Edmonds City Council Committee A Meeting - January 6, 2026
Edmonds City Council Committee A Meeting – January 6, 2026
Committee A met on January 6, 2026, from 3:00 to 3:55 p.m. virtually via Zoom and in the City Council Conference Room. Councilmembers reviewed seven staff presentations and, with no objections, forwarded all items to the next City Council consent agenda for formal approval.
Discussion Items
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Job Order Contracts (JOC) Update – Public Safety Building Gutter and Downspout Replacement: Facilities Manager Tom Sullivan explained the city's JOC purchasing method, which uses three pre-selected prime contractors and is administered by Gordian. The project would replace 25-plus-year-old failing steel gutters and downspouts at the Public Safety Building. Sullivan said winter ice from the failing system was a safety issue and valued the work at just over $45,000. The committee forwarded the contract to the consent agenda.
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Extension of Acting Officer Appointments – HR Director and City Administrator: Staff requested a six-month extension of the temporary appointments, or until the positions are filled, because recruitments are ongoing. For the HR Director search, Prothman conducted a nationwide recruitment that received about 51 applicants and was narrowing the pool to 10–12 candidates after pre-screening interviews. The City Administrator search was conducted in-house and applications were under review. Staff confirmed the interim appointees are at-will and could be replaced before the extension deadline if permanent hires are selected.
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Highway 99 Revitalization Project – Stage 3 Urban Design Elements PSA: Transportation staff presented the HBB professional services agreement for urban design elements on Stage 3 (244th to 238th). HBB was selected over AECOM through statements of qualifications and interviews. The scope includes site inventory, up to four conceptual alternatives, public outreach, and design development. Stage 3 is state-funded; staff noted $16.5 million in Connecting Washington funds and no current city funding. Construction is targeted to start in early 2028. Councilmembers raised maintenance and lifecycle-cost concerns, asking for low-maintenance and hardscape options. Councilmember Erica Barnett urged a flexible approach to Highway 99 as a future commercial district and asked about shared-use paths; staff replied that WSDOT standards largely set the corridor's cross-section with separate bike lanes. The committee forwarded the item to the consent agenda.
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Highway 99 Revitalization Project – Stage 4 Urban Design Elements PSA: Staff presented the same HBB agreement for Stage 4 (220th to 224th). It will use state and federal funds, and staff said work must proceed to meet federal spending deadlines. The item was also forwarded to the consent agenda.
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Washington Traffic Safety Commission Interagency Agreement: Police Chief Dawkins requested approval to participate in Target Zero Task Force reimbursable traffic emphasis operations, including holiday DUI, distracted driving, Click It or Ticket, and summer DUI emphasis. The Washington Traffic Safety Commission reimburses straight-time and overtime costs. The committee forwarded the agreement to the consent agenda.
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PAWS Contract for Animal Kenneling Services: Chief Dawkins presented the Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) contract for kenneling animals taken into police custody. He said PAWS is the closest facility and has been used by the city for at least 10 years. The committee forwarded the contract to the consent agenda.
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Limited Staff Services Agreement – Clinical Oversight for Social Worker: Chief Dawkins requested approval for grant-funded clinical oversight for the police social worker. Oversight costs $97 per hour, estimated at $388 per month for one hour per week, and is covered by the grant. The grant currently funds the social worker 30 hours per week through June 2027, with additional grant funding expected to expand the position to full time. The committee forwarded the item to the consent agenda.
Key Outcomes
- No formal roll-call vote was taken; the chair asked for objections on each item and none were raised.
- All seven agenda items were forwarded to the next City Council consent agenda for approval.
- Staff said updated Highway 99 contract costs and the selected structural consultant's name would be included when the stage 3 and 4 agreements go before the City Council.
- The meeting was adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
Meeting Transcript
Committee A. I'll be calling the council committee A meeting on January 6, 2026 to order here at 3 p.m. Uh we have seven items on our business uh agenda. And um I'll let oh Susan went away. Um just for clarification. I'll just have Susan uh just make a note of her participation today. Um so Erica Barnett, our newest council member will be joining um uh the committee A. Um, as a voting member, I will be the ex-officio. And um she will I hope that she shows up soon. You know, it's she's looking she's lagging on right now. Is she okay? Yeah, good. I sent her a text. Anyway, um so that's gonna be my role. So I'm gonna have the camera off. Okay. And um just to note we have uh councilmember Chen, um, myself, Councilmember Dodge, um, again, uh Councilmember Payne, ex officio and um joining, but I don't see her yet. Uh and we do have um oh, there she is. Uh our newest council member uh councilmember Barnett is joining us uh as a committee A member today. Hello. And we have a few others here. Councilmember Eck, Councilman Renand. Um I think that's it. So we'll get our business started here. Uh our first uh item is the job order contracts projects and planning update, public safety building gutter and downspout replacements. Tom, is that you? I think. Hi there. Uh Tom Sullivan, uh Public Works Facilities Manager, City Facilities Manager. Um thanks everyone for having us again. Think uh um you'll be seeing me a lot this year. So we have a lot of projects uh uh to get completed, but this one in particular is a job order contract for the public safety building to replace the uh 25 plus year old steel gutters. Um would you guys like me to go over a quick rundown of what job order contracting is for the people that maybe haven't heard before or yeah, please uh things benefit first. So um a pop it as well. Thank you, Tom. Sure. Sorry about that. Uh job order contracting is a uh uh a purchasing methodology that the city has um that allows us to use uh three pre-chosen prime contractors that the city uh renews every three years, and we get job order proposals from those contractors on a preset pricing plan through the RS means uh uh construction book. Um we have a uh uh administrative uh contractor Gordian company that uh uh administrates this to make sure we're all in our compliance and everything uh for the uh for the program with uh regards to the RCW, but it's just an expedited way of contracting uh for uh some of our departments uh that don't have the uh project management support and that sort of thing that other departments have. And so uh we're able to utilize this uh uh to expedite uh large volume projects and a large volume of projects uh annually. So um I think that kind of sums it up and uh have a nice tutorial on um uh online if anyone has any more interest in what job order contracting is kind of gives you a rundown. Happy to share that with anyone that's uh interested in that. Um this is a job order contract for the public safety building again to replace the gutters and the downspouts that are failing. 25 plus years old steel uh uh gutters and downspouts. Uh probably witness the drip as you walk into the building. Uh and that will be solved by this. Uh part of uh failing gutter system is a safety issue in the winter time, especially with uh slick pavement, icy pavement. Um in most times in the least convenient locations, like right at the front of the public safety building. Uh and so it just raises our eyebrow and uh makes it uh uh come to the top of our list of things that we need to get taken care of. And so um what we're planning to do is replace all the gutters with kind of a like for like six-inch gutter, they're uh oversized gutters for the volume of roof of that building uh and three inch downspouts.
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