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Record of Proceedings

Redmond City Council Study Session: October 14, 2025 – Legislative Agenda, Fire Plan, and CIP

City Council — Tuesday, October 14, 2025
BodyRedmond, Washington
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, October 14, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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0:10

Thank you.

0:11

I'm calling this meeting to order.

0:13

This is a Redmond City Council study session held on Tuesday, October 14th, 2025, commencing at 7.03 p.m.

0:20

All council members are in attendance.

0:22

There are four items on the agenda tonight.

0:24

City of Redmond 2026 legislative agenda, adoption of the 2025-2050 fire department functional plan capital investment program project updates for Q3 2025 and council talk time.

0:39

The first item is the City of Redmond 2026 state legislative agenda.

0:44

And Amy Side, Chief Policy Officer will introduce the item.

0:50

Great.

0:50

Thank you very much.

0:51

Good evening, Council.

0:53

So Amy Sai, Chief Policy Advisor.

0:55

And with me online, I have Amina Tiore.

0:59

She is part of the stellar team that Brianna Murray has for Gordon Thomas Honeywell.

1:05

We are very well represented at the state legislature with their team, so really pleased that she's able to join us today.

1:11

Brianna is out, and so she is uh pinch hitting.

1:14

Um, hopefully with as much success as the Mariners have had with their pinch hitting.

1:19

Uh so I'm gonna go ahead and start um Amina's gonna kick us off with a brief overview of the upcoming legislative session, and then I will go over the most recent changes to the state legislative agenda draft that you all saw, and then we'll take that opportunity for feedback and discussion.

1:36

So, Amina, if you would like to lead us off with that.

1:40

Of course.

1:41

Uh thank you, Amy.

1:42

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

1:44

Um, you all may previously know me as Amina Abdallah.

1:47

I am now Amina Tiori, as Amy indicated.

1:49

I got married this summer.

1:51

So it's um great to be here with you guys today.

1:53

I'm going to provide a really brief recap of the legislative session, and then I'll pass it on to Amy to go over the city's legislative agenda.

2:02

But just um really quickly, the 2026 legislative session will begin on the second Monday of January.

2:07

So we're looking at January 12th of 2026.

2:10

As a reminder, the legislature operates on a two-year cycle, and the 2026 session will be the second year of that cycle.

2:16

And as a result, it is scheduled to be a short 60-day session.

2:20

This year there isn't really a major legislative election.

2:23

So the political makeup of the legislature is gonna be about the same as um last session.

2:28

So Democrats will continue to control both chambers.

2:31

As a second year of the biennium, all bills introduced in 2025 that did not pass into law will automatically carry over remain under consideration in 2026.

2:40

And additionally, one of the biggest components of the 2026 session is that the legislature will make adjustments to the biennial budgets adopted last session, last session, which governs spending from January 1st of 2025 through June 30th of 2027.

2:55

During the 2026 session, legislators will modify these budgets to account for changing revenue collections and pragmatic priorities.

3:03

In the last economic revenue forecast meeting in September, we learned that the legislature has collected less revenue than expected, meaning they will face significant significant deficit in the operating budget during a mid-biennial adjustments.

3:17

After the short 60-day session, all members of the House of Representatives and half of the Senate will be up for reelection.

3:24

Traditionally, this means that in short legislative sessions, the legislature shies away from controversial issues that will go in effect slash become law while they're simultaneously campaigning for office.

3:36

And as the general rule of thumb, short legislative sessions tend to have less controversial issues and tend to focus on making adjustments to policies that were enacted in the first year of the biennium.

3:47

With that, I will pass it back to Amy to go over your 2026 draft legislative agenda.

3:55

Great, thank you, Amina.

3:57

Um, so to to recap that there's less money.

4:00

It's a short session, and it's times are gonna be really tough and tight.

4:06

So for I I have a screen share of your agenda packet, uh speaking to page seven, and I'm going to walk you through the changes since the committee of the whole meeting on September 9th.

4:17

And this was in response to your terrific feedback.

4:20

So again, thank you so much for having your guidance and the policy direction that I hope is manifesting in the latest iteration of this draft.

4:28

Um, so the front page is not in track changes because it changed extensively in response to your feedback.

4:34

Um, and so I'll go over those and then the rest of the pages will show actual track changes.

4:39

Um, at the beginning, uh just highlighting in the vision.

4:42

Uh this is a simple statement, uh, identifying who we are, how big we are, and really establishing what kind of a city we are, and really appreciate Councilmember Anderson there for flagging that we can call it a majority multicultural city as a as a better term for how to describe our um diverse population.

5:00

So really appreciate that.

5:02

On the legislative requests, we remove the drone ask per your comments and feedback there.

5:08

And instead, we have increased the Hartman Park playground asked to 500,000.

5:14

And as I mentioned, it's a tight session, and so it's not, you know, we just have to keep expectations realistic, but at the same time, you know, if you don't ask, you can't receive.

5:25

And so that is our one monetary ask for the short session.

5:29

So we'll be focusing our attention primarily on that.

5:32

I will cover the first paragraph in a bit.

5:34

I'm just gonna go over the asks first.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████████████24%
Public Works██████████████████18%
Procedural█████████9%
Governance████████8%
Public Safety███████7%
Public Engagement█████5%
Parks and Recreation████4%
Water And Wastewater Management████4%
Technology and Innovation███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Redmond City Council Study Session – October 14, 2025

This study session convened at 7:03 PM on October 14, 2025, with all council members present. The council discussed four major items: the city's 2026 state legislative agenda, adoption of the 2025–2050 Fire Department Functional Plan, quarterly Capital Investment Program (CIP) project updates, and council talk time. Key decisions included approving edits to the legislative agenda, directing staff to incorporate planning commission recommendations into the fire plan, and scheduling a dedicated study session on the Evans Creek restoration project.

Legislative Agenda

  • Overview: Amy Side, Chief Policy Advisor, and Amina Tiore (Gordon Thomas Honeywell) presented the 2026 state legislative agenda. The 2026 session is a short 60-day session starting January 12, 2026, with a significant budget deficit. The agenda focuses on protecting the social safety net, civil rights, immigrant/refugee support, tenant protections, environmental sustainability (including the Climate Commitment Act), gun violence prevention, and reproductive/gender-affirming healthcare. The city’s sole monetary request is $500,000 for Hartman Park playground improvements.
  • Council Feedback: Councilmembers suggested adding “regional amenities” to the Hartman Park description, including “AI & autonomous vehicles” in the technology section, and adding explicit support for the ARCH (A Regional Coalition for Housing) agenda. Councilmember Fields raised concerns about state action to protect local civil liberties amid federal enforcement changes; staff noted the agenda is a guiding document but the council can take action if needed.
  • Outcome: The council approved the amendments via thumbs-up. The agenda will return for formal adoption on the consent calendar at the October 21 business meeting.

Fire Department Functional Plan

  • Presentation: Fire Chief Adrian Shepherd and Deputy Chief Ami Kiracone presented the 2025–2050 Fire Department Functional Plan, a $83 million capital roadmap (with an additional $70 million beyond 2050). Key projects include remodeling/rebuilding Station 11, relocating Station 12, lifecycle renovations at Station 16, completing Station 17, and planning for a potential Station 19. The plan enables updating fire impact fees for the first time since 1991.
  • Council Discussion: Councilmember Stewart requested a holistic fiscal review with the finance director before adoption. Councilmember Fields asked about the Maintenance and Operations Center (MOC) interface and funding timeline. Council President Kritzer sought details on Station 11’s two-phase modernization. Councilmember Nueva Camina asked about impact fee projections (expected early 2026).
  • Outcome: The council approved incorporating all planning commission recommendations (clarifications and edits) and directed staff to perform light copyediting. The plan will be discussed further at the November 18 Committee of the Whole (Public Safety) for fiscal alignment, with a goal of consent adoption at the December 3 business meeting.

Capital Investment Program (CIP) Q3 2025 Updates

  • Evans Creek Restoration Project: Director Aaron Burt reported that the project is at an impasse with King County over a perpetual indemnity agreement, leading to potential cost increases to $22+ million (up from $9 million). The city has spent $5 million without turning dirt. Council agreed to schedule a dedicated study session to evaluate the project’s viability.
  • Other CIP Projects:
    • MOC Campus Redevelopment: Validation phase underway; design-build team selected (Lewis, Miller Hall, Stantec). A check-in with council will occur after validation.
    • Southeast Redmond Park: RFQ for design due October 22; design starts Q1 2026.
    • Bell-Red Buffered Bike Lanes: Utility work underway, delays due to poor utility locates; costs remain minimal.
    • Lift Station Equipment Upgrades Phase 2: Bids came in $900k under estimate; award expected November 18.
    • 124th/172nd Gate: Litigation dismissed with prejudice; city preparing to implement traffic calming and gate removal after 30-day appeal period.
  • CIP Scoring Update: Tess Wilkinson introduced a new project scoring system aligned with budget priorities, allowing each functional area to define its own criteria. This will be crosswalked with outcome maps in the November 12 study session.

Council Talk Time

  • Private Wells Ordinance: Councilmember Kritzer paused the item to review staff feedback; Councilmember Anderson requested incorporating definitions from state bill amendments.
  • SCA Boards and Commissions: Councilmember Stewart reappointed to the Growth Management Planning Council; Council President Kritzer announced she will step down from her SCA board seat, encouraging others to apply by November 7.
  • Joint School Board Meeting: Councilmember Stewart proposed a joint council conversation with the Lake Washington School Board in March 2026 at Education Hill.
  • November Schedule: Council President Kritzer reminded members of adjusted meeting dates: Monday, November 3 (due to Election Day) and Wednesday, November 12 (due to Veterans Day).

Key Outcomes

  • Approved all amendments to the 2026 state legislative agenda; will return for consent on October 21.
  • Directed staff to incorporate all planning commission edits into the Fire Department Functional Plan; further fiscal discussion on November 18; adoption targeted for December 3.
  • Scheduled a dedicated study session for the Evans Creek restoration project to assess cost-benefit and next steps.
  • Acknowledged dismissal of litigation on the 124th/172nd gate; city will proceed after appeal period.
  • Paused discussion on the private wells ordinance pending staff feedback and additional council input.
  • Councilmembers are to indicate interest in SCA board seats by November 7.

Meeting Transcript

Thank you. I'm calling this meeting to order. This is a Redmond City Council study session held on Tuesday, October 14th, 2025, commencing at 7.03 p.m. All council members are in attendance. There are four items on the agenda tonight. City of Redmond 2026 legislative agenda, adoption of the 2025-2050 fire department functional plan capital investment program project updates for Q3 2025 and council talk time. The first item is the City of Redmond 2026 state legislative agenda. And Amy Side, Chief Policy Officer will introduce the item. Great. Thank you very much. Good evening, Council. So Amy Sai, Chief Policy Advisor. And with me online, I have Amina Tiore. She is part of the stellar team that Brianna Murray has for Gordon Thomas Honeywell. We are very well represented at the state legislature with their team, so really pleased that she's able to join us today. Brianna is out, and so she is uh pinch hitting. Um, hopefully with as much success as the Mariners have had with their pinch hitting. Uh so I'm gonna go ahead and start um Amina's gonna kick us off with a brief overview of the upcoming legislative session, and then I will go over the most recent changes to the state legislative agenda draft that you all saw, and then we'll take that opportunity for feedback and discussion. So, Amina, if you would like to lead us off with that. Of course. Uh thank you, Amy. Good evening, Mayor and Council. Um, you all may previously know me as Amina Abdallah. I am now Amina Tiori, as Amy indicated. I got married this summer. So it's um great to be here with you guys today. I'm going to provide a really brief recap of the legislative session, and then I'll pass it on to Amy to go over the city's legislative agenda. But just um really quickly, the 2026 legislative session will begin on the second Monday of January. So we're looking at January 12th of 2026. As a reminder, the legislature operates on a two-year cycle, and the 2026 session will be the second year of that cycle. And as a result, it is scheduled to be a short 60-day session. This year there isn't really a major legislative election. So the political makeup of the legislature is gonna be about the same as um last session. So Democrats will continue to control both chambers. As a second year of the biennium, all bills introduced in 2025 that did not pass into law will automatically carry over remain under consideration in 2026. And additionally, one of the biggest components of the 2026 session is that the legislature will make adjustments to the biennial budgets adopted last session, last session, which governs spending from January 1st of 2025 through June 30th of 2027. During the 2026 session, legislators will modify these budgets to account for changing revenue collections and pragmatic priorities. In the last economic revenue forecast meeting in September, we learned that the legislature has collected less revenue than expected, meaning they will face significant significant deficit in the operating budget during a mid-biennial adjustments. After the short 60-day session, all members of the House of Representatives and half of the Senate will be up for reelection. Traditionally, this means that in short legislative sessions, the legislature shies away from controversial issues that will go in effect slash become law while they're simultaneously campaigning for office. And as the general rule of thumb, short legislative sessions tend to have less controversial issues and tend to focus on making adjustments to policies that were enacted in the first year of the biennium. With that, I will pass it back to Amy to go over your 2026 draft legislative agenda. Great, thank you, Amina. Um, so to to recap that there's less money. It's a short session, and it's times are gonna be really tough and tight. So for I I have a screen share of your agenda packet, uh speaking to page seven, and I'm going to walk you through the changes since the committee of the whole meeting on September 9th. And this was in response to your terrific feedback. So again, thank you so much for having your guidance and the policy direction that I hope is manifesting in the latest iteration of this draft. Um, so the front page is not in track changes because it changed extensively in response to your feedback. Um, and so I'll go over those and then the rest of the pages will show actual track changes.

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