City Council *AMENDED*

TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 1 CONVENE: 7:00 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Debbie Sullivan and Councilmembers Peter Agabi, Michael Althauser, Joan Cathey, Leatta Dahlhoff, Angela Jefferson, Charlie Schneider, and Eileen Swarthout. Staff: City Administrator John Doan, City Attorney Karen Kirkpatrick, Development Director Michael Matlock, Planning Manager Brad Medrud, Communications Manager Ann Cook, and City Clerk Melody Valiant. SPECIAL ITEMS: PROCLAMATION: Councilmember Swarthout read a proclamation declaring February 2022 BLACK HISTORY as Black History Month. The proclamation calls upon the people of the MONTH, City of Tumwater to recognize the continued need to battle racism, FEBRUARY 2022: eliminate barriers of equality, and to build a society where all people have equal opportunity to thrive. THURSTON Councilmember Agabi introduced Michael Cade, Executive Director, ECONOMIC Thurston Economic Development Council (EDC), and Mark Steepy, DEVELOPMENT President-Elect, EDC, to provide an update on EDC activities. COUNCIL UPDATE: Mr. Cade reported Mr. Steepy will serve as the President of the Board of Directors in 2023. He has been affiliated with EDC for many years. Mr. Cade acknowledged Councilmember Schneider for his service as a member of the EDC Board of Directors. Mr. Steepy reported he owns KPFF Consulting Engineers located in Lacey with over 1,300 employees serving across the country providing civil and structural engineering services. He was born and raised in Thurston County. Mr. Steepy presented information on the EDC and the support the organization provides to the community and the City of Tumwater. Economic development builds and supports the connection between private and public sector goals while working together with all types of organizations. A strong lasting economic development is based on a solid network. Economic development is defined in many ways to include a series of strategic steps that when aligned with community needs provide the pathway forward for the entire community while building a broad, vibrant, and resilient community. The EDC has a formal relationship with the Washington State Department of Commerce built upon efforts to benefit the entire Thurston region. The EDC strives to ensure justice, and equity. Diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of all services and activities sponsored by the organization. It is TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 2 important to recognize the value of all lenses, educate, and bring awareness to the issues to create actions moving forward. EDC was established in 1986 by a coalition of community and business leaders with Tumwater included in the discussions. The basic premise of the organization is consistent today as it was when it was established. In conjunction with community leaders, EDC seeks to build a quality and vibrant community based on ensuring the business community can be supported in the region and is recognized for the positive elements contributed to the community. Mr. Cade reported the EDC is lead by a Board of Directors as a policy board adopting policy and procedures for moving the organization forward. Mr. Cade reviewed the activities of the EDC and accompanying organizations, such as the Center for Business Innovation, a separate 501 (C) 3 under the umbrella of the EDC. EDC is the largest stand-alone economic development council in the state. Last year, EDC produced $330 million of economic activity in Thurston County with a return of $23.51 for each dollar invested. Currently, EDC has approximately 50 working partnerships and agreements with non-profits, chambers, jurisdictions, and others. Since the pandemic, EDC’s Business Hotline has received over 10,000 calls seeking assistance in Thurston County for accessing programs and various grant programs. The Hotline is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EDC commits to following up with any individual calling the hotline within 12 hours. EDC serves as the fiduciary and the backbone organization for Thurston Strong. Last year, Thurston Strong provided assistance or grant funding to local businesses throughout Thurston County. To date, EDC has offered 117 grants and another 46 grants will be added shortly totaling $1.5 million in total grants. EDC’s platform is to recruit, retain, and expand with a focus on retaining existing businesses to include non-profits, which are a significant part of the economy in Thurston County. Training for businesses contributes to the retention of businesses. In 2005, the EDC launched Washington Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC), a government- contracting program initially offering $75,000 in contracts countywide which has increased today to $1.7 million. Since July 2021, EDC has nine working clients in Tumwater receiving contracts totaling more than $2 million. Mr. Cade spoke to the importance of retaining and valuing businesses and non-profits. It is important to retain employment opportunities within the TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 3 county. EDC’s efforts include not just expanding the market share of the business but expanding the company’s ability to continue to employ and maintain operations. It is also important to infuse the region with new capital by driving new dollars in the community and recirculating dollars by marketing the importance of buying local. In Thurston County, EDC launched 42 new businesses. Councilmember Jefferson asked about EDC’s efforts to launch the Southwest Washington Food Hub. Mr. Cade explained that the effort was a way to support local agriculture producers. Food production is one of the region’s larger economic sectors but the region lacked food processing with food shipped from the county to other locations for processing, packaging, and selling the product in the region. Southwest Washington Food Hub works with the Thurston County Food Bank and other organizations by delivering food boxes to those organizations, such as Family Support Service Center. The program not only provides food to families and individuals in need, the program works with farmers on the workforce side to train them on marketing and packaging products in a different arena. The Innovation Partnership Zone was developed through a partnership with the City of Tumwater as a way to leverage resources in the community and market and support a unique feature of the City. For Tumwater that unique niche is craft brewing, distilling, and cider making as manifested in the new Craft District located off Capitol Boulevard. Recruitment of investment into the region requires a strategic plan of steps and actions amongst partners to identify the appropriate companies to attract to the region. EDC works with commercial brokers, Washington State Department of Commerce, and a network of site selectors to identify leads to contact. Last year, EDC’s network managed 80 investment cases in the sectors of agriculture, warehouse distribution, light assembly, and manufacturing. Next year, EDC will be working with site consultants to generate leads for natural products, energy, technology, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors. Last year, EDC created approximately $3.2 million of economic impact in Tumwater working with businesses, business launches, procurement technical assistance, and business and market expansion generating approximately 44 FTE jobs. Those efforts generated approximately $96,000 in taxes for Tumwater and $760,000 in taxes for special districts, Thurston County, municipal government, and the state. The figure does not include Thurston Strong efforts. This year’s efforts will continue focusing on equity, access, diversity, supporting a resilient economy, and meeting people at their location. A new BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, (and) People of Color) Business Development Liaison position was created to promote all business TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 4 resources throughout Thurston County. EDC will refocus efforts on recruitment of new markets and build awareness of the importance of economic redevelopment through a series of roundtables and discussions with community members to discuss economic development and ways EDC can be a supportive organization. EDC will continue to serve as the backbone for Thurston Strong. Two new projects involving workforce will be operated from EDC. EDC will also revisit and rekindle the economic development strategy created and adopted by local communities in 2018, which was placed on hold during the pandemic. Councilmember Dahlhoff asked about any gaps of services that continue to exist, especially because of the pandemic. Mr. Cade responded that it speaks to the needs of businesses, and in many cases it pertains to capital. Trend lines in Thurston County reflect overall spending for consumer retail sales tax has increased by 38% since the beginning of the pandemic. Small business in Thurston County has decreased by 26% since the beginning of the pandemic. It is important to rebuild small business capacity, which is why EDC is focusing on the economic ecosystem. Rebuilding small business requires access to capital. EDC created a partnership with South Puget Sound Community College Foundation for access to funds. Many business owners participating in EDC programs have access to those funds. Finally, businesses need a source of information and exchange to help them understand the market and ways to thrive. EDC has created a network of counselors and mentors as part of the entrepreneurial network and mentorship program to assist small businesses. Councilmember Swarthout asked about the biggest challenges the organization foresees as the nation recovers from the pandemic. Mr. Cade advised that the flow of information is a major factor. EDC publishes information daily of communications received by EDC from 28 different critical communiqués. EDC catalogs all the resources. Mr. Steepy added that the working environment is an unanswered question. Many employees are working virtually and many do not plan to return to a workplace while other businesses are considering relocating to Thurston County because of the desire to leave a larger metropolitan area. Workplace and employee unknowns along with how additional businesses in the county might affect the community and infrastructure will likely take several years to resolve as the pandemic winds down. Councilmember Agabi inquired about EDC’s efforts to assist minority- owned businesses in Tumwater. Mr. Cade responded that the new BIPOC position was filled by Myra Pena. During the second round of Thurston Strong, EDC examined the importance of meeting people at their location and reevaluated the role EDC was playing in promoting the availability of resources to the entire community and identified a gap, which resulted in the creation of the BIPOC Business Development Liaison position. Ms. TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 5 Pena is responsible for working with a variety of different groups to share information on EDC resources to ensure accessibility to the resources. In response to comments from Councilmember Cathey in terms of how EDC communicates Thurston County as a quality community, Mr. Steepy advised that the initial planning of a recent EDC retreat included a theme of what does the community of Thurston County mean. However, because of immediate needs, the planning for that discussion was deferred. He envisions it to be a topic for the 2022 retreat as the Board discussed it briefly as a group. Discussion ensued on continuing efforts to define community and implementing diversity and inclusion within all EDC programs and resources. PUBLIC Pamela Hansen, PO 14521, Tumwater, reported a consultant at the COMMENT: Council’s recent retreat stated that the City has a strong mayor form of government. However, the consultant either did not, could not, or would not address the five-minute rule of public testimony during Council meetings. It is has been clearly stated that the five-minute public testimony rule is included in the Council Rules. She asked whether the current Mayor is limiting people to three minutes in opposition to the five- minute rule. Secondly, the lobbyist contract and disbursement structure does not include information on intelligence gathering by the consultant. Any intelligence gathering should be traceable through receipts submitted to the Public Disclosure Commission. She questioned the City’s purchase of golf carts and the cost. As mentioned more for than once, the golf course is not profitable and the unspecified yearly amount is approximately $500,000. It is clear that taxpayers are subsidizing golf games. She asked for information on the golf cart purchase and the process for approval before placing the proposal on the consent calendar. Ms. Hansen said she knows of no other municipality promoting a substance; however, the City is actively promoting alcohol. She commented on the charge of a DUI by a Tumwater Municipal Court judge, as well as a charge of hit and run. Alcohol is a substance and Tumwater is actively promoting a substance, which is concerning as DUIs and hit and runs are a reality in Tumwater, as well as open containers. Alcohol addiction can lead to alcohol seizures when alcohol is denied. Alcohol leads to violence and is a health dependency issue. CONSENT a. Minutes: City Council Joint Tumwater School District, December 2, CALENDAR: 2021 b. Minutes: City Council, February 1, 2022 c. Payment of Vouchers d. Reappointment of Trent Grantham, Joel Hecker and Dennis Olson to the Tree Board e. Single J Enterprises – Property License TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 6 MOTION: Councilmember Dahlhoff moved, seconded by Councilmember Schneider, to approve the consent calendar as published. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Sullivan reviewed the items approved on the consent calendar. COUNCIL CONSIDERATIONS: ORDINANCE NO. City Administrator Doan reported Governor Inslee signed House Bill 1016 O2022-005, implementing June 19 (Juneteenth) as a state holiday. Pursuant to the ESTABLISHING Tumwater Municipal Code, state holidays are City holidays. June 19 has JUNETEENTH AS A also been recognized as a federal holiday. Juneteenth is also known as PAID HOLIDAY Emancipation Day or Freedom Day and recognizes the day when Union AND ADDING soldiers arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 and informed the last enslaved CHAPTER 2.80 OF African Americans they were free. The holiday would become effective THE TUMWATER this year on June 19, 2022 with observance on Monday, June 20, 2022. MUNICIPAL CODE The ordinance amends the structure of City holidays with no changes to DESIGNATING the list of holidays other than including a list of holidays rather than a CITY RECOGNIZED reference to the state’s list. Staff recommends adoption of Ordinance No. HOLIDAYS: O2022-005. Councilmember Schneider requested the issuance of a proclamation prior to the holiday this year. MOTION: Councilmember Jefferson moved, seconded by Councilmember Cathey, to adopt Ordinance No. O2022-005 establishing Juneteenth as a paid holiday and adding Chapter 2.80 of the Tumwater Municipal Code designating City recognized holidays. Motion carried unanimously. THURSTON Manager Medrud reported the City is moving to Phase 4 of the Thurston CLIMATE Climate Mitigation Plan. Phase 4 includes an interlocal agreement MITIGATION PLAN covering how the four jurisdictions will cooperate on implementing the PHASE 4 Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan for the next three years. As part of the INTERLOCAL long-term governance agreement, a work program is included for Phase 4 AGREEMENT: for one year covering the period of April 2022 to April 2023. The work program is tied to the Thurston Regional Planning Council work program in support of the plan regionally. Staff requests approval of the Phase 4 Long-term Governance Agreement and the Interlocal Agreement. Manager Medrud reviewed background information on the Council’s acceptance of the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan as the framework for future actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tasks scheduled during the next year. TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 7 MOTION: Councilmember Swarthout moved, seconded by Councilmember Schneider, to approve the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan Phase 4 Interlocal Agreement. Motion carried unanimously. COMMITTEE REPORTS: PUBLIC HEALTH & At the last meeting, updates were provided by Tumwater HOPES and the SAFETY: Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office. Tumwater HOPES is one of 100 Leatta Dahlhoff similar coalitions across the state. Councilmembers Schneider and Swarthout represent the City as members of Tumwater HOPES. The coalition was established in 2018 and has expanded to include Big Brothers Big Sisters. The presentation by members of the Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office covered Tumwater cases in 2020 and 2021 and new legislation that might affect future cases. The next meeting is scheduled on March 8, 2022. GENERAL The committee held its last meeting on Wednesday, February 9, 2022. The GOVERNMENT: agenda included discussions on the preliminary docket for the 2022 Michael Althauser Comprehensive Plan Map and Text Amendments, which were forwarded to the Council for review during a worksession. One recommendation from the Planning Commission was not included in the committee’s recommendation to the City Council. The committee reviewed the City’s Housing Action Plan and three components of tenant protections and two policy programs for establishing a potential landlord registration program and soliciting additional information on a potential contract with the Thurston County Dispute Resolution Center to enable a third party to facilitate issues between landlords and tenants. PUBLIC WORKS: At the last meeting, members reviewed the Single J Enterprises – Property Eileen Swarthout License and forwarded a recommendation of approval to the Council. The next meeting on February 17, 2021 includes reviews and recommendations on the Third Amendment to Service Provider Agreement for City of Tumwater Maintenance & Operations Facility and the Greer Environmental Consulting Service Provider Agreement. BUDGET AND The meeting earlier in the day included consideration of an interfund loan, FINANCE: which was referred to the Council. Debbie Sullivan MAYOR/CITY City Administrator Doan updated the Council on the status of issues ADMINISTRATOR’S surrounding the Hopkins Drainage District. Engineering staff prepared a REPORT: response to be forwarded to members of the district. As the region experienced a substantial rain event at the beginning of the year, well data were indicative of the magnitude of that event. The City does not believe recent development caused impacts to the ditch other than the magnitude of the rain event. The Council will receive a copy of the letter. TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 8 The previous public comment on the golf cart lease will be presented to the Council at a future meeting. The golf course leases carts every five years as they serve as an essential component of the golfing experience. City Administrator Doan noted the decoration of the Mark Twain statue at the corner of Capitol Boulevard and Israel Road in honor of Valentine’s Day. The picture, posted on the City’s Facebook page, was very popular. City Administrator Doan shared notes and communications received by the City acknowledging efforts by several employees. Councilmember Schneider shared information on a new program sponsored by the City for adopting a park. Community volunteers commit to cleaning up a park once every three months with reports provided to the City. Mayor Sullivan thanked staff and the Council for their efforts and participation during the recent Council retreat. Mayor Sullivan is attending an Intercity Transit Authority meeting on Wednesday, February 16, 2022 followed by a meeting of the Community Action Council of Mason and Thurston Counties next week. COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS: Charlie Schneider: Councilmember Schneider attended the Boys and Girls Clubs of Thurston County 2022 Youth of the Year Community Celebration event. The event featured five finalists who received a one-year tuition scholarship for South Puget Sound Community College with the winner receiving a two- year scholarship. Councilmember Schneider participated in sign waving in support of the Tumwater School District ballot measure. Students with the Tumwater FRESH Farm conducted a fundraiser to earn funds to replace equipment and tools totaling $750 recently stolen from the farm. Councilmember Schneider attended the Tumwater Area Chamber of Commerce monthly Board meeting. Members discussed the winter golf event scheduled on February 23, 2022 and the annual golf tournament scheduled on June 17, 2022 at Tumwater Valley Golf Course. His future meetings include Tumwater HOPES and Public Works Committee meetings. Peter Agabi: At the last Joint Animal Services Commission meeting, Lisa Parshley was elected as Chair and Carolina Mejia was elected as Vice Chair. Members TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 9 discussed the adoption of animals. Many of the dogs at the facility are larger dogs, which has created issues with placement. Councilmember Agabi participated in a tour of the animal shelter. During the tour and discussion with Sarah Hock, Executive Director, about funding concerns, members discussed the possibility of a combined funding drive to raise funds each year to support the animal shelter. Ms. Hock offered to work with Ms. Parshley to include a discussion on the next month’s meeting agenda. Councilmember Agabi attended the Transportation Policy Board on February 9, 2022. Members discussed the study of I-5 from Mounts Road to Tumwater at a cost of $75 million. That amount is separate and is in addition to the supplemental proposal under discussion. Members received a Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan update and discussed greenhouse gas emissions, which reduced during 2019/2020 because of COVID. Members also discussed increasing density, teleworking, and biking to reduce the need for transportation infrastructure. The Board plans to establish a steering committee to study density and transportation. Councilmember Agabi advised that he is serving as a member of the steering committee scheduled to begin meeting in March. Councilmember Agabi mentioned the transportation survey from June to November 2020 and the lack of Tumwater participants. The survey attracted 4,190 participants and many of the respondents were students from Olympia with little data documenting Tumwater participation. He questioned the lack of data from Tumwater and was informed about the extent outreach for the survey. However, the data was not separated to designate the number of responses from Tumwater high school students. He is hopeful that future surveys will account for that lack of data to ensure all jurisdictions are included in the results. Councilmember Agabi reported Thurston Regional Planning Council staff has designed a formula to identify high priority transportation projects. He described how the formula would be applied to identify priority levels of projects for funding consideration. Michael Althauser: Councilmember Althauser reported on his attendance to the joint meeting with the Tumwater School Board and the Council retreat. He thanked staff for coordinating the meetings. His other intergovernmental meetings are scheduled later in the month. Eileen Swarthout: During the last Visitor Convention Bureau meeting, the Board reviewed a draft strategic plan. Members approved the plan. The plan includes some ambitious goals to achieve from 2022 through 2024 in the categories of sales and marketing, destination management, community alignment, and sustainability of the organization. Targets have been established in addition to metrics to measure progress. Some hotels are beginning to TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 10 experience an increase in bookings with some hotels experiencing levels similar to levels in 2019. Joan Cathey: At the last meeting of the Solid Waste Advisory Committee, members elected new officers. New officers include Renee Radclift Sinclair as the Chair, who has served on the committee for many years. Jim Cooper was elected as Vice Chair. Members reviewed the need for community outreach and education on the impacts of solid waste disposal, recycling, and re-emphasizing reduce, reuse, and recycle. The committee will receive assistance from a new staff position for community outreach. Councilmember Cathey attended an Olympic Region Clean Air Agency meeting. Members shared stories and memories of Fran McNair, who is retiring from the agency as its executive director. Angela Jefferson: Councilmember Jefferson attended the February 8, 2022 Public Health and Safety Committee meeting and the Council retreat. As a new Councilmember, she learned much and it answered many of her questions. She thanked City Administrator Doan and staff for coordinating the retreat to produce a high quality training opportunity. Councilmember Jefferson referred to previous community garden discussions and the goal to expand food sharing and personal hygiene sites in the City as many people will not visit a food bank and young people often lack access to personal hygiene products. She recently visited with an owner of a food/personal sharing site. The Sharing Spot is located eight miles from Black Lake High School at the intersection of Littlerock Road and Olympia in Rochester. The owner purchased the property in 1999. She began the service by placing excess vegetables on a table for availability to the community. During COVID, the community began participating by contributing goods. As the space could no longer contain all products, the group formed and constructed a shed and began offering products to the community at no charge. A similar program is possible for Tumwater. The owner conveyed that although there is much need in the community, people are reluctant to ask for help, which speaks to the success of the Sharing Spot as it offers an anonymous way for people to receive help. Leatta Dahlhoff: Councilmember Dahlhoff reported she and Councilmember Schneider have formed a small group with support from Manager Anderson to expand the Neighborhood Matching Grant Program with lending libraries by updating the application form as a way to track mini-pantries. They are working on some design guidelines with Councilmember Schneider connecting with the school district for youth volunteers. They are working on ways to reach out to homeowner associations, as well as drafting Adopt-a-Pantry program based on the format of lending libraries. She conveyed appreciation of Councilmember Jefferson’s update as it is reflective of a different concept and model supporting similar efforts. TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MEETING February 15, 2022 Page 11 Councilmember Dahlhoff attended two Thurston County 911 Communications meetings. Wendy Hill is the new Executive Director. She referred to the loss of 911 service on January 11, 2022 with 911 calls transferred to Spokane until the system was able to handle calls. The system outage was determined to be caused by equipment failure at TCOMM. The vendor was onsite by the next evening and the equipment was replaced on January 15, 2022. The vendor has increased its level of responsiveness to ongoing issues and concerns. However, the consortium has engaged legal representatives to participate in all discussions moving forward to resolve issues to avoid cancellation of the contract. Councilmember Dahlhoff reported on her attendance to the LOTT Clean Water Alliance Board meetings. She met individually with LOTT Executive Director Mike Shrub as a new member of the Board. During the regular meeting, members were briefed on a proposal by the City of Olympia, Port of Olympia, and LOTT to construct a technical trade center. LOTT approved the interlocal agreement to move forward. As she does not want the City of Tumwater, New Market Skills Center, or the Tumwater School District excluded from a potential opportunity, the three entities plan to engage in a scoping retreat with a request that the school districts and City of Tumwater have an opportunity to participate. Councilmember Dahlhoff said she met with Gabby Hyre, TOGETHER’s Host Home Program Development Director, to discuss the host homes program. The program has initiated its first matching with a Tumwater youth and local family. The program provides housing opportunities for youths. ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business, Mayor Sullivan adjourned the meeting at 9:00 p.m. Prepared by Valerie L. Gow, Recording Secretary/President Puget Sound Meeting Services, psmsoly@earthlink.net