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2023-02-07 Regular Meeting Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 1 EDMONDS CITY COUNCIL MEETING APPROVED MINUTES February 7, 2023 ELECTED OFFICIALS PRESENT Mike Nelson, Mayor Neil Tibbott, Council President Vivian Olson, Councilmember Will Chen, Councilmember Diane Buckshnis, Councilmember Susan Paine, Councilmember Dave Teitzel, Councilmember Jenna Nand, Councilmember STAFF PRESENT Rod Sniffen, Assistant Police Chief Susan McLaughlin, Planning & Dev. Dir. David Levitan, Planning Manager Mike Clugston, Senior Planner Jeff Taraday, City Attorney Scott Passey, City Clerk Jerrie Bevington, Camera Operator 1. CALL TO ORDER/FLAG SALUTE The Edmonds City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Nelson in the Council Chambers, 250 5th Avenue North, Edmonds, and virtually. The meeting was opened with the flag salute. 2. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Councilmember Chen read the City Council Land Acknowledge 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. 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA COUNCILMEMBER PAINE MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER CHEN, TO APPROVE THE AGENDA IN CONTENT AND ORDER. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 5. AUDIENCE COMMENTS Mayor Nelson described procedures for audience comments. Tom Nicholson, Edmonds, voiced his strong opposition to the use of automated speed cameras in Edmonds. He appreciated Mayor Nelson’s commitment to increasing pedestrian safety which is being done where the real problem is on Aurora. Automated speed cameras, operated by private firms, have no place Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 2 in Edmonds. He inquired with Police Chief Bennett about the number of incidents involving students and speeding vehicles and was told there were none over the last decade. This is not an issue either he or his neighbors support. Emphasis patrols by Edmonds Police Department would go a long way toward slowing down or modifying behavior of a small group of residents, but he did not feel deploying technology from Verra Mobility, a Texas based company who would receive a significant portion of the revenue generated from the fines levied on citizens of Edmonds who exceed the speed limit, was appropriate. While this may begin with speed cameras, he feared it would expand into red light, no turn on red cameras and a variety of other things in an effort to generate revenue as is occurring in all 50 states. He strongly recommended Edmonds not follow Lynnwood who receives a significant portion of their operating revenue from the fines which cause many people to avoid Lynnwood. The three affected schools are on two-lane roads, not a four- lane road like Meadowdale High School, one of the examples. This is not a major issue and emphasis should continue on Aurora. Megan Wolfe, Edmonds, the parent of 3rd and 6th grade students at Westgate Elementary, explained they have walked down 220th for nearly seven years and it has gotten progressively scarier. They frequently see cars exceeding 40 mph approaching the school. The speed sign helps, people see it and slam on their brakes which can also be scary. They have been trying to get the City to do something to improve pedestrian safety for the students. Post-COVID and remote schooling, more families walk, a choice that should be encouraged, but it is also scary. Her oldest child is on the safety patrol and they and their friend walk to school early for a week each month. They are very responsible kiddos and wait for cars to wave them across, but she waits to receive a text saying they made it to school safety due to poor driver behavior. She strongly supports speed cameras and hopes this is one step forward, not the only step to make these routes to school safer. There are also kids who bike to school, riding on roads that do not feel safe. Anything the City can do to improve safety getting to and from schools like Westgate and Chase Lake is appreciated. She appreciated Police Chief Bennett having patrols around schools because it feels so much safer walking to school on those days because cars are going slower. As a pedestrian, you can feel the cars speeding past and walking with small children, even the most responsible can be unpredictable. She encouraged the council to help with pedestrian safety; the speed cameras are a great first step. Nora Carlson, Edmonds, a resident of the Westgate neighborhood, urged the council to assist the neighbors and staff at Westgate Elementary who have ongoing concerns about safety issues with the dangerous intersection of 96th Avenue West and 220th Street Southwest. Due to drivers exceeding the posted speed limit along with inattention to signage and crossing guards, the school crossing is considered too dangerous for 6th grade students to safely serve there. The Westgate staff assigned to the crossing must pay close attention to approaching vehicles before crossing students and parents. Even with their extra cautious effort, there have been many instances of near misses. They now use whistles and flashlights in addition to their reflective safety vests and also have posted slow down signage in an effort to capture drivers’ attention. She submitted documentation to the City via the Citizen Action Traffic Calming Program in February 2022 that included 56 residents’ signatures on a petition, 10 detailed personal accounts shared by Westgate elementary school, staff, parents and neighbors, and a 3-page summary of the issues and actions taken thus far to address ongoing safety concerns at the school crossing. Ms. Carlson continued, this documentation included various suggested changes that could be made to the intersection. She appreciated the updates the City’s transportation department has done thus far, but much more needs to be done to fully address ongoing issues with drivers traveling too fast along the arterial. The school zone speed cameras will be an effective way to slow drivers and remind them to follow the speed limit along 220th. Her intent was to make certain the council was aware of the safety issues near Westgate Elementary School with the goal of the council ensuring changes would be made soon for the safety of students, staff, parents and neighbors. It is truly a matter of time before a serious accident at this busy school crossing could injure or kill and adult or child, something she didn’t want to live with and motivates her to Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 3 continue working toward improving the safety of the intersection. The council’s help is urgently needed to effectively address changes to this school crossing. Michelle Mearns, Edmonds, a paraeducator at Westgate Elementary who works on the crosswalk at 220th and 96th that is under discussion, said after starting this position in September, the first two months were insane, even after pushing the button, cars don’t stop. Most cars are not going 20 mph, making it difficult to get put out a flag, get cars to stop and safely cross children. She documented the issues that occurred during the first two months, but was unable to provide that documentation as the ESD’s internet has been down for a week. There was a significant decrease in speeds and she felt safer when Edmonds Police officers are present, but they were only there for a short period of time. She and another staff person bring a cartful of items to the intersection to encourage drivers to stop including cones and signs and have asked for lights like those used to direct planes. She works on the defense, pushing the button and waiting to ensure cars stop before stepping out. There is a very large community of walkers so on the north side of 220th, there can be a very compact crowd standing on the sidewalk. The school has a large neurodivergent population including two intensive behavior support classrooms and a high percentage of children with high needs within the gen-ed classrooms that also cross there, but there is nothing stopping them from occasionally being spontaneous and jumping or falling in front of a moving vehicle that does not stop. She is strongly in favor of the automated speed cameras; she recognized there was litigation, politics, economics and corporations, but something has to be done. She would really like two stop signs on 220th so people would stop and reach zero mph at the intersection so that students can be properly crossed. She has had substitutes fill in for her who do not know how to do that job; if the wrong person is working that crosswalk, someone will eventually get hurt and the ramifications of that will be much worse than proactively installing something there. If not the speed cameras, something needs to be done as soon as possible. Lora Hein, Edmonds, a resident within the Westgate School zone, said the proposed traffic cameras are needed for the safety of children and other pedestrians. She was concerned and alarmed at how many drivers are becoming habituated to blatantly disregarding traffic laws and public safety. There is no way for law enforcement to be everywhere that violations occur. These carefully monitored and reviewed cameras are a necessary tool to provide accountability and consequences for those who choose to ignore multiple indicators that they need to slow at the posted speed limit and stop for pedestrians, especially when children are crossing the street. In doing an online search about the topic, she found a letter to the editor of the Beacon written by a current councilmember in 2015 pointing out the majority of drivers were not heeding the 20 mph school zone limit. After a traffic camera caught a family member exceeding the limit, their family began strictly adhering to the posted speed and noticed other drivers doing so as well. A recent radio report stated during the height of COVID restrictions, drivers got used to seeing fewer drivers on the road as well as schools not being in session and many became lax about obeying traffic laws. Perhaps this explains the secondary pandemic symptom of traffic sign blindness. She displayed a yellow triangle, explaining it means slow and allow approaching cars to go first before proceeding, and a red octagon, which means bring wheels to a complete standstill, look both ways and only proceed when no pedestrian are at adjacent corners about to step off into a crossing at an intersection. A traffic camera in a school zone is an incentive for drivers to refresh their memories about the importance of the laws governing their driving behavior. Lee Kimmelman, Edmonds, said his comments may sound unpleasant or uncaring, but he intended that. His first reaction to this hullabaloo is who cares, who cares if there is traffic monitoring? The people who care are those who are not following the law. If someone is going the speed limit, stopping at red lights, not turning illegally, they will not get ticketed. People who care about their civil liberties being violated also care, but again, civil liberties are given up for the sake of safety such as at the airport and even at schools to protect children from violence. The people who have children care because they care about their children. He slows when he sees the blinking lights warning drivers to slow down, sometimes he is inadvertently going too fast. If he sees a sign warning of a red light camera, he is more cognizant of not running the Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 4 yellow light. If he sees warnings, he will heed them which is the objective of the speed cameras. There is an argument that these will cost money, and the cameras are just a source of revenue for the City; his response is fantastic, let people who live outside of Edmonds help pay taxes, a win-win for him, and the citizens of Edmonds benefit from increased safety for children and more revenue. He suggested earmarking the revenue from the speed cameras for schools, another win-win, which could prevent a future levy or a smaller levy. He summarized the people who care are the people who have children and those who care about the safety of the community which made the cameras a no brainer for him. Jeremy Mitchell, Edmonds, said the speed cameras fit well within the comprehensive plan and the City’s vision statement which states safe streets are one of the top priorities. He is a resident of the Westgate neighborhood and his kids attend Westgate Elementary and he has seen the problem firsthand and agreed it was an issue. If the council has issues with the speed cameras, he invited anyone who opposed them to visit the area and witness what the flaggers experience. If the council does not approve the cameras, he recommended the council identify another solution or improvement. Kevin Fagerstrom, Edmonds, said 5-6 days a week he walks 4-5 miles from the Olympic Drive area down to the waterfront and back. There is nothing the council can do that is enough to protect pedestrian in the City; it is borderline pathetic how many people disregard stop signs and exceed the speed limit. He has been as closer to dying in the last month than any time in his entire life due to speeding vehicles in Edmonds and there is nothing the council can do that is enough to control it. Next, with regard to the state grant the City wants to apply for, he was very concerned about provisions in the grant. He recalled the council declining a grant about 90 days ago in regard to planning. In reviewing the grant requirements for this 2023 grant, the word “must” is used four times, which means the grant comes with substantial requirements. He urged the council to use great caution in applying for the grant, short term money with very dire, long term consequences. 6. RECEIVED FOR FILING 1. CLAIM FOR DAMAGES FOR FILING 2. WRITTEN PUBLIC COMMENTS 7. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS COUNCILMEMBER PAINE MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. The agenda items approved are as follows: 1. APPROVAL OF SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 24, 2023 2. APPROVAL OF REGULAR MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 24, 2023 3. APPROVAL OF SPECIAL FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES OF JANUARY 31, 2023 4. APPROVAL OF PAYROLL AND BENEFIT CHECKS, DIRECT DEPOSIT AND WIRE PAYMENTS 5. APPROVAL OF CLAIM CHECKS AND WIRE PAYMENTS 8. COUNCIL BUSINESS 1. ADDITION OF MINOR DEVELOPMENT CODE AMENDMENT PROCESS IN ECDC 20.80 (AMD2022-0005) Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 5 Senior Planner Mike Clugston explained the minor development code amendment process is part of the larger code modernization process launched last September/October. This proposal was presented to the planning board and they held a public hearing last week. The proposed process is for reviewing minor code amendments that do not have policy impact, just cleaning up the existing code. He reviewed: • ECDC Text and Map Changes • Frequent Minor Amendments o Proposal to create streamlined review process for minor o Updates Promote clarity, eliminate redundancy, streamline processes, better align with best practices, correct inconsistencies o Would be presented directly to Council on consent on a semi- annual basis (March/October) or more frequently as needed o Council could pull any item for further discussion or to send through the Type V process (ADB or other/Planning Board/Council review and approval) • Examples o Minor  Remove references to “CG2” code - Zoning district no longer exists - No policy impact, not controversial o Major  EV Charging infrastructure requirements (ECDC 17.115) - Large policy impact, important to the development community Mr. Clugston relayed the planning board’s recommendation to amend the second sentence in section 20.80.015.A (packet page 148) to read “It is a streamlined process used for proposed changes which need little to no policy study. In speaking with City Attorney Jeff Taraday today, he recommended removing “correct scrivener’s errors” in 20.80.015.B.1 and 2. (packet page 149) as scrivener’s errors have an entirely different process and can be corrected just by working with code publishing. He relayed a public hearing is scheduled for February 21, 2023. Councilmember Buckshnis said she did not have chance to watch the planning board meeting and the minutes were not included in the packet, likely because there was not sufficient time to have them prepared. She asked if there was any public comment at the planning board’s public hearing. Mr. Clugston answered there was not. Councilmember Buckshnis questioned why changing the name of the Development Services Department was considered a minor change versus a scrivener’s error. Mr. Clugston responded there were hundreds of examples of the phrase “Development Services Department” in the code. Last fall the name was changed to Planning & Development Department to better reflect what the department does. That is not a scrivener’s error, it was a defined term in the code and needs to be changed. There are also references in the code to Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 6 Administrative Services Department which predate Development Services Department which also need to be updated. Councilmember Buckshnis commented she used to write policy and her question was why staff was spending time on minor changes when the council was interested in and has been waiting for large policy changes such as multifamily design standards. She asked how this was interfaced with the code rewrite that the council budgeted $300,000 for. Planning & Development Director Susan McLaughlin explained last year in Q4, staff came to council with the work plan for the code modernization work. As part of that work plan, this was one of the first things to tackle due to the importance of addressing the legibility, accuracy and level of inconsistency on an annual basis and establishing a process for addressing minor amendments as they come up. That is not to say that staff is not working on the larger code issues; staff will return to council with a work plan update as part of the larger departmental work plan update for 2023. Councilmember Buckshnis commented changing the name of the department could be done via a search and replace. Ms. McLaughlin assured that was one example of a minor change. Councilmember Buckshnis reiterated the council has been interested in a code update for decades. She referred to staff’s reference to code modernization, she prefers to think of it as an update. She would like to table this issue so the entire code update can be discussed which means the ECC and the ECDC as she felt those should be marching together. Council has budgeted $300,000 for this effort, but has yet to understand how the code update will occur. If the council allows staff to continue with minor changes which take staff time, she questioned when there will be time to work on the major update of the ECC and the ECDC. Councilmember Teitzel applauded staff for trying to find a streamlined way to correct small inconsistencies, errors, typos, etc. in the code. He echoed Councilmember Buckshnis’ comments and hoped to look more globally at the process and include the ECC as well as the development code in the minor code update process; all that is included tonight is the ECDC. The council also need a better overall understanding of the code rewrite; it is not an update, the council funded a major rewrite. He recalled there were plans to make a term limited employee a permanent employee to focus specifically on this effort. Mayor Nelson interrupted, advising the agenda item is Addition of Minor Development Code Amendment Process, but the conversations seem to be related to topics not on the agenda. He requested councilmembers stick to the agenda topic. Councilmember Teitzel continued, his point was the council was only seeing one component of the larger plan and he echoed Councilmember Buckshnis’ concern with that. Councilmember Olson said she was eager for the council to understand the whole approach and pointed out if the council wanted to have that conversation, they could amend agenda. She referred to the language regarding pre-annexation zoning in section 20.80.030 and wanted to understand the options as written in the code, whether it was intentional or whether the City was restricted by law. She asked when an annexation occurs, is the City completely limited to the pre-annexation standards or the City of Edmonds’ standards, or is there an option to create a hybrid. Mr. Clugston explained the pre-annexation language is existing language, it used to be in 20.80.020.C. He moved it to a new subsection, 20.80.030, because it differed substantially from 20.80.020. The language regarding pre-annexation zoning is not proposed to be changed or discussed in this minor code amendment, it was just moved to a new section. Councilmember Olson asked about the philosophy and the options regarding pre-annexation zoning. It appears that there is the option of pre-annexation zoning or the new City of Edmonds zoning. She asked if that was guided by law or if there was some flexibility to have a hybrid. Mr. Taraday clarified pre- annexation zoning is zoning that a city adopts for an area it wants to annex before it annexes the area. The reason that is done is because often annexations are generated by petition or election and it is often important Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 7 for the residents considering annexation to know what their zoning will be before they decide to annex into the city. By adopting pre-annexation zoning, the city is telling the prospective citizens if you come into Edmonds, this is what your zoning will be. Pre-annexation zoning is not a reference to the existing county zoning. Councilmember Olson asked if an area that potentially might be annexed preferred something other than what the City of Edmonds has, would that be negotiable and allowed by law. Mr. Taraday answered the city council, if deemed appropriate, could create a new zoning classification for an area it was considering annexing and could adopt that new zoning classification as the pre-annexation zoning for an area it was hoping to annex. Councilmember Nand, council liaison to the tree board, said she seen a distinction between minor, medium and major code change become a point of controversy where tree board members feel what is characterized as a minor code amendment originated by staff will substantively change the statutory interpretation of that code provision and therefore is no longer a minor change, but a policy change that should be vetted through the board process and then to council rather than originating solely by a staff person. She asked who characterizes what is a minor or major code change and how that can have major and substantive policy changes depending on the interpretation. Ms. McLaughlin agreed words matter in code interpretation. Changes will be identified by staff or some the changes have already been identified through boards and commission, community members, staff, design professionals, etc. over the years. The reality is all the changes would come to council and can be pulled if there are concerns about interpretation. If the tree board had concerns that something that staff considered minor was major, it could be moved to major. With regard to the question of why create a process for minor code amendments before the major code amendments are addressed, Ms. McLaughlin explained an effective framework needs to be established to make efficient code changes which has never been done in the past. When the structure was proposed to council in September 2022, there was positive feedback about the approach. This is step 1 to effectuate that process. By no means was staff trying to say anything with policy implications would be considered minor. Staff is only saying it shouldn’t take 4-5 meetings to change something that has no policy implications. Staff would love council feedback when reviewing these minor code amendments; if they consider something major, it can be moved to major. Councilmember Nand asked if this process goes forward, will boards and commissions still have an opportunity to review what staff characterize as a minor change and agree it is a minor change versus a medium or major change. Mr. Clugston answered that is not the intent. The intent is to have minor changes bubble up in whatever way they do and bring them directly to council. A lot of these will be identified at the staff level who sees things that are wrong with the code every day. The tree board may see something every now and then, particularly when it is reviewing a code update like it is now. Certainly when the tree board is going through their parts of code, if they rank changes as minor, moderate, or major, they will go through that process. Councilmember Nand asked if staff’s characterization of what would be considered a minor code change would still be vetted by citizen boards and commissions under this process. Mr. Clugston said it may, but it won’t in every case. Councilmember Nand observed they would go straight from staff to council without that vetting process. Mr. Clugston answered yes. Ms. McLaughlin said there is an avenue for boards and commissions to provide feedback on minor code amendments that they recommend. By establishing this process, it becomes available for those who work with the code to recommend minor code changes. She emphasized the above example, if there is a zoning classification that is completely obsolete and does not exist in the city, those are the kind of things that are minor. By doing minor code amendments periodically, if council raises a red flag and identifies an amendment they consider major, staff will get a better rhythm. The idea is for minor code amendments to come to council frequently, tidy up the code, and work on Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 8 legibility to free up staff to do major code work. She commented on the amount of staff time consumed by 4-5 meetings to remove a zoning classification that no longer exists. Councilmember Nand hoped to preserve boards and commissions’ input on what they considered minor, medium or major because those volunteers have waded much deeper into the code on their subject matter than council does when facing packets that are 1000 pages long. Council President Tibbott said he really liked this approach as it will get a lot of work done at a level that will substantially improve the code by cleaning up smaller things. He asked whether in the process of cleaning up minor amendments, whether staff discovers major areas that would need to be brought forward via another process. Ms. McLaughlin answered she has only been here a little over a year, staff who have been here longer identify things on a daily basis and have a long list of changes. Council President Tibbott asked if the funds budgeted for the code rewrite will be used to hire additional help to address that list. Ms. McLaughlin answered absolutely; one of the exciting parts is making work that does not need to be so long and arduous more efficient so staff has time to work on the substantive changes. Councilmember Paine expressed her appreciation for this approach, cleaning up smaller things will help highlight policy decisions for bigger issues. She observed this only addressed the ECDC. Mr. Clugston agreed, this only applies to Titles 15-24 which is considered the development code. Councilmember Paine observed minor code amendments will come to council twice a year. Mr. Clugston answered that is the intent. Councilmember Paine said that made sense and she looked forward to the public hearing in two weeks which would identify what people were interested in. She was glad see this process happening in tandem because one begets another, having more eyes on the code will identify small and larger issues. Councilmember Olson commented there is no reference in the packet about hearings because it is going on the consent agenda. She clarified there is no hearing when a package of minor code amendment comes to council. That is different than what she understood when it was presented and asked if that change was made since it was presented to council. Mr. Clugston answered it was always intended to go to council on consent. Councilmember Olson asked if a public hearing was required for a code change. Mr. Taraday answered the point of public hearings is public feedback on policy matters. These are not policy matters, it is just code cleanup. The type of changes that would come to council via the minor amendment process are by definition things that no one would want to make public comment on. If the council had a difference of opinion on that, it could be pulled from consent and the rest would move forward and the change that was pulled could go through the normal process. Councilmember Olson echoed previous councilmembers’ comments about liking this approach; doing things that can be done simply and efficiently is a good idea. Councilmember Chen was excited about taking effective steps to start this process; it is a daunting task to tackle the code rewrite all at once. He echoed Councilmember Nand’s point about involving the dedicated, knowledgeable planning board volunteers in the process. Councilmember Buckshnis asked how the update of the ECC and ECDC would be meshed and what would be addressed with the funds the council budgeted. Ms. McLaughlin answered Planning & Development’s purview is the ECDC code, the department does not manage or administer Chapters 1-10. If that is of interest, that would need to be discussed in a different council meeting. Councilmember Buckshnis relayed her understanding of Ms. McLaughlin’s explanation was the $300,000 council budgeted was for the ECDC update. Ms. McLaughlin answered that is correct. Councilmember Buckshnis said she was unaware of that. Ms. McLaughlin reiterated Planning & Development does not administer the rest of the code so she was unsure why that an assumption. Councilmember Buckshnis pointed out all the code needs to be updated. The council budgeted $300,000 to hire contractors or consultants to assist administration with updating the code that has been seriously and significantly outdated for a long time which included the entire code, the Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 9 ECC and the ECDC, and this is only dealing with one aspect. She asked who will update the other chapters. Mr. Taraday said he did not have an answer for that, it was not clear to him who was driving that project. Mayor Nelson interrupted, commenting it would be more clear if there was an agenda item for which staff was properly given notice to prepare. When council springs something on staff and expects them to answer, the council will not get informed answers or opinions. He requested the council stick to the agenda and schedule this on a future agenda if necessary. 2. AUTHORIZE MAYOR TO SIGN INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT WITH DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE TO RECEIVE FY2023 GMA PLANNING GRANT FOR COMPREHENSIVE PLAN PERIODIC UPDATE Planning & Development Director McLaughlin introduced Planning Manager David Levitan. Mr. Levitan said he looked forward to working with the council. He explained there is a requirement in the Interlocal Cooperation Act that requires interagency agreements to be reviewed by city councils before they can be signed by the city executive. The intent of this agenda item is to introduce the topic in hopes of getting it approved on a future consent agenda. This is a grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce; during the 2022 legislative session the legislature decided due to the scope and scale of the upcoming periodic update to the comprehensive plan that needs to address housing issues, climate change and other substantive issues, to fund the mandate. During past periodic update cycles no money was provided by the state. This is money from the state allocated based on the city/county population for cities of less than 50,000 population. For Edmonds, that is $125,000 over 2 fiscal years; $62,500 per year between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2024 that the City can apply for. Staff applied for the grant on January 20, 2023 and received notice from the Department of Commerce that they approved the scope of work and submitted a draft local agreement. When that was reviewed by the city attorney, staff was informed council approval was required. In response to the comment by Mr. Fagerstrom, Mr. Levitan advised in looking at the Growth Management grant page on the Department of Commerce website, there are a number of different grants administered by the Department of Commerce through the GMA program. There were no statements that included “must” for this periodic update grant. The website includes discussion of a buildable lands grant that does have items that must be included. The periodic comprehensive plan update grant does not have any requirements; staff submitted a scope of work for items that the grant would reimburse. It includes three deliverables, one of which has been completed, the equity gap analysis which was prepared and completed by EcoNW last summer. Another deliverable is the visioning exercise completed in advance of the comprehensive plan update which is in the final stages; a draft has been developed that will go back to the community. He relayed his understanding there were some concerns with the dates and assured the March 15th date could be changed if councilmembers wanted to extend the period to vet the vision statement. It would need to occur before June 30, 2023 because it is funded with the grant for this fiscal year. Councilmember Paine welcomed Mr. Levitan. She recalled the grant the council decided not to accept had some specific conditions. She asked if this grant had any specific conditions. Mr. Levitan answered the middle housing grant stipulated that cities needed to identify 30% of the zone capacity that would allow for middle housing. He understood the council and the community had reservations related to that which resulted in the council not accepting the grant. There is no similar language for this grant; this grant is specifically related to the periodic update. The City defines the scope of work which is reviewed by the Department of Commerce. The scope of work was included as an attachment in the packet. There was no push back from the Department of Commerce, they were satisfied with the proposed scope. Councilmember Paine referred to the scope of work (packet page 167) and observed this agreement was for the first half of the grant and the second half will be next year. She asked if there would be a similar Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 10 ILA to accept the grant next year. Mr. Levitan advised another interagency agreement will need to be approved next year. Councilmember Paine asked what would be included in the scope of work for next year. Mr. Levitan answered it would be related to actual policy development and policy issues versus visioning and analysis of gaps within the comprehensive plan. By July 1, 2023, the hope is that a lot of the technical work will be completed and the process will move into policy development and the SEPA review which could be funded through the Department of Commerce grant. Councilmember Teitzel welcomed Mr. Levitan to the team, complimenting him on being up to speed on the issues, noting there is a lot to learn in a short period of time. He asked about the ability of cities with populations under 50,000 to apply for the grants. Mr. Levitan answered cities under 50,000 are eligible for $125,000 over the 2 year period. Larger cities and counties are eligible for more funding; the funding is based on population. Councilmember Teitzel asked whether most cities with populations under 50,000 have applied for the grant. Mr. Levitan answered yes, for example he applied for this grant when he was the planning manager for the City of Lake Stevens and it was approved by the city council. Councilmember Teitzel referred to Attachment A: Scope of Work (package page 165), and task 1, comprehensive plan equity and climate gap analysis, work that was done in July/August 2022, but Attachment B: Budget, also lists comprehensive plan equity and climate gap analysis which was completed in 2022. He was unclear why it appeared in the budget if it had already been completed. Mr. Levitan explained Attachment B is the same information, it breaks it down in different way with the deliverables, allocating the $62,500 across the three deliverables. Because the gap analysis deliverable has been completed, the City can immediately submit to have the $40,000 reimbursed. Because the grant was not requested when it was first released in July 2022, the City is a little late to game and has already done some of the work included in the scope of work. It is basically an opportunity to be reimbursed in 2023. Councilmember Buckshnis welcomed Mr. Levitan. She has had a lot of calls and comments regarding this, especially with the scope of work. She has been through many comprehensive plan updates and they always go through council before any information was disseminated like the comprehensive plan update vision statement which the council saw only recently at the retreat. The council has not seen the equity gap analysis. She felt some of the items in the scope of work should go through council for review and update. She recalled the Waterfront Issues Report was provided to council in July 2022 and a summary in October/November by Ms. McLaughlin, but the council did not make any decisions or approvals but did provide recommendations. Councilmember Buckshnis referred to Items 11 and 12 of the Commerce grant (packet page 161-162) which stated Commerce can ask the city to repay the money if there is not proper maintenance of books, records, documents, data and other evidence relating to the contract and performance of the services. She recalled former planning board members saying they did not receive enough information during the process. She asked whether the dates could be changed to provide council oversight of the equity gap analysis and the comprehensive plan update visioning. Although staff may not consider them policy, the overall comprehensive plan is a policy statement so council should be apprised of the components as they come forward. Ms. McLaughlin advised staff has been to council four times regarding the comprehensive plan in the past six months. Councilmember Buckshnis did not disagree. Ms. McLaughlin explained the comprehensive plan is adopted as a body of work as it is a pinnacle policy. Leading up to that, the goal is to keep council apprised of staff’s work and bring decisions about policy or development of policy to council. As part of Planning & Development’s work plan, staff will come to council to talk about the work plan for the comprehensive plan and council touchpoints during the next year plus. To date the visioning process has been very transparent to council. The climate and equity gap analysis is typically a background document that does not rise to the level of a council briefing; she offered to put it in the read file or provide a briefing to council. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 11 Councilmember Buckshnis commented she has been through many comprehensive plan updates in the 13 years she has been on council. It is different to have a visioning summary where staff provides a presentation. She recalled council raised several issues of concern with the Waterfront Issues Report and asked to have updated data which was not done. Staff stated in November that council had approved the Waterfront Issues Report, but that was actually not done. The gap analyses are very important because they consider gaps between the old and new comprehensive plan. It is important to keep council apprised and to allow council to make decisions along the way. She anticipated citizens would challenge the council’s approval of this grant because they have not been apprised. She agreed staff has provide summaries, but changes the council asked for have not come back and the council has not voted. She was aware that some people did not like the visioning process or the statement. She referred to the 8,000 tweets that were collected during the visioning process. Ms. McLaughlin advised they were comments, not tweets. Councilmember Buckshnis said there were 8,000 comments of 120-characters which is the equivalent of a tweet, the summary and other survey stuff which many people complained about. She wanted to ensure if the council approved this, someone did not say the city was not in compliance with sections 11 and 12 because some people believe the council should be apprised and should approve what staff provided Commerce for grant reimbursement. She has many example of when the administration requested a grant that the council did not agree to. She was trying to be conscientious of citizens and planning board members and others who have issues with the transparency of this project. Councilmember Nand welcomed Mr. Levitan. As there is lot of public interest in local governments’ relationship with Olympia in terms of zoning and in light of bills coming before the legislate during this session, she asked staff to elaborate on how Commerce intends to use and aggregate the deliverables, what does the state hope to get from providing grant funding. Mr. Levitan said this is deliverable driven grant, cities need to identify tasks, actions and deliverables and reimbursement is based on submitting the deliverable. Staff would not be able to submit for reimbursement of Task 2, Comprehensive Plan Update Visioning, until the final version of the vision statement was completed. That planning process is still underway including plans to send out a citywide mailing to solicit feedback. The equity and gap analysis is a technical report, not per se an actionable item that comes before council, but is eligible as background work related to the comprehensive plan. The scope of work was submitted to Department of Commerce and they found it met the intent and requirements of the grant program. The equity and climate gap analysis would need to be submitted to be eligible for the $40,000 reimbursement. As Department of Commerce administers the GMA for the state, Ms. Laughlin assumed submitting the deliverables was an incentive to help cities meet the task at hand. Councilmember Olson appreciated the offer to provide the gap analysis as Received for Filing and did not feel the council needed a presentation on every single item. She was happy there had been a presentation on the Waterfront Issues Study and recalled there was at least one assumption in that report she did not want to buy off on so she hoped there would be time on the agenda to discuss that again before it becomes time critical. She liked the ideas of seeing the components as they are compiled so if there were any issues, the council could weigh in and provide feedback. Councilmember Olson said the important thing for her is having a meeting of the minds about how important and what a driver a vision statement is or is not. She had been hopeful that a vision statement would be developed that everyone was passionate about so that everything would fall into place based on it and it would make all the decisions easier; things would either comply with or support the vision statement or not. If staff is in that same mode, that they feel it is that important, she assumed there would be council approval on at least that one step to ensure council was completely supportive before another six months is spent on a particular vision statement. It would make sense for the administration and council to come Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 12 together to ensure they are on same page and agree that the vision statement represents what the community communicated. Councilmember Olson commented Edmonds has a recent history of pitiful surveys such as regarding Walkable Main and other things that have happen in the last two years to the point where people felt manipulated because they could not find the answer they wanted in the survey choices. She hoped staff was consulting paid or unpaid professionals, noting there are members of the Economic Development Commission who design surveys. She wanted to ensure the survey is actually vetted and is able to get the community’s true input on whether they like the entire statement, and when they understand what it means, they still support each element of the vision. She thanked staff for all their copious work and she was excited there was an opportunity for reimbursement for some of this work. She did not see what the citizen mentioned about grant requirements so it is possible he was looking at another grant. COUNCILMEMBER PAINE MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER CHEN, TO ACCEPT THE INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT WITH DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ALLOWING THE MAYOR TO SIGN AND ACCEPT FUNDS FOR $125,000 ACROSS TWO YEARS. Councilmember Paine commented the council has rambled around and talked about everything comprehensive plan related. This agenda item is strictly related to acceptance of the grant funds. Councilmember Teitzel referred to Action 2.4, Public engagement and buy-off and comprehensive plan vision statement which has an end date of February 15, 2023 which is next week. He asked for clarity regarding that that meant, whether buy-off was from the public or council. Mr. Levitan said when this was submitted a few weeks ago, he did not realize it required council approval which resulted in a couple week delay. If there is concern with the dates, they can be changed. To be safe, the actions under Task 2, Comprehensive Plan Update Visioning should be completed by May 31st. He suggested the motion could be amended to revise the date or direct staff to provide a more realistic estimate of when those tasks may be completed. Councilmember Teitzel observed buy-off meant council buy-off. Mr. Levitan anticipated it was the survey and citywide mailing. Councilmember Teitzel asked when the survey would be distributed and when it would be complete. Ms. McLaughlin anticipated the citywide mailing will be done in the next couple weeks. COUNCILMEMBER OLSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS, TO AMEND TO MOVE APPROVAL TO THE NEXT CONSENT AGENDA. Councilmember Olson advised having this on consent would provide an opportunity for council to see the updated dates on the scope of work. She asked for verification that staff was not concerned about having it approved on the consent agenda. Mr. Levitan answered it would not be a problem to update the dates and bring it back on the February 21consent agenda. Councilmember Chen commented it seems like the City was late in the process of applying for the grant and asked if staff was confident the deadline could be met in time to receive the grant. Mr. Levitan answered a number of cities have been late in applying and he was not overly concerned. The funds are allocated to Edmonds, it is up to the City when it gets the ILA signed and get the deliverables completed. Whether this is pushed out two weeks, the deliverables for Task 2 is after February 21 and likely will take longer due to the time it has taken to get the citywide mailing sent out. He assured a two week delay would not result in the funds disappearing. Councilmember Chen asked if two weeks would be sufficient to send out the survey, analyze it, come to council, etc. Mr. Levitan clarified the amendment is to return on February 21 with end dates beyond those Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 13 identified in the scope of work. For example, instead of March 15 for the deliverable, pushing it into April or May to allow for additional community feedback. The grant request can still be submitted to the Department of Commerce; the deliverable dates will be amended to address council concerns about the process. AMENDMENT CARRIED (6-1), COUNCILMEMBER PAINE VOTING NO. COUNCILMEMBER BUCKSHNIS MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER CHEN, TO AMEND TO MAKE SURE WE HAVE IT ON RECORD THAT ACTION ITEM 2.4 HAS BEEN MOVED TO MARCH 31, 2023. Councilmember Buckshnis said she is not rambling on, this is very important. This is the same firm that did the PROS Plan and “we all know what happened with the PROS Plan with the gap analysis.” She wanted to get the dates and the visioning statement down because a lot of people have concerns about it. Ms. McLaughlin clarified PRR did not do the gap analysis and they are no longer on contract for any of the visioning work. AMENDMENT CARRIED (6-1), COUNCILMEMBER PAINE VOTING NO. MAIN MOTION AS AMENDED CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. PROJECT UPDATE ON THE WASTEWATER TREATMENT PLANT CARBON RECOVERY PROJECT Public Works Director Oscar Antillon introduced Plant Manager Ross Hahn. Mr. Antillon reviewed: • Project Description o The project upgrades the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) solids handling system by replacing the existing incinerator with a new gasification system. o The project also provides ancillary upgrades to the WWTP headworks and odor control systems. • Construction Status • Photographs o Gasification Building – Lower Level, prior to installation of upper level Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 14 o Gasification Building – upper level with equipment installed • Project Schedule of Remaining Work • Budget – to date spent 96% o City has incurred other costs not tied to contract. Councilmember Nand recalled when she was on the Mayor’s Climate Protection Committee, there was discussion about the updates eventually producing waste products that would be turned into biochar that could be used in gardening, horticulture, etc. She asked if that will still occur. Mr. Antillon answered that is one of the goals of this project. There are a couple of potential buyers, but a deal has not been reached with them yet until the plant starts producing biochar and the quality of biochar is verified. Councilmember Nand relayed her understanding that this plant is very technologically forward compared to other Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 15 wastewater management solutions in the country or world. Mr. Antillon agreed the previous plant manager was very ambitious and did a lot of the work. It is a one-of-a-kind system, one of the first in the country and maybe the first in the world that this designer has built. Councilmember Teitzel referred to the construction status and asked about the task of installing City Park Odor Control System offsite. Council has received several recent complaints about odors and he asked if that system was working properly and if not, whether there were plans to get it working. Mr. Antillon answered it is working properly. The monitoring of odors in that area has not indicated it is not working. More attention has been paid to that and staff is tracking it. Councilmember Teitzel asked if the odors could be from sludge being trucked out. Mr. Antillon answered that could be, but it would not be significant because the trucks go by very quickly. The scrubbers in that area of the park are to mitigate odors on the sewer distribution system in the plant; the manholes and pipes that move sewage to the plant. Councilmember Teitzel referred to the budget and inquired about potential pending change orders TBD. He asked if there were any thoughts about budget changes that will be required in the future. Mr. Antillon answered not yet. There have been a couple meetings with DES and with the contractor on disputed items but no agreement has been reached. He acknowledged there is potential for a cost increase for a project of this magnitude and complexity. Councilmember Teitzel observed a lot of growth is projected in Edmonds as well as in surrounding communities that feed effluent to the plant as well as rapid growth around light rail. He asked if the plant would reach capacity in the future and if so, what was the plan to address it. Mr. Antillon answered with the expected growth in Edmonds and the communities that the plant serves, there will be capacity issues but this system is designed for capacity to 2038. There are still some issues with feeding the system because it is barely at the bottom of capacity. There is plenty of capacity on this system. The rest of the plant, the wet side, will have some issues and there is also the challenge of nutrient removal in the next couple years. Councilmember Chen asked the life expectancy of this new gasification system. Mr. Antillon answered the design for this system was 30 years. Councilmember Chen said that seemed quite short. Mr. Antillon answered it was typical and was similar to an incinerator, equipment that has a lot of fatigue due to heat. If it can run as designed, that is the designed life expectancy. There may be challenges initially with enough biosolids to keep it running 24/7 as designed. Councilmember Chen expressed interest in learning more about that. He relayed his understanding the $23M cost was not entirely borne by the City Edmonds, but also by partner cities. Mr. Antillon said the City owns approximately 50% of the plant. Councilmember Buckshnis commented this is actually the second plant, the first plant is in Bakersfield, California but when former Public Works Director Phil Williams visited, it wasn’t working so the City took a leap of faith which she hoped would work out. She asked if the equipment on SR-104 was used to store biosolids byproducts. Mr. Antillon answered that was a biofilter. Councilmember Buckshnis said she will tour the plant since everyone at Harbor Square asks her about it. Mr. Antillon explained the main component of the system will not be visible from outside. Councilmember Buckshnis asked if transporting would cease once the plant was fully operational. Mr. Antillon answered it was hoped that would occur by June/July. Councilmember Buckshnis asked if there were sufficient funds in the budget for extra transporting, recalling council approved transporting until March 2023. Mr. Antillon answered that is also under discussion; the original plan was to only haul for a year, but the City is way beyond that. Councilmember Buckshnis said keep up the good work, she hears a lot of good comments. 4. CAMERA ENFORCEMENT IN SCHOOL ZONES Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 16 Assistant Police Chief Rod Sniffen explained today’s request is council approval of the resolution which adopts the location analysis done on placement of the school zone automated traffic safety enforcement cameras. This is being done in phases in tandem with advice from the legal team to ensure it meets RCW 46.63.170. Approval of the location analysis will be followed by approval of the ordinance that will create a new City Code section 8.10, Automated Traffic Safety Cameras, as well as provide the ability for the mayor to sign agreements with the vendor to move forward with the program. Councilmember Chen commented this is very timely as there have been many, many concerns and personal experiences with speeding and traffic safety. He asked about the five proposed camera locations. Assistant Chief Sniffen answered there were originally five locations because the interpretation of the law was Edmonds was only authorized to have five systems based on population. That part of the RCW has since been revisited and determined not to be a restriction. However, since the project to authorize five systems was so far along, staff continued with it. The five systems on which traffic analysis were done ended up being four because analysis of one location showed it was not needed and one of the locations will have two systems. The proposed locations are Westgate Elementary, Chase Lake Chase Elementary, Edmonds- Woodway High School (2 systems) and Scriber Lake High School. Councilmember Nand recalled when this came to the PSPHSP committee, she was quite skeptical. She appreciated Assistant Chief Sniffen and Chief Bennett’s the depth of knowledge that addressed her and citizens’ concerns. She relayed drivers’ negative experience when they were driving 27 mph in a 25 mph zone and the system generated a ticket even though a police officer on emphasis patrol probably would not have issued a ticket. When she brought that concern to Assistant Chief Sniffen and Chief Bennett, they explained the camera system could generate tickets for drivers going 5 mph over the speed limit versus 1- 2 mph over the limit. She suggested amending the ordinance to reflect that. Assistant Chief Sniffen explained the camera systems are designed to trigger an infraction based on a predetermined speed limit that is controlled by the City. Through analysis of the locations and enforcement, an infraction will be triggered at 6-11 mph over the speed limit depending on the location. That is completely controlled by the police department and can be changed any time. He anticipated decisions regarding the trigger speed for each camera will be determined via conversations between traffic engineering and the police department. Councilmember Nand advised if that was the policy, her amendment of a minimum of 5 mph over the speed limit would be moot. Councilmember Olson observed section 8.10.050 includes a fine for an infraction of $130. With the focus on the code rewrite and avoiding a set dollar amount becoming outdated, she asked if there was a way connect the fee to a fee schedule. Assistant Chief Sniffen explained the RCW that permits automated traffic enforcement in the state of Washington requires the infraction be treated as a parking infraction. In the City of Edmonds, parking infractions range from $40 to $450. The amount in the ordinance, $130, comes from the fact that throughout the RCW most moving violations that do not have an attached schedule of fines are $136. The fee can be adjusted, but the city attorney would need to opine whether the change needed to come back to council or if a schedule of fines could be included. Councilmember Olson expressed interest in a way to update the fine without needing to update the code. COUNCILMEMBER OLSON MOVED, SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER PAINE, TO MOVE THE RESOLUTION AND ORDINANCE IN THE PACKET TO THE NEXT CONSENT AGENDA. Councilmember Olson asked if the resolution and ordinance needed to be approved sooner than that, observing this delay would allow the council to hear from citizens. She recognized there has been has been a lot of support for this because of the amount of reckless driving in the last couple years and the desperate need to put abatement measures in place. She thanked staff for bringing this forward. Assistant Chief Sniffen answered there was no urgency, he would rather see it right rather than right now. Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 17 In response to an audience comment, Councilmember Paine asked if there was any intent to have Edmonds install red light cameras. Assistant Chief Sniffen answered there was no plan to install red light cameras in this program. Councilmember Paine asked if there were plans to install right turn cameras. Assistant Chief Sniffen answered there was not. With regard to the $130 fee, Councilmember Paine asked if there were other fees in addition for court costs, etc. Assistant Chief Sniffen answered not that he was aware of. Councilmember Paine said she thought there were and suggested that would be something to investigate. She was pleased to see this moving forward and she wanted everyone to understand this will save lives. The City does not want to have a memorial sidewalk for someone who was injured or killed. This is about time, there can be different speed tolerances at the high schools versus the elementary schools. Sidewalks are where little kids get their best examples of understanding traffic laws, the same with bicyclists. She thanked administration for bringing this forward. Councilmember Teitzel commented he has thought this was a good idea for a long time and was involved in discussions about these cameras in 2015. He recalled back then there was a lot of discussion and concern as a result of Lynnwood’s experience and people saying it violated their civil liberties which is why the cameras did not gain a lot of traction back then. He was pleased the City was moving forward with the cameras now. He asked whether the revenue generated by the cameras covered the cost of the program including staffing costs. Assistant Chief Sniffen answered based on their analysis, yes. Observing there was no legal limitation on the number of cameras the City can install, Councilmember Teitzel supported exploring expansion of the program to all school zones. MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 5. 2023 COUNCIL RETREAT DEBRIEF Council President Tibbott referred to the A, B and C list of prioritized projects. A calendar will be displayed in the council office permanently after the office is painted. The intent is to have clear objectives for council and he was happy progress is already being making on several of the items on the list. He was hopeful an update on bridge housing would be provided during council comments. He is working on a budget retreat to refine the budget process. Council President Tibbott directed the council’s attention to the SCA Guiding Principles provided during Deanna Dawson’s presentation. Before the council officially adopts the principles, he suggested the council live with it for a year and see what it is like to work together in a way that has been productive for other groups. He planned to post the principles in several conspicuous places. Council President Tibbott was pleased with the level of participation at the retreat and was thankful for staff’s involved in the first hour. Deanna Dawson’s presentation was excellent and helped the council think about the culture of working together and participating productively with City staff. Overall he was very pleased with the outcome of the retreat although he recognized the proof will be whether there are results this year. He was committed to moving in that direction. 9. MAYOR'S COMMENTS Mayor Nelson thanked the council for inviting him to the retreat, commenting it was great to see everyone in a less formal setting. He appreciated staff’s participation and looked forward to the budget retreat. 10. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Nand thanked Council Executive Assistant Beckie Peterson for the incredible amount of work she did on the council retreat. She announced the upcoming City of Edmonds Youth Commission Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 18 Teens Forum on Monday, February 13 at the Waterfront Center at 4-5 p.m. The forum is targeted at teens ages 13-19 and will include pizza, snacks and drinks. Young people are invited to discuss topics like diversity, domestic violence, youth opportunity for programs, clubs and jobs, volunteering, LBGTQ+ issues, environmental concerns and mental health. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson and school districts are signaling they plan to pursue litigation against social media and tech giants for the mental health crisis that has been triggered by social media engagement. It is important to highlight opportunities like this for young people to get offline and meet to discuss issues. Councilmember Paine thanked staff and the people who spoke during audience comments about the school zone safety cameras. One of the scariest things she has ever seen was speeding in a school zone across from a childcare center, young drivers who did not understand the impact a car can have on a human body. She appreciated the community and administration’s support of the cameras and all the work done by Chief Bennett and Assistant Chief Sniffen. Councilmember Paine announced the council has an opening for a city council student representative. Applicants need to be residents of Edmonds, but can attend school outside of the city. Councilmember Buckshnis echoed Councilmember Nand's invitation to the Teen Forum. A survey of youth was used to identify topics. It should be a fun event with free pizza and snacks. She advised the 2023 budget is out, a hardbound copy is available for $20. She referred to pages 21 and 22, the strategic outlook, emphasizing the council does not have any responsibility for those, they are the mayor’s projections. She invited anyone with issues about the projections to contact her. Council President Tibbott reported he and Councilmembers Nand and Chen will be in Olympia next week to talk about state legislation regarding housing. Their message will be there is a better way forward than all the legislation that has been proposed; a better way would be to expand GMA expectations and leave determining how those are worked out to each individual city. Edmonds believes cities are in the best position to determine the best way to accommodate growth, opportunities for density and different kinds of housing and believe the state should leave that up to cities to implement. The message they plan to bring to the legislature is, 1) expand GMA, 2) expand growth areas, growth opportunities and buildable lands around the state, and 3) expand incentives that facilitate construction of housing. They seek to understand what the legislature is doing as well as help the legislature understand the council’s commitments. Councilmember Olson paid tribute to Bob Throndsen and the community’s loss of a really important and impactful community member this week. His loss was very unexpected and shocking and he was in the throes of continuing to impact and make a difference in the community. He is remembered for his lengthy career as a KOMO News reporter, a chapter of his life before she knew him, and is warmly remembered by those he mentored in that field. As exceptional as he was personally, he also developed an exceptional legacy. In his retirement, he served on the City’s housing commission and was a wonderful contributor, a total gentleman, a lovely and well liked participant who could disagree without being disagreeable. He was also fair and thorough in the role where many knew him best, a reporter for My Edmonds News in his retirement. He was a great man that will be very missed. She wanted to let his family and friends know that the community of Edmonds is feeling his loss. Councilmember Olson reported the Edmonds School District’s website has been down for a considerable period of time. Students are using paper and pens and talking to each other, totally retro and she hoped it will be remembered as an inconvenient but memorable experience. Councilmember Chen looked forward to his visit to Olympia on February 15-16 with Council President Tibbott and Councilmember Nand. He announced a free community vaccine clinic at the Asian Service Center in partnership with the Snohomish County Health Department on Saturday, February 18 from 10:30 Edmonds City Council Approved Minutes February 7, 2023 Page 19 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Free vaccines include COVID-19 boosters, Monkeypod and flu. Past events have been very successful in reaching population that are normally difficult to reach. During the last vaccine clinic, people drove four hours from Eastern Washington to get Monkeypod vaccinations. The clinic is located at 22727 Highway 99, Ste. 110, Edmonds, next to the T&T Seafood Restaurant. Councilmember Teitzel thanked Council President Tibbott for a very nice council retreat. It was very productive and it was great to have the mayor and staff with council. He was struck during the retreat that we are all members of the same team, working together to serve the public, something everyone needs to keep in their minds and hearts. Councilmember Teitzel relayed his shock and sadness with the tragedy in Turkey and Syria; the latest new reports say over 7,000 lives have been lost. He was pleased the U.S. government was sending resources to help find survivors and assist the injured. It was a horrible thing and his thoughts are with them tonight. 11. ADJOURN With no further business, the Council meeting was adjourned at 9:23 p.m. ____ SCOTT PASSEY, CITY CLERK