2023-07-11 PSPHSP CommitteePUBLIC SAFETY, PLANNING, HUMAN SERVICES & PERSONNEL
COMMITTEE MEETING
July 11, 2023
Elected Officials Present Staff Present
Councilmember Vivian Olson (Chair) Shane Hawley, Police Commander
Councilmember Jenna Nand Susan McLaughlin, Planning & Dev. Dir.
Council President Neil Tibbott (ex-officio) David Levitan, Planning Manager
Councilmember Susan Paine Nicholas Falk, Deputy City Clerk
Councilmember Will Chen
1. CALL TO ORDER
The Edmonds City Council PSPHSP Committee meeting was called to order virtually and in the City
Council Conference Room, 212 — 5t" Avenue North, Edmonds, at 3:30 p.m. by Councilmember Olson.
2. COMMITTEE BUSINESS
1. Resolution for Annexation into RFA (Regional Fire Authority)
Council President Tibbott explained he attended some of Lynnwood's public open houses regarding
annexation into the RFA, so he understands the process. Edmonds has been receiving fire and aid
services from South County Fire (SCF) and has a contract with SCF through 2030. The City has an
option to join the RFA which results in potential cost savings as well as additional funding mechanisms
to provide fire and emergency medical services. The purpose of the resolution is provide official
communication to the RFA that the City intends to investigate advantages and disadvantages of
annexation.
Council President Tibbott shared the resolution on screen and highlighted findings of fact in the whereas
clauses. Section 1 of the resolution states, "Pursuant to RCW 52.26.300(2), the City requests
annexation into the South Snohomish County Regional Fire, subject to the provisions of RCW
52.26.300(3) and voter approval." As the phrase "requests annexation" seems to bypass the research
process, he suggested replacing it with "expressing the intent to pursue the benefits of receiving fire
and emergency medical services."
Questions and discussion followed regarding "requests annexation" stating something different than the
agenda memo narrative, interest in exploring annexation, staff providing information regarding the
financial impacts on taxpayers in Edmonds and in Esperance, plans for Administrative Services Director
Dave Turley to make a presentation to Finance Committee on July 20, RFA taxing citizens directly for
fire/aid services removing the obligation for the City to directly pay for those services, when the cost to
citizens will be determined, a suggestion to leave out or amend the 5th Whereas clause related to the
City and SCF believe that the public health and safety of citizens will benefit from annexation, the
council's responsibility to vet all options and whether to include a whereas clause stating that,
investigating benefits and costs, process for investigating annexation to Shoreline Fire, focus of this
resolution on benefits and cost savings of joining the SCF RFA and a suggestion to change "requests
annexation" to "requests information on possible annexation."
The committee requested Mr. Turley provide the estimated financial impact for City taxpayers and
Esperance.
Committee recommendation: Finance Committee consider resolution and PSPHSP committee's
suggestions.
2. City Attorney Contract 2024
07/11/23 PSPHSP Committee Minutes, Page 2
Councilmember Olson reported the outside legal review of the contract was received too late to be
incorporated into the contract and shared with Lighthouse so it was decided it would not be a good use
of the committee's time to review the contract tonight.
Questions and discussion followed regarding a suggestion to delete Section 1.15 regarding Lighthouse
conducting a self -initiated performance review, ability for the city attorney to do an internal survey
regarding their performance, concern an internal performance review would not be as candid and would
not be of value to the City, and a suggestion to revise language in 3a to bill for actual travel time to
Edmonds rather than a one -hour round trip.
Committee recommendation: Full council.
3. Community Engagement Vehicle Donation (Lynnwood Honda)
Commander Hawley explained this is a resolution to accept a donation of a new CRV from Lynnwood
Honda for use by the community engagement officer, a high profile position within the department. This
is similar to DARE vehicles that dealerships donated in the past. Lynnwood Honda will donate the
vehicle to the City and carry the 2-year lease.
Questions and discussion followed regarding Lynnwood Honda branding on the vehicle, the CRV not
being a take home vehicle, support for this innovative idea, Lynnwood Honda's publicity for the donation,
and a suggestion for the community engagement officer to contact larger multifamily buildings about
starting block watch programs.
Committee recommendation: Consent Agenda
4. Body Worn Camera (BWC) Redaction Fees
Commander Hawley explained this resolution adopts a fee for BWC redaction into the City's fee
schedule as authorized by RCW 42.56. Every commissioned officer in the Edmonds PD has BWC which
captures a lot of video, generating a lot of public records requests and redaction hours. The RCW
requires a study be completed; the comprehensive study done by is referenced in the resolution. The
proposed $0.77/minute fee for redaction time is the average of the 2 public disclosure specialists in the
police department.
Questions and discussion followed regarding requestors who do not have to pay the redaction fee per
RCW, time required to perform redaction, and the redaction fee discouraging large, global requests.
Committee recommendation: Consent Agenda
5. Follow -Up on Proposed Comprehensive Plan and Highway 99 Approach
Mr. Levitan provided an update on the discussion at the July 5 council meeting, next steps and tasks
completed since July 5:
• Comp Plan Scope and Contract review
o July 5 — Staff briefed city council on proposed scope and approach
o July 7 — Staff emailed community members who commented on Highway 99
o July 11 — Council committee further discusses scope and approach
o July 12 — Planning board provides feedback on scope and approach
o July 18 — City council authorize mayor to sign contract with VIA
Questions and discussion followed regarding appreciation for staff emailing community members,
whether community members were encouraged to attend the July 12 planning board meeting and/or
July 18 city council meeting, the council typically not holding a public hearing on consultant contracts,
holding a public hearing on consolidation of EIS and the vision statement, additional cost of a Highway
99 subarea specific SEIS, cost savings of consolidating EIS, VIA scope of work with options for
consolidated or separate EIS, difficulty doing concurrent EIS, separate SEIS to address community
07/11/23 PSPHSP Committee Minutes, Page 3
concerns, what an SEIS would analyze, potential zoning changes as a result of the comprehensive plan
update, 12/31/24 deadline to update the comprehensive plan, and negative feedback from the
community regarding combining the EIS.
Mr. Levitan continued:
Consultant RFP and selection process
o RFP issued in summer 2022 was unsuccessful
o Updated RFP issued in March and closed in late April; included optional task for Highway
99 SEIS
o City received four proposals, which were reviewed in early May
■ Two proposals included optional Highway 99 SEIS task (with different approaches)
■ Top two consultant teams were interviewed in mid -May (one with optional SEIS and one
without)
o Interview panel unanimously selected VIA Architecture Team
o City negotiated scope of work, budget and schedule, including:
■ Highway 99
■ Waterfront issues
■ Environment and natural resources
■ Economic development plan
■ Scale of outreach
Scope of work, budget and schedule
o VIA's proposal includes:
■ Production of the comprehensive plan document including EIS
■ Additional focus on the Highway 99 subarea, including dedicate community outreach,
potential plan/code refinement, and SEPA review
■ Development of an Economic Development Plan
■ Illustrative waterfront vision
■ Heavy focus on inclusive engagement and graphic -rich materials
■ Includes numerous touchpoints with boards/commission and the public, including:
- Five meetings with planning board and two meetings with city council in advance of
public hearings; staff will provide additional frequent updates
- 2-3 meetings in each of the City's neighborhood commercial areas
- Public EIS scoping and review meetings
- Online engagement strategies
Next steps
o Finalize contract with VIA
o Community kick-off (late July)
o Form community champions steering committee
o Begin preparing background/technical analysis
Questions and discussion continued regarding the cost of the contract and reimbursable expenses,
development of an engagement plan, staff providing further information regarding the compensation
model for community champions, clarity/specificity in the scope of work regarding how the consultant
intends to utilize virtual and social media town hall options to target different demographics and reduce
barriers, whether there is an opportunity to utilize existing community platforms to provide feedback, the
tree board's criticism of outreach regarding the tree code, robust environmental review and involving
the environmental community, request to conduct a statistically valid survey to validate the previous
surveys, topics covered in the community sustainability element and ability to separate into additional
elements, date the consultant contract will come back to council, and information to include in the July
18 council packet.
Committee recommendation: Full council July 18
3. ADJOURN
The meeting was adjourned at 4:56 p.m.
SCOTT PASSEY; CLERK