Olympia City Council Meeting - December 10, 2025 (Minutes Date: Dec 9, 2025)
Olympia City Council Meeting - December 10, 2025 (Minutes Date: Dec 9, 2025)
Note: The user-supplied date for this meeting is December 10, 2025, but the official agenda and minutes list the meeting as Tuesday, December 9, 2025. This summary uses the date provided by the user, noting the discrepancy. The Olympia City Council held a regular business meeting on the evening of December 9, 2025 (per official records), with all seven council members present. The meeting included public comments, consent calendar approvals, public hearings on two right-of-way vacation petitions, and first reading of the Olympia 2045 Comprehensive Plan. An executive session on litigation concluded the meeting.
Consent Calendar
- Approved November 25, 2025, City Council meeting minutes.
- Approved December 2, 2025, City Council Study Session minutes.
- Approved bid award for the Old Port 1 Lift Station Project.
- Approved a resolution to set a public hearing on a $0 PBIA (Parking Business Improvement Area) rate extension.
- Approved a resolution adopting the Transportation Improvement Program.
- Approved resolutions authorizing 2024-2026 Olympia Police Guild and 2026-2028 International Association of Fire Fighters collective bargaining agreements.
- Approved an amendment to a Municipal Services Agreement with South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity for Energize Thurston 2025 Subsidized Pathway Program Administration.
- Approved on first reading ordinances relating to alternative public works contracting (OMC 3.16), parking (OMC 10.16, 10.20, 4.60), funds (OMC 3.04), fourth quarter budget amendment, utility rates/fees/charges, permit fees, impact fees, and the 2026 Operating, Special Funds, Capital Budget and Capital Facilities Plan. All first reading items were moved to second reading (due back 12/16/2025), except the OMC 3.04 amendment which passed on first and final reading.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Joby Winans (Faith Network for Immigrant Support) thanked Interim Chief Parker and Deputy Chief Brady for reaching out to the immigrant community and committing to safety and respect.
- Rev. Dr. Janet Waggoner (St. John's Episcopal Church) thanked Chief Parker and Deputy Chief Brady for supporting the Spanish-speaking community, noting increased suicide and domestic violence incidents among immigrants. She emphasized the importance of police support.
- Jill Barnes (Executive Director, Washington Center for the Performing Arts) reported the center is on track to welcome more than 85,000 patrons and students in 2025, hosting nearly 200 events, and contributing millions to the local economy. She thanked the council for their partnership.
- David Webb (City of Olympia resident) thanked the council for removing “flock cameras” (speed enforcement cameras) and criticized the decision to postpone discussion. He alleged he was arrested while lawfully recording police and asked the city to discourage officers from obscuring name tags. He also urged the council to take action against deceptive crisis pregnancy centers that use misleading search engine optimization.
- Shauna Stewart (Interim CEO, Experience Olympia and Beyond) introduced herself and highlighted the organization's efforts: digital advertising yielding $239 in visitor spending per $1 invested, a prominent Olympia advertisement at CTAC Airport, 76,000 Instagram views from fam tours, and marketing tied to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Discussion Items
- Public Hearing: Vacation Petition for Garfield Avenue Right-of-Way (5A) – City Surveyor Adam Dreller presented a proposal to vacate a 10-foot-wide, 1,000-square-foot portion of right-of-way along Garfield Avenue abutting West Bay Drive to facilitate a two-unit single-family housing project. Community member Joel Finch spoke in opposition, citing safety concerns (no sidewalk, speeding cars, accidents) and questioning the 50% compensation rate. Council discussion included questions about the timeline, sidewalk requirements, and the practice of charging half the appraised value. Councilmember Cooper suggested a future policy review. A motion to approve the petition with 50% compensation passed 6-1 (Mayor Pro Tem Huỳnh opposed). The City Manager noted that the final vacation ordinance will come back as a business item (not consent) for further discussion.
- Public Hearing: Vacation Petition for Alley Right-of-Way South of Legion Way (5B) – Adam Dreller presented a proposal to vacate two sections (60 ft and 5 ft, both 10 ft wide) of an alley between Adams and Jefferson Streets. No public comment. The council voted unanimously (7-0) to approve the petition and direct staff to prepare a vacation ordinance with 50% of appraised value.
- Olympia 2045 Comprehensive Plan and Development Regulation Updates (6A) – Planning Manager Joyce Phillips presented the plan, required every 10 years. She highlighted infusions of equity, climate, and housing throughout the plan, collaboration with the Squaxin Island Tribe, over 100 public meetings, and code amendments to align with new state requirements. Councilmembers expressed strong support, noting significant improvements in the public safety chapter and the breadth of community and departmental involvement. The ordinance was approved on first reading by a vote of 7-0 and forwarded to second reading.
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar adopted 7-0.
- Garfield Avenue right-of-way vacation petition approved 6-1 (Huỳnh nay). Final ordinance to be brought back as a business item.
- Legion Way alley vacation petition approved 7-0.
- Olympia 2045 Comprehensive Plan and associated development regulation updates approved on first reading 7-0; second reading scheduled for December 16, 2025.
- Agenda item 8.A (Consider a referral regarding speed enforcement cameras) was postponed to a future date.
- An executive session was held for 58 minutes (8:23 p.m. to 9:21 p.m.) pursuant to RCW 42.30.110(1)(i) for litigation and potential litigation. No decisions were made.
- City Manager Burney reminded the council and community of the final Holiday Light Parade on December 18 in Southeast Olympia.
Meeting Transcript
Five or three one. Good evening and welcome to the Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 regular business meeting of the Olympia City Council. For the record, we have a quorum with almost all council members present. Councilmember Gilman is joining us shortly. He's arriving from his meeting at the Board of Health. So before we move on to adoption of the agenda, I want to mention that this coming Friday at 5 p.m. Uh the recruitment for our advisory boards, commissions, and committees will be closing. So you have until Friday at 5 p.m. if you are interested in serving on one of our advisory bodies to please submit your applications before Friday at 5 p.m. So before we adopt our agenda, I also want to mention that we are uh going to be removing item 8a on the agenda, which is the consideration of a referral regarding speed enforcement cameras. Uh so we are going to bring that back at a later date. Um, so I need a motion to amend the agenda. I'll move to amend second. All those in favor of the motion signify by saying aye. I we have an agenda. We have no special recognition tonight, so we are gonna move on to public comment. We have uh all folks are signed up in person. There is no online public comment. Uh, and so we are gonna go ahead and turn it over to the mayor pro tem to kick us off. All right, hello everyone. So uh tonight uh public comment is as it usually is two minutes per public comment. I see we have a number of folks in the room here. Uh, we'll go ahead and start with the uh folks that are in person. Um I'll call a few names for you so you can uh get ready and sort of get in cue to come up to the stand here. Once you start speaking, the uh clock will start uh counting down from two minutes, and then also uh ahead of you will be sort of uh street light colors. So green means you're good, yellow means to wrap up your comments, and red is at your time is over. And uh if you uh if you do, and sort of mid-sentence, go ahead and just wrap up that way. And and if you don't finish, please know that you can always email council your full public comment. So with that, we have uh Joe B. Winnens followed by Paul Purz. Yes, that's right. Hi, my name is Joe B. Wynans. Thank you very much for giving me just a couple of minutes to um to say thank you to Chief Parker and Deputy Chief uh Brady. I'm a member of the Faith Network for Immigrant Support, uh, which is a task force of people looking for ways to support our immigrant neighbors. Um particularly right now where they're feeling very vulnerable. Um what was wonderful and why I we feel important to say thank you is that Chief uh Parker contacted us and said, Can you tell us what's going on with our vulnerable immigrant people? Um and let me tell first of all, she asked the question. She listened, which was wonderful, and then she explained about what the police department could do and and would not be able to do, emphasized uh uh commitment to safety and to respect. It was wonderful. So I just want to say thank you uh for her work and and for deputy chief's work also uh in really helping and and promising to continue to help um our neighbors and friends. Thank you. No, okay. Thank you. Good evening. I'm the Reverend Dr. Janet Wagoner. I am the lead pastor and evangelist at St. John Juan Episcopal Church at the corner of 20th and Capital Way. Our congregation is one community in two expressions, an English-speaking congregation and a Spanish-speaking congregation.
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