City Council

Oak Harbor City Council Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 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 following the meeting on Cable Channel 10/HD 1090 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Wright called the workshop meeting to order at 1:00 p.m. 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 Public Works Director Steve Schuller Councilmember Bryan Stucky Parks and Recreation Director Brian Smith Councilmember Eric Marshall Human Resources Director Emma House Councilmember Christopher Wiegenstein Police Chief Tony Slowik Councilmember Barbara Armes Fire Chief Travis Anderson Councilmember James P. Marrow Grants Administrator Wendy Horn Executive Services Coordinator Macalle Finkle Communications Officer Magi Aguilar City Clerk Julie Nester Also in attendance: City Attorneys Alexandra Kenyon, Hillary Evans and Robert Zeinemann of Kenyon Dis- end, PLLC MAYOR Mayor Wright welcomed all in attendance. He noted Mayor Pro Tem Hizon and Councilmember Wiegenstein were both participating remotely. Mayor Wright observed public comments are not normally taken at workshop meetings, although the Council may allow or request public participation on action items. There were two action items on the agenda today. Mayor Wright noted there was a great turnout for The Wright Blend on Friday and offered his thanks once again to NASWI Commanding Officer Captain Nathan Gammache for joining him for the event and responding to questions from the community. CITY COUNCIL Mayor Wright invited Councilmembers to provide any updates on the City’s boards, commissions or committees on which they serve as a Council liaison. Councilmember Marrow reported on the Island Transit district. He stated the federal government has Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 1 of 10 approved moving away from hydrogen powered to diesel-electric vehicles. Island Transit is in con- tract negotiations with wage structures, and the sustainability of wage increases as a primary topic. Councilmember Stucky inquired about passenger counts, noting it would be nice to have an idea of how many people are using the bus stop near the Oak Harbor Marina. Councilmember Marrow noted there is work in progress for passenger counts for routes and services. Deputy City Administrator and Finance Director Goldman noted every transit agency is required to report this information and he would look up and send available data to the Council. Other Council Comments There were no other comments from the Council. CITY ADMINISTRATOR a. Monthly Departmental Reports City Administrator Combs provided her report, which was included in the meeting packet. Highlights included: • Legislative Priorities: City staff are examining the legislative priorities of the Association of Washington Cities (AWC) and the Island County Council of Governments (COG) while start- ing to work on legislative priorities for the coming year for approval by the Council. • Thank you to the Council for their support of her attendance at the Washington City Managers and Administrators Conference and a first ever Northwest Women’s Leadership Academy Women’s Summitt in Walla Walla, where she served on a panel and found the time listening to and interacting with current and future leaders helpful. • Staff have completed a post-event meeting following the July 4, 2025 events and how to strengthen and create better procedures and coordination moving forward with other groups. • This coming Thursday, August 28, 2025 is the annual City of Oak Harbor employee meeting and picnic in Windjammer Park. Having time to gather together as a group outside of work has been noted as desirable by staff. Councilmembers Stucky, Woessner and Marrow provided their respective questions and comments, all of which centered on the progress of a windmill for Windjammer Park by the Oak Harbor Rotary Club. b. Action Item: City of Oak Harbor Employee Survey Communications Officer Aguilar reviewed the requested updates made by the Council following their review of the survey at the August 19, 2025 regular meeting. At that meeting, members of the Council provided input on including definitions of Council and Administration roles, in order to provide more clarity to staff. The Council was supportive of Communications Officer Aguilar conducting the survey in-house in conjunction with the Human Resources Department at a large cost savings. The survey will be anonymous and will allow each employee to take the survey only once. An employee may elect to share their identity in comments if they choose to do so. Communications Officer Aguilar thanked the Council for their trust in facilitating the survey and thanked Human Resources Director House for her expertise and for attending today to help in an- swering any additional questions. Communications Officer Aguilar noted the Council had received the updated survey with their requested revisions last week. She also met with Human Resources Director House regarding the Staff Survey Results Team (SSRT). Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 2 of 10 Human Resources Director House noted the City currently has two staff committees, a Safety Com- mittee and a Wellness Committee. The Safety Committee meets quarterly, and the Wellness Com- mittee meets monthly. Part of the City’s Association of Washington Cities (AWC) Well City designa- tion requires the City to complete an employee survey. Some of their suggested questions have been included in the new survey. Once results are received, the City will utilize those two committees to move forward with addressing staff suggestions and/or concerns. As this was an action item, Mayor Wright confirmed no public comments had been received and asked if anyone present wished to comment. Hearing none, he called on the council for their com- ments. Councilmember Marrow provided his respective comments. Motion: Councilmember Marrow strongly moved to approve the in-house Employee Survey, con- ducted by the City Communications Officer in conjunction with the City’s Human Resources Depart- ment. Councilmember Marshall seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. FINANCE a. Lodging Tax Annual Review Grants Administrator Horn provided the review of the Lodging Tax funds collected, dispersed, and available for the following year grant awards. The outline of Lodging Tax Topics included: • Overview of Lodging Tax o Collected as a sales tax o Paid by hotel/motel guests o Basic 2% tax, which is charged to all hotels, motels, and Air BnB’s  Guests do not see any tax increase  (RCW 67.28.180-.1801)  State’s portion lodging tax drops from 6.5% to 4.5% o Additional 2% tax above basic tax  Guest sees higher bill o November 1999, City approved levying the additional 2% hotel/motel tax. • Use of Revenues per RCW 67.28.1815 o Tourism marketing. o Special events designed to attract tourists o Operations & capital expenditure of tourism-related City facilities (including repay- ment of debt) o Operations of non-profit tourism-related facilities o LTAC staff support – the City has learned this is an approved use, if we choose to apply for it • Purpose of Lodging Tax Advisory Committee (LTAC) o Per RCW 67.28.1817, a municipality with a population of 5,000 or more shall establish a lodging tax advisory committee. The RCW dictates who can sit on the committee. o Per OHMC 2.66.030, the Committee shall consist of 7 members, recommended by the Mayor and appointed by the City Council. One member shall be an elected official of the City who shall serve as Chair, 3 members shall be representatives of busi- nesses required to collect the tax imposed, and 3 members shall be persons involved in activities authorized to be funded by revenue received from the tax imposed. Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 3 of 10  o City Council authorizes the annual overall amount of Lodging Tax funding for LTAC to allocate. o Application period is open for eligible applicants, including City Departments. o LTAC reviews and recommends grant awards to the City Council.  City Council votes to accept recommended awards or,  Changes funding levels and sends back to the LTAC (45 days)  LTAC provides feedback to City Council  City Council can accept or reject comments and fund at level of choice o City Council MAY NOT award funds to a recipient NOT recommended by LTAC • Proposed changes to application & guidelines: o LTAC proposes  New guidelines  New questions  New order of questions  Change in points assigned to questions o More emphasis on  Project & marketing  Overnight stays increasing economic vitality in Oak Harbor  Increasing visits year over year  Plan to self-sustainability o Other Changes to the 2026 Process  Shoulder Season events change from 15 points to 5 points  Event/Project/operation must occur within the calendar year of award • ChalkFest event postponement o In 2025, the City’s Parks and Recreation Department was awarded $17,000 to put on a new event, ChalkFest. o Due to challenges in scheduling and timing, ChalkFest is being postponed until 2026. o Some expenditures related to planning and securing contract may occur in 2025. o Per City Attorney’s guidance, the City Council will need to consider an amendment extending the funding through 2026. o The City Council is the legislative authority to authorize spending Lodging Tax funds. o There is no specific clause in the LTAC application nor the guidelines stating the timeframe for an event to take place. o The City Council may extend the grant period as it wishes. o Per the City Attorney’s guidance, payment (transfer of LTAC funds to the Parks and Recreation Department) occurs after the ChalkFest event takes place. o Reporting requirements will extend through 2026 as well. • Proposed Timeline for 2026 cycle o City Council Agenda Item to decide funding level (starts 45-day clock) September 2, 2025 o LTAC grant application window September 9-19, 2025 o LTAC meeting – Applicant Presentations 1st week of October o LTAC meeting - Award Recommendations 2nd week of October o Consideration of awards by the City Council November 4, 2025 (tentative) • Fund Balances & Proposed Funding Level Reviewed were the 10-Year Fund Balance Trend Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 4 of 10  • Proposed 2026 Funding Levels: o Multi-year (3 years) awards o Single awards o Whidbey & Camano Island Tourism agreement ($50,000) o Chalkfest ($17,000) o 2026 Ending Balance - $522,326.39 • Marina Debt Service: o City Council approved pursuing $30,000 from Lodging Tax funds to assist with the Marina Debt Service August 6, 2025. o Council requested staff to look into increasing request to $55,000/year and decreas- ing Utility Tax to $0. o $1.1M from Lodging Tax (over 20 years) would be raised o Municipal Research Service Center Guidance:  City would need to apply to the LTAC and have the request approved by LTAC to use lodging tax funds for debt service.  RCW is silent on funding cycles and length of award.  LTAC could choose to award a request for a 20-year debt repayment. Grants Adminsrtator Horn reviewed lodging tax assumptions and reviewed the current fund balance, with an annual approval of $450,000 and a 3% year-over-year increase in lodging tax revenue. Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 5 of 10 Additional assumptions include: $50,000 – Whidbey Camano Island Tourism $55,000 – Marina Debt (20 years) $345,000 – Annual Awards (Council can change the annual award amount) Grants Adminsrtator Horn noted the Marina funding option, as discussed at the Council’s August 6, 2025 meeting, added $55,000 over and above the $450,000 in awards. This affects the year-over- year fund balance, which dips to a lowest point in 2036, but then continues to grow as shown below. Mayor Wright called on the Council for their respective questions and comments. Councilmembers Woessner, Stucky, Armes, Marrow, and Marshall provided their respective ques- tions and comments, as did Mayor Wright. Staff will bring and item for proposed application and guideline changes for Council consideration at the September 2, 2025 Council meeting. PARKS AND RECREATION a. Action Item: Resolution 25-13: Building Donation Agreement and Licensing Agreement with Girl Scouts of Western Washington Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 6 of 10 Parks and Recreation Director Smith reviewed the item. He introduced Andrea Anderson, Chief Ex- ecutive Officer, Nichole Franko, Chief Operating Officer and Julie Wendell of Girl Scouts of Western Washington (GSWW) who were in attendance remotely to provide information and answer questions as representatives of the corporate office. Ms. Anderson presented a PowerPoint presentation for the Council. She explained the GSWW serves 15,000 young people and 9,000 volunteers. Girl Scouting has a rich history in the Oak Harbor community spanning nearly seven decades. Ms. Anderson explained that when their lease expired last fall, they reached out to the City to propose the donation of the Girl Scout building to the City with the intent to support local girl scouts and all youth in Oak Harbor. Ms. Anderson provided the current number of girl scouts in Oak Harbor as having 7 troops, 65 girls, and 58 adult volunteers. The building is used once a month for a Service Unit meeting, Currently two troops use the building for meeting space with two reservations to use the space each week. Ms. Anderson explained that GSWW is moving away from ownership of sites other than its camps in its business model. GSWW is proposing to donate the building, located on City property at Neil Park to the City. A proposed lease agreement for the building would include year-round exclusive reservation periods for local troop use, extended evening reservation hours, week-long day camp reservation availability, and calls out the building as a youth activity center. The proposed lease agreement would be for a period of five years with a fee of $1 dollar per year. While there has been input from local troop volunteers, Ms. Anderson explained that only the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GSWW, a registered non-profit agency, can make decisions for GSWW. Parks and Recreation Director Smith noted City Attorney Robert Zeinemann who had advised on the proposed donation and lease agreement was attending remotely and was available to answer questions. Director Smith noted the building owned by GSWW needs repair. It requires a roof re- placement at an estimated cost of $35,000, carpet and flooring replacement at an estimated cost of between $4,800 to $6,000, the utility costs for 2024 were $3,980 and the maintenance costs of the building were $3,459 in 2024. As the building was currently dedicated to only girl scout use, and owned by GSWW, these costs and use of the building had not been budgeted. If the Council were to determine to approve the building donation, the Parks and Recreation Department would program uses for it, but these were not as yet determined. As this was an action item on the agenda today, Mayor Wright confirmed no public comments had been received prior to today’s meeting. He inquired whether the Council would accept public com- ments on this item and with this affirmed, called upon any present who wished to comment on this item. 1.Jenny Neal of Oak Harbor addressed the Council. She identified herself as a former service unit manager for the Oak Harbor Girl Scouts. She noted jet noise during the meeting had made it difficult for her to hear all of Ms. Anderson’s presentation and asked her to repeat the portion regarding reservations for the building. Ms. Neal stated the building was built for girl scout use and did not like seeing that use limited. She stated she understood why GSWW wanted to turn over the building to the City because the costs to maintain it were high. She noted the local service unit would like to have the opportunity to raise the funds to fix the building and that if GSWW was not amenable to that, the service unit would look to work directly with the City Council to do so. Hearing no one else with a desire to speak, Mayor Wright closed public comments and turned to the Council for their questions and comments. Councilmembers Woessner, Marshall, Marrow, Mayor Pro Tem Hizon, and Councilmembers Stucky, Armes and Wiegenstein provided their respective questions and comments. Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 7 of 10 Attorney Zeinemann clarified that the building was built in 1957 on City property with the requirement that it only be used for scouting purposes, therefore if GSWW decides to no longer use the building, the existing agreement calls for them to either sell it to the City at market value or remove it at their expense. GSWW and the local girls scout troops under the current terms of their agreement cannot rent out or lease the building for any other use than by girl scouts. Ms. Anderson explained that GSWW proposes a new five-year agreement in order to partner with the City as much as possible so local girl scouts and local youth can use it. She clarified that GSWW is one of 110 girl scout councils in Washington State. GSWW is its own 501 (c) 3 entity and deter- mines their own business model. Mayor Pro Tem Hizon noted a lot of time and energy had gone into drafting the agreement, including review by legal counsel and City staff in Parks and Recreation and Finance. Motion: Mayor Pro Tem Hizon moved to approve Resolution 25-13: Accepting the donation of real property and authorizing the Mayor to enter into a Donation Agreement and a Licensing Agreement with the Girl Scouts of Western Washington. Councilmember Marrow seconded the motion. Mayor Wright called for additional discussion. All members of the Council provided their additional questions and comments. Ms. Franko, GSWW Chief Operating Officer, clarified that GSWW is clear that under the terms of the current expiring lease agreement, the only options outside of gifting the building to the City or removing it. Their proposed new agreement was intended to support girl scouting locally by dedicat- ing certain days and times for girl scout use, while allowing the City to have it for other uses and programs. With discussion concluded, Mayor Wright called for a vote on the motion, which failed by a vote of 3-4 with Mayor Pro Tem Hizon, Councilmember Woessner, and Councilmember Armes in favor, and Councilmembers Wiegenstein, Stucky, Marshall and Marrow opposed. POLICE DEPARTMENT a. Police Department Annual Report Police Chief Slowik provided the annual report for the Oak Harbor Police Department (OHPD). He thanked the Council for approving the increase in staffing. OHPD is adding five new positions, which Chief Slowik noted he would report on. Chief Slowik began with the update to the OHPD’s mission and values, developed as part of its Five- Year Strategic Plan, developed in conjunction with OHPD staff, the Oak Harbor community, the Citizen’s Advisory Board (CAB). The Mission statement now reads: The Oak Harbor Police Department is dedicated to community safety through proactive law enforcement and community engagement. We strive to uphold the val- ues of Respect, Integrity, and Excellence while protecting the lives and property of all those who live, work, and visit our community. The OHPD Motto: “Dedicated to Community Safety and Service” OHPD Values: Respect - Integrity - Excellence Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 8 of 10 Chief Slowik then reviewed staffing. Of the five new positions approved by the Council, one is cur- rently filled and is in training at the Police Academy, four are still open. One lieutenant position is open, and one lieutenant position has a candidate going through a background process. Other changes in staffing are that one employee in a records position and the employee currently serving in the Records Supervisor position, are both leaving the department at the end of this month. Chief Slowik reviewed OHPD’s four proactive focus areas, and the percentage of time spent with each: • Schools – 14% • Parks – 27% • Downtown – 18% • Traffic – 14% • Community – 27% OHPD accomplishments since the last annual report in August of 2024 include: • WASPC Law Enforcement Accreditation (Next review in 2028) • Police Department Five-Year Strategic Plan– (2025 -2029) • Reviewed and Revised Mission/Vision/Values • Professional Standards Software – compliance with Senate Bill 5259 / RCW 10.118.030 • Police Fleet transformation from pool vehicles to assigned vehicles • Technology Deployment – Assigned laptop devices promoting quicker report completions • Citizen Academy – the next one begins September 18, 2025 Chief Slowik reviewed the OHPD Strategic Plan which outlined the questions: Where are we going? How will we get there? Are we achieving our goals? The Plan includes Four Strategic Priorities: • Recruitment & Retention • Organizational Efficiencies • Accountability & Transparency • Growth Management Chief Slowik noted the Strategic Plan priorities will be posted to the OHPD page on the City’s website Chief Slowik provided a five-year overview of calls for service, with an increase in 2024 over 2023, but still less than in 2022. Of those calls, the majority each year have been or resulted in misde- meanor arrests, followed by infractions for traffic, felony arrests, and criminal traffic offenses. In reviewing support services, Chief Slowik noted public disclosure requests continue to rise, with a 250% increase seen between 2021-2024. Reporting on recent Drug Task Force activity, Chief Slowik noted earlier this month SWAT assisted DEA with disrupting distribution of drugs to Whidbey Island. Seized were over 14 pounds of drugs, as well as firearms and $50,000 in cash. Chief Slowik reported on OHPD’s Human Service partnerships, with the most hours spent at Spin Café, at an average of 35 hours per week. Other partnerships included: • Recovery Navigator Program - Average 10 hours per week • Co-Responder Program - Average 10-11 hours per week • Opioid Outreach Program - Average 2 hours per week • Housing Assistance Program - Average 10 hours per week • Other outreach programs - Average 2 hours per week Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 9 of 10 Community Engagement: Activities included National Night Out, the Citizen Academy, Seniors at Regency, and having a presence with a School Resource Officer in Oak Harbor Public Schools. Other activities included participation in Big Brothers/Big Sisters Rocket League, providing the op- portunity for positive engagement with youth in the community. Mayor Wright thanked Chief Slowik for his report and turn to the Council for their questions and comments. Councilmembers Marshall, Stucky, and Woessner provided their respective questions and com- ments, the majority of which concerned the time spent by OHPD responding to human services at or around Spin Café. Chief Slowik noted Washington State has identified individual rights over public safety. Only designated crisis responders can remove a person involuntarily, and those personnel must cover several counties and may not be available to respond to needs. Spin is a day shelter facility, used by between 20-30 people daily, plus others who go there to take advantage of those who are there for needed services. The facility is not fenced and doesn’t have cameras. In response to Council suggestions for a dedicated officer in that area, Chief Slowik will look at what other cities are doing. He noted both Mount Vernon and Burlington have day-use facilities and do not have the crime numbers seen here. He attributed this largely to the location of the facility, with Spin Café being in a busy downtown area, while the others are more remote. In terms of providing a dedicated officer for that area, in comparison to the School Resource Officer agreement with the Oak Harbor Public Schools, the School District pays 50% of that cost. Chief Slowik questioned how much support Island County provides for Spin Café. Regarding Council suggestions of the creation of an alcohol or drug free zone for that area, Chief Slowik noted he intends to bring a plan for an ordinance to provide the court more power to prosecute drug activity. Councilmembers Marrow thanked Chief Slowik for the new mission statement and the development and growth of OHPD’s work for public safety and to get drug dealers off the island. Councilmember Wiegenstein thanked Chief Slowik for the update and the continued progress of the department. Mayor Wright noted he will continue to attend Spin Board of Directors meetings and if they don’t conform to rules and regulations, the City can declare the facility a public nuisance. ADJOURN There being no further business, Mayor Wright adjourned the workshop at 3:18 p.m. Certified by Julie Nester, City Clerk Workshop Meeting Minutes August 26, 2025 Page 10 of 10