City Council

Oak Harbor City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 1, 2025 This was both a physical meeting location and a virtual meeting. Meeting was viewable via YouTube at www.youtube.com/cityofoakharbor, on Facebook, and on Cable Channel 10/HD 1090 following the meeting. CALL TO ORDER Call To Order and Native Lands Acknowledgement - Mayor Wright called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. He included the acknowledgement that the meeting was being held on the ancestral lands of the Coast Salish people and paid respect to those past and present. Invocation – Led by Pastor Sam Giles, Living Faith Church. . Pledge of Allegiance – Led by Mayor Wright ROLL CALL City Council Present: Staff Present/Videoconference Mayor Ronnie Wright City Administrator Sabrina Combs Mayor Pro Tem Tara Hizon Deputy City Administrator David Goldman Councilmember Jim Woessner - absent Development Services Director David Kuhl Councilmember Bryan Stucky Public Works Director Steve Schuller Councilmember Eric Marshall Human Resources Director Emma House Councilmember Christopher Wiegenstein Police Chief Tony Slowik - absent Police Captain Kevin Barton Councilmember Barbara Armes Fire Chief Travis Anderson Councilmember James P. Marrow Parks and Recreation Supervisor Brandon Cable Grants Administrator Wendy Horn Communications Officer Magi Aguilar Executive Services Coordinator Macalle Finkle City Clerk Julie Nester Also in attendance: City Attorneys Hillary Evans of Kenyon Disend, PLLC and for the executive session Kimberly Waldbaum of Keating, Bucklin & McCormack, Inc., P.S. EXCUSE ABSENT COUNCILMEMBERS Mayor Wright greeted all in attendance. He noted Mayor Pro Tem Hizon and Councilmember Woessner and Councilmember Wiegenstein had asked to be excused. Motion: Councilmember Marshall moved to excuse Mayor Pro Tem Hizon and Councilmembers Wiegenstein and Woessner. Councilmember Marrow seconded the motion, which passed unani- mously. Mayor Pro Tem Hizon was then able to log in to the meeting after all, prior to the start of the executive session. Regular Meeting Minutes April 1, 2025 Page 1 of 8 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Mayor Wright requested any changes to the agenda. Councilmember Stucky inquired whether the ex- ecutive session could be moved to the end of the meeting. It was noted that legal counsel attending the executive session had been scheduled for this time. Councilmember Stucky agreed. Hearing no other comments, the agenda was approved as presented. 2. EXECUTIVE SESSION a. Executive Session per RCW 42.30.110 (1) (i) to discuss with legal counsel litigation or po- tential litigation. Mayor Wright noted that at this time the Council would take a short break and then move into an exec- utive session per RCW 42.30.110 (1) (i) to discuss with legal counsel litigation or potential litigation. Mayor Wright noted the anticipated duration of the executive session was 20 minutes and that the City Clerk would announce any extensions by the City Council. Mayor Wright explained executive sessions are not open to the public and that action might or might not be taken upon return to the open session of the meeting. The Council entered the executive session at 5:35 p.m. for a twenty-minute period to 5:55 p.m. At 5:55 p.m. the Council came out of the executive session and resumed the open session of the meeting. Mayor Wright noted no action would be taken at this time regarding the matters discussed. 3. PRESENTATIONS a. Arbor Day Proclamation Parks and Recreation Supervisor Brandon Cable provided historical background regarding Arbor Day and presented information for the upcoming activities planned with local elementary schools to com- memorate Arbor Day on April 25, 2025. Supervisor Cable noted that in recent years the Parks and Recreation department has held a celebration at just one school per year. This year, the City obtained grant funding and will be holding an Arbor Day event at each of the Oak Harbor elementary schools simultaneously. Activities will include: • Tree Plantings • A telling of the Story of Arbor Day • Arts and Crafts • Field Games • A Planting Activity • Arborist Demonstrations Supervisor Cable observed the Council has been invited to participate and to speak to students if they choose. The Parks and Recreation Department will send out volunteer sign-up sheets to the Council, and to the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Arts Commission. Mayor Wright thanked Supervisor Cable for the presentation and requested that Councilmember Stucky read the proclamation, a copy of which was included in the meeting packet. Regular Meeting Minutes April 1, 2025 Page 2 of 8 4. PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD Mayor Wright noted members of the public could comment on Consent Agenda items or subjects of interest not listed on the agenda at this time and there would be an opportunity to comment on the remaining Agenda items during the meeting as appropriate. The public may also visit the City’s website prior to meetings for methods to submit public comments, or contact the City Clerk, Julie Nester, by phone or email. When submitting comments, please include your name and address. Public comments sent anonymously or from a non-verifiable address will be shared with the Mayor and Council but will not be displayed. Comments on public hearing items will be taken during the public hearings portion of the meeting. The City received several new public comments since the last regular meeting. Comments were re- ceived from: 1. Suzy Karuzzo of Island County opposing spending money on the Marina and recommending instead a larger jail and rehabilitation programs to house homeless individuals and get them off the welfare system. 2. Kassie O’Neil of Island County opposing a tax increase for the Marina and allotting taxes toward amenities that serve the broader community. 3. Samantha McRoy of Oak Harbor opposing a proposed Business and Occupation Tax to benefit the Marina and impacting small businesses. 4. Amy Hermann of Oak Harbor opposing a Business and Occupation Tax and inquiring when the sewer system would be paid for so that rates could be reduced. 5. Desire Vega of Oak Harbor opposing the use of tax dollars to pay for the Marina and stating it should be paid for by those who use it. 6. Wesley Moran of Oak Harbor supporting a Marina Development tax to fund the revitalization and redevelopment of the Marina, citing its economic benefits and promoting increased access to downtown. The comments were displayed. Mayor Wright asked if there were any members of the public present who wished to speak to any other items not listed on the agenda or on the consent agenda. He noted the Clerk would call on speakers in the order in which they signed in to speak. Mayor Wright asked speakers to please step forward to the microphone and state their name and address, and to please limit comments to three minutes. 1. Cheryl Grehan of Oak Harbor addressed the Council and noted she lived outside the city limits. Ms. Grehan noted she works with the Mainstreet Association that is holding its Wine Bites & Brews event this weekend. Tickets were still available, and volunteers could sign up online. Hearing no one with a desire to address the Council, the public comment period was closed. 5. CONSENT AGENDA Consent Items a. Approval of Minutes: City Council Meeting of March 18, 2025 b. Approval of Payroll and Accounts Payable Vouchers c. Fort Nugent Flyers Participation / Activity Agreement Mayor Wright called for any changes to the consent agenda. Hearing none he called for a motion for approval. Motion: Councilmember Marrow moved to approve the consent agenda. Councilmember Marshall seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Regular Meeting Minutes April 1, 2025 Page 3 of 8 6. MAYOR & COUNCIL COMMENTS a. Mayor’s Comments Mayor Wright provided the following comments: • The Wright Blend: Thank you to The Book Rack, for hosting us on March 21, 2025 and thank you to all who attended and provided great questions and discussion. Thank you as well to Councilmembers Stucky and Armes, I-COM Executive Director Sophia Kohfield, City Administrator Combs, and Fire Chief Anderson and Police Chief Slowik for attending. • The Wright Blend - Upcoming: You Spoke, We Listened – We heard from a number of residents that they would like us to hold a Wright Blend in the evening. As a result, save the date for “Let’s taco ‘bout it” on Friday, April 25, 2025 at 5:30 p.m. at El Cazador Mexican Grill & Cantina, 32195 State Route 20. We are seeing our numbers grow for this event and hope you can join us. • Student Tours: In the past two weeks we’ve had the pleasure of meeting with and hearing from members of the Whidbey Royalty and the Exceptional Academy who toured City Hall and the Oak Harbor Police Department. They also interviewed City Administrator Combs and I and were not shy about asking some well-thought-out tough questions. At the City, we are working together to make sure our City is as cool as these students. • Association of Washington Cities: Deputy City Administrator and Finance Director Goldman and I were guest speakers for the AWC’s Elected Officials Essentials five-part series created specifically for elected officials. Our topic was “Understanding Municipal Revenues”, a comprehensive understanding of municipal rev- enue streams focusing on the four main sources of general revenues provided to cities by the State Legislature. Topics included the mechanisms of revenue generation, the legal and regulatory frame- works governing taxes and the strategic considerations for optimizing revenue collection, and resources for revenue options. • City Administrator Combs was a guest speaker at the 2025 Women’s Leadership Summit, “Finding Your Voice”. Her topic was about amplifying your strengths as a leader. The summit provided attendees with tools to improve their “power skills,” learning techniques to advocate for their own wellbeing, and strengthening connections. • Congratulations to the North Whidbey Middle School Cougars: Both boys and girls wrestling teams participated in their end of season tournament. The girls’ team took first place, and the boys placed fourth. • Advisory Board Vacancies: We are collecting applications for review as we work to finish updates to all Board, Commission, and Committee Bylaws. Please see our website to apply. • We’re Hiring! Please see our website for information and job descriptions and apply to join our team! b. Councilmembers Councilmember Armes provided her respective comments. She reported that about twenty (20) partic- ipants had a great time at the Oak Harbor Marina this past Saturday and were able to feed the fingerling salmon. Interim Harbormaster Henry also conducted a Marina walk. The Marina staff fed the fingerlings again today with preschool kids on hand. Marina staff made this an informative time for all involved. Regular Meeting Minutes April 1, 2025 Page 4 of 8 7. PUBLIC HEARINGS & MEETINGS - None 8. ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS - None 9. CONTRACTS & AGREEMENTS - None 10. OTHER ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION a. Gary Sinise Foundation First Responders Training Grant Police Chief Slowik presented the item. He explained that the Oak Harbor Police Department (OHPD) received a grant from the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) to provide wellness activities and coaching for Island and Skagit County law enforcement personnel last July. As part of this grant, the department hired a consulting firm, Law Enforcement Coaching, to provide wellness counseling and coaching services. The counseling and coaching opportunities have been well-received by the participating law enforcement personnel. OHPD has used all but $22,000 of the grant funding so far. OHPD would like to build on this training by offering the Washington State Wellness Retreat for Law Enforcement and First Responders to North Sound regional law enforcement agencies. The three-day wellness retreat would be held at Fort Casey Conference Center for up to 40 participants and be led by Law Enforcement Coaching. OHPD would like to submit an application to the Gary Sinise Founda- tion for a First Responder Training grant. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. OHPD would request $60,000 from the Foundation. No matching funds are required. OHPD took on the role of the lead agency for the Island and Skagit law enforcement region when applying for the CJTC grant, which makes the department the agency coordinating the final training. OHPD will send up to four OHPD staff to the training, which is intended for Law Enforcement Peer Support Teams or agencies looking to develop teams. The area is being expanded to include law en- forcement agencies from all of Washington State; however, the primary focus will be the North Sound Region agencies (Island, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom Counties, and Washington State Patrol (WSP). These agencies will fill about 70% of the seats. The following agencies are already aware of the upcoming training dates: Anacortes Police Department, Burlington Police Department, Island County Sheriff, Langley Police Department, Lake Stevens Police Department, Mount Vernon Police Department, Oak Harbor Police Department, Sedro Woolley Police Department, Skagit County Sheriff, and the Swinomish Tribal Police. This training will expend 100% of CJTC funds. If the Gary Sinise Foundation grant is not received, the training scope will be scaled back to accommodate 100% consumption of CJTC funds. Mayor Wright confirmed no public comments had been received and invited anyone present to speak. Hearing no one, he inquired if OHPD would scale down the training content if the grant is not received. Chief Slowik confirmed this, noting it would likely become a single-day event. Mayor Wright turned to the Council for their comments. Hearing none, he called for a motion. Motion: Councilmember Marrow proudly moved to approve the application to the Gary Sinise Founda- tion First Responders Training Grant. Councilmember Marshall seconded the motion which passed unanimously. 11. REPORTS & DISCUSSION ITEMS a. Planning Commission Annual Report to the City Council Regular Meeting Minutes April 1, 2025 Page 5 of 8 Development Services Director Kuhl presented the annual report and outlined the activities of the Plan- ning Commission. He noted the annual report, with goals and objectives, was a requirement, as it was for all the City’s advisory boards. Director Kuhl reviewed the staff-drafted annual report for 2024; the work program for 2025; and pre- pared the action details based on approved meeting minutes. The Planning Commission reviewed this report and provided recommendations to the City Council. Staff request that the Council receive the report and work program for 2025 and consider the recommendations forwarded from the Planning Commission, as well as provide input for the work program moving forward. 2024 Accomplishments and Long-Range Planning Director Kuhl provided the following list of resolutions and ordinances approved by the Commission: • Resolution No. 24-07: adopting the 2024/2025 Comprehensive Plan Docket. • Resolution No. 24-05: ratifying the 20-year population projections adopted by Island County of 102,639. • Resolution No. 24-06: approving the Active Transportation Plan. • Resolution No. 24-13: ratifying the Countywide Planning Policies. • Ordinance No. 1991: amending OHMC Chapter 19.67, Section 19.20.040, regarding Condi- tional Use Permit Ownership. • Ordinance No. 1992: amending three areas of OHMC Title 21: One, to allow a deposit for engi- neering services, another to allow an extension of time to process a final subdivision, and the last to allow submittal of digital records for final subdivisions. • Ordinance No. 1994: adopting the 2024 – 2029 Capital Improvements Plan. • Ordinance No. 1974: adopting the revised Zoning Map reclassifying all Planned Industrial Park (PIP) and Planned Business Park (PBP) zoned properties to “I”, Industrial zoning, and adopting the text amendments to remove all references to PIP and PBP and combine the uses into the Industrial zone in OHMC 19.20.1050 Permitted Use table • Ordinance No. 1993: amending Oak Harbor Municipal Code Sections 19.66.080, 19.67.060, and 19.20.095, pertaining to appeals of land use decisions. On-Going Projects include: • Comprehensive Plan Updates • Implement Housing Action Plan • Upcoming Text Amendments to Municipal Code o State mandated timelines o Definition o Land Clearing and Grading o Daycare Recreation space o Design Regulations • Upcoming Projects: o Partner with Island County – Interlocal Agreement Update o Central Development Sub-Area Planning o Vision to Action Plan - Center for Creative Recycling o Downtown Waterfront Planning – Dahlin Group • Ongoing Planning Projects: o Parking Analysis o Middle Housing Analysis o Daycare Recreation space o Setback encroachments o Housing – Multi-Family Tax Exemption (MFTE) Regular Meeting Minutes April 1, 2025 Page 6 of 8  • Ongoing Environmental Projects: o Flood Damage Prevention o Fish and Wildlife Habitat Conservation Areas o National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Conformance o Comprehensive Plan – Climate Resilience Sub-Element o Critical Areas Update Director Kuhl noted the Planning Commission’s recommendations to the City Council moving forward were to: 1. Prioritize funding for affordable housing or other incentives. 2. Implement the Active Transportation Plan through better pedestrian and bike connectivity. Mayor Wright and Councilmembers Stucky and Marrow provided their respective questions and com- ments. Councilmember Stucky noted the City is looking for people to serve on the Planning Commis- sion, and noted it was a great place to start for those considering a run for City Council. Councilmember Marrow agreed, noting it was very helpful for those serving to have experience with planning. b. Development Services Department Annual Report Development Services Director Kuhl also provided the department’s annual report for 2024 using sta- tistics from the permitting program as well as summaries of ongoing and upcoming projects. 2024 Building Permits Issued: 441 with total fees of $1,335,410.73, compared to 2023 in which 412 permits were issued with total fees of $440,233.88. 219 of these were mechanical permits, 63 were new building permits, comprising 147 units. 2024 Land Use Applications Received: 60, as compared to 49 in 2023. The majority of these were for Garry Oak tree trimming, although site plan reviews were the most time intensive. 2024 Completed Legislative Actions and 2024 and Beyond Planned Upcoming Projects: Director Kuhl explained these were the same as those he had listed for the Planning Commission. Director Kuhl reviewed site photos of various projects, including Glint Car Wash and Sonic Drive-In, Serendipity Lane, Bodega Storage, and the Camas Flats and Crosby Trace multi-family housing devel- opments. He explained the Development Services department performs design review and all elements of each project are reviewed by the planning staff. Code Compliance: 2024 Complaints taken: 126 compared to 92 in 2023. Case closure rate: 98.4% compared to 97.9% in 2023. Most of these involved impacts to vegetation, building codes, trash and dumping, sidewalks, public safety, and signage. Economic Development: The City has contracted with Better City, LLC who is completing an economic development strategy and action plan for the City. A steering committee is meeting next week to review the strategy and action plan, and staff will present these to the Council at a later date. The Development Services team is made up of himself, Rajesh “Cac” Kamak, Brian Colbert, Ray Lin- denburg, Dennis Lefevre, Sarah Heller, Patti O’Mahony, Nolan Grunska, Frank Spaun, and Ray Helts- ley. He noted all were valued contributors and praised Public Works Engineering on the permitting system acquisition. Regular Meeting Minutes April 1, 2025 Page 7 of 8 Councilmember Marrow provided his respective questions and comments regarding an increase in residential building and related costs. ADJOURN There being no further business, Councilmember Marshall moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Councilmember Stucky. The vote on the motion was unanimous, therefore the meeting was ad- journed at 6:41 p.m. Certified by Julie Nester, City Clerk Regular Meeting Minutes April 1, 2025 Page 8 of 8