City Council Work Session

MEETING MINUTES TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION October 28, 2025 CONVENE: 6:00 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Debbie Sullivan and Councilmembers Peter Agabi, Leatta Dahlhoff, Angela Jefferson, Eileen Swarthout and Kelly Von Holtz. Excused: Councilmembers Michael Althauser and Joan Catey. Staff: City Administrator Lisa Parks, Assistant City Administrator Kelly Adams, City Attorney Karen Kirkpatrick, Communications Director Jason Wettstein, Finance Director Troy Niemeyer, Fire Chief Brian Hurley, Information Technology Director Lance Inman, Water Resources & Sustainability Director Dan Smith, and City Clerk Melody Valiant. Others: Lead Advocate with CFM Advocates Katie Whittier and Principal Brian Enslow with Arbutus Consulting 2026 DRAFT Assistant City Administrator Adams introduced our legislative LEGISLASTIVE advocates Katie Whittier with CFM Advocates and Brian Enslow AGENDA: with Arbutus Consulting. Advocates Whittier and Enslow talked about the current legislative session and the challenges that could make funding certain priorities more difficult and the potential opportunities to increase revenue in an uncertain financial climate. They shared the Association of Washington Cities and the general Thurston County area priorities and then focused on the main priorities for Tumwater which included: • Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) Funding • Planned Action Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Brewery District Future Redevelopment • E Street Design TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 28, 2025 1  Councilmembers voiced concerns about making E Street Design a top priority when we have significant community concern about the location of the project. Administrator Parks explained that it’s included to get funding for design services which will help determine the location. Council requested additional outreach and clearer messaging to those affected by the project. Administrator Parks said she will work with the Transportation and Engineering department to update the graphics related to the project. DISCUSS BASELINE Administrator Parks and Director Niemeyer wanted to give the FINANCIAL Council an opportunity to ask any questions or give feedback ASSESSMENT: from the presentation Consultant Morgan Shook gave at an earlier council meeting regarding the Baseline Financial Assessment. The Consultants are working on providing Council with a dashboard and interactive tool so they can explore different financial scenarios. Administrator Parks shared that ECO Northwest will setup individual meetings with each Councilmember to show them how to use the tool. Administrator Parks said she would find out from the Consultants when the tool will be available for use. STRATEGIC PLAN Administrator Parks said they are trying to finalize the Strategic DISCUSSION – Plan and are looking for any additional input or information from REVIEW DRAFT: the Council. They are specifically looking for any feedback on the refreshed wording of the Vision, Mission, Beliefs and Values statement. Councilmembers provided some additional input and asked for more time to provide the rest of their feedback. Administrator Parks noted the requested changes and said that the Strategic Plan will be coming to the next two regular Council meetings in November with the goal of it being adopted by the end of the year. POOLING OPIOID Administrator Parks introduced an item regarding pooling our SETTLEMENT FUNDS opioid settlement funds with Thurston County, Lacey and WITH THURSTON Olympia. Councilmember Dahlhoff talked about how over the COUNTY, LACEY, AND last several years we have received multiple opioid settlements OLYMPIA – from the state. The Thurston County Opioid task force has come DISCUSSION: up with a comprehensive list of things that can be done to help reduce opioid use and overdoses. No single jurisdiction has the resources or staff to implement their ideas and pooling our TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 28, 2025 2  money together would allow us to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to seek out service providers to assist in implementation. Councilmember Dahlhoff asked fellow councilmembers if our money could be pooled together and Administrator Parks asked how much of the money they would like to pool. Councilmembers asked questions about the process and expressed support for pooling our money together. The item will be at the next Council meeting on November 3, 2025, under considerations. MAYOR/CITY Administrator Parks talked about how successful our youth ADMINISTRATOR’s basketball program which is run by our Parks and Recreation REPORT: department and thanked them for all their work. She also shared that we have staff that will be participating on November 8th from 10-4pm at a Thurston County Home Expo to assist first time home buyers. Lastly, she wanted to share that the City has received a $1,000,0000 grant from the Angela J Bowen conservative fund for the Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Mayor Sullivan reminded everyone that next week’s Council meeting is on Monday, November 3rd due to the election and if anyone would like to attend the ribbon cutting for the Thurston County ballot center to please let staff know. ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business, Mayor Sullivan adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m. Prepared by Melody Valiant, City Clerk TUMWATER CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - OCTOBER 28, 2025 3