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Cmd030122 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 1 EDMONDS CITY COUNCIL VIRTUAL ONLINE MEETING APPROVED MINUTES March 1, 2022 ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Mike Nelson, Mayor Vivian Olson, Council President Kristiana Johnson, Councilmember Will Chen, Councilmember Neil Tibbott, Councilmember Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember Susan Paine, Councilmember Laura Johnson, Councilmember ALSO PRESENT Brook Roberts, Student Representative STAFF PRESENT Angie Feser, Parks, Rec., Cultural Arts & Human Services Director Susan McLaughlin, Dev. Serv. Director Rob English, Acting Public Works Director Shannon Burley, Deputy Parks, Rec., Cultural Arts & Human Services Director Kernen Lien, Environmental Programs Mgr. & Interim Planning Manager Jeff Taraday, City Attorney Scott Passey, City Clerk Dave Rohde, GIS Analyst 1. CALL TO ORDER/FLAG SALUTE The Edmonds City Council virtual online meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Nelson. The meeting was opened with the flag salute. 2. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Councilmember Buckshnis read the City Council Land Acknowledgement Statement: “We acknowledge the original inhabitants of this place, the Sdohobsh (Snohomish) people and their successors the Tulalip Tribes, who since time immemorial have hunted, fished, gathered, and taken care of these lands. We respect their sovereignty, their right to self-determination, and we honor their sacred spiritual connection with the land and water.” 3. ROLL CALL City Clerk Scott Passey called the roll. All elected officials were present, participating remotely. 4. PRESENTATIONS 1. HEARING EXAMINER ANNUAL REPORT Hearing Examiner Phil Olbrechts reported on the two hearings held since his last report: Brackett’s Reserve Preliminary Plat (12/20/21): Approved eleven lot preliminary plat on a 2.47 acre parcel located near the end of 240th St. SW, adjacent to the Madrona K-8 School. Several neighbors expressed numerous concerns over the project. Their concerns were understandable, as they have enjoyed a peaceful existence in a heavily wooded and quiet area served by narrow streets and intermittent Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 2 sidewalks. The concerns of the neighbors were individually addressed in detail in the findings of fact of the Examiner decision. City staff and the City’s development regulations had adequately addressed most of the issues. The only significant area of concern found needing further investigation was safe walking conditions to and from school. Neighbors pointed out that 240th was a narrow road with some site distance problems that were exacerbated by cars parked along the shoulder. The narrowness of the road and parked vehicles could potentially force students walking to and from school to walk in the travelled portion of the road. A condition of approval required public works staff to investigate the placement of no parking signs in this area if the vehicles did present a dangerous situation for the school children. A recent change to the density standards allowed the lots to be clustered, preserving a lot more trees. Wastewater Treatment Plant\Carbon Recovery Project (8/2/21): Approved two variances and design review to install a carbon filter and construct a loading dock within the 20-foot setback to SR 104 for the City’s wastewater treatment plant located at 200 2nd Avenue. The carbon filter was proposed to be five feet from the property line and the loading dock one foot from the property line. There were no other feasible alternative locations for the filter and loading dock due to the functional requirements of the building and the existing improvements. Mr. Olbrechts recalled during his previous report he discussed the advantages of the virtual hearing process. He has done well over 100 virtual hearings; for the most part it has been very positive and it makes it easier for people to participate. In all those hearings, there have only been a couple of problems, one was an appeal in Edmonds where the appellant does not have computer and can only participate by phone which is an unfortunate consequence of the virtual hearing process. He hoped once hearings returned to in-person, his clients would at least be able to offer a hybrid options where people can still participate virtually if they want. Councilmember Paine referred to Mr. Olbrechts’ comment about changes in the development code related to trees and asked how he was able to stay “up and in touch” with local code changes, noting there was an interest in making sure the City’s codes are up-to-date. Mr. Olbrechts said staff is good about pointing it out and he receives a detailed staff report in advance of the hearing that points out if there are any new standards that apply. In this case, due to concerns about the small lots, Mr. Clugston went into a lot of detail in his oral presentation explaining why that happened and the advantage in that particular case. 2. KONE CONSULTING HOMELESSNESS ASSESSMENT PRESENTATION Deputy Parks, Recreation, Cultural Arts & Human Services Director Shannon Burley explained in 2018, the City hired Koné Consulting to conduct an assessment and to identify the homelessness landscape within the City. The Koné report was presented to city council in February 2019 and the complete report is available on the human services website. In 2021, after moving human services to the parks and recreation division, city council established priorities for the human services division which included making data driven decisions. There was a specific request to have the Koné Consulting report updated to reflect the current state, possible impacts of the COVID pandemic and related pandemic relief funds. She introduced Alicia Koné, owner, and Tom McQueeny, Koné Consulting. She anticipated the complete written report would be provided in mid-March. Ms. Koné reviewed: • Background o In 2018 and 2019, Edmonds-based Koné Consulting (KC) was retained to conduct an assessment of the homelessness landscape within the city, including: ▪ The number and demographics of residents experiencing homelessness ▪ Local and regional services available to assist those individuals living homeless, as well as mitigating potential homelessness from occurring ▪ How nearby south Snohomish County cities and towns were addressing homelessness Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 3 ▪ Identifying best practices among like-sized municipalities in other geographic regions • 2019 Report o Resulted in a report to council in February 2019 including: ▪ Quantitative data from 2017 census data and the Washington Department of Social and Health Services ▪ A services landscape scan, qualitative data from stakeholder interviews and community engagement ▪ Voices from those with lived experience ▪ Recommendations for future planning • 2021-2022 Report Update o In 2021, the City requested KC update the homelessness assessment to reflect the current state and possible impacts from the COVID pandemic and related pandemic-relief funds. o This presentation includes the preliminary conclusions and recommendations. It will be followed by a full report in mid-March. • Methodology o Major Tasks/Study Objectives ▪ Identifying the Type and Extent of the Homelessness in Edmonds ▪ Inventorying Current Homeless Services in Edmonds and Seven Surrounding Cities ▪ Identifying Actual Funding Sources for Current Homeless Services and Potential Funding Sources to Address Edmonds-Area Homelessness ▪ Best Practices Research o Data Gathering ▪ Extant Data Review and Update of Prevalence of Homelessness - Update previous report information - Examine new and existing trends in American Community Survey (ACS) data - Explore possible Covid pandemic impacts ▪ Online Survey - 25 questions - Closed and open-ended questions - 57 stakeholder responses - Top 3 participant categories:  Non-profit organization employees  City agency and government officials  Informal community support • Overview of Edmonds Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 4 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 5 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 6 • Extent and Types of Homelessness in Edmonds o DSHS, ACS & PIT Count Limitations ▪ Unlike last report, DSHS data for this round did not include a breakdown by program. DSHS data measured number of homeless clients in all cash and programs. ▪ Due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Census Bureau was unable to collect information from certain segments of the population ▪ Those who did respond to the survey had significantly different social, economic and housing characteristics from those who didn’t, resulting in nonresponse bias in the data and prompting the Census Bureau to use experimental weights ▪ This year the PIT (Point-in-Time) count was limited by Covid-19 staffing constraints and a need to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. Additionally, counts of unsheltered individuals are likely to be undercounts due to difficulty accessing locations where they reside. • At Risk Edmonds Residents o Total DSHS Clients for Edmonds was 3,581 but those numbers exclude Medicaid recipients o When factoring in an estimate of Medicaid recipients, the number of at-risk Edmonds residents reaches 8,802 o Bar graph of Total DSHS clients in Edmonds 2017-2021 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2,795 3,307 4,477 5,685 6,143 6,319 6,088 5,751 5,049 4,517 4,284 3,775 3,345 3,665 3,587 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 7 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 8 • HMIS/Coordinated Entry (CE) Data o As of 2/28, according to counts provided by YWCA Homeward Bound shelter (also known as the Pathways building) as well as between 5-7 scattered-site motel voucher beds located in Edmonds, there’s a total number of 30 clients in 12 households enrolled. o According to Coordinated Housing counts, 57 people stated that Edmonds was the city where they stayed nearest to the night before enrollment. Expanding that area, the number of participants who stated they were nearest to Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, or Lynnwood the night before enrollment was 330 people. o According to CE Prevention data, for people who would be losing their housing within 2 weeks of enrollment, 7 people stating they were nearest to Edmonds, and 59 people stating they were nearest to Edmonds, Mountlake Terrace, or Lynnwood the night before enrollment. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 9 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 10 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 11 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 12 • Potential State/County Funding o WA Department of Commerce grants, including Shelter Grant Program and Housing Trust Fund o Verdant funding o Snohomish County's HB 1590 Business Plan funding that includes: ▪ 82% of funds expended on acquisition, rehabilitation, construction, and operations and maintenance of newly acquired and created affordable, emergency bridge, and permanent supportive housing for a total investment of $79,464,349 over the first five years. ▪ 8% of the funds expended for the delivery of services and the creation of a local reserve fund for the construction of behavioral health facilities for a total investment of $17,950,361 over five years • Best Practices o Survey respondents overwhelming believe the best practice for addressing homelessness is more affordable housing. Other common responses were to create a cohesive emergency shelter system in south Snohomish County, and to increasing regional collaboration. o When asked about nationally-recognized evidence-based practices, survey respondents most commonly mentioned permanent supportive housing, and homelessness prevention (e.g. rental assistance, landlord assistance, eviction prevention). • Creative Solutions to Increasing Affordable Housing o HIP Housing's Shared Housing Program in San Mateo County, CA is increasing affordable housing stock within existing housing o Matches individuals and couples seeking housing with people who have a room to rent. ▪ The only eligibility requirement besides being an adult for Home Providers is to have a home in San Mateo County and for Home Seekers to live, work, or attend school in San Mateo County. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 13 ▪ Home Providers determine want to charge, although most Home Seekers can pay $1,000/month or less. ▪ There are two types of home sharing arrangements: the Home Provider can either be matched with someone who pays rent, or someone who pays a reduced rent in exchange for helping with household duties. o Providers and Seekers complete a background check and work with a housing counselor to establishing agreements and resolve conflicts. o Home Providers are often older adults who have high mortgages and taxes, so having a housemate allows them to stay in their home longer. o Home Seekers often include hidden unhoused people who are staying with friends or in hotels, entry-level essential workers, young people lacking rental history. o Most important outcomes: ▪ Expands the affordable housing options in the community without changing building height limitations or using protected land to build new units. ▪ Keeps older adults in their own homes longer. • Best Practice for Interagency Collaboration o Bellevue CARES model of multi-agency collaboration for service delivery. o Started in 2012 as a partnership between police and fire departments as a solution for high utilizers. Also didn’t want to wait until people become a high utilizer to intervene. More of a vulnerable populations program now. o In 2017 created a Response unit. 7 days a week 8-5:30. 2 SWs at a time that can respond on scene. Residents are encouraged to call CARES instead of 9-1-1. o Online referral system. First responders make referrals to SW students. SW assesses individual needs and refers to appropriate services. SWs provide case management until successfully make warm handoff. Work with some people long-term if they are not eligible for other services, especially older adults. o City also has two positions related to homelessness under City Manager’s office: a homeless outreach coordinator and a homeless policy manager. o Serve around 80 unhoused which has grown a lot. Light rail coming to Bellevue will also likely increase the need. • Best Practices for Data Collection and Reporting o Bergen County Housing, Health and Human Services homelessness data collection and reporting through their "Built for Zero" program. o In 2012 joined the 100,000 Homes Campaign run by Community Solutions. Goal to house 100,000 people, especially the most vulnerable. o Developed a "vulnerability" score to help triage and prioritize services/beds. o By 2015 were so successful in housing people, they had less than 2.5% unhoused, so established "Built for Zero". o Housing the remaining unhoused is proving to be most difficult- they are often multi- barriered. o Secrets to successful performance measurement include regular partner meetings to assess data, designate people as inactive, clarify data points, etc. o They have learned that performance measurement is the discipline that helps the partners work towards the same goal and be accountable to each other. • Conclusions o While the number of unhoused individuals in Edmonds has gone down over the past few years, the proportion of low-income people experiencing homelessness has increased, especially amongst older adults. o Non-white residents are disproportionally impacted by homelessness and housing instability. o The number of cost-burdened residents has grown over the past several years from around 20% to almost 40% of Edmonds residents. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 14 o The City of Edmonds Human Services Department have put new programs in place that appear to be preventing homelessness. o There are opportunities for the City to increase regional collaboration with neighboring cities and the County, especially related to an emergency shelter in south Snohomish County. o There are opportunities for the City to provide additional services through collaboration with DSHS and by providing grants to local community-based organizations • Recommendations o Continue to fund a Human Services Department, and consider increasing staffing capacity for regional collaboration, policy development, grant-writing, and outreach. o Prioritize working with the County to create a south Snohomish County emergency shelter with onsite supportive services. o Pursue agency collaboration by outstationing DSHS eligibility workers from the Alderwood CSO in the Edmonds Human Services Office. o Pursue a collaboration with Edmonds College to provide outreach SWs for the City Human Services Department to work with Edmonds first responders to provide services to unhoused and other in crisis. o Create a human services grant program and make bi-annual grants available to community- based organizations to increase availability of local services, including a home sharing program like HIP Housing. o Pursue State and County funding to supplement City general funds for homelessness prevention services. (Councilmember L. Johnson left the meeting at 8:00 p.m.) Councilmember Tibbott thanked Ms. Koné for the report, stating he appreciated the written documentation that was provided when he was on the council previously and now. He referred to the statement in the presentation that $3,000/month was the federal poverty level. Ms. Koné answered that was 200% of the federal poverty limit which is the income threshold for most benefit programs. The reason that is important is the DSHS data is a count of the number of people receiving DSHS services who have income of 200% the poverty level or less. The 2022 federal poverty level is $18,310/year . Councilmember Tibbott asked if people at those income levels were sharing housing or bartering for housing as it would seem very difficult to rent in the Edmonds area on a single income. He asked if there was a way to track or understand alternate housing such as sharing in Edmonds. Ms. Koné said she did not have that data available, partly because they have not surveyed households in Edmonds, they only surveyed service providers. Service providers in Edmonds say they are mostly seeing the hidden homeless, people who are likely sharing housing or not paying rent due to living in a car or RV. Councilmember Tibbott said a good friend of his with two kids rented a very large house and shared it with two other families instead of trying to find house to rent on their own. That was a great arrangement for them at that stage in their life. Their income has since increased and their family has grown so they are in their own housing. That was an alternate housing setup in a large house that worked well for them. He observed there was no way of tracking that in Edmonds. Ms. Koné said not that she was aware of; they can look at ACS data to see if there is anything in the 2019/2020 census information that would help get closer to that answer. Councilmember Buckshnis relayed her understanding there were 500 homeless in Edmonds which is an update from 2019. She sent a list of questions to Ms. Burley that the presentation did not answer and assumed the full report would provide more details. She referred to Ms. Koné’s comment that the 2020 census was biased and was not being using. Ms. Koné clarified the census bureau was not releasing certain data sets from the ACS because they determined the collection was biased, there were not enough Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 15 households representing people of color and low income to make statistically valid conclusions. She clarified the census bureau did not release all the data, only limited data sets. Councilmember Buckshnis commented that was important to highlight and she questioned how they determined it was biased. She was concerned if the census bureau was saying they did not receive enough data on the unrepresented. Ms. Koné said it was only certain data sets. The census bureau decided not to release some of the data in the ACS (previously called the long form). Fortunately, they were able to release some of the data including information about household income and characteristics. The data in the report is data the census bureau is comfortable releasing. Councilmember Paine expressed appreciation for the data. She hoped to invite Koné Consulting back in a 1 to 1½ years to collect information on the success of early intervention programs such as rent, utility and food assistance. During the last 1½ years, Edmonds learned how to be a direct service provider which was not done prior to COVID. It sounds like seniors are still the most vulnerable, closely followed by youth and young families. Those people are our neighbors and she was gratified see there were good practices. She would love to have suggestions about bringing in support for human services from Edmonds College and other programs identified in the presentation. She thanked Ms. Koné for the service provided to Edmonds and all of Snohomish County as they try to affirmatively address the issues associated with homelessness and preventing it. Council President Olson thanked Ms. Koné for her work and the presentation. She thanked Mayor Nelson for appointing her to the homelessness task force; she learned a lot from that process and recognized things in the report from that group. She has been excited about house sharing as it represents a win-win for community members on both ends of the spectrum. There are a lot of houses with empty bedrooms so having a service to match people who want help with chores in exchange for a renting room is something that will work for the Edmonds community and something she looked forward to. Councilmember K. Johnson recalled there was a house-sharing program in Seattle during the 1980s which may have preceded the programs identified in the presentation. She thanked Ms. Koné for the report, stating she was glad this was draft because she had a lot of comments she planned to share with Ms. Burley. She was disappointed that there wasn’t data for the past few years and it sounds like there were not the usual resources such as the point in time or community survey to figure out how many homeless people there are in Edmonds. She referred to packet page 28, Homeless in Snohomish County, which lists the number of persons housed, sheltered and unsheltered, and lists people that were permanently housed as homeless. She suggested terms needed to be defined to ensure there was common language in the report as well as to define terms for those reading the report who were not familiar with the lingo. She will submit commits via Ms. Burley and looked forward to final report. Councilmember Chen thanked Ms. Koné for the wonderful report. He enjoyed knowing and learning best practices mentioned including the HIP house sharing programs and many others. Income is the main driver for people ending up on edge of becoming homeless although there are other factors. The solutions are all good suggestions and practices but another element worth exploring is education and training. As people are getting services, the next step is partnering with Edmonds College or other vocational programs to get people they skills they need to make a living so they do not need to rely on those services. Out of all programs mentioned and of the homeless in Edmonds and in the region, some of the hidden homeless are students. He remembered when he first came to the United States, he had a host family in Iowa who invited him to stay with them. He suggested pursuing or promoting a host family program for people with extra bedrooms willing to open their homes and hearts for students to stay with them in exchange for help around the house. He concluded a host family model for students would be worth exploring. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 16 Councilmember Chen referred to the Bellevue Cares Model, commenting Bellevue is very different from Edmonds; it has high-rises and many multinational corporations. Edmonds has about 500 homeless individuals and asked about Bellevue’s homeless population, relaying his understanding Bellevue has a full-time homeless coordinator and a homeless policy manager. Ms. Koné said she did not have that information off the top of her head but will include that in the report when describing Bellevue’s program as well as follow up with the City on that information. 5. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Mayor Nelson advised that Councilmember L. Johnson had left the meeting during the previous presentation. COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER. COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO SWAP AGENDA ITEMS 8.1 AND 8.2 DUE TO IT BEING VERY LATE FOR THE TREE CANOPY CONSULTANTS LOCATED ON THE EAST COAST, AND TO SWAP AGENDA ITEMS 8.3 AND 8.4 AS ITEM 8.4, SALARY COMMISSION REINSTATEMENT, WAS BUMPED FROM LAST WEEK’S AGENDA. Council President Olson expected with expeditious behavior, the council could get through the entire agenda tonight. AMENDMENT CARRIED (6-0). MAIN MOTION AS AMENDED CARRIED (6-0). 6. AUDIENCE COMMENTS Mayor Nelson invited participants and described the procedures for audience comments. Linda Ferkingstad, Edmonds, explained for those wishing to divide their property to build much needed single family homes, Edmonds’ tree ordinance requires payment for the worth of the owners’ trees needing removal. The loss for them was over $225,000 for their trees on 1.2 acres. The council later placed a cap on their loss at $2/square foot equaling $107,000 unless it’s possible to retain 50% of the trees on their property. Even when retaining 50% of the trees, they would have to pay an arborist to appraise every tree at a cost of $200-$300 each, costing $60,000-$70,000. Any retained tree would become a protected tree and new owners would not be allowed to remove them. Edmonds is stealing $107,000 from them, the worth of their own trees, before they can use their property and they have been damaged by this theft. It is wrong and illegal to steal property even when the City gets away with it. It is an unconstitutional taking of their property. The council’s reason for the ordinance is retention of Edmonds’ tree canopy which has actually increased by 17.6 acres in the past five years, achieved mostly by single family home owners. The City has placed the canopy burden solely on those who wish to build homes. New homes are nearly cost prohibitive to build in Edmonds due to the planning department’s many requirements, obstructions and delays and now Edmonds charges owners for the rights to their trees. Ms. Ferkingstad continued, vacant properties are now undesirable and have decreased in value because Edmonds has claimed the owners’ trees. They cannot selling their property even if they wanted to. There are seven single family homes available for purchase in Edmonds. The critical housing crisis has raised home prices, insurance, property taxes and caused rising rents and increasing homelessness. The council has broken their sworn oath to protect the constitution as they violated the 5th and 14th amendments and Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 17 takings clause, violated Washington’s growth management act and Edmonds comprehensive plan and cost their family precious time and the money they need to build their homes with the moratorium and tree ordinance. With no natural light, a dark home with encroaching trees and obstructed views has less market value. She believed the tree ordinance would have the opposite effect of what was intended; trees won’t be planted because they become future liabilities that are costly to remove before paying for an appraisal and the tree’s value to the City. The council has the power to give them back the rights to their property. She requested the council rescind the illegal, discriminatory tree ordinance. She reported there were only 16 COVID cases in Edmonds last week. Dan Murphy reported there are currently 23 homes, townhomes and condos for sale in the City of Edmonds, 13 of those are over $950,000 and the median sale price is Edmonds is $919,950, up 34% year on year according to Redfin. The average home in Edmonds is on the market for less than six days. He suggested if that data didn’t scare the council, he did not know what would. The area is in the midst of a housing crisis. Two years ago the Edmonds citizens housing commission issued a series of prudent recommendations to address the housing shortage such as missing middle housing in single family neighborhoods, medium density single family housing units, detached accessory dwelling units and others. The State legislature has been working on this, but elements of that legislation have stalled. He wanted to know what urgent action the Edmonds City Council was taking to address the housing crisis. Mr. Murphy said he heard a suggestion earlier today that young families like his should share houses with other families who may not have the means to buy in Edmonds. He did not think that was an acceptable policy solution to this crisis. Each week the council should be asking itself, what did we do this week to make this City more affordable and accessible to young families? How have we moved the needle on affordability? Extra bedrooms in homes or sharing homes with other families won’t cut it. More supply is needed and it was needed yesterday. A start would be to take up some of the citizen housing commission’s recommendations including increasing the housing supply and the dreaded word, density. He feared if that wasn’t done, the City’s future would be quite bleak, homelessness would increase, and the City would become further out of reach for all but those who were lucky enough to buy a home in the community decades ago or the ultra-wealthy. Carl Zapora, Edmonds, referred to the Salary Commission Reinstatement agenda item, explaining he was a member of the salary commission for the past four years, having been recruited by the former mayor and confirmed by the city council. These are volunteer positions, the members participated without compensation and worked dozens of hours to make decisions on appropriate compensation levels for city councilmembers and the mayor. He spoke previously about how he believed it was important for a voluntary salary commission comprised of knowledgeable, experience people to look at comparable salaries in cities Edmonds size. He was most concerned that the City, when working with volunteers, treated them well. If a decision is make to disband a committee or commission, he suggested at the very least meeting with them, thanking them for their service, and asking about lessons learned and recommendations going forward. The past salary commission was disbanded with zero communication and as a volunteer he questioned whether he wanted to volunteer for the City again, a feeling no volunteer should have. He supported reinstating the salary commission and applauded the city council for considering it. Citizens should determine the city council and the mayor’s salaries, not the city council. Natalie Seitz, Edmonds, said her comments will focus on what the PROS Plan investment represents. The current PROS Plan identifies three neighborhood parks in south Edmonds and SR-99, a total proposed investment of $8.1 million, less than and utterly dwarfed by the investment in Civic Center this year, the corridor and potential investment in the Unocal property. She expressed her appreciation to the council for pausing the Marina Beach project, a tough but needed decision and something she hoped the council would continue to support to promote broader equity across the City. With the proposed neighborhood park acquisition budget, the City will not be able to address critical deficiencies in south Edmonds and SR-99 and will be unable to keep up with growth in these areas. GRE apartments paid Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 18 approximately $450,000 in park impact fees; if the multifamily impact fee were applied to the approximately 550 new units in existing land use applications in the SR-99 corridor, it would yield another $1.3 million. The $3.89 million proposed investment in the SR-99 area actually only represents about $2 million above direct impact fees based on GRE and pending land use applications. There is every indication that the pre-capita provision of parks will actually decrease over the next six years for the SR-99 area based on current land use applications and the $3.89 million in investment proposed in the PROS Plan. She hoped the City would slow redevelopment in this area to help center community voices and prevent displacement. However, she could not based her feedback on what she hoped the City would do; she had to comment on what the City has done and is tending to occur. Ms. Seitz continued, every new and enhanced investment downtown, the cultural corridor, marsh and civic center and enhancement of Yost Pool instead of in-kind replacement, is a decision to under-serve eastern, lower income and more diverse areas of the City. So what should be the heart of where the City spend staff time and resources? The current investments still focus on areas that are already meeting current and proposed open space service levels and are over-served by park resources. Wouldn’t the City as a whole be better served by spending resources to improve the health and environmental outcomes in underserved areas? Unlike downtown, multifamily developments in the SR-99 area are not subject to a moratorium. Shouldn’t the City invest in areas concurrent with where population growth has and will occur in order to be consistent with the GMA? She requested the City include a line item for open space investment in the SR-99 and south Edmonds area and not let the priorities of one interest group overshadow the service analysis and results of more than 2,000 participants in the PROS Planning process including 501 who participated in a multi-language, random sample mail survey which is the City’s best data to identify the broader Edmonds’ community support. She requested increased funding for neighborhood and community parks and community centers in the underserved areas including south Edmonds, SR-99 and northeast of Five Corners. Adrienne Fraley-Monillas, Edmonds, congratulated Council President Olson on being Carl Zapora’s nominee for mayor of the year. She congratulated the council on finally passing the 2022 budget. Although thoroughly vetted by council in the fall, that apparently was not good enough and the council wasted 5-6 meetings instead of dealing with other City business, and did not pass 90% of the amendments. She congratulated the expert who does not have a CPA or accounting degree. With regard to the salary commission, the council disbanded it due to council’s concern that they were adequately paid. Unfortunately, the council must accept the salary commission’s recommendation regardless of whether they agree with it. She would be ashamed of the council if they continued the salary commission because frankly the council was paid better than any other council in the region. With regard to $150,000 proposed for lighting along the corridor, she said a councilmember is moving forward due to one person and their children. The council needs to look at sidewalks for the safety of all. She suggested asking the people who live in the area what their priorities are, not a campaign buy-back from others. With regard to the council retreat, Ms. Fraley-Monillas said a facilitator spoke inappropriately against the administration, the mayor and a councilmember. She objected to Council President Olson and Councilmember Buckshnis hiring Council President Olson’s campaign manager to do a presentation on communication which happened to have been the worst training she had seen in her longstanding career. The presenter suggested councilmembers keep comments secret, not realizing the council did not have that option. The community is losing confidence in Council President Olson’s ability to lead ethically and her and Councilmember Buckshnis’ unethical behavior should be investigated and perhaps they should be removed from the positions of council president and council president pro tem. In all the years she has been involved in politics, which is probably over 40, she has never heard of anyone so blatantly throwing their campaign director a chit for something like a retreat. Cindy Sjoblom, Edmonds, commented it was disingenuous not to have hybrid meetings, recalling a meeting in September 2021 where a couple councilmembers were at home participating via zoom and Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 19 other councilmembers were in council chambers and it worked fine. Not having hybrid meetings by now is nothing more than lip service. She questioned how many studies were needed before action was taken to solve the homeless problem which has more than doubled since the original study was done. There are councilmembers with good instincts to navigate these problem. It is easy for the consulting firm to keep the studies going and spending more taxpayer dollars and it becomes analysis paralysis. The largest number of homeless are substance addicted and need treatment and she suggested addressing that problem. An expectation that help with housing comes with reciprocity, otherwise those who need help are further victimized. Regarding income issues for homelessness and housing affordability, people who are still of working age may need help with worker retaining for higher paying jobs. She echoed Councilmember Chen’s suggestion for trade school training and perhaps appropriate financial aid. There needs to be senior housing apartments and perhaps future apartments already allotted on Highway 99 can be for seniors and shared housing is a great idea. Next, when she called with concerns about drug-addicted homeless going into the Frances Anderson Center last year posing a potential risk to senior and children, Ms. Burley hung up on her because she was unhappy about her questions and comments. She reported her concerns to the mayor and miraculously and maybe not coincidentally, she was promoted for her response. She reminded City staff they were also to uphold the code of conduct and code of ethics and cannot treat citizens in the manner in which Ms. Burley handled her call. Additionally, Ms. Burley refused to let citizens participate on the homeless task force. A councilmember approached Ms. Burley and she was not open to allowing citizens participate. She asked when a City employee is able to override a suggestion by a councilmember. These problems need to be fixed because citizens have a right to be a voice on various task forces. It was her understanding task forces should be approved by council and council shouldn’t necessarily be participating on task forces because the task force’s job is to advise the city council. 7. APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER TIBBOTT, TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED (5-0-1), COUNCILMEMBER PAINE ABSTAINING. The agenda items approved are as follows: 1. APPROVAL OF COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 22, 2022 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF ADJOURNED MEETING OF FEBRUARY 17, 2022 3. APPROVAL OF PAYROLL AND BENEFIT CHECKS, DIRECT DEPOSIT AND WIRE PAYMENTS 4. APPROVAL OF CLAIM CHECKS AND WIRE PAYMENTS 5. COUNCILMEMBER TRAINING REIMBURSEMENT 6. APPROVAL OF SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT WITH PUGET SOUND CLEAN AIR AGENCY Councilmember Paine said she was abstaining because she objected to Item 7.5, but supported the other items. 8. COUNCIL BUSINESS 1. EDMONDS TREE CANOPY ASSESSMENT Environmental Program Manager & Interim Planning Manager Kernen Lien explained as part of the tree code update, the council was interested in updating the tree canopy assessment. A tree canopy assessment Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 20 was completed in the 2019 Urban Forest Management Plan (UFMP) that was based on a 2015 aerial photo analysis and the council was interested in what had happened to the canopy since that time. The UFMP included a goal to update the tree canopy assessment periodically, at least every ten years so this tree canopy assessment implements the UFMP. He introduced the City’s Urban Forest Planner Deb Powers who was hired since the council worked on the tree code, another implementation of the UFMP. He noted there had been a lot of emails today about the tree code; tonight’s presentation is regarding the tree canopy assessment, not the tree code. Staff will bring a tree code update to the council in the near future. Ms. Powers said she was thrilled to be here and felt fortunate to serve the community where she lives. She is a certified arborist and an ISA tree risk assessor and brings over 20 years’ experience working in urban forest management, having last served as Kirkland’s urban forester for 13 years. She has been working on getting to know all the nuances of the code, reviewing proposed development for code compliance and property owner tree removal request, and is the staff liaison for the tree board. Mr. Lien explained SavATree is the consultant selected to work on the canopy assessment and they worked together with the University of Vermont to develop the assessment. Mike Galvin, director, SavATree introduced Jarlath O’Neil-Dunne, director, and Dr. Mayra Rodriguez Gonzalez, University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Lab. He explained SavATree was retained by Edmonds to perform a tree canopy assessment. He reviewed: • Tasks o Map the change in Tree canopy from 2015-2020 o Analyze the tree canopy in relation to other data o Estimate the ecosystem services that trees provide • Deliverables o Report o Summarize key points via a presentation o Provide data products to clients resulting from the analysis to GIS team so the City can continue to ask and answer questions using that data • Big picture o Tree canopy increased slightly ▪ 0.9% relative gain ▪ 2015: 34.3% ▪ 2020: 34.6% ▪ 1961.7 acres - 1944.1 acres/1944.1 =0.9% Mr. O’Neil-Dunne advised he also has an affiliation with the U.S. Forest Service. He reviewed key takeaways from the report: • Losses are events • Gains are incremental • 2015 aerial map of 88th &184th that maps vegetation • 2020 aerial map of 88th & 184th illustrating the presence of new homes and loss of trees o Downside of new homes is loss of trees o When developments happen, although tree canopy may be holding stable, it is not necessary the same type of tree canopy. • Tree canopy and canopy change are not evenly distributed o Map with 20 acre hexagons illustrating: ▪ Tree canopy % ▪ Relative % change • 58% of the tree canopy is on residential land Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 21 • Trees in the right-of-way had the most gains • People living in areas with the lowest tree canopy also experienced a decrease in tree canopy Dr. Mayra Rodriguez Gonzalez said her work is in the realm with environmental justice, ecosystem services and access to natural spaces. She reviewed: • Map of existing tree canopy % and relative % change • If current trends seen in canopy loss related to urban development continue, populations with disproportionate access to green or natural spaces will increase • Benefits of ecosystem services trees provide vary widely o Maps with 20 acre hexagons illustrating: ▪ Runoff retention ▪ Heat mitigation Mr. Galvin summarized key points: • Residents are key • Preserve what you have • Continue to plant Council President Olson appreciated the hexagon overlay that showed the distribution of trees, commenting that was important for the council and public to see and something to focus on with regard to where to go next. She gave a shoutout to a citizen who inquired about a State-owned parcel and adding an offramp to Highway 99 southbound. That may not come to fruition for that purpose, but in bringing that to her attention, another resident suggested there could be a pocket forest in that same ½ acre where there is currently nothing. She looked forward to opportunities to make a difference in the tree canopy. Councilmember Paine appreciated the maps in the report with heat mitigation and runoff retention, noting it is important to consider how protecting the existing canopy assists with heat mitigation as well as stormwater mitigation. The winters in this area have gotten much wetter over last 5 years which adds to the burden of runoff. She recalled being a huge advocate when the council requested this report last year and she thanked Mr. Lien for facilitating it. She welcomed Ms. Powers. Councilmember Buckshnis thanked the consultants for the report, noting it is very concise, and has created a lot of conversation. She asked if Mr. Lien had shared the questions she provided such as the differences between how the 2015 and 2020 assessments were done. She appreciated the visuals in the report of what could and should be happening. Mr. Lien said he has shared them with the consultant and included their responses on the tree canopy assessment. Councilmember Buckshnis requested the consultant’s PowerPoint, commenting it was great to see the heat mitigation map because as pocket forests are replaced by houses, it affects the watershed. Mayor Nelson thanked the consultant for the wonderful presentation. He appreciated their highlighting the equitable distribution or lack thereof of the tree canopy. Mr. Galvin thanked the mayor and council for the opportunity to present and thanked Mr. Lien for his leadership guiding them through the process. 2. ORDINANCE AMENDING THE 2022 CITY BUDGET City Attorney Jeff Taraday said he worked with Administrative Service Director Turley drafting ordinance and it was added to the packet on Monday (packet page 138). The ordinance incorporated the motions made over the previous several meetings, doublechecked by Mr. Turley. The ordinance should effectuate what all the prior motions suggested the council wanted to do. He reminded it needed five votes to pass pursuant to RCW 35A.33.120. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 22 COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO PASS THE BUDGET ORDINANCE. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION CARRIED (5-1), COUNCILMEMBERS K. JOHNSON, CHEN, TIBBOTT, AND BUCKSHNIS AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON VOTING YES; COUNCILMEMBER PAINE VOTING NO. 3. SALARY COMMISSION REINSTATEMENT Council President Olson said philosophically, she liked the idea of a volunteer commission setting the council’s salary instead of the council. She was not in favor of disbanding the salary commission and recalled it came on very suddenly and was not fully vetted. As mentioned earlier, the council did not hear from salary commission members as stakeholders in that decision. The council did themselves a disservice by not doing the work that those who were in favor of disbanding cited as the reason. To the extent that something else needs to be looked at or pursued, it could have happen concurrently. She summarized it was either not a good idea or it was premature to have disbanded the salary commission and she would like to consider reinstating it and have it move forward as it has in the past. COUNCILMEMBER K. JOHNSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON, TO REINSTITUTE THE SALARY COMMISSION. Councilmember K. Johnson explained the legislature authorizes two ways a city can increase salaries for the city council, 1) the sitting council can make adjustments as long as they do not impact the currently seated councilmembers, or 2) put together a salary commission. Edmonds has utilized a salary commission for many years and it was abruptly disbanded with the idea it could be done better. However, no action was taken by the council that decided to disband the salary commission. The abrupt decision did not serve the City or councilmembers well and for those reasons she would like to see it reestablished. Councilmember Buckshnis recalled there was a salary commission in 2010 and it was disbanded in 2014 due to a lawsuit and then reestablished. She did not know what happened last year, and was still confused even after reading the minutes. She believed having a salary commission was a good method; they did a great job the last time and the complaint was from council president who said they were too busy to get data, but she felt the data was very well done and statistically they did a great job. She saw no reason not to reinstate them because she still did not know why it was disbanded last year. She was sorry there wasn’t an effort to reach out to the volunteers about disbanding the commission. Councilmember Paine said she would like to look at this again if we have to. The minutes from last year state it would be important to have a four year review cycle. She also wanted to ensure the salary commission in which ever form was used, included an equity analysis for how councilmembers are paid. The RCW outlines how salaries are established either via an outside salary commission or by council and instituted following the next election of a councilmember. She suggest the draft ordinance come to the PSPP committee for review. The recommendation in the agenda memo is a bit convoluted, “Consider re- establishing salary commission via repealing repeal ordinance that repealed city code chapter 10.80 regarding the salary commission.” She said if chapter 10.80 has been repealed, it needs to be rebuilt. She suggested when this comes back, that the commission be asked to look at equity as part of their analysis. Last year’s discussion included whether the best councilmembers could be retained and recruited with the existing salaries. Councilmember Tibbott expressed support for the motion. Reviewing salaries and keeping them up-to- date with other salaries paid in the city is a good government practice, realizing that elected officials have different pay scales than city employees or private enterprise. The salaries are compared to other cities and a specialized commission to do that work is desirable. Another thing that happens during the salary commission every 2 years is a review of council activities. There was some attempt to understand how Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 23 time is spent, what activities are prioritized and to compensate councilmember for the work they put in. He anticipated in some cases that review may identify activities that no longer need to be prioritized or new responsibilities may be added. The salary commission is a very positive way for the city council to be compensated as well as guided by a citizen group. Councilmember Chen said he was not on the city council when the salary commission was disbanded so he had no opinion regarding that. In general, the council’s compensation should be determined by an independent body so he supported having a salary commission. Whether the original members should reinstated, he suggested the entire council discuss that, noting some of members might not be interested in returning. Councilmember Paine asked City Attorney Jeff Taraday if the salary commission considered compensation per the RCW or was it also a forum for the salary commission to look at job duties. Mr. Taraday answered it was compensation only. It was not intended that the salary commissions tell elected officials how to do their jobs. To the point about staffing the salary commission if it is reinstated, Council President Olson suggested there would be value to having at least one person who was on the prior salary commission involved if any of them were still willing and able. She pointed out chapter 10.80 as written was in accordance with state law. Another councilmember mentioned an earlier version of the salary commission was disbanded because it was not in accordance with state law. She recommended staying true to the RCW and following chapter 10.80 as it previous existed. To the extent councilmembers wanted to pursue something different regarding equity, that have may been the reason for disbanding it. That is totally different work that happens outside the salary commission and other issues should not be conflated or integrated into the other. Councilmember K. Johnson said her intent in making the motion was to look at the will of the council and once that will is established, the council can look at the details because the ordinance may need to be changed. She asked Mr. Taraday to begin that process, noting the timing of the reinstatement as it relates to electeds’ terms may need to be considered. She recalled the salary commission convened in off years so it did not conflict with election cycles. It may end up being a four year cycle this time and then return to a two year cycle. Her intent was to reinstate the salary commission and work on the details at a later time. Mr. Taraday asked for clarification, whether he was being asked to draft an ordinance, and if so, was it a recommendation to council regarding how he thinks it should be or to bring back exactly what chapter 10.80 used to say. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED TO AMEND TO REPEAL ORDINANCE 4223 AND REPLACE IT WITH THE REINSTATEMENT OF CHAPTER 10.80. Councilmember Buckshnis agreed with getting on course first and then deciding how the commission should operate. Mr. Taraday offered to bring back an ordinance that readopts what chapter 10.80 used to say. He had never heard of repealing a repeal. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS WITHDREW THE MOTION. Councilmember Chen raised a point of clarification. Councilmember K. Johnson clarified her motion was to reinstate the salary commission and work out the details at a later time. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 24 MOTION CARRIED (6-0). 4. CIVIC CENTER PLAYFIELD PARK UPDATE AND CHANGE ORDER APPROVAL Parks, Recreation, Cultural Arts & Human Services Director Angie Feser said she was providing an update on the Civic Center project at the request of council. She acknowledged and thanked Acting Public Works Director Rob English and Capital Project Manager Henry Schroder who have worked on this project. Mr. Schroder is the project manager and spends the vast majority of his time tracking this project and does a phenomenal job. Tonight’s presentation will include a project update as well as council consideration of a change order. She reviewed: • Project background o Approximately 8 acre site acquired from the Edmonds School District in early 2016 after leasing the property for 40 years o City has been maintaining and operating the site as park since 1975 o In 2017, a community-based master plan was adopted by council with the work of the consulting firm Walker Macy. Walker Macy was later approved by council to complete design development, help with permitting, do bidding and to support construction o In 2018, the City began applying for grants o In November 2018, the council adopted this project in the Parks Capital Plan and it has been in the plan every year since o In 2018, the 50-year old grandstand was demolished o In 2019, council issued a $3.7 million bond to begin construction o In 2021, council issued a $1.6 million bond o The project was bid three times in the last two years, contract was awarded and construction began August 2021 • Project design o Hazel Miller Meadow – a mix of flowers to attract pollinators and support habitat o Sprague Promenade – runs east/west through the site and connects Sprague to the east. Provides hardscape for maintenance access, booths, food trucks and a connection to the surrounding area o Multiuse lawn area and large lawn area/lighted athletic fields o 1/3 mile rubber-surfaced track for running and walking o Multiuse sports court (tennis, pickleball and basketball) o Project retains the field house/Boys & Girls Club and surrounding footprint. Allows for any remodel or new construction on behalf of the Club. o Aboveground skatepark due to the high water table approximately 2 feet under the surface o Formal entrance on the west side includes a shade pavilion, permanent restrooms and storge building (water feature in the illustration was not included in the project) o Pétanque grove designed to provide up to 16 courts for tournament play with a heavily planted area and abundant seating o Mika’s Playground, an inclusive play area providing a variety of experiences for children and families of all abilities, designed to intentionally support child development, health and emotional well-being. The upgrade to truly an inclusive amenity is supported by the Rotary Club of Edmonds who secured a State of Washington Department of Commerce appropriation of more than $250,000. • Construction update o Construction highlights Start: Aug 2021 Estimate completion: Dec 2022 Construction completion: (As of 1/31/22) 28% Construction expenditures: 43% Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 25 (As of 1/31/22) Note: Construction completion and expenditures do not necessarily track at the same rate due to startup costs, mobilization, bonds and insurance, greater materials costs at the beginning, etc. o Construction schedule – 7 pages ▪ Several City and contracted project managers and staff monitor the project progress daily, track expenditures and contract compliance. ▪ Plan set (drawings and specs) 300+ pages • Drone footage images o Preconstruction image compared to schematic drawing ▪ Scramble wall in schematic drawing wall not included in the project, that area will be a bermed natural earth area ▪ The water feature on the drawing (not included) will be a plaza area, but underground infrastructure will be installed during construction o December 2021 ▪ Concrete retaining wall for new sport court, natural mound for the meadow area, soil storage, footprint of two grass fields which are over-excavated and lined with fabric and built back up with materials that drains well with a drainage system ▪ High point of the site is not disturbed in image, everything else on the site is lower so must be brought up to that level which requires massive amounts of fill. ▪ There are pockets of peat on the site so wherever there is a structure like the playground or the skatepark, those areas have to be over-excavated and built up to create a solid foundation o February 2022 ▪ Tennis courts, forms being poured for skatepark, playground excavated and built up, fields built up o February 2022 ▪ Views looking east, west, and southwest ▪ Groundwater is removed from the site in areas that are over-excavated. A temporary dewatering system is used and relocated as needed. • Stormwater mitigation - Yost Park o Civic site is unable to handle all its own stormwater and infiltrate it back into the system due to the high water table. The way to address that via mitigation, treating stormwater within the same watershed upstream. o Yost Park is City owned and has plenty of room so it was selected as the site to create the mitigation project ▪ The early design proposed many water mitigation areas (small retention ponds in landscaped areas) which required tree removal, removed parking, required excavation and repair of parking lot, pool spectator lawn removed, steep hillside cut and large retaining wall built. Construction was proposed to be done in-house which was later realized not to be the best option due to the size of the project. ▪ Mr. Schroder suggested using the right-of-way and utility easements which resulted in a much better system, smaller footprint and removed only two small alder trees, a much more manageable, effective project for stormwater mitigation ▪ Project funded by money associated with Civic Park, but it is a separate project and staff will bring contract award to council for approval. • Project expenses through 1/31/22 Projected Expenditures Original Est Expenditures to 1/31/22 % to 1/31/22 Construction Construction contract Sales tax (10.4% $11,747,962 $5,23,102 39% Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 26 Owner furnished amenities Management reserve (12%) Construction Support Walker Macy construction support KBA construction support City engineering staff time + testing $1,476,463 $441,180 30% Construction Preparation Permits City engineering fees, design & permit $84,849 $44,059 52% Stormwater Mitigation (Yost Park) $200,600 $-- 0% 1% Art Donation $61,002 $-- 0% Total Project $13,570,877 45,108,341 • Change Order #5 - $298,080 (council authorization required) o Temporary site dewatering services used for stormwater system installation and area-specific excavation/fill o Original Dewatering Contingency $ 414,000 o Additional Dewatering C/O #4 (December) $ 42,860 o To date 29.5 non-working days due to weather o Additional Dewatering C/O #5 (January –April)$ 298,080 o Expenditure within project contingency, no additional project funding Councilmember Buckshnis said she will continue to pursue the Yost Park mitigation because she did not recall that and she did not see it in the CIP/CFP which was concerning to her. Recalling some past water issues in that area, she asked if the water issue was under control and if this was a good estimate or would staff be requesting more money. Ms. Feser said Mr. Schroder has researched this using burn rates from other projects and paying very close attention and managing the project so that when dewatering is completed in an area, it is shut down and moved to another area. She trusted his numbers. Most of the site where the dewatering was done has already been excavated and is now being built up. It is not possible to predict the weather, but she anticipated the numbers were pretty accurate. Mr. English agreed Mr. Schroder had good handle on it and has prepared his best estimate based on past projects that used the same effort. The biggest wildcard is if there is a lot of rain between now and April, some additional effort may be required. At this point this is the best guess and a conservative approach to the change order. Councilmember Buckshnis reiterated she did not recall seeing the Yost Park mitigation in the design so she will pursue that offline. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER TIBBOTT, TO APPROVE STAFF’S RECOMMENDATION. Councilmember Tibbott appreciated the difficulty predicting weather, but he was optimistic this would be a good estimate. He asked what was being done to ensure the ground was stable and the park amenities, lawn, etc. would stay where they’re put. One of the concerns was whether the groundwater would change the park again or other peat bogs would be discovered. Ms. Feser answered there are a number of ways they have gone about this, first, test pits were dug within the site to determine the amount of peat and how deep the pockets were. They know for certain that some areas like where the restroom is located, it is very important that that is stable. Second, the playfields have been over-excavated and tons of drain rock has been brought in. There is a drainage system that did not exist previously so it is not the same park or the same materials and it has an under-infrastructure system to encourage drainage and the site is built up. The rest of the site has been brought up to the grade of the high point on the southeast corner or higher so the grade, how water is moves, how water is collected and how it’s treated is controlled. She summarized it is all engineered and designed for that. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 27 Councilmember Tibbott asked where the water goes. Ms. Feser answered it is treated onsite before being released. Councilmember Tibbott asked if it is released as groundwater or does it run down Daley Street. Ms. Feser answered does not run down the street; it is treated onsite. Part of the reason for the mitigation project in Yost Park is because the water cannot all be infiltrated onsite. Therefore another site was created to treat stormwater upstream from Civic. Mr. English commented some of the water goes back into the City system after it is treated. COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER TIBBOTT, TO EXTEND TO 10:20. MOTION CARRIED (6-0). Councilmember Tibbott said he was impressed with the engineering and what has been achieved there so far. Councilmember K. Johnson said she participated in the design of this project by Walker Macy. They created a very acceptable community design but there was no environmental site design so there was no understanding of what it would take to dewater and build up the land in order to construct this park on an old, as she understood it, plasticine lake bed. She recalled geese and sandy soils were there. The real flaw in the process is the attributes of the land were not considered when designing the park and she was not surprised it was costing a lot more. She knew the water onsite would be the greatest obstacle to overcome. There is a saying in planning, where there is a political way, engineers can do it. If a tunnel can be built under the English Channel, they can certainly engineer a park. Councilmember K. Johnson recalled looking at Yost Park as an offsite mitigation measure and she thanked Mr. Schroder for finding the right-of-way access so trees, parking and seating at Yost Pool did not have to be removed. She summarized that was a long way of saying she predicted the water would be a major problem and she was glad this was within the engineering reserve but she anticipated the council would be asked again and again for more money. If it comes to more and more money, she suggested considering ways to reduce costs, however, since most of the engineering is work done upfront, she did not see any way to save money at this point. Councilmember Chen thanked Mr. English and Ms. Feser for the wonderful presentation and their knowledge which was very helpful to him as a new councilmember. He thanked Councilmember Tibbott for his great questions and the answers both directors provided. He observed the dewatering was not foreseen at the design phase and asked if there would be other surprises to the best of staff’s knowledge. Ms. Feser said that was tough question and she could not say there would be absolutely no surprises because that is not known. However, the site has been rough graded, the dewatering system has been working the way it is supposed to, and the site is being built up so the chance of unknowns is diminishing and is considerably less than day one. A lot of the issues are being addressed, controlled and minimized and the larger unknowns are being working out so those diminish every day. She was unsure if there was much more digging to be done. Councilmember Chen asked staff to help him understand how the Yost Park water treatment system will help improve the Civic Park water system when they are at two different locations. Ms. Feser answered typically when a site is developed, all the water is required to be treated onsite and infiltrated back into the ground. That is not possible at Civic because the water table is so high; instead, the water is treated and enters the stormwater system. Part of the permitting requirements state in order to make up for that, stormwater elsewhere in the watershed needs to be fixed. Creating a system elsewhere that collects a lot of stormwater and puts it into the ground there rather than letting it run down and into the stormwater system, is done as a tradeoff. It is not necessarily that the water is gathered at Yost Park and sent down to Civic, there are two different projects. Stormwater is treated at Yost Park so it enters the ground rather than going straight into the stormwater system. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 28 Councilmember Chen said that is a concept but hiking at Yost Park it seems like the water is already high quality compared to at Civic Park so the tradeoff is not truly a tradeoff. Ms. Feser said it is not necessarily gathering the water that collects at Yost Park, it is gathering water uphill from Yost Park. The water comes into Yost Park in pipes and goes into the infiltration system and then into the ground rather than continuing into the stormwater treatment area. She and Mr. English offered to have Mr. Schroder share details about the project. UPON ROLL CALL, MOTION CARRIED (5-1), COUNCILMEMBERS CHEN, TIBBOTT, BUCKSHNIS, AND PAINE AND COUNCIL PRESIDENT OLSON VOTING YES; COUNCILMEMBER K. JOHNSON VOTING NO. 9. MAYOR'S COMMENTS Mayor Nelson said his heart goes out to the people of Ukraine who are suffering and fighting for their freedom. Everyone is thinking of them and wishing them safety and he hoped they get their country back. 10. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Tibbott thanked Mayor Nelson for his comments. His mother’s family came here from Ukraine, grew up speaking Ukrainian and he heard many stories. He reported on an administrative meeting of the Snohomish County Health District, relaying one of the amazing things the district did over the last month was to intercept a child and his family who came from another part of the world where he contracted measles. The health district quickly identified the problem, isolated the family that was exposed, traced areas of exposure and essentially shut down the spread of measles in Snohomish County. The response was immediate and involved a lot of people working very fast. It reminded him that there are government services working on our behalf for our safety and health that citizens are not aware of. He wanted to let the council and citizens know that the health district is working around the clock to keep tabs on potential diseases and health hazards. Councilmember Chen said what is happening in Ukraine reminded him of what his family went through in the 40s and 50s; war is terrible. He had a lot of respect for Ukrainian President Zelenskyy who when the United States offered him a ride, he said I need ammunition, not a ride. A lot of refugees are escaping the countries; he makes his small donation to help with relief and encouraged those with the means help with the effort through reliable, reputable organizations. Councilmember Paine said her thoughts are with eastern Europe and how that all came about. War is devastating, most devastating for families and the people fighting for their land. Refugees are different than immigrants, refugees are people to come to another country because they do not have a choice. She has met way too many who were refugees due to war in their country such as Serbia, Cambodia and other nations. She recognized that it was out of the local control, but she encouraged everyone to remember these people and recognize that they come from a place none of us have ever had to face because there hasn’t been a war on U.S. land since Pearl Harbor. She summarized be kind to everyone. Council President Olson explained her campaign in 2019 was run entirely by volunteers, a talented group that included Ms. Gettleman, an amazing communications specialist who taught the communications workshop for the council. She urged the public to enjoy the communications workshop for themselves, it is at time marker 3:28 on the February 25th city council retreat video. Anyone watching will see that it was wonderful and exactly what the council needed and definitely what she needed. Most importantly, there is no scandal. She is a careful steward of tax dollars and in planning this retreat specifically, she only spent $300 for the entire daylong event. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes March 1, 2022 Page 29 Council President Olson recognized a great loss in the community, a classmate at Edmonds-Woodway High School, Emily Hood, who heroically fought cancer, lost her battle yesterday. Council President Olson was thinking of her and everyone around her. Councilmember K. Johnson said she had planned to comment on the budget process but will save that for another day. In deference to the comments made previously, she echoed the condolences to the Ukrainian people and those who have immigrated to the United States and become citizens. She was also saddened that a teenager lost her life to cancer at such a young age. She welcomed the first day of March and looked forward to spring. Councilmember Buckshnis agreed war is awful, all we can do is give support, donate if can, and pray or send good thoughts to help Putin understand that he needs to stop the war. She was glad the markets were cutting off the Russians, but that will devastate the Russian people. She complimented Council President Olson for the retreat; she had a good time. The budget amendment process was unique and will probably never be seen again. People were not included in the adjourned budget meeting on Wednesday, November 17th so not all elected officials were allowed to provide input. Unfortunately, the amendments required a super majority, but the council is moving on. Many citizens appreciated that the council took the time and tenacity to hear everyone’s opinions. A lot of new information was provided that was not given when the decision packages were first developed in July. She commented one of the worst things in life is group think. Student Rep Roberts echoed the previous comments and said his thoughts with the Ukrainians. War is and has never been good thing. The best thing now is to treat everyone with kindness and respect and be welcoming to those who may come to Washington from Ukraine. As the COVID numbers go down, he urged the public to continue to make safe choices. COVID is still an issue for many of the vulnerable people in the community including those who are immunocompromised. 11. ADJOURN With no further business, the council meeting was adjourned at 10:19 p.m.