Parks and Environmental Sustainability Committee of the Whole Meeting – October 28, 2025
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Parks and Environmental Sustainability Committee of the Whole Meeting – October 28, 2025
The Parks and Environmental Sustainability Committee of the Whole met on Tuesday, October 28, 2025, at 4:32 PM. Council President Kritzer presided. Members present: Kritzer, Forsythe, Salahuddin, Stuart, Anderson (arrived later), and Nuevacamina. Councilmember Fields joined online. The meeting covered two action items and five informational items, plus a tour of the new mobile command post.
Consent Calendar
- Amendment to Operational Services Agreement with Wave Aquatics: Staff recommended placing the amendment on the November 18 consent calendar. The amendment extends Wave Aquatics' management of the Redmond pool for five years, increases dedicated city programming from 100 to 200 hours annually (a 100% increase), establishes resident priority in registration (for 98052 zip code), defines peak hours, mandates 55% of operable hours for community-based programming, and requires enhanced reporting and customer service standards. Council expressed strong support, noting past community concerns about access and service. No objections were raised to sending it to consent.
- Award Parks Impact Fee Study Contract to The FCS, a Bowman Company ($79,890): Staff requested placing the contract on the November 3 consent calendar. The study, to be completed in nine months, will update park impact fees last revised in 2017. It will incorporate legislative changes (e.g., middle housing RCW) and include stakeholder engagement. Council questioned alignment with the upcoming budget; staff noted Finance will be involved throughout and the study will inform next year's budget. No objections to consent.
Discussion Items
- Environmental Sustainability Action Plan (ESAP) Implementation Update – October 2025: Sustainability Manager Jenny Lyback and Coordinator Valeria Cosgrove presented the quarterly update. Highlights include nearing finalization of the 2025 ESAP refresh (full draft to be presented at a study session on November 12). A pilot air purifier distribution was conducted in summer 2025, distributing 104 units at no cost to income-qualified residents, with applications translated and targeted outreach through Avon Villa, Friendly Village, and Martin's Mobile Villa. Lessons learned: mailers and on-site distribution were most effective; most recipients preferred Winix purifiers over box fan/filter. Plans to scale the program in 2026 include partnering with the Fire Department and providing filter replacements. Council praised the community-centered approach.
- Old Fire House Facility Recommendation Process Update: Parks Planning Manager Lindsay Falkenberg reported on stakeholder and focus group meetings. Fifty-seven unique attendees participated in two focus groups. The stakeholder group held five meetings and will hold its sixth (final) meeting on October 29 to finalize a recommendation. The final report, including the recommendation and minority position, will be provided to council by end of this week. A study session is scheduled for November 12, with a decision expected by the end of the year (potentially extended into December). Council requested historical attendance data and information on hour expansions/reductions.
- Volunteer Program Update: Volunteer Coordinator Maya Klem outlined progress since her hiring in March 2025. She met with various volunteer programs, convened a working group, and researched volunteer management software. The selected platform, Volunteer Matters, is under approval; internal launch planned for Q1 2026, public launch for Q2 2026. The goal is to centralize volunteer opportunities, improve tracking, and increase visibility. Council expressed enthusiasm and requested features like age filters and family-friendly options.
- Events Recap 2025 and Redmond Lights 2025 Program Plan: Staff presented a recap of Derby Days 2025: estimated attendance of 35,000; 88.8% of attendees likely to return; $109,500 in sponsorship dollars; 185 pounds of waste diverted (3,800 items); and a 100% human-, EV-, or RNG-powered parade. New elements included cooling centers and a bubble/foam party. Redmond Lights 2025 will run December 6, 2025, to January 5, 2026, with light installations at Downtown Park and a new activation at Estera Park (three temporary public art pieces). Kick-off event December 6 from 4–8 PM, free and culturally inclusive. Budget: $135,000; $68,000 in sponsorships secured. Council suggested promoting hotel partnerships and using the activation to announce the lighting of Estera Park.
- Mobile Command Post Tour for Council: Police Chief Lowe announced the new mobile command post was delivered the previous day and set up in the parking lot for council to tour. The tour concluded the meeting.
Key Outcomes
- Both action items (Wave Aquatics amendment and parks impact fee study contract) were approved for placement on the consent calendars of November 18 and November 3, respectively, with no opposition.
- Informational items were received and discussed. Council requested additional data on Old Fire House historical attendance and hour changes, and encouraged scaling successful pilots from the ESAP update. The volunteer program timeline and platform details were noted.
- The council toured the new mobile command post after adjournment.
Meeting Transcript
I'm calling this meeting to order. This is the Parks and Environmental Sustainability Committee of the Hole Meeting held on Tuesday, October 28th, 2025. I'm sorry, October 28th, 2025 commencing at 432 p.m. Council members in attendance are Council President Kritzer, Council Vice President Forsythe, Councilmember Salah Houdin and Stewart. And online joining us is Council Member Fields and myself, Councilmember Noreva Comina as a presiding officer. Any late arrivals, uh, I will let you know for the record when they arrive. Uh we have two action items to discuss today, five informational items from this committee, and then we'll have uh two I'm sorry, one item from safety on the agenda today. The first item on the agenda today is the amendment to the operational services agreement between the city of Redmond and Wave Aquatics. Joining us this afternoon is Director Hamilton. And Deputy Director Hookner. Welcome. Good afternoon, City Council. Um I'm Director Lorreen Hamilton. I'm joined today by my deputy director Zach Hovener. Uh and the item we're bringing forward today is an amendment to our operational services agreement between the city and Wave Aquatics. Wave Aquatics has um operated the city's pool, um, and we're looking to continue that with some um updates and changes and improvements. So I'll hand it over to Zach to finish this item. Good evening, Council. As Lorraine mentioned, we're looking to exercise the final renewal option from the 2020 operational services agreement, extending Wave Aquatics management of the Redmond pool for five years. This amendment strengthens our 15-year partnership by enhancing community access, updating operational standards, and mon modernizing compliance requirements to better serve our community. This has been a collaborative process. This amendment represents a collaborative effort between the city Redmond staff, WAVE Aquatics staff, the outgoing interim executive director from WAVE, and the newly appointed executive director. His name is Dave Glenn. Um, in addition to the Wave Aquatics Board leadership through multiple meetings, communications, and check-ins. This agreement has been reviewed by our legal and risk teams. Both parties recognize that the original 2020 agreement lacks specificity, causing unintended operational challenges. Some of those high-level improvements that we address to this amendment include formalized resident priority and community access. That was not explicitly detailed in the original 2020 operating agreement, establishing clear because customer service standards align with city expectations, and created accountability through enhanced reporting requirements for data informed decision making. Some of the key negotiated terms include dedicated city programming. So we have put in 200 hours of guarded pool time annually for city programming, a 100% increase from the previous agreement. Um that includes an additional three hours weekly during the summer surge, June through August for six hours total weekly during that time frame. We also address resident priority. So in all other um registration windows for Redmond recreation programs, we offer um Redmond residents that live in 98052 or work um in 9052 uh early access. This agreement also um requires WAVE to uh hit that same mark uh for 9052 when um signing up for programs. We also identified a peak hours um definition, uh Monday through Friday, 8 to 11 a.m. and 3 to 8 p.m. Saturdays eight eight a.m. to four p.m. and sundays, nine a.m. to 330. We also have uh peak hours protection for community-based programming, which would include a minimum of 55% of all operable operational hours reserved for programs such as water safety and drowning prevention, learn to swim, swim lessons, aquatic construction, adult and senior aquatic fitness therapy, masters, and recreational programs, lap swimming, family swim, uh as well as open and recreational swimming, and lastly, um adaptive and inclusionary or therapeutic programs. Community-based programming excludes facility rentals, uh competitive swim dive team practices and meets, school district use, as well as private lessons or programs restricted to specific organizations. Additional enhancements include fee assistance administration that will be aligned with city processes, improving um uh highlighting operational and maintenance responsibilities. And in closing, uh staff recommends placing this amendment on the November 18th consent calendar for approval. At this time, we'd be happy to answer any questions. Yes, sorry, I missed customer service expectations. Um throughout the years, we have had uh some concerns throughout the community on customer service standards, and so through this agreement, we've worked with um WAVE Aquatics leadership as well as our own city uh customer service standards, and we'll be offering twice annual customer service training for WAVE Aquatics as well as providing them with our standardized um policies and procedures regarding um citywide customer service. Wonderful. Sounds like uh a win for Redmond there. Um council, do you have any questions?
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