I feel like it's just it's a whole vibe July 3rd downtown and everybody just kind of comes out and it's like a block party it's it's really fun and Yeah, I think, oh, I attended a retirement for Miss Kathy who worked at Clark Kellett's fire department. She had been there for over 25 years. And as we kind of talk about people retiring in the community, it's really incredible to see who has given so much of their time and energy into our city. And yeah, it's kind of bittersweet to see people leave and watch the new faces come in. And yeah, that's all I got.

Thank you, Councillor. Councillor Davis.

Yeah, I would echo that. I thought the tour was fantastic. The parade was awesome. I did do the run at 8 a.m., Sad to report, I did not win. I didn't even get top five, which got a pie. But you know, that's how it goes. Yeah, you got to run faster. I know, maybe next year. But I guess going back a couple of weeks ago, Mayor Cole, Mayor Pro Tem Chipman, and Mr. Stewart and I, we went to the Association of Washington Cities Conference in Spokane. We were there. Well, I guess most of us were there Tuesday through Friday doing all sorts of sessions. targeted to you know elected officials senior staff just about city administration and a lot of different facets about you know just different elements of what this role entails but also being able to connect with other people from around the state that are in similar situations and learn from them as well mayor cole did an awesome presentation about our youth commission and it was probably the most well-attended session that I went to. The place was packed. People were very curious about how we implemented that. And so it was awesome to see something that I know all of us are proud of be showcased at such a venue. So anyway, that was it.

Cool. Thank you, Counselor. All right. Counselor Wells, we'll just slide over to you next. Put you on the spot, sir.

The reason I got my glasses on I had cataract surgery, but so during the council meeting I was able to close my eyes and take a nap, and nobody could tell. No, I'm just kidding. I got a couple of comments. I did miss my briefing yesterday, so I didn't get to put my input in then, so I'll put it in now, and it's on the 4th of July parade. It was tremendous. All the cones and the caution tape worked pretty much Well, I did receive some comments from up by the school that the caution tape there, all the kids were out stretching on the tape to turn around to see whether they were gonna get any candy or not, what was coming, and the tape slipped down the cones. And so the tape wasn't up. So that's one comment that I wanted to share there. As far as the fireworks, I was, opposite of the other individual, I was impressed that it shut off at midnight. I have a question for the chief, which he can answer. I'm not gonna blindside her, so I'll ask it right now, and then she can ask it when it comes around, how many citations were given? Not now, not now, when it comes to you. But that was it. And... Let's see, I did do the city tour on the parks. That was tremendous. And there was something else I had here that was really important. I guess it wasn't that important because I can't see what I wrote. So thank you.

Thank you, okay. Councilor Buerkle.

Thank you, Mayor. Just some things, I too attended the tour with the Planning Commission, excuse me, and the Parks Board. Just wonderful interaction between all of those commissions. The parade, one of the things I look forward to every year. It's a wonderful, wonderful thing that happens only in Ridgefield. And I had a person tell me, you know what Clyde, the parade is the corniest thing I've ever seen, but it's just perfect. And they're right. Couple of things I'd like to share regarding the port meeting to which I went. This is just, I think this is incredible. The port at their Wisdom Ridge building is working with the Clark PUD to put solar panels on the roof of that building. It is anticipated those panels will create $18,000 that will go into the Warm Heart program, which helps people who are struggling to pay their electricity bills and help support them. And my kudos to the port for doing that. Also a quick, they're on their final house cleanup. That allegedly should be finished on July the 17th, and then they will start on their right-of-way cleanup. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor. Okay, Councilor Hamilton.

Thank you, Mayor. So I made it of note, first thing I'm going to bring up is I got to listen in on the audit. exit conference which was my first and thrilling um i went to the lunch and learn chamber and board of directors meetings separate events but uh every the last tuesday of the month at beverage there's a lunch and learn session this one was on usage of ai which i feel like that's been a very hot topic in a lot of community circles lately and just in life board of directors meeting which The chamber is making a lot of internal changes that I think are very exciting for the businesses that are chamber members and then potential ones and just the way that we're going to really support businesses within our city. Also wrote down the city tour and Mr. Crownheart, your enthusiasm is always appreciated. Your energy is contagious and we appreciate it. Fourth of July was wonderful. Thank you to the Fourth of July committee. for partnering with us and making that such a special day for so many families. And then last night was the Ridgefield Main Street Board of Directors meeting, so we have some exciting changes around there between current executive director retiring, new interim coming in, and we have some exciting things on the horizon within that organization as our city grows and as the business needs change and evolve. It's really cool to be a part of a board that wants to evolve with that. I'm going to give a little personal shout out for an event that I am hosting on July 15th. So that'll be next Wednesday at the Neighborhood Refuge. In my day-to-day life, I'm the Corporate and Community Partnerships Officer for the YWCA Clark County. And one of our fundraisers that I completely voluntarily decided to opt into was for called the Peer-to-Peer Challenge. So it's a personal, it's a way that I'd like to introduce myself into the world in this role, but also looking around me, I am surrounded by so many powerful people, but to highlight powerful women in particular. So I thought for the first, it's called Community Change Makers event, the first one I really wanted to highlight women of Ridgefield. So we have myself, Kelly Anna Cole, Jasmine Tolbert, Amanda Medina, and Dr. Megan Dudley that will all be speaking. The event will be at the Neighborhood Refuge starting at 5.30. It is open to everyone. There's no specific ticket price. I didn't want there to be a barrier to entry for anyone that wanted inspiration and to come in that night and really gather in community. So we ask you give what you can, if that's a dollar, if it's $200, whatever that is, and all of those... All that fundraising will go directly to benefit the services at the YWCA Clark County. So that is just a personal plug that will be happening at the Neighborhood Refuge on the 15th. If you can make it, we'd love to see you there.

Great. Thank you, counselor. Okay. I'll just be really brief because everything that everyone mentioned, I think we got pretty good coverage. But I will say that the AWC conference that we went to a couple weeks ago was good. It's always a good opportunity to meet other people from other cities. There's 281 cities in Washington State. There's representation from all 281 cities. And every time I go to one of those, we do these breakout sessions. Sometimes I'll deal with other mayors or deal with other council members. And you have these networking times and stuff like that. And I always, always, always leave being grateful for my fellow council that I sit on and for our staff, because a lot of times it's other council members and mayors complaining about their staff or their council or whatever. And I don't ever have any of those complaints. And so it's always good. It makes you feel good. And then of course, 4th of July was great. Um, it's always, I think the 3rd of July is quickly becoming sort of like the, the, the, the closed favorite to the entire holiday. Um, because it was just a lot of fun as people sit out there and put their shares out and, um, And everyone's kind of trapped for a few hours together. And they can't leave their seats. And so it just sort of, you know, this community sort of forms. And there's people watching World Cup games. And there's, you know, there's all kinds of stuff. There's people hustling, you know, with lemonade stands and everything like that. So it's always a good time. So anyways, looking forward to how that materializes in the coming years. and um you know speaking of i did do the presentation on the youth commissions i have filled in a couple of a couple of responses from other cities reaching out aberdeen reached out to me today and said hey we're interested in this can you show what you have and so that's kind of exciting to see that we have a good thing going and other cities want to adopt what we have too and on that note we'll be starting to recruit here very soon over the next of the coming weeks as we get into the end of summer into the school year for our next youth commission. And I'm looking forward to that next class coming in. So with that, we'll close out. We'll go to city manager.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the council and the community. Just a couple of things to add. So first of all, lots of kudos have already been given for the bus tour on the 2nd and certainly Mr. Crownhart's work on that. on the 3rd and 4th. Lots of work went into that. Certainly the 4th of July committee, our public works crews were working tirelessly on that. The barricades, the security measures to actually enhance security for kids on the parade route, those were things that were put in starting at about 2.30 in the morning. On the fourth by our public works crew so kudos to them just great work on that on the fourth as well as on the third And also on the third there was a lot of community oriented policing going on officer Molinax officer Welty lieutenant Marvitz Chief, we're all out there just talking with the public, helping them understand, just interacting, having conversations, which are really positive. And so I really appreciate all the work that they did that was above and beyond. And if you saw Officer Molinax after that day, you know exactly how long he spent because he was beet red because he got some serious sunburn coming out of that. So just a lot of kudos to go around on that. Finally, we have two ribbon cuttings come up a couple of new businesses that are opening up in our community saturday at 11 a.m is the ribbon cutting for pioneer kinder care this is something that i know a lot of families have been waiting for for a long time as an underserved community for child care services this is something that is a great addition that we have seen coming secondly on sunday at 10 15 a.m the blanc nail boutique will be opening out at Union Ridge Town Center. So another service amenity that will be offered for our community there. And then there is a ribbon cutting slash groundbreaking at Royal Ridge on the northeast corner of Royal and Pioneer that will be occurring on Monday. And we're finalizing details on that for you. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have.

Council, any questions for the city manager? From Councilor Buerkle.

Has the ribbon cutting for KinderCare been canceled?

No, no, it's Saturday. It's this Saturday, okay.

Thank you.

Any other questions for the city manager? Okay, thank you. Okay, great. We'll go to public remarks and Mr. Thamer.

Thank you. I also wanted to recognize our streets and parks crews, not just for their work on the Fourth of July, but also for the four to six weeks leading up to the Fourth of July, where they worked very hard to make sure the parks downtown were cleaned up, the streets were cleaned up. I think we took the street sweeper through downtown about three or four times the week of the 4th, just to make sure everything was really clean. And also, they didn't just focus on downtown. They also did the entire Pioneer Corridor, starting at the junction all the way downtown, making sure that all the people coming into town, maybe for the first time, were greeted by clean streets and good-looking vegetation. So that's all I have for tonight.

I was gonna say, the city looked great. I mean, all the streets, everything like that. I loved the night before, after 6 p.m., when all the people clear out and stuff like that, and it just looked really good. So please pass along our thanks to your team for doing such a bang-up job on that. Okay, anybody else with Public Works? Councilor Buerkle.

Quick question. When are we considering implementing One Way North on 4th? Do we have a date yet?

Good evening, Miranda Lang, infrastructure deputy director of public works. So tonight, you actually just approved on the consent agenda their award of their contract. So that will allow us to go ahead and schedule our pre-construction conference with them. At that point, we will get their schedule, and then I'll be able to tell you exactly when we plan on doing that work.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Okay, great. Thank you again. Mr. Johnson.

I did not have anything else tonight. I'm happy to answer any questions.

All right. Any questions for City Finance? You're off the hook. Okay. Ms. Parker.

No report either, but just happy to answer any questions.

I think you're going to get plenty of questions later, so you're good. Okay. Ms. Lest, we'll see you behind.

Thank you, Mayor. I don't have anything this evening.

Okay. Anything for Ms. Lest? All right. And lastly, Chief Dorrit.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councillor Wells, to address your earlier question, on July 3rd, we had six fireworks calls. By the time the officers got to those locations, they didn't find anything, so no action was taken. On July 14th, we had 16 calls. I mean, July 4th, excuse me. We had 16 calls. two of which were the fences where there were fireworks, and then the one involving the house where the two houses where fireworks caught fire in the trash can. All in all, there were no citations issued on either of those days, but our officers were out and about and aggressively trying to respond to the calls as they got them. Just so you know that the 4th of July is a blackout day for our department, which means that anyone that has that day It's mandatory that everybody be there if they can. Now we do have to staff the night before and the night after, so we move some bodies around, but there is a pretty significant disruption in their normal work schedule because they all know it's all hands-on. We bring in anywhere from eight to ten thousand people that morning and they work very judiciously to handle and get those crowds in as quickly as they can to get them into the event. So they do an amazing job this year. We were a little leaner than we have been in the past. We had some amazing now volunteers that stepped up to help augment our staffing. And it is always amazing to me to watch them all work the police and the now to get all those people into this community and to make sure that it is a fantastic celebration. So I want to be, give a huge shout out to my team at the ritual police department. Sergeant Gibson is the one that did the ops plan for that and did a fantastic job. Lieutenant, interim Lieutenant Marvitz was there and made sure that it all moved smoothly. But really it was the collaborative teamwork of every single one of those people there to make sure that this city was safe for that event. So a huge shout out to the police department.

Awesome, yeah. Please, we echo that. They did an incredible job. So, Councilor Fevella.

Yes, thank you, Chief. I also wanted to thank you. On July 3rd, you and I responded to a medical emergency on the sidewalk, which Clark College Fire Department responded to right away. We do have a broken tibia. Believe it is. Yeah, and I hope she is recovering well, but I wanted to thank you for staying so calm But also telling me to get the hell out of the car immediately to go help her And for the fire department for responding and taking over it was great and I appreciate you. Thank you. I

and she is doing good. My wife is bringing her cookies and crutches tonight, so yeah, so she's gonna be in good shape. Okay, any other questions? Oh.

Oh, I got one other comment. We really gotta give kudos to C-TRAN for all of the residents that didn't have to walk miles to get into town and back. That is so tremendous with them picking them up at Costco.

Great. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, staff. Thank you, council. We do have an executive session tonight. Our executive session will be pursuant to RCW 42.30.110, 1B, C, and D. This is consideration of real property acquisition, the minimum price for the sale or lease of the property, and review of negotiations on the performance of publicly bid contracts. This is just to review those things. There will be no action taken this evening. We do, however, need to use this entire room for the evening. So if you came here tonight, thank you for being here. It is an executive session, so it will be a closed meeting. So we're going to ask to excuse you to either to the foyer at the front of the rack or the courtyard. And I do want to give everyone a chance to kind of set up, reset the room, and give everyone a chance for a bio break and grab a snack. So we will reconvene at 8.05 p.m.

And Mayor, we need a time certain for how long we will be in there. So we're going to start with one hour?

Okay, we're going to start with one hour. So it'll be 8.05. We'll reconvene at 9.05 p.m. Okay, great. Thank you. Okay, the time is 10.20. Council is returning from executive session and no action will be taken. So this meeting is hereby adjourned.