I think we can start the meeting.

Thank you everyone for being here.

We appreciate to hear from you and we glad you're here.

Uh City Clerk, can you just do the roll call, please?

Well, thank you, Mayor.

Uh, this evening, Councilmember Robinson will be joining us late.

And Councilmember Breyer will not be in attendance.

So, with that, Mayor Malicutian here.

Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Here.

Councilmember Bargava?

Here.

Councilmember New in House.

Here.

Councilmember Simadoria.

Councilmember Bargawa, would you please lead us in the flag salute?

Yeah, sure.

Please rise if you can.

Pledge allegiance to the flag to the United States of America and to the Republic for which we one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

We do have three proclamation.

The first one is International Firefighters' Day.

Councilmember Newan House will read that.

I will invite uh Captain Nate Cogdil Engineer Aaron Clare, Firefighter Mason Kaiz of Engine 110.

Whoever wants to come to the uh table, please come.

Chief Mark Anderson, staff assistant Mark Van Winkel, firefighter Pramedic Mun Park and Neek Henry from Battalion 101.

Please join us here, and after the Councilman Newtonhouse read the proclamation, we hear from you and your comments.

Please go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um honor to read this, especially after having a private uh personal tour of the new Fire Station 10 on uh on Saturday this weekend, which was so well attended by the public.

Um whereas International Fire Fighters Day is observed annually on May 4th to honor and remember the courageous firefighters who have lost their lives in service to their communities to express gratitude to those who have served and to recognize those who continue to protect and safeguard our residents today.

And whereas this global observance was established following the tragic loss of five five firefighters in a wildfire in Victoria, Australia on December the 2nd, 1998, as a way to honor their sacrifice and recognize the dedication of firefighters worldwide who risk their lives daily in the line of duty.

And whereas firefighters face significant personal and physical challenges, demonstrating exceptional bravery and selflessness as they respond to fires, to medical emergencies and disasters, often at great personal risk to protect lives, property, and the well-being of their communities.

And whereas the Bellevue Fire Department continues to uphold the highest standards of excellence, maintaining its international accreditation from the Commission on Fire Accreditation International since 1998, reflecting the department's ongoing commitment to professionalism, to preparedness and public safety.

And whereas Bellevue's firefighters serve with dedication, responding at a moment's notice to emergencies, ensuring the safety of individuals and families, and supporting the resilience and economic stability of our community.

Now, therefore, I, Councilmember New Enhouse, on behalf of Mo Malicutian, Mayor of Bellevue, Washington, on behalf of the City Council to hereby proclaim May 4th, 2026 as International Firefighters Day in Bellevue, and encourage residents to show appreciation for their courage, for their dedication, and for their sacrifice of our Bellevue Fire Department personnel and firefighters everywhere, while also honoring the memory of those who have given their lives, sir, given their lives in the line of duty.

Thank you, Councilmember New England House.

Please.

Council just want to thank you for recognizing the honor that we get to play in being a part of this community and serving the needs here.

And uh especially want to thank you for your support.

It's fun for us to be able to operate out of a brand new fire station.

And uh thank you for that.

And it helps us serve the community better with all the growth that we have.

Thank you for supporting us and allowing us to do a faster response and provide the resources for us to do that.

So thank you for recognizing the role that we have the honor of providing to this community.

And uh just it's truly an honor for us to be able to do this every day when we come to work.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you very much for giving us the ability to respond quickly to this area downtown where we have so many more calls.

We work hard to try to be prepared to do a good job for you, and we appreciate your support and allowing us to do that.

I appreciate you.

Thank you.

We usually wait till we do all of our proclamation, but because I'm sure you have a job to do, we just come right now to take a picture.

You guys go thank you faster than if something happens.

Our second proclamation is thropecmont.

Councilmember Borgawa will read that.

We have our Honorable George Lisa Ottol, please come to the table from King County East Division Community Court, and of course, we have Craig Fritz from City of Bellevue Probation Manager.

Councilman Borgello, please go ahead.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor.

And so whereas therapeutic courts improve both public health and public safety by using evidence-based approaches to support adults, youth, and families affected by substance abuse and behavioral health conditions, helping individuals make lasting changes that strengthen our community.

And whereas Bellevue residents benefit from access to King County's therapeutic courts, which provide meaningful alternatives to traditional case processing and create pathways toward recovery, stability, and family reunification.

And whereas therapeutic courts connect participants to treatment, case management, peer support, housing, education, and employment resources, along with structure and accountability to address underlying challenges and support long-term success.

And whereas these programs have a positive upstream impact, helping to interrupt cycles of substance abuse and involvement in the legal system while reducing adverse childhood experiences and supporting stronger families.

And whereas the therapeutic courts have demonstrated a measurable outcome, including increased participation and treatment, higher rates of family reunification, improved employment outcomes, and reductions in recidivism and emergency system use.

And whereas participants and alumni of therapeutic courts contribute to Bellevue's community as engaged parents, employees, neighbors, and mentors, creating positive ripple effects that strengthen the city as a whole.

Now, I therefore I, Vishal Bhargava, on behalf of Mo Malakuchi and Mayor of Bellevue, Washington, on behalf of the entire city council to hereby proclaim May 2026 as therapeutic court month in Bellevue and encourage all residents to recognize the value of these programs and support efforts that promote recovery, stability, and public safety in our community.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you.

So I'm Judge Lisa O'Toole from King County District Court in Bellevue.

And I want to thank our city council for recognizing and honoring the value of therapeutic courts in our community.

I'm honored to have launched our brand new Bellevue Community Court.

It's an alternative therapeutic court with a restorative justice model.

And it's a beautiful partnership between the city of Bellevue with our Bellevue police, our Bellevue probation, the Bellevue Prosecutor, King County Library here in Bellevue, and the King County District Court.

What we do in community court is we uh have nonviolent offenders who are individually assessed to determine what obstacles that they may face that may be the root cause of their criminal behavior.

And these obstacles are things like substance abuse, chronic unemployment, chronic homelessness.

And community court seeks to provide these individuals with services such as treatment and the support and the tools that they need, the goal being removing these barriers and hopefully preventing future community criminal activity while holding them accountable to our community through service to our Bellevue community.

Community court structured to provide each of these individuals hope.

We encourage our participants to believe that their future can be better than today, and that they have the power to make it so.

Our probation director, um Mr.

Fritz will tell you more about Bellevue probation's involvement in community court and the service component of community court.

Thank you, Judge.

Uh good evening, Mayor Malikuti and Deputy Mayor Hamilton, Council members, it's good to see you all.

Um on behalf of community court and um our probation teams.

I do want to personally thank you for taking the opportunity to recognize this uh month.

Um your acknowledgement does share a um or does reflect a shared commitment to approaches uh that not only uphold accountability like Jojo Tool mentioned, but also do create very meaningful and lasting pathways to both change and to stability.

Um it is an honor to serve within this type of system that's that holds both of these values together.

Um I'd like to highlight um especially just very quickly the the community resource center that kind of um spurred out of community court, I guess.

Um since opening in June of last year, uh or it was July, I think.

I think I did, yeah, I got that wrong.

Um it has become a very vital and welcome, welcoming access point uh where individuals can connect with the wide range of coordinated services, um mental health and substance use treatment and support, housing assistance, employment and job training, education, public benefits, legal aid, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Um, by bringing these partners together under one roof, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention that that roof is under uh is over with our friends at the Bellevue Library who have been incredible through this journey.

Um the the resource center reduces barriers that all too often prevent people from taking that very first step toward the change.

Um it meets people where they are, often at moments of real difficulty and real challenge, um and it helps them open doors that might otherwise remain closed.

Umnected to these critical resources through the community resource center, um, often for the first time.

Um, and of course, behind each of those connections is a person taking a step forward in a community that is stronger for it.

Um, just last week, for example, and I really wanted to highlight this.

Um, DOL to go uh was on site at the resource center, and it provided multiple individuals with the opportunity to obtain a Washington State ID.

Um, something that many of us do take for granted, but we also know that for them it represents a real turning point toward employment and housing and uh that overall sense of renewed stability.

Um we are also seeing really quickly, as Joe O'Toole mentioned, uh meaningful impact through our accountability-based programs through the probation division's uh work crew program.

Um since we've started, 15 individuals have completed more than 115 hours of community service across the city's farms, the parks, the public sites, and the trail systems.

Um that work, as we know, is not just maintenance, it is contribution.

Um, it is individuals who are giving back in visible and tangible ways while at the same time building responsibility structure and pride in their in their progress.

And most importantly, to wrap it up, it is a reminder that change is possible.

And when we do invest in people with both expectations and support, uh, we see better outcomes for them and for the community as a whole.

Um these efforts reflect Bellevue's ongoing commitment to smart, compassionate justice, and stronger community outcomes.

And again, I thank you for this opportunity and for your continued support and for recognizing the importance of this work.

Thank you so much.

If you just hang out two minutes, we do the next proclamation and then we take a picture with you guys.

Thank you so much.

Uh, is going to read by Deputy Mayor Hamilton and Nathan McComan, our deputy city manager will receive that.

I will invite Nathan to come to the table.

Thank you.

Whereas public service recognition week is observed during the first full week of May to honor the people who serve our nation as federal, state, county, and local government employees.

And whereas public servants contribute to the growth, safety, and quality of life in our communities through their commitment to excellence innovation and service across a wide range of professions and departments.

And whereas the city of Bellevue is proud to be served by a dedicated and diverse workforce of public employees who uphold the city's values of exceptional service, stewardship, and accountability.

And whereas public service professionals in Bellevue, including those in planning, engineering, police, fire, parks, finance, technology, human services, and more, play a vital role in supporting the city's continued growth, equity, resilience, and sustainability.

And whereas the work of public servants continues to be essential as they adapt, lead, and respond to the needs of a dynamic and diverse community while maintaining the highest standards of professionalism.

And whereas it is important to recognize and show appreciation for the work, dedication, and integrity of those who choose public service as a career and who help ensure that government is responsive, effective, and accessible to all.

Now, therefore, I, Dave Hamilton, on behalf of Mo Malicotian, mayor of the City of Bellevue, Washington, on behalf of the City Council, to hereby proclaim May third through ninth, twenty twenty six as public service recognition week in Bellevue, and encourage all residents to recognize and thank our public employees for their outstanding contributions to our community.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Please, Nathan.

Wow, what a marvelous proclamation.

So thank you, Mayor and Council for the proclamation.

It's very important to recognize employees in what they do.

Uh a hallmark of Bellevue City employees is excellent customer service.

In fact, it's one of our core values.

Our employees are out there every day doing excellent service for our community.

And they do it quietly.

They do it purposefully, they do it with pride.

And their public service is really the backbone of how we engage the community, connect to neighborhoods, maintain a high quality infrastructure, support families and youth, support businesses, provide the right level of regulation, and keep the community safe, clean, and vibrant.

From smart planning for growth and timely emergency response, our employees do make a real difference every day.

And on behalf of all the staff, thank you, Council, for taking the time to issue this proclamation every year, in fact.

It honors those people providing that service, which means not just the city employees here in Bellevue, but our community-based organizations, the employees of county, state, and federal governments as well.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Let's just have a picture with every employee that we have in the room, please.

Uh can I have a motion to uh excuse Councilmember Briar from this meeting, please?

I move to excuse Councilmember Briar.

Second.

It has been moved with uh Deputy Mayor and seconded by Council Member New in House.

Any discussion.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

There is no opposed.

The motion passes.

Do I have a motion to approve the agenda?

I move to approve the agenda.

Second.

It's been moved by Deputy Mayor and seconded by Councilmember Newton House.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

There is no opposed, the motion passes.

City Clerk, our favorite part.

Perfect.

Um, there were two pre-registered speakers this evening, but one of them has dropped off, so we only have one.

Um, but I do want to mention before I start calling names that the council does appreciate all of the public engagement and folks contributing their perspectives.

Um, but comments shared during oral communications do represent the views of the individual speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or values of the council or the city.

Um, and a few of our rules for the folks.

The total time for oral communications is for a period of no more than 30 minutes, and all topics must relate to City of Bellevue government.

People speaking to items on tonight's agenda will be called first, and if time remains, people speaking to items not on the agenda will be called.

The presiding officer has authorization to give preference to those who have not spoken to council within the last sixty days, or who will be speaking on items coming in front of the council within the next sixty days.

Speakers are allowed up to three minutes to speak, and only three people are allowed to speak to any one side of a particular topic.

And then in compliance with Washington State campaign laws regarding the use of public facilities, no speaker may support or oppose a ballot measure, or support or oppose a candidate for election.

If you do begin talking about that, we will ask you to stop.

So with that, I'll call our only registered speaker, which is Maria Hudson.

Welcome.

I'm back here tonight.

Because you guys are still in control of an investigation that should be with a third party.

I want to be very clear that child sex trafficking historically and presently is lynching, sexual assault, domestic violence, terrorism, white male sexual impunity lynching.

And because you violated the Klu Klux Klan Act, specifically to bury child sex trafficking reports and evidence.

That is nothing short of a eugenics exploitative-based convict leasing genocide program.

And it is offensive for you guys to hold on to this case.

I think you are adding insult to injury, considering the fact that your police department didn't just cover up child sex traffic King Forensic Interviews.

You also buried evidence, you buried witnesses.

So I'm here hoping that you take me seriously because it is beyond offensive that you guys are allowing them to investigate themselves.

And this is legally lynching.

Rosa Parks went to Mississippi, my parents' home state, to investigate sexual assault that was happening to black men, women, boys, and girls.

So I'm gonna ask you again to please have the integrity.

You've already been identified as conflict of interest by East District Court, Judge Clinch, July 27th, 2022.

I think part of racism operates as dis being dismissive and disregarding and further disrespecting parties that have been injured by your police department by allowing them to investigate themselves.

And I just want to be clear that the Klux Klan Act is the most relevant statute.

And what I understand your police department to be doing is to be investigating your your entities administratively, and you will refer out any kind of crimes that you find.

That's not good enough.

It is not.

A eugenics-based exploitative convict leasing genocidal program.

As a parent, I want this case turnover to third-party professionals so your officers can be held accountable.

And I know other African American families who feel the same way that I do.

So I would appreciate the integrity of you handing off your criminal investigations of your officers to a third party.

I really would.

It's offensive.

What is the pre-registered list?

So at this point, I would ask if anyone joining us online or if anyone joining us in the room would like to make a comment to council, please raise your hand.

No hands, Mayor.

I'll turn it back to you.

Thank you so much.

I believe we can go to the consent calendar.

Do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar?

I move to approve the consent calendar.

It's been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by council member New and House.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Any opposed to the motion passes.

And we are going to hear from our deputy city manager to introduce that to us.

Very good.

Thank you, Mayor.

I think as everyone knows, the 2026 FIFA Men's World Cup will take place this summer with six soccer matches taking place in Seattle between June 15 and July 6th.

On April 14th, city staff came to the council and presented the coordinated work that is specific to Bellevue, including an overview of related events in Bellevue.

And today to share the greater regional context in Seattle of Seattle FIFA World Cup 2026.

Coordination efforts from the local organizing committee, we're joined by Dylan Ordonias, Senior Vice President of External Affairs.

And this presentation is for information only.

With that, I'll turn it over to Mr.

Ordonias.

Welcome.

Thank you very much.

We are the nonprofit local organizing committee for Seattle, fulfilling our responsibility as a host city for FIFA World Cup 26.

Thank you, Mayor Malikutien, Council members, and City of Bellevue for inviting me here tonight for part two of your World Cup preparations, following up on your April 14th presentation from Jesse and other city staff on the amazing work being done here to prepare Bellevue for this historic occasion of welcoming the world this June.

As SVP of External Affairs, uh part of my job is making sure that as many people as possible know who we are and what the World Cup is and what is on the ever closer horizon for this region as state.

So grateful to be here this evening to share how this event goes beyond Seattle to hopefully reach as many Washingtonians as possible.

So let's see here.

There we go.

So thought I'd begin by doing a quick refresher on the LOC and the tournament itself, which I'm guessing most people know, but just want to do a level set.

Um we're leading with legacy.

We're using this moment to make lasting progress, this moment of global focus to make lasting local progress.

We feel if we just host six matches and call it a day, we will have failed our job.

So we're partnering with the Ray Foundation to install mini pitches across the state.

Uh we've installed uh work with local artists uh to put up murals and other pieces of art in and around the uh Seattle.

We just unveiled uh Vital Spirit yesterday at the stadium, a new sculpture to commemorate uh the hosting of the World Cup and other uh other parts of our legacy program.

Um we really want to make sure that we have that lasting impact moving forward and broadening the benefit and celebrating who we are.

Um the tournament itself is 39 days, runs from June 11th to July 19th.

Uh 16 host cities, first time ever across three host countries.

Uh, this will be the largest tournament uh World Cup ever, expanding from 32 teams in Qatar in 2022 to 48 nations, 104 matches uh and projected 3 billion global viewers for the final.

Seattle is one of six host cities uh hosting six or uh 16 host cities hosting six matches between June 15th and July 6th.

Uh the cumulative viewership for our matches is projected to be over 2 billion.

Uh we will have the United States men's national team playing here.

We're one of only two host cities guaranteed to host the home team for that.

We're very excited.

Um we'll also uh be hosting Australia, Belgium, Egypt, Iran, Qatar, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

There are 44 days until this tournament begins.

We are counting down.

Uh 48 days until kickoff in Seattle.

So here's the uh here's the schedule itself.

Um see if it pops back there.

There we go.

Uh Belgium and Egypt uh on the 15th at noon, USA versus Australia at noon on Juneteenth.

Um, we are leaning into the fact that we're hosting the men's national team on Juneteenth, using it as an occasion to educate the world on the meaning and importance of that national holiday, as well as uh telling stories of black soccer legends inspiring the next generation of black soccer players.

Uh, we have Bosnia Herzegovina versus Qatar on June 24th.

Those three matches are at noon.

Then our last group stage match is on June 26th, Egypt versus Iran at 8 p.m.

And that match is taking place on the Friday of Pride Weekend.

Um, right now, uh we have not been told that Iran is not playing here.

So we are continuing forward with our planning uh as if they are.

We have uh round of 32 and a round of 16 knockouts on July 1st and July 6th uh at 1 p.m.

and 5 p.m.

respectively.

And uh we believe that the match on the 19th and the match on the 6th are gonna be the most uh uh uh swell of swell of people in the region.

Those are those are going to be some pretty pretty heavy matches.

We're very excited for that.

Um we were hoping to get a quarter final, uh, but we didn't.

Uh but we do get the the honor of hosting the home team.

So we'll take that.

Uh we'll take that.

Um, this uh our focus this past month has been on um adjusting our plans uh based on the learnings from recent exercises that we've done.

Uh safety and mobility.

We're also eager to implement our activation plans, which I'll talk about uh further down in the presentation.

Uh we hosted the United States women's national team here uh on the on the 14th, uh, followed by the She Believe Summit.

I believe the trophy tour came through Bellevue.

Did anybody go to the trophy tour here?

Okay.

Uh I heard the line was long.

I hope it was, I hope it was good.

Uh we have more events uh happening between now uh and the tournament more and more is popping up.

Um, because we just want to make sure everybody's ready.

And so again, appreciate the opportunity to be here today.

Um at the stadium, every match is going to be at full capacity.

I mentioned the kickoff times already.

We are expecting dignitaries from the nations that are going to be playing here.

We don't know who, we don't know when.

Expect to know that closer to match days.

There will absolutely be an enhanced security protocols in effect.

Our chief security officers, John Diaz, former Seattle police department chief.

Um, he's worked uh tremendously well with all levels of law enforcement, uh, federal, state, local, uh, to coordinate uh this this massive event.

Um we are also encouraging as many people as possible to take transit, um uh walk, take bikes, scooters, et cetera.

Do not use a car to get to the stadium area.

It's uh there's gonna be no parking there.

Gates three hours prior and closing two hours after uh after last kick.

So again, uh really pushing the sustainability element of people getting people to and from.

Um we are grateful that our partners at Washdot are pausing, revive I5.

Uh and there's gonna be more group travel between here and Vancouver with uh Vancouver BC is also host city.

They're hosting seven matches.

So with our six, um we have 13 matches in our northwest corner here.

Uh Bellingham is very excited, but also very terrified at all of the traffic and bottlenecks on I5 there.

So uh they are a fan zone.

So hopefully some of those folks will will exit and uh and uh check out Bellingham.

Uh next month you'll see uh pretty aggressive no before you go public education campaign uh to make sure our residents are aware of uh what's on what's on the horizon for June.

So here's just a quick snapshot.

I don't know if anybody was in downtown Seattle for the um for the Seahawks parade.

Um, but the area, this zone one kind of red area right in uh around the stadium and to the north of Pioneer Square.

Um, there's gonna be a pedestrian only zone.

Uh and that will be in effect four hours prior to kickoff, uh two hours after final whistle.

And then going from there to zone two, uh, just more of everything.

Again, more congestion, uh, heavier transit usage, additional on-street activations with the with the last mile.

Uh, and then it continues to dissipate as you as you move away further away from the stadium with folks uh taking I-90, heading north to Vancouver, south to uh Tacoma, Olympia, Vancouver, also fan zones.

Um, or coming over here to Bellevue.

So, Bellevue.

Umtegral to our region's success.

Um, again, grateful for all the amazing work that's being done here.

Uh, had a chance to view the the meeting on the 14th.

Apologies, I wasn't able to be there.

Um, it's really, really uh great, all the work that's happening.

So, this picture is from my inaugural ride across the crosslight connection.

Uh when I moved here uh almost 20 years ago, my first job, I was actually in Bellevue.

So uh it's always grateful.

Bellevue always has a special place in my heart and uh was really great to take that picture um crossing uh the lake on the link uh after so many years of waiting.

So really uh grateful that you all are leaning into the two line um for your planning.

Kudos to the city.

Um kudos to Brad and the team at Visit Bellevue, Patrick and company at BDA and many others for encouraging residents and visitors alike to make the most of this moment uh for community engagement.

Uh I understand that hotels are tracking for a slightly higher rate during the tournament.

Um, and you all have a number of amazing activations lined up, uh including watch parties, pop-ups on the plazas, uh I believe I recall a soccer-themed fashion show as well, um, and other other great things.

So uh grateful to the city's community programming fund to make some of these activations happen.

Um on a side note, I also know that my nine-year-old twins would be partial to the science of soccer event at Kids Quest, um, which has always been a favorite place of theirs.

Also uh know that Visit Bellevue is partnered with the city um to start a campaign to draw in out of uh visitors from out of the region, um, as well as highlight all these events and activations.

So I truly hope that uh residents and others who normally come downtown aren't uh dissuaded from doing so during the tournament.

Um it's gonna be really exciting to be downtown and be in the mix and kind of feel that new environment that we haven't had before because we've never hosted a World Cup in this region.

Um so really hope that folks are encouraged to do that.

Um there's also a lot of watch parties happening, um, not just in Seattle, but other places.

I know City of Redmond is planning for an event at Marrymore.

I know there's gonna be events here in Bellevue.

Um Redmond also has a couple other watch party events happening.

Renton's going to be hosting watch parties, and I imagine there are going to be many other kind of organic things that pop up.

Anybody can host a watch party.

It's only if they're above a thousand and uh commercial if you need a viewing license.

But if it's under a thousand and non-commercial, anybody can host a watch party.

Any bar or restaurant that has Fox or Telemundo, which is FIFA's broadcast partners in the regular course of business, they can host a party.

Just uh and we want that, right?

We want people to feel the excitement for their for their nations and excitement for the tournament.

So in Seattle, the official fan celebrations that are happening will be at Seattle Center at Pacific Place at the waterfront and at Victory Hall in Soto.

We originally envisioning one kind of larger event at Seattle Center.

And we heard a lot from a lot of feedback in our on our outreach in the city that what are we doing to spread the joy, the excitement, the economic benefit, the opportunity.

And so we took that to heart and came up with this distributed model still free and open to the public.

And most of them will be open for a majority of the matches.

We're really excited about this.

And the collective capacity will still be what we were expecting at Seattle Center.

So Seattle Center and Soda will be open through the 39-day tournament.

Waterfront will be active on Seattle match days, and Pacific Place will be active from the beginning of the tournament through June 6th or July 6th, Seattle's last match.

Again, we believe this event is a statewide event.

We know that not everybody's going to be able to come to the city.

Not everybody's going to be willing to come to King County, across the mountains or up from the south or the peninsula.

So we uh came up with this concept of fan zones, partner with the nine largest cities in the nine largest counties outside of King County to help them uh put on an event, put on watch parties.

So they all look different.

They're all active on uh for different days.

Bremerton, I think is active maybe 10 to 12 days.

Spokane is active for two days, but they're going in big on June 19th for the uh men's national team game and then the final.

Uh so we're really excited about about these fan zones and how they're going to be exciting and reflective of their community and community's values.

Um base camps are on there, Renton and Gonzaga and Spokane.

They were on the menu, um, which would be a home away from home for a team during the tournament.

They've both been selected.

You may have seen something in the news about it recently.

FIFA hasn't confirmed officially, but uh you may have seen news on which nations will be there.

And then our practice fields are at UW and SU, and that's where teams will practice match day minus one when they arrive to market.

We have a community calendar, which we're really excited about.

Understand you all have one as well.

Um, this is going to be our kind of one stop shop for any soccer-related event that's happening in the state.

So uh we'll coordinate coordinate with you all on making sure that we're sharing information about uh events that are connected to or inspired by the tournament so that residents and visitors alike can see all of the different soccer-related uh goings on here in the state.

Um if you visit that webpage, anybody can uh fill out a form and uh submit their event for consideration to be on our website.

We have our app, see and win.

Um, this is our way of um, it's our interactive mobile game that invites everyone to explore Washington and the lead up to the World Cup.

Um I've never played Pokemon Go, but I'm told it's very similar.

We've kind of gamified this this experience of exploring.

Uh there are uh many uh small businesses, uh arts, cultural, uh, public parks locations along different loops in Seattle and at our fan zones.

Uh, encourage people to go to those when they're in that kind of geo-fenced area, they can play a game, earn points, uh, earn enough points for prizes, uh, like stickers, pins, I believe water bottles, scarves, and a few other things.

Score enough points, you have the opportunity to win uh two tickets to a match on us on the organizing committee.

So please tell your friends uh that you do have the chance to win World Cup tickets to a match in Seattle uh downloading and playing C and win.

Really excited about that.

All the other host cities just kind of made a welcome to the host city.

Uh kind of generic information, of course.

We decided to do something completely different than that.

But um, hopefully it'll be a tool or something that other large events can use moving forward if it's a successful model.

Um, the app gets people to these places.

It's on the businesses and other institutions to get people to come in the door.

Um so we just we wanted to try something different.

So we'll see how it goes.

Um we have many playbooks on our website.

I believe some of these may have been cited in the presentation a couple weeks ago.

Uh branding guide, um, an inclusion playbook, uh, preventing trafficking, watch parties, public viewing, and then small business mega events playbook.

Um these are great assets that anybody in the community can use.

Uh so please feel free to uh view and share.

Um and you know, I have uh I hear I'm available to answer any questions you may have, provide any other information.

There are any number of other things I can talk about as we as we prepare for welcoming the world here in June.

Um, but I understand have limited time this evening.

Uh I will just end that this is our host city poster uh by local artist Shoga Ota.

Uh he is the same artist that did the Bruce Lee Kit jersey for the Sounders a few years back, if anybody remembers that.

Um, but this is the number one selling host city poster um by far.

Uh we're really proud of it and feel that it really does a good job capturing uh who we are as a region, our history, our connection to the Salish Sea and soccer and this place.

So thank you very much for the opportunity to be here today.

No, thank you so much, Dylan, for a great presentation and a great work you are doing.

As you mentioned, this is our second presentation that we are getting about this.

We are all excited to have this big event for our region, and we are part of that.

Uh is there any questions for Dylan?

Uh Councilman Newenhaus, please.

Dylan, thanks for being here.

Appreciate it.

Uh for those watching or those interested uh in the uh available uh slots to uh learn and be able to uh identify uh trafficking um unfortunate aspect of uh the world's largest uh athletic man.

How how can they learn more and see if uh if they qualify and get information about signing up for that?

So uh we did partner with that businesses and trafficking.

We have training slots available, uh, primarily uh, you know, for frontline employees, but really for anybody, any organization, any company business that would like to uh receive that training, uh, not only for recognizing the signs, but also what to do if you recognize the signs to take action.

Um we have those training slots available still.

So I believe the information's on our website, but uh I can also follow up with you and make sure you have the information you need.

Yeah, that'd be great.

Thank you.

Um important service.

So thank you so much for the uh for the for the great update as uh the momentum and the and the excitement uh continues to build.

Uh I agree.

I think we have the best uh poster.

Um even without you telling me that it's the best selling one.

It's just such a fantastic poster, and I see more and more people wearing it as a t-shirt too, uh, you know, as well.

So it's really seemed to to capture what the uh uh what the tournament will all be about and and what Seattle can offer.

So one last question.

Uh who do you think is gonna win the World Cup?

Who do I think is gonna win the World Cup?

Yeah.

Uh I I don't I don't know who's gonna win the World Cup.

I think there's some pretty strong teams.

Uh of course I'd love the home team to make a strong run.

Uh I'd love the the home team to make a strong run.

One thing I didn't note, uh, which I should have is you know, we're we're a lot of us are are our uh former government employees, we're planners.

We like to think through different scenarios and uh, you know, not to presuppose anything or tempt fate, but in the event that the United States men's national team wins their group and wins their round of 32 match, they will play here again for that round of 16 match on July 6th.

So really hoping they they have a strong showing uh so that we can have them not once but twice.

100%.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Thank you, Councilman New Enhause.

Any other questions?

Uh Councilmember Bargo, please.

Yeah, soccer, very excited.

Um, this is great.

Really appreciate everything that's going on to prepare our region for this.

And however, Bellview is helping to also contribute to that readiness.

Uh we've had a few presentations, um, uh, you know, one here and then other forums as well on the readiness.

So I'm gonna ask you for your sort of uh assessment.

Um is like what's keeping you up at night as what do you think are the most critical risks here that we should be thinking about?

Well, besides the fact that we're in double digits for days uh for the countdown.

Uh I started on this when there were four digits back in 2017.

Uh and now we're down to 44 days.

Um I I feel like, you know, just the what we don't know.

You don't know what you don't know, right?

This is the first time we've hosted a World Cup.

Um and we have some really great minds, really great people with, you know uh lifetimes of experience in event planning, uh, law enforcement, uh government affairs, other community outreach, uh all of the areas that you need to put on a big event.

Um and I think we're doing an okay job.

Um I have confidence in all the different areas of planning.

Um we have been planning this for nine years.

Um, and we are on the precipice of shifting fully into operations, operations, and execution mode.

Um so I think what I'm you know, what's always in the back of my mind is just like what are we missing?

You know, what do we not know?

Because we've never hosted a World Cup before in Seattle in this region in Washington State.

Um, but I will say that we have a lot of great things going for us besides the the stellar uh colleagues and uh uh leaders we have both in uh public service and and in the private sector and and community and nonprofits, uh just our region has so much to offer to be able to make this a success.

And um our stadium is located right in the heart of downtown, uh, unlike other host cities that are you know it's like an hour or more away, not even the same city.

Um, and I think that is uh was uh it's it's really a benefit to us right now.

You know, it's at the um nexus of a lot of different uh modes of trans transit.

You know, you have uh light rail, Amtrak, uh all the buses, ferries, highways, everything right there.

Um so being able to move people in and out is is uh is good, and that's kind of foundational to hosting at the stadium.

Um I'm gonna stop rambling right now, but uh yeah, it's just really the really the unknown is what what keeps me what keeps me up.

Got it.

And you know, first of all, I really love the ideas on the playbooks that you outlined for the various things, economic development, trafficking, et cetera.

And also the gamification, I think that's a really smart way to get folks engaged.

Um my last question would be like as part of the Bellevue City Council.

Is there anything that we can do coming so close to the actual execution for something that you've been planning for so long that you would need help for in the next 30 days here?

I can't think of anything specifically other than just keep doing the amazing work that you're already doing.

Um, you know, it's really uh uh you know uh kudos to you all for pushing and Sound Transit for delivering on the Cross Lake Connection.

We're all really wanting that to happen before the tournament.

And I think that's just gonna provide incredible opportunity for Bellevue and the east side uh for visitors for people just uh if they're you know staying here to hotel or just curious about what's going on out here because they can ride the the rail line out here.

So um I think just uh continue doing what you're doing, uh making sure that your community is engaged and feels a part of this historic occasion is all we can we can hope for uh for Bellevue and all the other cities across the state.

But if there's anything that you all ever need, any questions you have, any information, um please do not hesitate to reach out.

If you have any more questions right now, uh happy to stay as long as you'll allow and as long as they'll allow.

Uh so we stay on track.

But um really we uh we're really grateful for everything you're doing.

Um and I uh I I have some scarves for you too, if that's all right.

I was hoping for tickets, but okay.

No, check it tickets are usually the first question that's asked.

But oh wait, council member.

Yeah, go ahead.

The app is excellent.

It is better than Pokemon Go.

Oh, yeah.

So fun.

Awesome.

That's it.

Great.

Better than we'll take it.

Better than Pokemon Go.

Deputy Mayor, great.

Thank you.

Uh, thanks for the presentation, Dylan.

Glad you're here.

Um really pleased with all the planning that's taken place and have every confidence that uh residents of Bellevue and the region will have a wonderful World Cup experience.

Um, you'd kind of touched on some of the security and the coordination that's been done.

And we've had, as you mentioned, uh, other briefings.

So satisfied that uh, you know, a lot of time and attention has been put into security.

Um, so obviously that would be a top priority, and I'm glad you've addressed that.

I do have a question.

Um, and it's there's kind of a couple of parts here, but I wanted to dig into it a little bit, and that's and you kind of touched on this, making this a really positive uh historical event for everybody that gets to come and participate.

And so I'm I'm curious about um maybe some of the interactions that the and planning that the committee has had um with federal authorities and specifically with immigration authorities.

Um our city and our police chief have been very clear that our officers will not directly assist any federal agencies in their immigration work, nor will officers provide non-public information about our community members.

And I would just appreciate it if you could kind of touch on what the local organizing committee has done to prepare for potential uh federal immigration enforcement uh activities, and then two, just kind of your general stance on uh federal immigrant the committee's general stance on federal immigration enforcement actions and what has been communicated to federal immigration authorities regarding that stance.

And then two, just kind of your general stance on uh federal immigrant the committee's general stance on federal immigration enforcement actions and what has been communicated to federal immigration authorities regarding that stance.

So uh thank you for the question.

Uh we are the the nonprofit local organizing committee.

Um FIFA is in charge of the tournament.

FIFA is in charge of everything inside of the secure perimeter of the stadium, and we're responsible for things outside of the stadium.

Um federal immigration policy, uh federal policies on that uh is not something that that we control or can impact.

We are we are focused on what we can control at the local level.

Um I will say that uh we worked with the federal government on safety and security funding and preparedness, uh, all 11 U.S.

host cities together.

Uh and we're we're grateful for having received resources to ensure that these are events are going to be safe and secure.

Um but with regard to um immigration policy, that's not something that we have have have commented on or um or that we're able to influence or control.

Uh I will say that um what we've seen publicly is that there has been a presence of pretty much every level of federal law enforcement at previous large events like the Super Bowl uh as well as Club World Cup last year.

Um but those uh if I was present, um I believe it was for the the customs enforcement portion of their scope.

And it was at the stadium on site.

It wasn't there wasn't there were no uh uh enforcement uh immigration enforcement mechanism.

So that's that's the extent of what what I know.

Okay, yeah.

And of course, uh, you know, I understand there wouldn't be any influence on the policy itself, but I I hope that preparations have been made at least to accommodate folks in case something like that, uh some action was to occur and attendees uh were in a position that uh might need some uh support.

So obviously, well within the bounds of the law, that's our policy here.

Um, but it's something that we've been clear about and and wanted to make those statements so that uh Bellevue residents and those who visit here are aware of our stance.

So uh appreciate that.

Thank you.

I I certainly think that uh we're in for an amazing summer.

Um certainly excited to about welcoming people to Bellevue and to the region, and I know all the fun that we're all gonna have.

So thank you for that.

Thank you, Mayor.

Absolutely.

Welcome, Councilmember Robinson.

We are talking about Wurtkop and FIFA.

Do you have any questions for Dylan?

No, I appreciate Councilmember Hamilton's questions and comments.

I'm just excited, and I'm looking forward to all the activations in Bellevue.

Thank you for being here.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Dylan, thank you so much for being here.

All right, yeah, thank you very much.

Thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

We can uh move, and you have something for us, am I right?

Tickets.

Don't forget that quite okay.

Thank you.

Yeah, appreciate you, man.

Thank you.

Okay, awesome.

Thank you.

You are welcome.

Thank you.

Very kind.

Thank you for being here.

Yeah, appreciate that.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Other duties, other duties.

Yeah.

Thank you very much.

And great caller, by the way.

UDOP Hoskey Collar.

Yeah, appreciate that caller.

Not some other universities.

As an organization, I suppose that's easy to grumbling from over here.

Thank you, Dylan.

We can go to the next topic, uh, preserving equitable SWER rates.

Uh Deputy City Manager, please.

Thank you, Mayor.

As a result of a financial equity analysis of the sewer utility.

Utility staff is here to share with the council key factors that informed the analysis, the considerations of the environmental services commission, and its eventual recommendation for the council's consideration tonight.

So joining the presentation is Environmental Services Commission Chair Ken One, Utilities Department Director Lucy Liu, and Fiscal Manager Matt Hobson.

And they are seeking counsel direction tonight.

So with that, I'll hand it over to Director Lucy Liu.

Thank you, Mr.

McComan.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council members.

Uh tonight uh we are sharing the results of a recent uh sewer rate equity analysis along with the recommendations that are aimed at making our rates as fair and balanced as possible across customer types.

This includes single family, multifamily, and non residential.

I just want to know that evaluating our sewer rates is one of a number of efforts utilities is doing to enhance customer equity and affordability.

Other initiatives that are underway include evaluating options to expand utility bill assistance as well as to improve how we collect utility connection fees, and we look forward to bringing those items to you in the coming months.

So tonight uh we are asking for your direction and how to move forward with improving fairness in our sewer rates.

The analysis that you will see will highlight where our current rates are out of balance, and it identifies practical steps to fix that.

With your guidance, we will incorporate the Environmental Services Commission's recommendations that we are presenting tonight into the proposed sewer rates for your consideration in the fall as part of council's upcoming budget deliberations.

So here is tonight's agenda.

We will start with some background on the goals that guide our work to ensure our sewer rates are fair and equitable.

Then we will share the results of the analysis, which identified opportunities for the city to make our sewer rates fairer across customer types.

After that, we will share the recommendations as well as what the typical uh customer bill will look like in the coming years with these recommendations in place.

And then Chair Wan will then share the work of the Environmental Services Commission that the work that they did to develop the recommendation for council tonight.

At its core, this work is about making sure our rates reflect our shared values.

That includes supporting a thriving community, being a high performing and responsible government, and balancing affordability and fairness for all of our community members.

And so before we get into the findings of the analysis, let's talk about the goals that guide our work in this area.

First is fairness and equity, which you will see represented by the balance scale icon as we walk through our presentation tonight.

Consistent with state law, city financial policies, as well as industry best practice.

A key goal of the rate equity analysis is to ensure all customers are paying their fair share in rates based on the cost of providing service to each type of customers.

The purpose of this analysis is revenue neutral, meaning the goal is not to change the total amount of revenues for the sewer utility.

Rather, our goal is to make sure the sewer rates are fair for each type of customers.

And as you will see later, the analysis shows that we have an imbalance that we have an opportunity to correct.

Our second goal is supporting affordability, which you will see represented by the piggy bank icon on the upcoming slides.

We recognize affordability is a real and growing concern in our community.

Um, and that utility costs are part of everyday life.

And any changes to rates can have a meaningful impact on households as well as on businesses.

And so as we think about making changes to rates, we want to be thoughtful about how those changes will affect our community members, especially those who may already be feeling cost pressures.

Um our third goal is to make our utility bills easier to understand, which you will see represented by the paper icon on the upcoming slides.

Our restructure should be clear and transparent so our customers can easily see what they are paying for based on their use of the sewer system.

Simple bills will help uh build trust and make it easier for our community members to manage their utility costs.

Together, these three goals, fairness, affordability, and simplicity are guiding how we're approaching changes to our sewer rates.

And with that, um Scott Edwards, who is our deputy uh director will review the findings of the rate analysis review by the Environmental Services Commission.

Thank you, Lucy, and good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Council members.

The first step in completing this type of analysis to achieve financial equity is to identify the unique customer types in our community.

Generally, a customer type is a group of customers that place similar demands on the sewer utility.

Measuring demand in a sewer utility generally refers to indoor water consumption.

And the assumption here is that indoor water use generally finds its way to a sink through a dishwasher or down a toilet.

There are three customer types in the city's sewer utility.

On the left, single family is the city's largest customer type by number of accounts, comprising almost 33,000 unique customer accounts.

In the center, multifamily includes approximately 700 accounts with 33,000 individual dwelling units.

Multifamily customers are unique from single family customers in that they are generally smaller households with fewer sewer fixtures, which translate to lower demand on the system per household.

On the right, the non-residential includes small and large businesses, schools, hospitals, and government agencies, and sewer use varies widely from account to account.

We determine equity by comparing how much revenue we collect from each customer type to what it actually costs to serve them.

If a group is paying more than 100%, it means they're paying more than their fair share and are helping cover costs for others.

If a group is paying less than 100%, it means they're paying less than their fair share and are being supported by others.

In some cases, state law does allow for intentional subsidies like lower rates for low-income customers, but our goal with this analysis is to reduce unintentional subsidies as much as possible.

Because this type of analysis relies on detailed data and assumptions, we use a reasonable range of 90% to 110%.

And if a group falls within that range, the rates are considered generally fair.

What we found is our multifamily customers are currently outside that reasonable range.

By 2027, they're projected to pay about 123% of their of their share, meaning they're paying about 23% more than what it costs to serve them.

As a result, multifamily customers are unintentionally helping to subsidize single family and non-residential customers.

Single family and non-residential customers are both projected to be at about 91%, which is at the low end of the reasonable range.

Before we look at the decline in multifamily usage, I'm sure not everyone is familiar with a CCF measurement.

A CCF is a unit used to measure water and sewer usage.

One CCF equals 100 cubic feet of water or 748 gallons.

11 CCF is about 8,000 gallons.

The main reason multifamily customers are paying more than their fair share comes down to how their rates are structured.

The structure, that structure hasn't kept up with how water is used, and therefore sewer flow has changed over time.

Over the past 20 years, sewer use in multifamily homes has steadily gone down.

Back in 2005, the average multifamily unit used about 11 CCF every two months.

Today that's dropped by about 40% to around 8 CCF.

Single family homes have also reduced their water use, mostly thanks to more efficient appliances and fixtures, which is a positive trend.

But that decrease hasn't been as large as what we've seen in the multifamily housing.

The key issue is that even though multifamily customers are using less water, their rates are still based on an older assumption.

Each unit is charged a fixed amount that assumes 11 CCF of use, even though actual use is much lower.

In simple terms, multifamily customers are being charged for more usage than they actually have.

That's why this group is paying more than its fair share overall.

This analysis highlighted that the base charge is where the inequity is happening, and updating it has been identified as a recommended change by the Environmental Services Commission to improve fairness.

While we recommend adjusting rates for the three customer types to improve equity, it is top of mind that these adjustments would be occurring at the same time as significant rate pressures on the utility.

To this end, we want to give council a preview of the preliminary early forecasted rates for the sewer utility.

Over the next six years, the early forecasted rates for sewer includes annual rate adjustments of 9 to 11%.

And these rates are for illustration purposes only.

The final rates will be determined as part of the upcoming budget process.

Wholesale costs from King County is the largest driver.

Roughly two-thirds of every new dollar from these rate increases are due to the anticipated cost increases from King County's wholesale sewer treatment services, which are directly passed through to customers consistent with our financial policies.

These rate increases reflect the recently announced wholesale wastewater treatment cost increases King County is proposing for 2027 and projecting for 2028 through 2032.

King County will come before council in a couple of weeks on May 12th to review their sewer rate proposal with you.

Next, we'll review the Environmental Services Commission recommendations to achieve fairer sewer rates, support affordability, and simplify customer bills.

Affordability is a top priority as we develop strategies to achieve full cost recovery.

We wanted to make sure we understand and find ways to mitigate the affordability challenges associated with achieving fair and equitable rates.

Staff use the equity analysis results to craft three rate strategies to transition existing rates towards full cost recovery over the next several years for the Environmental Services Commission's consideration.

Specifically, three scenarios were developed over a three, five, and seven year phase in period to evaluate bill impacts.

An accelerated phase in eliminates the subsidy paid by multifamily customers sooner.

A longer phase in helps to manage higher bill impacts to single family and non-residential customers.

The commission struggled with eliminating the unintentional subsidy by multifamily customers quickly with the resulting cost impacts to single family and non-residential customers and landed on a five-year phase in recommendation to strike a balance.

Chairperson Juan will speak later in the presentation on the Commission's discussion and recommendation.

This slide highlights the Commission's recommendation for annual equity rate adjustments by customer types smoothed over five years to manage bill impacts.

This five-year rate strategy reflects slightly higher rate adjustments for single family and non-residential relative to the overall rate increases from 2027 to 2031 and smaller rate increases for multifamily.

For example, the overall sewer rate increase in 2027 is projected at 9.9%.

The equity adjustment for single family as a customer group would add 2.5% to the 9.9% overall rate increase.

The equity adjustment for non-residential as a customer group would add 2.1% to the 9.9% overall rate increase.

And the equity adjustment for multifamily as a customer group would reduce the 9.9 overall rate increase by 4.4%.

The annual equity rate adjustments for multifamily would be lower than the overall average rate increases to gradually eliminate the subsidy provided by this customer type to other customer types.

We expect to achieve full cost recovery by 2031, so all customer types will have the same rate adjustments in 2032.

Going forward, we'll continue to monitor for rate fairness to help minimize the need for future rate equity adjustments.

It's important to note that households participating in the long-term utility bill assistance program will continue to receive a 70% discount on their sewer bills.

This program is available to both single family and multifamily households, and as Lucy mentioned, we're developing options to expand bill assistance to help more community members in need.

Great.

Thanks, Scott.

Good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Council members.

This is my first presentation, so I'm going to adjust with this microphone in front of me.

It's just staring down at me right now.

So improving rate equity will impact customer bills across all three customer types.

To that end, several rate design changes are recommended by the commission to support the proposed five-year phase-in period to help manage bill impacts.

These changes will also better align our rates with our own financial policies and provide customers with greater control over their bills when possible.

For context, when I talk about rate design changes, these refer to the schedule of charges used to compute each customer's bill, which includes two types of rates.

There's a fixed charge that does not change from month to month, and then there's a variable rate that is based on sewer flows that can change from bill to bill.

Sewer flow, as Scott mentioned, is generally synonymous with domestic indoor water use.

The first recommendation on the left is to create a uniform volumetric rate for the single family customer type.

Rate structures that may have made sense 20 years ago may not make as much sense today.

And in this example, we would eliminate a unique sewer variable rate that is assessed on bi-monthly flow that exceeds 50 CCFs or about 20,000 gallons per month.

As you might imagine, less than one-half of 1% of our bills ever hit this threshold.

And so by eliminating this rate, it simplifies the customer's bill.

In the center, the next recommendation is to align the multifamily rate structure to the single family rate structure, which will better align it with the city's financial policy that requires the department to pass through wholesale costs directly to customers.

Specifically, this recommendation aligns the fixed charge assessed to multifamily residential customers with an equitable share of the King County wastewater treatment costs required to serve multifamily customers.

This change will lower the multifamily fixed charge and make it more affordable for lower users by giving customers more control over their bill.

In addition, we will lower the non-residential minimum charge to align it also with King County's wastewater treatment rate.

This change also aligns with our rate structure with the city's financial policy to pass through these wholesale costs to our customers.

These recommended rate design changes, as Scott mentioned, they are revenue neutral to the sewer utility's overall revenue requirements.

However, rate design changes can have both favorable and unfavorable impacts on individual customer bills.

If rate design changes are not carefully measured and evaluated, utilities can often find themselves looking at unanticipated and significant impacts to customer bills after the fact.

And for this reason, our team conducted an evaluation of the bill impacts from these proposals on every on each of the 200,000 bills that we send out each year to our customers.

The following slide provides some bill impacts on these for the single family, the multifamily, and the non-residential customer types.

All right, time for some graphs.

The graph here illustrates the monthly bill impact for a typical single family customer.

And that is based on sewer flows of about five and a half CCFs per month, which is about 4,000 gallons.

I'm going to spend a bit of time on this chart for orientation purposes because you'll see similar graphs in the following five slides.

The dark blue bar illustrates the projected typical sewer bill before any equity adjustments.

It is important to note here that the sewer bills are predicted to increase each year over the next six years, independent of any adjustment to improve equity across the customer types.

The light blue section on top of the dark blue bars for 2027 through 2031 show the equity adjustments for each year to achieve full cost recovery by 2031.

By 2032, no further rate equity adjustments would be needed, and all customer types will have the same rate adjustment.

The total bill after the equity adjustment is shown in that orange text at the top of the graph.

For example, the current typical monthly sewer bill for a single family residential customer today is about 109 dollars and is projected to increase to 119 dollars in 2027 before an equity adjustment.

This is shown in that dark blue bar.

In 2027, the equity adjustment will add $3 per month to the bill, increasing it to 122 dollars as shown in the orange text.

To put that $3 into perspective, that bill impact could be offset by a household collectively trimming about five minutes per day off their shower schedule.

By 2031, the projected bill impact would be 194 and represent the single family customer's equitable share of the sewer utility.

These figures include both the King County treatment costs and the smaller local portion of the sewer bill.

Keep in mind that this bill impact on the slide here is for customers with typical sewer flows.

As I mentioned earlier, bill impacts will vary based on the household's actual use of indoor water use.

Customers will continue to have the opportunity to manage bill impacts through conservation measures.

What might that look like?

Well, small changes in daily water use can help a household to manage these projected bill increases.

Running a full load of dishes in the dishwasher or a full load of dirty clothes in the washing machine, or as I mentioned earlier, even trimming a couple minutes off your daily shower.

Additionally, the Cascade Water Alliance provides high efficiency faucets and shower heads to our customers free of charge.

And Puget Sound Energy provides rebates to Bellevue households for high efficiency appliances like washing machines and water heaters.

By restructuring the multifamily rate design, multifamily accounts will also begin to have more control over their sewer bills as a higher share of their bill will shift from being fixed month to month to being variable with respect to their water use.

To illustrate this concept, we have two examples of sewer bill impacts for multifamily buildings based on varying size as a function of number of dwelling units in the building.

The first example here is for a building with 25 dwelling units with sewer flows that are more typical of an average apartment building.

In this first example, the monthly bill would grow from $81 in 2026 to $131 in 2031 before any equity adjustments.

That's shown in the dark blue bar.

The equity adjustment shown in the light blue bar will reduce that bill by one dollar next year and then by $20 by 2031.

So by 2031, their predicted monthly bill would be 11 dollars and represents the multifamily customer's equitable share of the sewer utility.

As I mentioned earlier, customers in this example generate less flow and can expect to see an annual rate increase even lower than the previous example.

In this example, their monthly bill would increase from $81 today to $102 by 2031.

We want to also provide two examples for the non-residential customer group.

The first example is for a customer with relatively low sewer flow of about 4,000 gallons a month.

Typical examples of this type of customer would be a faith-based organization or a small convenience store.

Non-residential customers with low sewer flow, like this example, are currently assessed a minimum charge per month.

The Commission recommended to decrease this minimum charge and index it to the King County treatment rate.

This change would align the minimum charge with the fixed charges assessed to all of our other customer types.

Adjusting the basis for the minimum charge would decrease the monthly bill next year from 124 dollars down to $93.

We estimate that approximately one quarter, one in every four customers in this group would experience a rate decrease next year like this.

Following the rate structure change in 2027, the customers' monthly bill would increase each year over the next five years to achieve full cost equity by 2031.

The second example is for a non-residential customer with higher sewer flows of about 40,000 gallons a month.

Examples here would include a small business park, an auto-body shop, or a medical office.

In these examples, lowering the minimum charge for the smaller lower flow customers will result in a higher sewer bill for this customer example.

The combined effect of the five-year rate equity plan and the adjustment to the minimum charge would increase the monthly bill for this customer from $795 today to $927 next year.

Lucy.

With that, I'll turn it over to Chair Wan.

Thank you, Lucy.

And good evening, Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Council Members.

As Lucy noted, this analysis is very technical and therefore some may say rather complex.

And I do appreciate Scott and Matt walking council through the materials as it's not easy.

The Commission was very pleased to review the equity analysis, findings, vet the considerations, and provide a recommendation for council to consider.

The Commission recognizes that these recommendations come at a time as anticipated increases in wholesale sewer treatment costs are increasing.

Even with these pressures, preserving equity across all three customer types remains a core priority.

The commission recognizes the goal is to balance rising system costs while ensuring each group pays a fair and proportionate share.

The commission weighed the pros and cons of the various strategies to transition existing rates with these considerations in mind.

The consensus was the seven-year option would take too long to correct the subsidy paid by multifamily customers.

This inequity has been in place for several years now.

So waiting even longer to correct it did not seem like the fair option.

There was interest in accelerating the phase in strategy to a three-year plan as it presented the quickest option to reach equitable rates for all customer classes, albeit with higher rate increases for single family and non-residential customers.

But in the end, the commissioner voted, the commission voted in favor to recommend the balanced five-year strategy for council's consideration.

This approach satisfies both a legal requirement and is the right thing to do for our community.

The commission's five-year recommendation takes a thoughtful, measured, and forward-looking approach to rate setting.

We remain committed to regularly reviewing and updating rates to ensure ongoing fairness and equity over time.

The commission also supports recommendations to simplify rate structure and support affordability.

To further support affordability, I'm looking forward to returning to city council in June to provide the commission's recommendations to expand the bill assistance program to help more members of our community facing financial challenges.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Wan.

So in conclusion, uh staff is seeking direction from council this evening to incorporate the rate equity analysis and rate structure recommendations into the sewer rates to be submitted in September as part of the proposed budget to be considered by council doing budget deliberations in the fall.

In summary, this work is focused on achieving three key outcomes.

First, reaching more equitable sewer rates by 2031, so customers are paying their fair share based on how the system is used.

Second, simplifying our rate structure to make the bill easier to understand so customers can clearly see what they are paying for and why.

And third, supporting affordability, especially for multifamily and uh residents and non-residential uh customers who may be more impacted by how rates are structured today.

And so with that, that concludes our presentation.

We're very happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you so much.

Uh Lucy Scott, Matt, and the whole team.

Uh great presentation.

Uh appreciate Chair One be here, and please give our regards to the whole environmental service commission, as you mentioned.

Three session, uh very, very technical analysis, and you guys have been doing an amazing job of representing the city and giving us this presentation.

For sure, not an easy topic, especially when we are talking about rate changes for uh people that affect them directly, but you're doing your best to handle this carefully, especially the phasing out, appreciate the fairness of uh affordability and simplicity.

Your three kind of guidelines.

Let's just go around the room, starting with council member New England, and then we go to the other council member.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um thank you, Lucy, Matt, Scott, and Chairwon for uh being here today.

Um, as the mayor said, appreciate all the um great work around this um uh you know difficult technical uh analysis, but analysis certainly worthy of our our our time and and and and effort to get to a more fair and equitable um uh rate for for single family, for multifamily, and for the non-residential.

So that is all really important work, and I like the recommendation, as you know, of going the five-year route, uh not quite as as big of a shock uh to the system.

Uh and and then the seven year maybe taking a little bit too long.

So um I feel like it's a it's it's it's a great balance.

Um but but um so I I think you've definitely have I think put the check mark but beside the fairness behind the ease of the understanding.

Um the affordability piece, I don't think anything to do with you and your work.

Um but you know, when we see like double digit increases, um to me that's not sustainable.

To me, that's not really I mean in six years, they're gonna see an uh a hundred dollar increase to their that's just to their sewer piece of their bill.

Just to the sewer, because I I want to make sure because you just said, you know, you and you did a great job explaining it the bill, but it's not the entire bill that they'll be getting.

Um and while I greatly appreciate the fact and you know, we talked about this during during meetings about expanding that bill assistance.

Um I'm not sure it's enough.

Um, but I would love to get updates on that going going forward um uh in terms of how many folks I think um are taking advantage of our assistance now and what kind of increase we see uh in the next couple of uh of uh well you wouldn't want to wait years, but in the next year or so when um when when you come back would be great if we can get some um some data on that to see what the impact is that are are we seeing more people not pay their bill or pay late and how many uh are applying or receiving assistance from from the city?

I think that would be um information that we'd all like to know in terms of the overall impact of these uh overall uh utility uh increases.

I'm glad you mentioned uh King County, because um and and that King County would be coming here to talk about this shortly as they try to address, if I remember the number correctly, about um uh it's a 14 billion dollar infrastructure improvement that is really driving these these rates that a fair assessment, Lucy, and that pass through that we are obligated to do.

That is correct, and certainly have an opportunity to dive deeper into that on May 12th.

Okay.

Um well, I look forward to that conversation.

I also look forward to um getting your analysis of that prior to that meeting, uh, arming this uh council with um understanding of how we got to this point and why um it feels speaking for myself, it feels the opposite of what we have tried to do um uh from a utility perspective where the rates remain predictable, we keep investing heavily into our infrastructure to stay away from those dramatic increases.

Unfortunately, we're gonna be impacted um by um, and maybe not all of it was in their control, but that lack of investment in that infrastructure is now gonna end up hurting Bellevue uh rapepayers and and and uh uh that's very challenging for for us.

It's very challenging for our community uh to have uh those dramatic increases.

Um so look forward to that conversation.

But as it goes tonight, I you know, great job on the analysis, um, seeing the inequitable um uh piece to it, correcting it.

I think the timeline completely makes sense.

Uh, I think it's just great work um uh all around and uh and I'm glad that we're gonna keep tracking this as well so we don't get uh um not necessarily surprised, but you know, we want to make sure that we we stay on top of it so that uh we can make those adjustments as needed uh uh uh going forward.

And I think you know the community is really going to appreciate that that we are watching this closely and make just making sure that hey, everyone's willing to pay their fair share, but you know, to make sure it's it's it's equitable across the board.

So uh again, great work overall, really pleased with the results and the and the plan moving forward.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember New Enhaus.

Uh Councilmember Smodovere.

Thank you for the presentation.

I think I was reading the material.

I was uh I would say I was um surprised how long has been the multifamily has been overpaying for I think compared to um I think being quietly covering the cost of other type of um households.

Um I just have a few questions.

I think I love I think the recommendation and the five years plus one too, um Cost Member New House.

I think it's way more balanced approach, and seven years it is um a little bit long.

And also I one thing I find that um comforting is it's as a whole, the revenue of the sewer waste is still the same for our city.

So which means it's gonna be sustained the uh productivity and also efficiency, how we can service the community.

That's really important.

So I think overall it's a really balanced approach while we can operate smoothly and while still reach the equity side.

That's um really helpful.

So thank you for thinking through that.

Um I have um three questions, and then first of all, um, because as we see, I think multi-family um proportionally has more lower income families.

Um what kind what type of tools are we thinking about to supporting the families?

Um so our bill assistance program uh is available to both multifamily as well as uh single family residents in the city, uh, and re regardless of whether they actually get a bill directly from us or they pay their utility bill through their rent.

We have several programs.

We have a long-term assistance program for qualified uh residents who are 62 plus and or disabled.

It provides a 70% discount or a rebate of their utility bills.

Uh and then we also have some uh temporary assistance programs.

We have two of those.

One is the emergency assistance program uh that will uh that is available to all low-income members of our community, regardless of age or physical ability.

Um it's available once every three years, and it weighs up to four months of utility bills, and then in addition to that, uh the most recent program uh that council approved is the uh neighbors helping neighbors program, and that um allows us to waive up to two months of utility bills each year as long as funds are available.

This is the program that we also uh are uh accepting donations from the community to to help with.

So that is the suite of um assistance programs that we currently have, and we are um look forward to coming back in June to provide um some more options for your consideration.

Um the other avenue really is through the conservation uh education uh and technical assistance that we provide to try to help community members um try and manage their usage if they're able to.

Thank you.

I that's just one to my one other question because I also want to ask about fixed income elderly who live in the single family, right?

They may have um I think equity or they have income that's sustained themselves, they don't have actually revenue, I mean income.

So that's why I think you answered my question.

Thank you.

Um my last question is um I think for the um small, I mean more commercial, non-residential.

What is the I didn't actually know there's a minimum rate for that?

Um what is it?

Just out of curiosity, what is the minimum rate for the commercial?

Yeah, it's it's uh off the top of my head, it's about 240 dollars every two months.

Um so as I mentioned, roughly a quarter of our customers actually generate flow, a quarter of our non-residential customers generate sewer flows less than what they would pay under that minimum charge, and that was the recommendation to lower the minimum charge to bring it more aligned with actual usage for these lower user customers.

So, would that be a correlation?

And then um working with the landlord to get actual numbers, how much they're using.

Most of our um for the non-residential customers that have a direct account with us, um, they'll receive a bill from Bellvue Utilities that shows their their actual usage.

There are examples of um strip malls or um multi-business complexes where they um a third party actually controls the distribution of the sewer charge, they would get with their landlord in that in those cases.

Okay, so like okay, the triple net come like shared.

Okay, well, thank you so much.

Thanks for the presentation.

Thank you, Councilmember Sumoterware.

Councilmember Robinson.

Thank you, Mayor.

I share Councilmember Sumendwaria's concerns, so I appreciate you asking those questions.

Um I really appreciate the work that you have done, Chair and your commission.

Um it's very thoughtful and responsible.

And I agree with you on the five-year recommendation, this five-year strategy.

Um I am astounded by King County's rate increase.

I have to tell you, I've watched this over the years coming, and I'm gonna be honest, I think it's kicking the can down the road for too many years.

You know, we should have been doing what our city does, which is gradually increase the rates to pay for future infrastructure projects, and we're being hit with a just ridiculously incre increased bill that I think is gonna be very hard for a lot of people to stay in their homes or stay in our city.

And I am deeply concerned about that.

So I appreciate some of the relief programs, but um I hope we have a robust public education program to, and I know that we were in a drought about 15 years ago, and we did a public education program to the city, and people cut their water use like in half.

It was unbelievable.

And Bellevue used to always have brown lawns, and that was from that time.

So public education and including the schools would be great.

Because it's not just happening in Bellevue, and it's not just King County, it's across the entire country.

Every everybody's infrastructure is needing replacement, and it's very hard to find the funding to do it, which is a reason they click they can down the road, because it's it's hard to pay for.

So I hope that we can lobby for some sort of a federal grant program.

Um then honestly maybe I'm the only one in the room, but I would love to contemplate a local treatment plant program.

If we're able to get some kind of a grant, I would love to look at what would it take for Bellevue to have its own treatment plants.

We're not reliant on other people to do this necessary work.

Um and with new technology coming, it's maybe more feasible than we know.

So thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Robinson.

Councilmember Bargabel.

Yeah, thank you.

Um I also echo um the appreciation uh Lucy Scott, Matt, and Chair, and the entire environmental services commission, really deep thoughtful work, so thank you.

And many of the comments that my peers have already made uh resonate strongly with me.

So I think that's really great.

Uh I I do support the goal for improving the equity, especially if you're taking a total cost to serve lens to it.

But there's a few things I want to understand a little bit better.

Um, um, to what extent do you think the imbalance is driven by actual cost to serve differences versus the current rate design that we have?

Yeah.

Um for in this particular case for the city of Bellevue's equity analysis, it's the latter.

That our rate design for multifamily simply just has not kept pace with changes in use in that class.

Um that rate design was set in the uh D even N Day that that rate design that we have today was set in the in the early 90s.

Um water use was very different back then here in Bellevue, as council member Robinson just mentioned about you know differences in water consumption.

And so one purpose of these analyses is really a checkup on our rates.

Um sometimes we view these analyses as scary studies.

They're they're meant as checkups like we go to the doctor to check up on equity of our rates and we make adjustments as needed.

And this is an example where we have the opportunity to adjust our multifamily rate to be more reflective of actual use and cost.

Okay.

That's helpful.

I mean, I'm glad that we're doing this because this is really overdue in many ways for what we're doing.

Second, when I was looking through the material, you know, this seems like a shift towards more variable and less fixed charges.

And you know, when you talk about getting the right balance there, it may introduce risks for predictability for us in terms of what our total revenue will be.

And so I'm curious if you have thoughts on that.

Um thank you.

Great question.

Um, yes, the shifting towards more variable and less on the fixed rate certainly provides more control to our community members to control their bill.

Um we have studied um your question.

We do not anticipate a meaningful impact to our total revenues in the sewer utility.

The good news is sewer revenues are generally stable from year to year because sewer flow is generally stable from year to year.

The good news about a five-year phase in is that it also allows us to monitor and identify any unanticipated uh impacts so that we can address them timely.

Okay, so I guess constant monitoring is gonna be really, really important from that aspect then from that point of view.

Um sort of going to the inputs question for me.

Um all of this analysis is predicated on some assumption of single family and non-residential and multifamily mix within Bellevue.

How do you know that that mix that you're forecasting is going to be correct?

Because if that mix changes significantly, all of this analysis is essentially gonna significantly shift.

Um so as Matt mentioned, these cost of service studies are checkups that we can do.

And so going forward, we plan to do periodic checkups certainly by the um in five years.

Once we'll monitor it annually to make sure that there won't know a surprises in terms of revenue stability.

Um but then our plan is uh towards the five-year mark, we will do another study, just like this one to evaluate where we are and also make sure that there's not changes in demographics or usage or the mix of um how each of the three customer groups are driving the cost of providing service.

And so that's how we will monitor and adjust in the future as needed.

And is five years too long for that?

Um, industry-wide, the these uh studies are done three to five years.

But if we see um if we see that there is a change in the demographics in Bellevue, we will certainly do it sooner.

Okay, so I'll wrap that up in the final comment.

I have those couple of points.

But I do um, as a number of my peers in the council have already noted, affordability, I think is definitely one place where we're getting snagged here because imagining a significant increase like that one, it assumes in some ways all single family homes have the same level of ability to pay.

And as uh councilmember Sumodavera sort of mentioned, fixed income seniors is one category, and there can be many such stratifications or additional stratifications where increases as large as this, uh uh, as Councilman Rowton point out, can be very, very onerous uh uh for folks.

And this is only one of many bills people are seeing increase year on year.

And so I would be very interested, in addition to what my said, what opportunities we have for affordability programs beyond um what you've outlined to try and get a really robust set of opportunities, really robust engagement with the community because five years seeing a doubling of your monthly bill for sewer is is uh and for a large swath of the community seems like a big impact.

And it's easier from a normative lens of planning to see the equity may not be as easy as a resident to see the same rationale.

And so um my nudge to that would be very strong effort in trying to find places where our uh residents need the help with this change andor adjustment.

Totally understand it's net revenue neutral, but uh it's not for a lot of people.

So that would be my push.

And then to round out the first couple of points, I think monitoring and some kind of clear view of um reporting on some of those inputs, whether it's the impact of fixed versus variable charges, whether it's the impact of mix in our uh demographics or our uh residential, non-residential um building count or resident count, I think would be really important for us to keep a constant eye.

I'm sure you're gonna do that, but I think I would be really uh keen to know where this is going maybe every year, uh, so that we are making sure that we're not shocking the system on a regular basis.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Bargava.

Deputy Mayor Hamilton.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh thank you for the presentation.

Appreciate all of the work that Chair Wan and the Environmental Services Commissioners have done to prepare this recommendation.

Uh thank you for the presentation.

And really, thanks to all of the really important work that you all do in managing our utilities and always keeping our ratepayers at the center of your work.

It's good to see you all.

Um I think the financial equity analysis here is really important, and I'm glad that it's been completed.

I think the recommendation in front of us clearly fits in the city's ongoing effort to streamline our processes, including calculation, payment, and management of utility bills, making our rate structure more simple and easier to understand, giving more control of rates paid to rate payers, and making sure our rates are equitable, are achieved through this recommendation.

Um just a quick note on affordability.

I certainly appreciate all the comments that have been made so far.

I mean, the consolation prize for single family households is they've gotten an especially good deal over the last few years.

So this really is just a process of trueing that up.

So again, uh thanks for all of the hard work here, and thanks again for always keeping our rate payers as the top priority as they should be.

I'm ready to move forward.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you so much.

Uh great presentation and great job.

I do not have anything else to add to what you have heard from my colleagues.

I just doubled down on the affordability that everyone uh bring up, and I'm looking forward to that session that you come and talk to us about all of those ways that we can help.

Uh Councilwoman New Enhouse.

One small comment.

I loved uh Councilmember Robinson's idea about building our own wastewater treatment.

However, North Bend did that.

They built it and they operate it, and they're not exempt.

They're all their ratepayers are still paying.

Why?

Because much further downstream, it still touches the King County system.

So I wouldn't want us to make that mistake, unfortunately.

I'm not sure it was a mistake, but uh unfortunately their ratepayers are still having to pay that extremely high level of uh increases.

I just wanted to add that as I learned that about uh an SCA meeting.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh can I have the facility wouldn't use King County at all?

Exactly.

We can learn something from that.

Can I have the motion, please?

I move to direct staff to incorporate the commission sewer rate recommendations into the submitted utility rates to be considered by city council as part of the upcoming biennial budget.

Second.

It has been moved by Deputy Mayor Hamilton and seconded by Councilman New and House.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

There is no opposed.

The motion passes.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate you all.

It is 7.51.

Let's just be back by eight or great.

I think we can start with our last item.

Deputy City Manager, would you please introduce that to us?

Thank you, Mayor.

This topic was last before the council in December.

And after discussion, council gave direction to staff to return at a future council meeting with draft code changes required to implement curb pricing.

And for some of the newer council members, this topic has been in development for a few years.

And returning tonight with proposed code amendments that would allow the city to initiate and maintain such a program are from the Transportation Department and Director Andrew Singolakis, Assistant Director for Mobility Operations, Chris Long and Staff is seeking direction from the council this evening.

And with that, I'll hand it over to Director Singalakis.

Okay, well thank you.

Uh Deputy City Manager McConnell, uh Mayor Malikutian, Deputy Mayor Um Hamilton, and the city council.

And as Nathan mentioned, tonight is the culmination of it's a large body of work that has um occurred over several years, and we have put together uh code changes uh uh to implement the curb management plan.

Uh we've had significant public outreach with regard uh to this topic.

Um, and um and it the its parameters and how um revenue generated would be used uh for the enforcement and implementation of the recommendations of the curb management plan itself.

And with that, I'm gonna turn it over to Chris.

Thank you, Andrew.

So, as a reminder, tonight we're we're looking for council to consider directing staff to finalize the Bellevue City Code amendments and to prepare an ordinance to allow for establishing and administering a paid on-street parking program.

So today we're gonna talk about uh a background of where we've been with this project and what the code changes look like, and then the timeline and next steps uh if given direction to move forward.

So, a little bit on the background.

Um, this concept of paid parking started even before the curb management plan.

It was included in the comp plan as a policy that we then modified when developing other policy changes for the curb management plan.

Uh ultimately the plan was adopted uh, or the policy changes were adopted in 2022, and the plan was adopted in 2023 and included 28 curb practices or initiatives to consider uh implementing through the plan uh with curb pricing being one of a few high priority items to consider.

And as Andrew mentioned, this has been a journey we started in 2022.

Over the last four years, we've been uh doing a lot of work with the commission and the public and and you to advance this concept to where we are today.

So one of the uh important notes of this project is that our top priority here is to improve access to the street level businesses that rely on the street parking.

And today uh the street parking is uh as a challenge.

It through most of the day, starting around noon, the parking is full.

Uh and we're finding that in addition that uh through the data collection we did in 2024 and 25, that about 25% of vehicles are also overstaying the limit due to the limited enforcement that we have uh throughout the project area.

To uh further gain insight into the project, as uh Andrew mentioned, we've done a significant amount of outreach.

We we really focused on meeting people at the curb.

We we did went door to door to businesses throughout uh downtown, Old Bellevue and Spring District, and uh learned about what their challenges are related to parking.

Uh we we did intercept surveys as people were it had just completed parking to talk to them about what their experience was like, and then a lot of tabling in high traffic areas near where we have on street parking as shown in this photo uh to better understand the the concept and to present to them what we are envisioning uh a paid parking could look like.

So the uh the information gathered and the work we did with the commission was ultimately summarized into the curb implementation strategy, which included a staff recommendation to move forward with paid on street parking.

That was presented on December 2nd, and uh council gave us the uh the go-ahead to move forward with the code changes we'll be presenting tonight.

Uh some of the main components of the strategy is that the pricing program will be structured around what's called a dynamic pricing uh approach, where the council would adopt a price range, and then uh that the price at the curb would be adjusted administratively by the uh by the director uh Andrew uh after evaluating how the initial uh rollout of the pricing is impacting the the use of the curb.

Our goal is to create one to two open parking spaces on every block face within the study area so that uh people no longer see parking as a barrier to visiting these dense areas of the city.

Uh, we also are looking at uh expanding enforcement within the curb pricing area so that it is uniform in the approach, and then providing multiple payment options uh that can support different users of the system, including Text to Pay, uh mobile payment app and uh pay stations.

And then what is part of our commitment to the community, we we do intend to continue the robust robust engagement.

Uh one concept was to create uh an ad hoc uh advisory committee or focus groups to continue that uh to inform how we're doing our project, uh, and also committing to reinvesting the revenue that's uh the net revenue of the program beyond what it costs to operate back into the curb management program and into the area where the revenue is generated.

A couple of questions came out of the last council meeting that we wanted to touch on again, and one of them was on performance evaluation.

Uh the key quantitative data point that we'll be collecting is uh parking occupancy.

As mentioned, that's how we're going to determine whether the rate should go down or should go up to achieve that goal of one to two parking spaces being available.

We'll also look at turnover rate to see how we are doing and improving the number of patrons that we can uh service at the curb and then other traffic studies that look at more uh unique issues like the the functionality of load zones.

Uh qualitatively, we'll we'll work with the an advisory committee or focus groups to gather information, uh, continue with the outreach to the business community and this the small businesses in the pricing area.

And then lastly, uh surveys.

And one of the key benefits of the mobile payment option is we can do surveys through the payment platform uh to get some quick feedback on their experience.

Another item we were asked to look into was the concept of providing the first 30 minutes free.

Uh we started this effort by looking nationwide at where uh on-street parking had a free 30-minute uh option.

Uh and we found very few examples.

We we worked with the payment vendors to see where they have used it.

And the only uh peer city that was close by that we could speak to was Boise.

Um talking to Boise, they noted that it does create quite a bit of user confusion and had an impact on revenue.

We dug a little bit more into the revenue side and found that through additional turnover studies we performed that depending on the area, we were seeing 25 to 50% of activity being less than 30 minutes.

So with that loss of revenue and the loss of the first 30 minutes of every other stay at the curb, it results in a significant impact to the overall gross revenue, which would basically leave us with no additional revenue to reinvest into the curb management plan and be able to do the other initiatives that were envisioned through that document in that effort.

So our recommendation is to not pursue that concept.

So moving on to the code changes.

As mentioned, the the council will establish the range in the code changes that provides the high and the low limits that we can work within.

And then the the establish the curb pricing zone, which is the area where we would we could deploy paid parking.

We are currently assuming that a paid parking would not be on every street within the paid within the curb zone.

In downtown in Old Bellevue, it would be all the streets in that area.

It's really Wilburton and Bell Red, where we're still seeing that development occur that not every street would see it initially.

The transportation director would be given the authority through the code to make those rate adjustments, and we would do those up to two times a year based on the data we collect.

And then we are also taking the opportunity of making these changes to update some of the language around the authority of the city traffic engineer.

This is a position that is identified in state code and the city code.

And it would uh we would be changing how we define time-limited parking today.

Our current approach has been to uh uh or historically to create a new ordinance every time we create a new section of time-limited parking.

And through work with the city attorney's office, we determined that those ordinances aren't necessary to enforce the curb.

What's necessary is clear signage, which we have always had in uh and have relied on as well for enforcement.

So the intent in the final in the ordinance that we'll be bringing back, we'll be repealing those previous ordinances and instead using an online map that'll show all the locations where time-limited parking exists, and then also where paid parking will exist.

Uh, and one item of note with these changes, we are not changing how we approach residential permit zones.

That uh that system will stay the same and how those elements continue to come to council.

Uh the map on the right here shows the uh curb pricing zone.

This is uh effectively the same area that was included as the study area for the original uh curb management plan.

Uh the in this will be defined in the or the code will reference this map, uh, which will also be on the same uh uh website for curb management.

Uh the code identifies the outreach requirements for when we change the curb rules.

This is a practice we have today.

When we make other changes like adding layover in the downtown or adjusting no parking limits, uh, we would continue to do that with how we do time-limited and paid parking changes as well.

Um it uh defines requirements for payment signage and the systems for payment, and then lastly, the how we reinvest the revenue from the program.

On the topic of the revenue, uh, the uh, as we've discussed, as I've discussed, the funding the curb management plan is the top priority out of the net revenue that comes from the program.

Another uh key piece that was seemed to resonate well with some of the businesses was also the concept of funding uh late night service of bellhop in the downtown.

So the idea here is that it provides an alternative for folks that may work a late dinner shift uh at restaurants that they can find a uh uh more accessible and timely way to get to either the light rail station or South Bellevue Park and Ride, where earlier in the day they could have parked for free, taken the bus to uh where they are in the downtown uh and then uh use Bellhop to get back.

Um other concepts like street activation were identified in the curb management plan through the concepts of uh parklets and pay and on-street dining, and then uh traffic safety improvements are where some of the other uh feedback we received during outreach of trying to improve sidewalks in some areas where we would have uh also have paid parking.

So when it comes to the timeline, uh if given the direction to move forward, uh we would first start with the solicitation of payment vendors for the the system for the program and start the designage of the new side design of the new signage and pay stations that would be deployed.

Uh we have two staff that we intend to hire as part of this program to help manage and perform outreach and continue that engagement with the community.

Uh we'll uh look into how we establish the the ad hoc advisory committee, and then early in 27 begin notification and outreach.

Uh and this would include uh informing people about the app for payment so that they uh get the word out so they download the app before they make their first trip into downtown or spring district uh in and need it to make a payment versus using a pay station.

And then last we look to launch the program in Q2 of next year.

And with that, uh we're ready for questions.

Thank you so much, uh both Andrew uh and Chris.

Such a great work you have done on these topic.

Um it seems small, but you have gone above and beyond, and especially become very important if someone's trying to find a parking spot in a downtown uh or make a delivery or pick someone up or run into a coffee shop to drink a quick coffee.

Um this just go and start with our deputy mayor Hamilton.

Great.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you for the presentation.

Uh also thanks for all the hard work and professionalism you've put into moving the curb management program forward.

I think you've been thoughtful and smart in this effort, and you've done everything possible to ensure that it ultimately succeeds.

Generally supportive of the program and the proposed code changes.

Would like to get a little bit more clarity regarding the code strike draft and referring to Section 11.23.014, where it calls for reinvestment of revenue beyond what is required to administer the curb pricing program to support eligible activities such as parking studies, traffic improvement, street activation, investment concepts identified within the curb management plan, and investments that support access and ridership for transit and microtransit services.

Um but I maybe before going to that, I just want to be uh completely clear.

The parking, some the parking fee revenue will go into the general fund, but its use is restricted.

And I'm wondering if you could just describe those restrictions.

Yeah, it'd be and anything that will obviously the uh enforcement and the increased enforcement that would go into the operating budget for us.

Um, and then all the activities that you saw in the curb management plan are eligible for funding.

Um, you know, things like wayfinding.

We've heard a lot from the community about um working with businesses so that they can um you know get their employees to be defined, possibly um parking that is not right on the curb.

Um so it really funds all the activities that we could have within the curb management plan, which covers that geography that was just shown on the map that Chris showed in the slides.

Okay, good.

I mean, I think that uh certainly makes sense to use uh that revenue uh for a curb management related investment.

So uh of course, very supportive of that.

I would like to just drill down a little bit.

Um, you know, I I understand obviously parking studies and traffic safety improvements, and you touched a little bit on this, but could you just describe uh in with with some examples, street activation, investment concepts identified within the curb management plan or investments that support access and ridership for transit and microtransit.

Yeah, so the uh um start with the street activation, the concept that we we did hear from uh the uh in the various outreach uh events that we held, the the interest in reinvesting back into the community.

And one of the ideas that we uh we pitched was the idea was supporting the community programming fund that economic development currently uh champions.

And this is a grant program where uh businesses or organizations in the in the area can uh submit an application.

I uh believe it's once a year for funds to do little activation events.

So this can comes in the form of uh last year there was a parklet that was put in uh near the downtown park.

There's been other events that have uh been done as well.

So this would be uh a small contribution into that program to help show support of that effort.

Uh on the transit side, I mentioned the bellhop.

Uh, that's the the uh a big portion that we're supportive of.

But another piece that we've uh we heard a lot about was uh enhancing transit stops.

We have a number of transit stops around the downtown where uh the waiting area for the bus and the sidewalk are one and the same.

And so looking for ways to create uh improved space uh at the curb for both activities to occur.

Uh we also on the capital investment side, one of the areas that we are behind on is upgrading some of our existing infrastructure to accommodate ADA parking.

Uh it goes beyond just putting up two signs that designate a space for ADA.

We need to make it the right width so people can use the proper um you know, can position their vehicle to be able to get out of it depending on their mobility device.

And so uh those are some of the physical improvements that we'd be looking to do too.

So uh yeah, I think that's you know, just really adding into that too, creating uh additional loading zones, more enforcement of that type of activity as well, and uh creating more uh pick up and drop-off spots between the Cs like Lyft and Uber.

And that's really gonna weigh into our enforcement approach too.

We want to study both how off-street loading is being used uh to then better understand is it a matter of lack of loading space or just lack of convenient loading space and and weigh that into how we how we assign the precious little curb space we have in the downtown.

Okay, oh, those are excellent.

And uh really the bellhop idea, I think that makes a ton of sense.

Certainly helps folks that uh need to move around late at night, and uh especially uh folks in the hospitality business and and those businesses well.

So um I think that's great.

Um then, you know, like the who you know, who makes the decision on which of those categories gets funded?

What is that process look like?

So our our current thought is that the there would be an allocation for that for the curb management plan that would be standing that is again that would be sort of the first piece off the top that we'd want to uh uh do.

And we with the staff that we're adding, we won't be able to bite off all 27 initiatives at once.

So that would be sort of a slow rolling approach uh once we get that staff in-house, start working on a work plan for how we roll that out.

Then some of these other items are more capital in nature, and so we we would include them in our our capital in the in the portfolio that would be presented to council uh each year for those bigger elements.

I think the the bellhop and this contribution to the community uh fund would are would also be sort of fixed on a especially if we make that commitment to visit Bellevue.

We we want to make sure we're not uh you know renigging on that after one year.

So that would also be a fixed portion.

Great, good.

All right, great work, really appreciate it.

Thanks for answering the questions.

Um I think it all sounds good, ready to move forward.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Uh Councilman Ewenhouse.

Thank you, Mayor.

Uh great presentation.

Is uh usually Andrew and Chris.

Thank you so much.

Um, just gonna jump into some questions.

So, first of all, on the the range of rates.

So council set the range of rates, but then the director has ability to increase and I assume decrease as as needed.

Um is that within the full range or is that a percentage that you can increase or can you literally go from one dollars to eight dollars?

Um and and and what would precipitate that that change?

What would you need to see in order to?

I'm assuming that we're not covering or recovering our costs from implementing the program would be number one.

But what else would you need to see in order to consider a rate increase?

Yeah, and what we're observing on the curb.

So if uh we're not seeing a lot of parking that's happening there, that means to signal to lower the rate, or if we're not getting that 80%, it succeeded.

Right.

Uh that would mean to increase the rate.

But if it can't go beyond the range that's established by uh council.

Okay.

As in the the implementation strategy, we we talked about it being a nominal change.

So we're we would never do uh a big jump like that.

It would be a 25 cent to 50 cents, you know, roughly adjustment.

So definitely want that to be incremental because we don't want to uh you know overshoot and and really make it a a challenge.

We want to be right at that sweet spot where we're seeing that that access.

You know, another piece to this is uh we do want to make people we're hoping through the payment app we can make people aware of what other options there are for parking, because there are quite a few private lots that use similar apps that we would use on the street that have uh reasonable rates, especially in the evening.

There are garages that are under $10 an hour.

The the just today taking a walk before the council meeting across the street here at the Bellevue 600, it's five dollars after five o'clock.

So uh and that's a flat rate for the rest of the evening.

So there are other options out there that uh could also help folks, and I think that that's a uh one of the big efforts we're looking to do.

And then if you were to increase the rates, how would we communicate that to the businesses and to residents?

Definitely that's it is identified in the code that we need to do that outreach.

So we would uh we would share the data that we've collected to justify the change and and use all our typical communication channels to announce the the rate change.

Uh we see this in other cities as well, and in other bigger cities, they often you'll it'll be in the news.

This would be probably something that would be picked up in our uh local areas.

We'd update the map on our website as well.

Okay.

So yeah.

Um when it comes to enforcement, are we still looking at uh third party vendor like a diamond parking as we've done previously?

Are we looking to shift to uh Bellevue PD to cover enforcement or what would that look like?

Yeah, great question.

Uh today we have uh one of our officers back here volunteering.

Yeah, yeah, they they would they are they're pointing at each other.

Yeah.

Um the uh so today downtown is enforced by Diamond and then supported by police for certain more technical issues and then Spring District and beyond is enforced by Bellevue PD.

And I right now Diamond is in the first year of a three-year contract, so we would probably start with them and then evaluate that that you know where we're migrating as we see how well the program, how how well both work.

Uh the uh police have we've engaged with them on this topic already, and they're they are uh and we'll continue to do that here in the next, you know, as we move forward, because either way we'll need to add staff.

And so uh I think our first we'll first look to them because the biggest change is going to be in their in their area of spring district where we really would uh want to see a more consistent um enforcement there.

So uh yeah, so that's uh that's the first step is is that engagement there.

Okay.

Uh would like to see, I mean, uh it's understandable it's in the first of three years, but uh before making uh um I guess uh more of a long-term decision on who's going to be doing the line share the enforcement.

Do I love to see some analysis on what makes the most sense for uh for the city, not only just the enforcement piece, but just in terms of the return on investment that we're gonna get from this as well.

And I have no idea what the diamond contract looks like, uh, but um uh nor what it would take to hire additional police officers to um to take on more of an enforcement piece, but like to see that analysis um before we make a longer term decision on who would be doing that line share of enforcement in the uh future.

Uh the residential uh piece, so no change to that whatsoever at this point.

Correct.

Okay, great.

Um I also had a question I appreciate uh Deputy Member Hamilton bringing up about um going above and beyond the um, you know, uh paying for the program and then what we do with those additional funds.

It it would seem to me that something as rooted in transportation would need to stay in transportation as our state does it, right?

The street activation to me feels a little outside that that bat as much as I love street activations, it feels a little bit outside and rightly should be in the in the in the community uh development bucket.

So um uh how did that come about?

Because everything else you've listed here makes sense to me in terms of the parking studies, the traffic safety, um, the curb management, additional concepts there, that all makes sense.

The street activation to me doesn't quite fit.

Can you explain how that came about?

So uh when we started the curb management plan, there was still uh on-street dining happening in old Bellevue.

Okay, and in the last two seasons, uh we've not had that.

And uh a big reason for that is is the cost.

And so the if this came up is you know, how can we is there a way that this program can help support initiative or you know public supportive elements like on-street dining uh that that does you know bring more people into the downtown and and generate um more interest in in Bellevue.

So that was something we heard from the community, and we thought this is a fairly uh small piece that we could contribute to that to make that be less of a burden.

It you know, there's there is a flip side to it that that means we're not there's no revenue being generated from those parking spaces, but it wasn't the entire street.

So uh and and we know that there was value brought from that concept to the community.

So that's where it originated.

And so we thought, well, we don't want to be necessarily having to manage a whole nother program uh that for distributing the funds.

So we looked to our friends in economic development and said, Oh, how can we work together on this in this community fund was the concept that came forward?

It's an eligible activity.

And it it's a little simpler with the uh capital side of it because you'll see it in the CIP.

Okay.

But you raised a good issue, and we will be coming back to the council to you know give uh updates on how this is going and to talk about issues like that too.

Okay, okay.

Um because there's there was one piece missing here that I like to also see that we take a look at, and that's congestion relief.

I mean, that's one of our uh principles that we are always trying to address.

Um, but I didn't see anything related to congestion relief, especially around some of the core areas of downtown that uh suffer from it uh for on Old Main for example, looking for other ways to uh tackle that issue to me would be something that uh uh some of these funds might be rightly appropriated toward towards that.

Well, the um the whole point of doing it is for congestion relief, so people aren't driving around um everywhere trying to find parking.

And we do have, and you'll be seeing it coming up as we talked about last week in the budget um process, um, a category for that sort of thing.

Okay, good.

I'm glad to see it.

Because I mean, come on, I mean, we're not gonna see uh might we might see some relief, but it's not gonna solve the complete problem, right?

Sure.

No, okay, great.

Okay.

Well, thank you so much.

Those were my uh questions.

I'm ready to move this forward too.

But um, yeah, we'd definitely like to see see some of those categories as as as we move forward, um, as well as um uh the the way we uh manage the rate increase or or or or decrease going forward and then uh analysis in terms of uh long-term who's gonna be doing the enforcement.

But thank you so much.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman Ewanhouse.

Councilman Robinson.

Thank you.

Um so I'm not a big fan of paid parking.

I was really hoping that our city could continue its tradition of not charging for parking because it's such a unique thing in this region.

But um I understand the need to try this.

And so I think it's been so thoughtful in all the studies that you've done, the outreach that you've done, the input you've been given, and the plan that you have proposed here tonight.

And so I I appreciate that.

And I will support trying this.

I just want to do a major check-in in three years.

And really, my bottom line is our businesses benefiting from this program.

And however you measure that, I hope it's thorough.

Maybe uh council member Sumadoweria can help you come up with some questions of what helps a business.

Um I really do want to do a strong qualitative review.

Um, and I think the it's gonna have a much bigger impact than you think in a positive way.

You think you're gonna uh have one to two more spaces?

That's every three hours.

You know, I think that every every parking segment of time you're gonna have one to two new spaces.

And we used to have people who would just park all day, and those were taken up, and I think that's gonna get rid of that.

I think that's the biggest problem that we have.

So I'm intrigued about what enforcement will look like.

Uh I would love to have a volunteer enforcement program.

I know it has its issues, but um, I'd like to think we could utilize something like that.

Um, are we charging for parking in the parks as well?

I couldn't tell.

That's not part of the program.

We do intend to uh increase enforcement in the parks, and that's something that is part of the enforcement contract that will be modifying that right now.

There are the downtown park and Ashwood Park has three hour parking.

So, and there's segments of uh there are certain stalls around Maidenbauer Bay that also are time limited.

So we would uh do that enforcement to support that.

Are we gonna watch for walk-offs?

That's that's a little more challenging.

And I don't know that we want to completely discourage that because there is a lot of back and forth.

Why wouldn't we just charge at the parks as well?

That's you know, if we want to look into that as phase two and bring our parks friends along, that would be something that we can consider as well.

I just feel like we're gonna funnel everybody to the free parks.

Um let's see.

Uh, when you're with your payment stations, you're gonna do design of new signage uh uh design for new signage and payment stations.

I hope that we can be kind of consistent with the character of the neighborhoods we're putting this in.

I think that's important to the people.

I love the um late night bellhop to light rail.

Uh love to increase on street dining.

I think that's really important.

I know other neighborhoods would like to see that as well.

Um I think that was it.

So I'm looking forward to moving this forward and seeing how we do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, Consumer Robinson.

Council Mr.

Samadovirio.

Thank you.

Um thank you for the briefing today.

It was super helpful.

And um, I think parking is not only important for business, also as a safety issue, because everybody's skill of uh parallel parking are different.

Um I do have a few questions to ask and more like clarifying.

Um so I'm I had the same question with um Councilmember Newhouse about what triggers the director to authorize do an adjustment.

Um but what I'm caring about is what is um I think there's a range, right?

Is there like a floor to ceiling range you can share with us?

What's your mind?

Oh, you mean is to what that occupancy change would need to be?

The rate, or the rate.

What's the floor like to sale?

So the can the the current um code is gives a range from a dollar to eight dollars.

Uh we do not intend to start at the top of the range.

That would be for a very unique situation if we are finding that there's a a challenge in in getting that turnover.

So, but yeah, so that's the intent.

Okay, and that's I would say that's a really high range.

Right.

Yeah.

Um, and then looking at the map about the streets, the proposed area.

Um, can you remind me how did we decide on you know this these certain streets?

Basically, these are all the streets that today have time-limited parking.

So uh we are not I don't believe we're adding any new time-limited parking uh uh as part of this initial rollout.

So that's that was the intent.

Okay, and I'm assuming they're not currently monitored, are they currently monitored by time limited?

There they the time-limited parking is um well, like it's there, so it's a combination of in downtown, it's diamond, uh outside of downtown, it's police, and they have uh two parking support officers today.

They they will they will touch the there's a couple of fringe locations near downtown near Maidenbauer Bay Park, the police do, uh, and then over in the spring district, but that's on top of them currently doing uh the rest of the city as well.

So uh this would give through this program we would be able to support adding tar uh police staff in those areas that are uh focused in those areas.

Okay.

Yeah, I think this program is very um exciting, could be really beneficial for different areas.

And so for when you evaluate performance, other than you know, the rate and then the revenue, um, I guess how often and how what's the length you're gonna be able to report back to us?

Like, like how is it going?

Um I would expect that we would certainly come back within the first year of operation.

I I would imagine that uh the council will be interested to see to hear, and we would I I intend to do uh a round of surveys uh similar to what we did at the beginning to to measure how well we're adjusting.

Is as one of the examples uh when we did the first round of surveys, we asked uh we asked folks finding a parking space was a very barrier to visiting downtown, and 52% of people said yes.

Uh and that was tailored to the different areas, but um, so we'd like to see that number improve.

So we would continue to ask that question and see what kind of response we're we're getting from the users at the curb.

Okay, and then I'm very um good job about collaborating with the economic development for the street activation.

I think that's like the the exciting side of when doing policy, but you can get to work with a colleague on different departments.

So that's a great plus.

Um so I would say like the one year review uh checking if it's not benefiting the business, it would be a little bit too late.

Um that's just a suggestion, just because the street level business still will have that uh benefit or versus hit faster than any other businesses.

Um and are we collaborating closely with like O Main's Old Main and or like BDA to make sure that we can engage the street level business first and also adjudicat them as I think that um they would be the first um businesses experience that right away or can give us even feedback faster than any other um businesses.

Yeah, uh old Bellevue Merchants Association was um very generous with their time uh as we work through this program.

We met with them I think four times during the course of the development of this.

Uh and then uh the BDA also was very helpful.

I think prior to you being on council, you participated in one of the the focus groups, and so uh we do intend to reach out to them.

Uh same in the spring district, we uh Wright Runstead helped us pull together some of the users or some of the street level businesses there as well to help uh with that engagement.

Okay, well, um thank you for doing this.

I really appreciate we going through this length and study this.

And I for me, I would really advocate for us to have that feedback from the business sooner than yeah.

Just because every business, usually you look at the review, and then you know the um revenue and the up and downs quarterly.

Sometimes they even work monthly, month by month, how to doing to able to support the business.

So if the business benefiting or like because we don't know what's going to be looking like, right?

If there's any chance that's going to be negatively impacting any street level business, we want to be there supporting them before it's too late.

Yeah.

Um, I don't want to paint a groomy picture, but I think we need to be proactively supporting our local business, making sure that we are doing something benefiting for everybody.

Yeah, we're we're committed to continuing to work with the uh businesses downtown, not on in an ongoing basis with this for sure.

And also, like we don't have to do alone, though we have great partners in Old Main, like visit Bellevue and then BDA, so we can always work with them together to get information faster.

Great.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilmember Smother Virgo.

Councilman Borgova, you go first, and then we go to Councilman Robinson.

I think that's something.

Yeah, okay.

So um I'll be quick.

Um so uh thank you, Andrew and Chris.

Really appreciate the coming back with uh thoughtful recommendations and changes broadly supportive of uh what you presented here.

A few things come to mind.

One, I'll start with the most uh structural for me.

Um clearly there is a um there's a you've received feedback, you've done studies.

You've also talked about uh uh constant monitoring and a feedback loop ongoing on impacts to businesses, local businesses, especially street level businesses from this approach.

Uh I see the upside potential of having available parking spots in front of small businesses that can allow for increased utilization and in revenue and just customer um ease as well.

But one of the golden tickets for Bellevue has been the idea of like Bellevue Square has free parking and it draws tons and tons of people.

And as long as you know, I've talked to people in the last couple of years.

That feels like a massive draw and an attractive proposition for folks.

And so I'm just curious structurally, if there is a flip side argument about the change in customer behavior as we start to put paid parking in place for utilization of small businesses in our city.

It could be local, it could be a little bit more regional for things like restaurants and other things that draw people due to patronage.

I know you've thought about this, and I'm sure since you've engaged with so many stakeholders, there has been input.

I'm just curious to what the thesis was and how we will monitor that beyond what you talked about going forward.

That's my first question.

Well, I guess that it comes back to the mechanisms available to to improving the management of the curb and what we've uh what we've studied and looking at other cities is the when you when you find yourself at this position where you're uh you're the the demand far uh exceeds the supply on the street, that pricing is the industry standard for how to how to do that management.

This is uh you know, there is uh I think we've mentioned this before, this is one percent of the parking in the downtown, but it's one of the most desirable one percent of parking.

And so we we recognize that, and we we want to be fair in how we price it, but understand that there's you know most of the other garages uh around the downtown and spring district are paid parking as well.

The the mall is very unique.

Uh and at the mall, it's it's technically only free if you're shopping at the mall.

There's there are the garages on uh some of the garages do require validation certain times a day, and so it is uh you know, we're we're seeing this change in a in a lot of places because it's the only way to really manage that demand at the curb.

So that was the the driving force behind it is to try to do this in a more uh equitable way uh that also will you know that will help uh pay for the other components that would also support uh safer operation on the street, like dealing with uh parking that's happening illegally uh and deliveries that don't seem to have enough space to make that happen.

Yes.

Uh don't need to oversell the benefits that you've laid out completely.

Um what I'm anchoring from what you just said is the demand for these spots is high enough that you project or we project no loss in revenue to these businesses based on possible changes in customer behavior.

Is that accurate?

That is our hope.

We want to see an increase because they're able to see more more people be able to just.

That's great, because then we can come back and subsequently test our assumptions and do all of that.

But right now, it's clear from the inputs you receive that is how we're moving forward.

Okay.

Um just a few tactical questions.

I'll go to my third one actually, because signage and wayfinding is a great opportunity here for us uh in what we do because it is going to be developed and more flavorful based on the neighborhoods, and you heard that feedback already.

Free parking might be available not too far from these spots potentially.

And it might be really beneficial for our app to integrate that guidance and for wayfinding and signage to provide that to folks who do not wish uh to pay or may not mind the inconvenience of a short walk to free parking if that's available.

And so I would strongly encourage for I think we talked about this in the last session as well.

So I would strongly encourage us to think about that, especially given the first 30 minutes recommendation that you've come back with.

Yeah, it's a really appropriate um capital investment, is that wayfinding and for that very reason to get people to be able to find uh parking that's either um free or or um low cost.

Yeah.

And the third thing sort of tags into that.

The next thing I want to talk about is just things like bellhop you talked about late nights, but I would also encourage to think about how to increase the frequency through the day for things like that.

For folks who may not want to pay for the parking or don't mind the inconvenience, or for folks who work in these areas to have shuttle services to free spots or things like that, which I think will really enable the um decongestion of what you're looking for as the uh reinforcing factor.

So uh maybe that's part of your capital improvements that you bring from your surplus revenue as investments we could consider is the nudge I would make that would cover folks who may be occupying the spaces today that may find relief as we think about the solutions.

And the last thing I just want to educate myself because I know you've thought about it is how does the Uber Eats kind of services work in this updated scenario of the world?

Uh yeah, interesting question.

I mean, they they should be able to use the load zones and and be able to get uh the the hope is that there's an enough of those to be able to get in and out and pick up the the deliveries they need.

Uh there are buildings in downtown that offer uh short 15, 30 minute uh parking and if for pickup and delivery because they have a lot of street level restaurants as well.

So uh that is uh another mechanism that you know trying to get the the word out and the education on those services so that those drivers know to use those facilities and not uh park illegally.

Okay.

Have you done any kind of a demand analysis and what is required for these services as we look ahead five, 10 years?

Yeah, no, and that's one of the one of the items that we really would like to spend more time on.

We've we've seen it uh recently increase even more in the last few months.

There's a few hot spots in the downtown where we have a lot of illegal parking happening, and it's uh and we've actually started engaging with those uh the property managers to start that discussion as well.

But this is where that study I was mentioning before of you know, is the issue that there is lack of off-site space for doing loading and deliveries, or is it that it's just not convenient?

So and and getting a better handle on that.

Yeah, I mean, I say this because it's just almost personal experience as well.

There have been multiple instances where people double park and you don't know where they are, and they're coming back quickly enough.

So you know it's not crazy frustration, but it is a safety issue, it's a inconvenience, and I feel like it's not something that we have adequately planned for as we think about our uh parking systems.

Yeah, it's and it is uh you know, we do have a limited amount of of usable curb space for that type of activity, and so anything we can do to encourage the that usage of off-site is is gonna be where where we go next.

I mean, a lot of the newer buildings do have porticos and circular drives where that where you can get off as well.

So that's you know that that does help alleviate some of that stress also.

Okay, great.

Thanks again.

Much appreciated.

Thank you, Councilman Bargoba.

Councilman Robinson.

Thank you for that.

I the one of the most important things I wanted to ask about is employee parking.

I have real concerns about, especially young employees who work at night and minimum wage jobs, cannot afford to pay for parking for that time and and you know can't stay there as long as they need to.

So I hope that you know we can have some kind of a voucher program with employers or contract with people who own large lots in the evening that's not being used by other people that we could maybe use that for um some kind of a parking program for employees.

You can you know, we can definitely look into it after the program gets going.

And again, another solution is also bellhop, but just more of a commitment from staff to be working with the businesses to find out you know what the needs are and how to serve that very important um aspect of it, which is people who are working, the workers, yeah, and getting them into good locations to park.

What take and to encourage transit too.

Yes, of course.

But yeah, a little combination of so great.

Thank you for that.

Thank you.

Thank you, of course.

Uh great job again.

Uh majority of my questions have been asked with my uh from my council members.

Uh just wanted to ref maybe re-ask it and say how we will know if this is working.

And I think that came from several council members.

And I just wanted to know if you have all of the metrics that we can look at a benchmark and then see after a year or two or whatever you said operation-wise, and then we see yes, turnover occupancy, help small businesses, access to us, again, I don't know what are those metrics, but do you have them that we can just look back and say this is working?

Yeah, I well, and that's I you know, items like the the survey questions we asked before, and and finding are the the people who are using the curb finding that the changes we have made are actually making it better for them in how they they get to the downtown.

Uh the metrics with the businesses is one that we will uh we will be talking to them about during engagement.

A lot of our we did ask for feedback from businesses as well.

Uh that survey was not uh specifically targeted to them though, as much it was still broad for for everyone to answer businesses, residents, visitors, uh, everyone.

So I I before we launch, I think a updated survey for the street level businesses that asked them some targeted questions about you know that we can use as a measuring stick will be helpful as well.

Do you think beside just survey you can do some quantitative data?

For example, can we somehow measure one of the goals is reduce circling?

You just said we don't want it to congestion that can probably reduce people or circling for a parking.

Do you think we can measure that in different way than just surveying people?

I think measuring congestion would be in the small uh in the areas that we have the dense operation of parking uh could be challenging, just not enough space to get good quantitative data.

Uh it is that's probably you know that's I I see that being more of a qualitative you know feedback that we receive from users of the curb.

Uh but it's an interesting question I can bring back to the team.

We have uh we have mechanisms to measure travel time.

Uh it's just typically done in slightly longer segments than we see in in like old Bellevue or Spring District.

So uh I but that'll be a you know one we can look into.

Right, and there's a lot of data that's gonna need to be collected just to run the program that we can give information about.

That would be great.

If any, of course, survey and qualitative data would be great, but some quantitative data that we can measure somehow with increasing technology, how the turnover of this spot is changing due to this new uh parking.

My last question would be.

I am maybe I'm not hearing conflicting messaging, and that's why I wanted to clarify that.

There is one of your slides you told me that, or it was mentioned that we cannot have a half an hour free because if we do have an hour free, it won't generate enough money to run the program.

Ish so no, uh based on what we calculated, we can operate the base program.

What we can't do is any of the reinvestment into the curb management plan.

So yeah, any of the other improvements that we've talked about today, the bellhop, the the community program, the the physical improvements we want to be able to do in the curb pricing zone.

We wouldn't be able to afford any of those uh improvements.

Okay, so if we do have an hour free, we cannot do any additional money to do anything else.

Correct.

Right.

You just have paying back the infrastructure for the pay stations and all that, it's just and enforcement, and that would be it.

Okay.

So I just wanted to cautious ourselves that we can go to then increasing the price in a way that we can achieve all of our other goals.

And I think that's also not a good balance.

Like I don't want to start increasing the parking price in Bellevue in a way again.

We have a lot of expenses.

I understand that.

But I don't know what would be that balance that we understand the intent.

The intent is help small businesses, avoid more Malakutian to park six hours in a spot and block that area.

Get all of those intention.

But at the same time, I don't we don't I don't want to start charging people at the high-end pricing because we have a lot of buckets that need some money.

Right.

Well, and that's again not the motivation.

That's not motivated.

Yeah, the the motivation is to get that turnover and to to make to reduce that barrier uh to visiting downtown and spring district.

Uh so we uh none of the documentation talks about increasing the price just to be able to you know expand other capital programs, it's if that makes sense.

Or any care management, yes.

Yeah, that was not the intent.

Great.

Yeah.

Thank you so much.

I appreciate you all.

And uh can we have the motion, please?

I moved to direct staff to finalize the Bellevue City Code Amendments and prepare an ordinance to allow for the establishment and administration of a paid on-street parking program in Bellevue.

Is there a second?

Second it has been moved by deputy mayor and seconded by councilmember new enhouse.

Any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

There is none.

The motion passes.

Thank you so much.

And I think on that note, we can adjourn the meeting.

See you all next week.

Thank you so much.