Puyallup City Council Meeting — November 18, 2025

The Puyallup City Council met in regular session on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, beginning at 6:30 PM and adjourning at 8:56 PM. Mayor Jim Kastama presided. Councilmembers Adler, Gilliam, Johnson, Witting, and Deputy Mayor King participated; Councilmember Door was excused. The transcript initially reads Deputy Mayor King as excused, but she joined virtually later in the meeting; the minutes list her as present. The agenda and the October 7 and October 14, 2025, meeting minutes were approved at the start of the meeting. The evening included proclamations, the consent calendar, citizen comments, fee and property-tax resolutions, a downtown housing development agreement briefing, a Puyallup High School street-closure update, and final action on audio-visual improvements for Pioneer Park Pavilion.

Presentations and Proclamations

• Mayor Kastama read the Small Business Saturday Proclamation, declaring November 29, 2025, as Small Business Saturday in Puyallup. Alison Shaffer, President/CEO of the Puyallup Sumner Chamber of Commerce, said the holiday period is vital for small businesses to turn a profit; John Palmer, President of the Puyallup Main Street Association, described downtown businesses as the heart and soul of the community and urged residents to shop and dine locally.
• Police Chief Scott Engle recognized retiring K9 Griff and Officer Cam Olinger. Chief Engle reported Griff had served as a certified police canine tracking team member since January 2021, completed 1,456 training hours, participated in 378 deployments, and contributed to 79 apprehensions, 10 of which involved bites. Officer Olinger thanked his family and said Griff’s successor, named Cal Raleigh, continues the baseball naming tradition.

Consent Calendar

• The Council unanimously approved the consent agenda, 6-0, after removing item 4.h (Pioneer Park Pavilion LED Screen Audio Visual Upgrade) to Other Business. Approved items included:
  • Accepting the Chip Seal project with Doolittle Construction, LLC, as complete.
  • Authorizing contracts with Skillings for the East Main Deer Creek Culvert Replacement project and Brown and Caldwell for the Clark’s Creek Retrofit Plan Upgrade and Street Sweeping project.
  • Accepting the 27th Avenue SE Traffic Calming project as complete.
  • Authorizing a contract with Catalyst Workplace Activation for furniture and equipment for the Public Safety Building Project.
  • Authorizing a contract with Psomas for the 7th Avenue SE Sidewalk Improvement project.
  • Approving accounts payable, payroll, and electronic fund transfers from September 2025.
  • Accepting grants from the Puyallup Kiwanis Foundation and Puyallup River Watershed Council for the Puyallup Library Kiwanis Imagination Station.
  • Accepting a Washington State Traffic Safety Commission grant for the Law Enforcement Liaison position.
  • Authorizing an emergency declaration and a contract with BHC Consultants LLC for the 4th Avenue SE Sewer Main Emergency Repair project.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Valorie Dent thanked the Puyallup Police Department for traffic improvements on 12th Avenue SE, noting six campuses in less than a two-square-mile radius and more than 3,300 students. She said further improvements are needed.
• John Hopkins praised the redesign of Inter Avenue and Van Lierop Park, called the park award-worthy, and encouraged the City to work with Pierce County on trail connections and bridge blockages.
• Mark Palmer, treasurer of the Puyallup River Watershed Council, said the Council awarded 10 small grants this year to organizations including the Puyallup School District, thanked the City for supporting the Salmon Homecoming event, and invited everyone to a free Dec. 9 watershed symposium at Pioneer Park Pavilion.
• Di King expressed frustration about parking violations blocking her driveway and dangerous driving in her neighborhood since the 7th Street closure, stating she felt abandoned by the school and police.
• Mitzi McMahan said the school district’s memo measured collisions, not conditions, and challenged its use of about 5.4 years of mostly pre-closure collision data. She requested a community-centered safety study with field observations, resident-involved working groups, and full reevaluation of the closure with safety measures.
• Don Cottam praised the Van Lierop playground but suggested adding benches for older visitors.
• Vera Glace restated her opposition to co-housing developments and demanded the City restart face-to-face neighborhood district meetings that stopped around the COVID-19 pandemic, asking for a phone response within two weeks.
• Shawn Manley of the Puyallup Food Bank described the organization as providing about 100 meals for every $20 of operating funding and moving 4.7 million pounds of food last year. He urged Councilmembers to visit and highlighted $170,000 in recent community giving.
• Chris Chisholm, identified as founder/treasurer of Puyallup Voters for Integrity, opposed the Public Safety Building project, arguing voter intent and objecting to the project’s cost. He said he would return with a detailed breakdown.
• Stacy Crnich, CEO of GoodRoots NW, expressed gratitude for the proposed grant and described the organization’s refrigerated Amazon locker system serving a 250-square-mile area in East Pierce County, including a new Pierce College locker with 201 orders in its first month and 682 Puyallup households currently served.
• John Palmer, in a second comment, called the Van Lierop playground opening a success, said Forever Green Trails had raised $10,000 toward a $15,000 goal, and reported the Puyallup-to-Tacoma Trail’s first segment is scheduled for completion in summer 2027 with full completion in 2029.

Discussion Items

• City Clerk Dan Vessels Jr. presented the annual resolution amending the City’s Fee Schedule. He said most changes were minor; some administrative fees would move from fixed amounts to actual cost recovery, several Police Department fees would be eliminated, and Parks and Recreation fees would be adjusted. Councilmember Witting asked about unified punch pass fees, and Vessels said the change creates one resident/non-resident rate for staff efficiency. The resolution passed 6-0.
• Finance Director Barbara Lopez presented the second reading of the 2026 property tax levy ordinance. She reported the Council’s first-reading action removed the one percent allowable increase of $112,187, leaving an estimated levy of just under $11.3 million. The companion resolution stated the dollar and percentage increase are zero. The ordinance passed 6-0 on a roll-call vote; the resolution passed 6-0 by voice vote.
• Ms. Lopez also presented the second reading of the 2026 Mid-Biennium Adjustment to the 2025-2026 Biennial Budget. The only change from first reading was the addition of $50,000 in Lodging Tax Advisory Committee funding as a match for the WSU conference center facility feasibility study. The ordinance passed 6-0 on a roll-call vote.
• Councilmember Adler introduced a proposal for one-time $5,000 grants each to the Puyallup Food Bank, Nourish Pierce County, and GoodRoots NW, citing economic hardship, SNAP reductions, healthcare benefit losses, and the government shutdown. She noted Pierce County had committed over $400,000 to food banks. The motion passed 6-0.

Downtown Development Agreement — 204 4th Street SW (Informational)

• City Manager Steve Kirkelie and Walker John of Urban Olympia presented a potential development agreement for the privately owned Bell site, adjacent to the Police Station. The proposal is a five-story multifamily building with ground-floor structured parking, 70 parking stalls, and 100 studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom units. With Urban Olympia’s nearby AOB lot development, the two projects would total 240 units.
• Key agreement elements discussed included upgrading an aging water main on Pioneer Avenue (estimated by the City at about $417,000 for roughly 270 linear feet), architectural consistency between the Bell and AOB sites, and a proposed parking ratio of 0.7 rather than 1.0. Mr. Kirkelie noted state law will limit required parking to 0.5 in summer 2027, so the 0.7 commitment preserves more parking than the future minimum.
• Councilmembers expressed support for the project’s quality and downtown benefits while raising concerns about parking availability, infrastructure, design details, and density near the Sounder station. Mr. John estimated the combined investment across the two properties at roughly $70 million. Council directed staff to schedule a formal public hearing on the development agreement for December 9.

Puyallup High School Road Closure Update (Informational)

• Brian Devereaux, Puyallup School District Director of Facilities and Planning, and Marni Heffron of Heffron Transportation presented the post-closure analysis. The District reported Puyallup High School enrollment of about 1,780 students, excluding 120 full-time Running Start students, and said six additional portables were opened in January 2025. The 7th Street SW closure was implemented in late 2024 as a pilot condition of the City permit.
• Ms. Heffron described a collision review covering roughly five and a half years of data (January 1, 2020, to May 17, 2025), finding limited collision history and no identified increase attributable to the closure; she highlighted zero collisions since the closure at 7th Street and Pioneer Avenue. She also recommended parking-management changes, including tightening some four-hour restricted zones to two-hour permit limits to reduce student parking in neighborhoods.
• Councilmembers raised concerns about school parking capacity, neighborhood impacts, and student accountability. Councilmember Johnson asked whether unused Sound Transit garage spaces could be used for student parking and requested the pre-closure crossing video for review. Councilmember Gilliam requested formal student education on being good neighbors and greater student voice. Councilmember Adler supported those calls. City Manager Kirkelie explained that permanent closure would require the District to file a street vacation petition, a public hearing, and two readings of an ordinance, with a goal of completing the process before the next school year.

Other Business

• Parks and Recreation Director Cody Geddes presented the Pioneer Park Pavilion LED Screen Audio Visual Upgrade project, which had been pulled from the consent agenda at Councilmember Johnson’s request. The project adds two 165-inch LED monitors on interior slat walls above the HVAC system for daytime events, live broadcasts, conferences, weddings, and other rentals. Geddes said the existing projector would become outdated and the podium monitor would also be upgraded so speakers can see their slides. The Council approved the Avidex Industries contract, 6-0.

Reports and Next Steps

• City Manager Kirkelie announced there would be no Council meeting the week of Thanksgiving. The Dec. 2, 2025, agenda is expected to include a public hearing on extending interim zoning controls for middle housing, the 2026 Council meeting calendar, and a MultiCare Good Samaritan discussion about a potential campus master-plan development agreement.
• Councilmember Witting noted it was Fraud Awareness Week and suggested making fraud-prevention training available to the public. Mayor Kastama announced his monthly senior center meeting for the next day at 12:30 PM on natural disasters and the lahar threat.

Key Outcomes

• Approved the consent agenda, including construction acceptances, contracts, grants, September 2025 vouchers, and a sewer emergency repair declaration (6-0).
• Approved the K9 Griff surplus/ownership transfer resolution (6-0).
• Approved the annual Fee Schedule resolution (6-0).
• Approved the 2026 property tax levy ordinance and zero-increase property tax revenue resolution (6-0 each).
• Approved the 2026 Mid-Biennium Budget Adjustment ordinance (6-0).
• Approved one-time grants of $5,000 each to the Puyallup Food Bank, Nourish Pierce County, and GoodRoots NW (6-0).
• Approved the Pioneer Park Pavilion LED screen audio-visual contract with Avidex Industries (6-0).
• Directed scheduling of a Dec. 9, 2025, public hearing on the proposed downtown development agreement with Urban Olympia.