Really?

You make it look easy.

Good morning.

The April ninth meeting of the Governance and Utilities Committee will come to order.

It is nine thirty-three A.M.

I'm Joy Hollingsworth, your committee chair.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember McCattle.

Councilmember Juarez.

Here.

Council Mayor.

Member Barbera.

Present.

Councilmember Strauss.

Here.

And Chair Hollingsworth.

Here.

Chair, there are four present.

And yes, chair, there are four council members present.

Thank you.

Thank you, Clerk.

Uh, Councilmember Kettle is excused for today.

Welcome to the governance and utilities committee.

We have a packed agenda today, so we're looking forward to all the items on the agenda.

So thank you all who showed up.

I don't know if we I know that we're having a little technical difficulties with our online uh sign-up, so looking forward to hearing our public commenters.

Um, we're gonna now consider the agenda, and if there's no objection, the agenda will be adopted.

Hearing none, the agenda is adopted.

With that, we're gonna now open the hybrid public comment period.

Public comments should be related to the items on today's agenda or be within the purview of the committee.

Clerk, how many speakers do we have?

Currently, we have zero in-person speakers and four remote speakers.

Awesome.

Every speaker will get two minutes, but I will read the instructions.

Public comment will be moderated in the following manner.

Speakers will be called in the order in which they register on the council's website and the sign-up sheet available here in council chambers.

Starting with the speakers in person first, we have none, so we're gonna jump straight to online.

Uh, if you have not registered to speak, would like to, you can sign up before the end of the public comment period.

When speaking, please begin by stating your name and the item you are addressing.

Speakers will hear a chime with ten seconds or less.

Uh, excuse me, at ten seconds.

And you thank you.

That's the sound.

You will, you might hear that sound.

Um, and that is ten seconds.

Uh, and you still have time.

All right.

Uh, public comment period is now open.

We're going to begin with the first speakers on the list.

I'm looking online.

There looks like there are four people that have signed up, but they're not present.

Can IT confirm if any of the speakers are present?

We're working on the issue right now.

This might take a little while.

No worries, son.

Thank you so much.

We're gonna be at ease until we kind of figure out the uh online thing.

So just bear with us.

I don't have any good jokes.

You may want to recess for a few minutes.

Okay, so we're gonna be in reset.

Thank you, son.

We're gonna recess for five minutes.

I'm doing math in my head, so at nine forty-one, we'll be back here.

Uh, we're gonna just take a recess.

Thank you, son.

Online piece, then we'll insert public comment whenever that comes.

Sounds good.

Awesome.

Okay.

T, can you confirm if the people that I see on this document present are allowed to speak?

I'm sure we can go for it from here.

Okay, so we can start.

Okay.

Thank you, son.

We'll do that.

Do we have any sign ups in person?

Nope.

Awesome.

All right, we're going to start with our online commenters.

I do see June Blue Spruce.

You're going to press star six.

Give us oh, we have to take the roll.

My bad.

I'm just jumping into stuff.

One second.

Uh clerk, will you please call the roll?

We're gonna restart uh the meeting.

Thank you.

Councilmember Kettle.

Councilmember Juarez.

Here.

Councilmember Rivera.

Councilmember Strauss.

Chair Hollingsworth.

Here.

Chair, we have four present.

Uh three president and Councilmember Rivera's on her way.

We're gonna go ahead and start with public comment.

So I see June Blue Spruce press star six, and you can go ahead and unmute yourself.

Can you hear me?

Yes, loud and clear.

Go ahead.

Hello.

Yeah.

Okay.

I want to thank those at SPU who responded positively to previous comments.

My message to the council.

Do not further relax environmental protections.

Seattle used to be a West Coast leader in stormwater management.

Now we're being pressured to deregulate environmental standards to develop more housing.

The PR campaign to make trees the enemy of development and housing is based on lies we can no longer afford to act on.

Climate change is here.

You can see it in our much hotter summers and bigger winter rainstorms, drought and flooding.

In winter, Seattle will have more runoff volume, putting higher strain on a built system with constrained capacity.

The city and Seattle's ratepayers are spending millions of dollars now just to prevent the worst impacts.

Large mature trees, especially conifers, do this work for free and have hundreds of other health and ecosystem benefits.

When they are cut for development, the city creates problems you can't solve and expenses that ratepayers can't afford.

Please take these actions.

Implement new and retained trees as stormwater managements like other cities, best management practices or BMBs.

Other Washington cities have done this.

All the data required to do the calculation are available in the Arborist reports.

Please require new and retained trees in all BMP applications as in the Boston codes.

Reject the proposal to raise the threshold from 2,000 to 5,000 square foot parcels on flow control regulations in small lake basins and capacity constrained areas and correct this statement in the secret checklist.

Quote, because much of Seattle has been previously developed in its original habitants, habitants significantly altered or eliminated the potential for threatened or endangered animal species to be present in Seattle is low.

Southern resident killer whales and threatened salmon currently and historically do not have low chances of being present, although this might thank you, June.

Next we have Sandy Shetler.

Please press star six.

Don't mute yourself.

And for the record, Councilmember Rivera is here.

Thank you.

Oh hi, good morning, uh everyone.

Thank you so much for taking my comment.

Um, you may know that many people couldn't get through this morning for some technical issues.

So we thought about 30 people would be commenting, and I think it'll be much fewer, which might be nice for you.

Anyway, um yeah, again, Sandy Settler with Tree Action Seattle asking that CB 12190 be amended to recognize that trees do manage stormwater.

I think pretty much everybody knows that trees do this, so it's common sense to have our stormwater code acknowledge it.

In the meetings leading up to this bill, as DCI said that state ecology would require this, but ecology said the city would, and now it's not in the bill you'll discuss today.

Other Washington cities give credit for both retained trees and new trees in stormwater calculations on new projects.

And this isn't hard or expensive because there's already a simple formula used nationwide, iTree, based on the tree's PC size and conditions.

Besides other Washington cities, nationally, other cities also already do this, including Boston.

Please amend this bill to include this basic piece of information.

So city planners have access to all the tools they need for decision making on projects.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Sandy.

Uh, and all the people who weren't able to get through, you can always send your comments to council at Seattle.gov.

We all get that uh email.

Uh Ruth Williams, star six, unmute yourself.

Thank you.

Hello.

Um yes, my name is Ruth Williams, and I'm speaking on behalf of Thornton Creek Alliance with regard to Council Bill 12110.

We are pleased that steps are being taken to keep PCBs out of our streams, lakes, and fugit sound.

Thank you.

And we also appreciate your best available science document.

That that was a treat to see.

Um, and you all understand the value of urban ecosystems in mitigating climate change.

So I won't dwell on the value of urban urban ecosystems so far as climate change is concerned, but I will talk about the requirements of urban habitat.

The SIPA checklist states that our landscape is now so altered and damaged that the likelihood of endangered or threatened species still being here is low.

In fact, it's common knowledge that there are still some Chinook and southern resident killer whales hanging on.

Are we to just look away?

Let's protect these those small lake buffer zones by not raising from 2,000 to 5,000 square feet the allowance for untreated runoff.

Let's go further for habitat and boost the habitat value of streams and small lakes with lots of native trees and understory that provide clean, cool stormwater.

We urge you to pay attention to Senate Bill 5804, sponsored by six Democrats and one Republican that would have raised five billion in bonds backed by an existing tax on public utilities.

The income would be taken from public works and redirected to restoring salmon passage for a period of 13 years.

This one or a similar one is likely to return next session.

Let's support what the state is trying to do for salmon.

The RCO, that is the state recreation conservation office, is offering grants to support salmon recovery.

Let's do this right.

Thank you for your consideration today.

Thank you, Ruth.

Next we have David Glogger followed by Leah Hall and Julie.

David Glogger, Star 6, followed by Leah Hall.

We see you off mute, David.

Oh.

Nope, now you're on mute.

This isn't David.

Can you hear me now?

Yes.

Go right ahead, David.

All right.

Good morning.

My name is Dave Gloger.

I live in District 5.

So here we go again.

Another request from the development community.

We will make housing more affordable.

Now it's the stormwater code.

Let me give you some history.

Three years ago, they told us that if they could cut down all the trees on a property under development, then housing would be more affordable.

The legislation didn't say that, but that's the effect.

Just go look at the infell development and you'll see properties with no trees.

Then they convinced the state to pass HB 1110 to provide us with middle housing.

And Seattle went even further to increase density with the One Seattle plan.

Ultimately, this was to make housing more affordable.

I'm not seeing much middle housing.

There's one to two million dollar townhouses, and there's 95% hardscape.

Hardly a tree or a shroom.

And then they convinced the council to lower the standards that mandated CPU regimes, making housing more affordable.

But that's not what happened.

Now they want to change the stormwater code so that housing can be more affordable.

How many times do we go through this claim of producing affordable housing?

What's really happening is that Seattle is losing mature trees and the environment is being degraded.

One of the main reasons that people move here is because of our beautiful environment.

But all of these requests to change city code or damage the environment for humans and other animals in our city and our waterways.

I am asking council to do its work and not reduce the requirements of the stormwater code.

Please protect our trees to protect our environment.

As the saying goes, Will me once, shame on the developers.

Who own me four times?

Shame on the mayor, the council, and STCI.

Thank you for your work.

Thank you, David.

Next we have Leah Hall followed by Julie Star 6 to unmute yourself.

Hi, good morning, Leah.

Good morning.

Thank you for taking my comment.

My name is Leah Hall.

I'm speaking in regards to the 2026 Stormwater Code update.

I currently serve on the Urban Forestry Commission, but I'm not speaking at all today on behalf of the UFC, but I'm speaking as a resident and a parent of young children.

We have a responsibility to the Coast Salish peoples who treat whose treaty protected right to fish depends on healthy salmon run.

This obligation is reinforced by treaty law and the Bolt decision, which has been interpreted to require not just access to salmon, but protection of the habitat necessary for those salmon to survive.

And that habitat degradation can violate those treaty rights.

I appreciate that this ordinance identifies six CPD quinone as harmful to salmon and commits to improved stormwater treatment.

But right now it's it's acknowledged but not yet operationalized in the code.

So I'm asking for three things.

So first, establish a high a clear hierarchy, preserving existing mature trees for all the benefits that we know that green this green infrastructure provides for stormwater runoff.

Minimize the disturbance of existing trees and only then rely on replacement planting.

Second, require STU to publish approved best management practices for tire-derived pollutants and prioritize retrofits and coho bearing basins.

Third, narrow exemptions for roadway utility and maintenance work so that projects don't perpetuate untreated stormwater runoff so that routine public works do not continue to bypass the very standards that this code is meant to enforce.

This bill identifies the problem, so why don't we do everything in our power to act on it?

The argument that we've already degraded our environment past the point where we can't hope for endangered species to come back is like saying that we're gonna give up on trying to prevent gun violence in areas and neighborhoods that have historically been disenfranchised and then just let it keep on happening.

So please do everything in your power.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Leah.

Next we have Julie, followed by uh Jennifer David Haynes.

We do not see you present, uh, but you're next, and then Susan, our last speaker.

Star six, Julie.

We still see you on mute star six to unmute yourself.

There you go.

Sorry, I apologize.

I was doing pounds.

No worries, you're good.

Go ahead.

Um, great.

Good morning.

Thank you, thank you, everybody, for calling this meeting.

Although I'm a little bit frustrated because it was called so short of time for all of us to get organized and with the technical obstacles, but so I'm glad to be on now.

And also I'm really glad to be on now because I have a storm issue that's happening probably 20 feet from our property that we've been trying to get the city of Seattle to pay attention to.

We had um this water issue has been going down our street for years.

We've been asking for the city to look at it.

Every time they come and look at it, they've said, oh, it's just water, it's fine.

Well, this has been built on also a development that has been happening across the street from us.

Two 100-year-old trees were taken down.

And we asked at the time, please do a water study.

Because if these trees are taken down, they absorb a lot of the water, a lot of water.

And let me remind you, one of the trees, two eagles were using actively up until a couple days before they were taken down, and this made national news.

Well, now we're a couple weeks out.

I look at that stormwater coming down, and now it's strong and it's consistent.

And again, I would love the city to come out and look at that.

And all of this was done and approved without a water study.

We asked for a water study.

We asked for a soil study, because there's three environmental critical areas on this development.

But the city passed it and gave them a permit to build it.

So that's it's done.

But now, please look at the water issue because it is a concern.

Thank you so much.

Oh, I would just like please for the city to be aware also if we make a complaint.

Never mind.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you, Julie.

And just a reminder that buzz is that you still have 10 seconds left.

Thank you, Julie.

Next, we have uh Jennifer God for you, followed by David Haynes and then Susan.

Star 6 to unmute yourself.

Uh hello.

Hear you.

Hello, goodbye.

I'm checking you can you are okay good.

All right.

I I'm not gonna be able to probably finish my comment because of all the technical difficulties.

I have a rehearsal that starts at 10 a.m.

and I do not get PTO.

So I will do my best.

Um thank FU for improving some of the conditions for trees and the stormwater code, soil cell technology despite tremendous pressure from special interests.

1026 p.m.

yesterday, FDCI announced this meeting with less than 24 hours.

Um, you know, Seattle used to be leading the pack in stormwater management.

Now we're being pressured endlessly to deregulate uh impervious hard surfaces, increased water pollution, trees and screen space filter flow and cool it for free.

Studies repeatedly show deforestation causes drought, which we are now in for the fourth year.

Teach sound keepers' latest salmon studies showed increased mortality last year, keep a checklist and BAS report, contain inaccuracies, and I would it is based on 11-year-old info, largely.

I would really encourage council to read the code and public comments.

Um what I would ask for in the first public meetings.

So what I would ask for in the first public meetings, we asked for trees to be implemented as BMPs like other Washington cities.

Um Seattle basically said ecology would have to do that.

Ecology said Seattle has to do it.

And then the final public comment.

So then it's by that it's too late.

And all the information required to do this calculation is on the required RBRS report.

Um please consider requirement trees like in the Boston code.

Uh Seattle quotes in the call from ecology.

Larger trees are found to have greater transpiration and interception rates.

Therefore, larger trees and retained trees are more valuable to stormwater uptake than planting a new tree.

Uh please reject the threshold breathing from 2000 5,000 square feet parcels, flow control regulations.

It's basically allowing more pollution in small lake basins and capacity constrained areas.

Make it make sense.

I have not been able to.

I have lots of stormwater professional friends.

None of them have any explanation of why this would make sense.

It does not align with the fact that we're increasing uh water quality for animals.

And there are inactories in the inaccuracies in the CIPA threshold.

Uh people checklist saying that the chance of endangered species is low.

Uh that is not historical.

Thank you, Jennifer.

Um next we have I don't see David Haynes present.

Last speaker is Susan.

Susan, please press star six to unmute yourself.

Good morning.

Can you hear me?

Good morning.

We can't.

Hi, great.

Uh I'd like to offer comments on CB121190.

Um thanks for the work already done by SPU on such an expansive and critical manual.

Uh the stated purpose of the City of Seattle Stormwater Code, chapters 22800 to 22808 is to protect life, property, public health, and the environment from the adverse impacts of urban stormwater runoff.

Uh since the atmospheric river in December, I've been tracking and recording the number of combined sewer overflows occurring throughout the city during each rainstorm.

There have been multiple events that have dumped outsized amounts of human-generated sewage and pollution into our waterways because we now lack the proper infrastructure and adequate tree canopy to help mitigate stormwater flow.

Over the past couple years, especially policy implemented by the city has resulted in a diminished tree canopy, an increase in payment, which results in a higher level into our waterways.

A study released last month by the encyclopedia of Puget Sound shows that Puget Sound now has high levels of nitrogen as a direct result of the increased sewage overflows, which is depleting oxygen levels, which will accelerate adverse impacts on marine life.

With Seattle being a dominant loader, the city has an increased responsibility to mitigate these overflows.

And I'd like to echo the earlier comment that we are obligated to honor federally recognized treaty rights of our tribal communities and do what's necessary to restore healthy habitat for our salmon.

Trail Landerway, they're extremely expensive projects that attempt to offset stormwater levels and lagging stormwater infrastructure, including the large catchment systems now being installed to the tune of $2 million per block as per the capital improvement project.

That'll help mitigate stormwater, but won't regain lost carbon capture, which contributes to the warming of the atmosphere, not to mention loss of high levels of transpiration needed to balance the rain cycle.

There's a 700 million dollar sewer project underway also to help mitigate sewage and stormwater, but ratepayers are the ones that are these costs.

How much do developers pay to offset the mass imbalance being created?

Please amend this bill so we can start repairing the extensive damage already done.

Thank you.

Thank you, Susan.

Uh, and just for just to clarify, we have David Haynes signed up.

Uh IT, I don't see them present.

Will you do a confirmation before we close public comment?

Affirmative, we do not see that last caller.

All right, awesome.

Thank you so much.

So now the uh public comment period is now closed.

I apologize for the some of the technical difficulties that we have, but you can still send us comments at council at Seattle.gov to send in your comments as well.

And this is also the first uh presentation, so we'll have more time to do public comment about the stormwater and all the good things that we have coming on with committee.

Um okay, so now we're gonna jump into our items.

A business clerk, we please call agenda items one through three into the record.

And at this time, I'm gonna invite Director Barnett to the table and our Seattle Ethics folks.

Thank you.

Agenda items one, two, and three appointments three, four, seven, zero, three, four, seven, two, and three, four, seven, three.

Appointments of Evan M.

Smith, Andrea Alino, and Anita Kendewala as members of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.

For briefing, discussions, and possible vote.

Thank you for being here.

Please introduce yourself and you can jump right into your presentation.

Good morning.

Good morning.

I'm Wayne Barnett.

I'm the executive director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission.

And I'm here today to present three appointees to you.

Good morning.

My name is Sandra Alino, and I am here a prowly now representing the commission.

I don't know if it is a good time to introduce myself.

Yeah.

Okay.

So I am an immigration lawyer.

Oh, give us one second.

I'm sorry.

We'll we'll do we'll have uh we'll have Director Barnett lead in and then we'll jump to you.

I'm sorry, you're all good.

Thank you, Director.

Do you want to go to Anita first?

Do you want to do that?

Oh, oh, Anita's here.

I'm sorry, I apologize.

I didn't know online.

Hi, hi Anita, good morning.

Go ahead and introduce yourself.

Uh good morning.

Uh my name is Anita Kandelba.

Um thank you for uh letting me be here.

And I'm sorry I'm not there in person.

I'm having uh some mobility issues.

Uh so thank you for letting me appear by Sam.

No worries, you're all good.

Good morning.

All right.

All right, director.

I should also introduce Evan Smith.

He's not able to be with us today.

He's in San Francisco, but he is the other appointee to the commission.

So we thank you for him very much, both of you.

Yes.

Yes.

All right.

And the ethics elections commission, it is a seven-member board, which is now back to seven.

We were down to five.

So we were very close to a having quorum issues every time we got together.

So thank you very much for getting us back to full speed.

Um, Madam Council President, as well as Ms.

Ms.

Mayor.

So we enforce the ethics code, the elections code, the whistleblower protection code, the political consultant code.

So yes, we have a big brief.

Um we're a very small staff, so yes.

I think we're all about making sure the government works as well as it can.

We can't guarantee anybody that's gonna have ethical government.

We just do our best to ensure it.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you, Director Uh Barnett and Andrea, right?

Uh go ahead and tell us a little about yourself, and then Anita will jump to you as well.

Okay, sounds good.

Thank you so much.

Yes, my name is Andrea Lino, and I have work in Seattle and use the benefits that the city has since 2013.

Uh I am an immigration lawyer and have worked with vulnerable immigrant population since I graduated from law school in 2015.

Uh, as a regular citizen of Seattle, a mother, a daily use of user of public transportation, and someone who relies on our school system.

I feel the responsibility to be involved in the community that I call home.

Uh participating in these commission is not just an opportunity, it's a way to actively exercise my civic duty and give back to the city that shapes my family every day.

At a time when trusting government is so needed, uh, these works help reveal that trust by holding leaders accountable and making sure uh rules are not just written but also enforce.

It also created space for people like me to engage directly to contribute to our system that values equity, transparency, and for instance.

For me, being involved is about more than participation, it's about helping shape of government that we can believe in for our own self and for the next generation.

So I am very proud to be part of the commission.

Awesome.

Thank you so much uh for that.

And uh Anita will jump to you before we jump and I ask my colleagues if they have any questions.

Um Thanks.

I said my name is Anita.

I'm a lawyer here in Seattle.

I moved here in 2008, and um sort of a convert to uh to living here uh love the city.

Um prior to working at the Pacific A Law Group, which is where I have been for a little over a year.

I was the King County public defender, so I have a lot of familiarity with um sort of local government and uh wanting and and have sort of a deep and long-standing commitment to wanting to make sure that we are uh that the government is serving its its uh uh is serving the people of the city with uh integrity and sort of the highest uh degree of ethics, and so I'm excited to get to be a part again of our local government in some fashion.

Awesome, thank you, Anita.

Um, and I know that Evan Smith is not here.

He was my uh pick, my nomination for this uh oh you two, oh, you too as well.

Awesome.

We both awesome, both myself and council member Rivera, good mind sink alike.

And um, and so just really grateful for his persistence of wanting to be on this commission.

I know that we have a lot of commissions in the city of Seattle, and this is one of my favorite ones.

I think one of the most important ones as well, um, making sure that we are transparent and uh during our our ethics in uh in Seattle.

So we know how important though that is.

Uh colleagues at this time.

Uh, do you have any questions, Councilmember Rivera?

No questions.

I did want to say that um Evan Smith sat on the Families Education Preschool Promise Levy Oversight Committee, and that's where I got to meet Evan.

So um he his time is is over at the levy oversight committee, and I'm glad that he um uh uh is willing to serve in these volunteer positions um and that he's willing to do now a stint at the ethics commission.

So um uh we're really lucky to have all of you here wanting to volunteer your time to do this really important work.

So wanted wanted to say that.

So yeah, he was both our pits.

Awesome.

And and we're grateful for everyone as well.

Does anyone have any other further comments?

Well, we're grateful for your service and then also too for volunteer volunteering as well.

We know it's a lot of time uh commitment, so we're really grateful.

Are there any other closing comments before we take a vote on these appointments?

No, awesome.

All right.

Um, I'm gonna go ahead and move that the committee recommends confirmation of appointment 3470, 3472, and 3473.

Is there a second?

I will second.

Awesome, thank you.

It's been moved and second to recommend confirmation and appointments.

Are there any other final comments?

Okay, will the clerk please call the roll?

Councilmember Warren's.

Hi.

Councilmember Rivera.

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss.

All right, Chair Hollingsworth.

Yes.

Four in favor, zero opposed.

Awesome.

Thank you, thank you.

Uh it passes, and this will go to full council.

Let me read my notes on Tuesday, April 14th.

Thank you, Andrea.

Really appreciate your time and commitment to this work.

Anita, thank you for being here as well.

Um, we're grateful to have you serve us as well, and then Evan.

Um, looking forward to working with you all.

So thank you.

Thank you for coming down.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Uh, will the clerk please read item number two into the record, or excuse me, we just voted on that.

Item number four into the record, and our presenters, um, Miss Sarah Osborne and Chef Joel are coming to the table.

Agenda item four, informational item two eight seven four homemade food waste program presentation for briefing and discussion.

Awesome.

So grateful uh for Sarah Osborne and Chef Joel.

We're going to first, before uh right now, we're gonna have uh us put on the presentation.

Colleagues, I invited uh these guests uh as you all know, um food waste is big in our city, uh, and always talking about food access and what we can do better as a government.

Um, and so uh this group with Miss Sarah Osborne and Chef Joel have a great presentation, they have a wealth of knowledge uh in this space, and we're looking forward to hearing about their um their recommendations um and also uh their their plan and ideas.

So welcome.

Go ahead and introduce yourself.

We're really happy to see you all, and you can jump right into your presentation.

All right, my name is Sarah Osborne.

I am the public affairs director for Safeway, but I do have to say I'm not here in official capacity representing Safeway.

I am here with 20 years of experience of private public partnerships to address food insecurity.

Um give you a few of my credentials so you know the context from which I'm speaking.

Uh so I partnered with the Department of Health to secure and execute the country's largest SNAP produce match in 220 stores.

Um I work with Northwest Harvest to transition a food drive model into a model that gets assistance directly to households to make their own choices and purchase food.

Um I revamped the food rescue program at all of our stores over the series of three years, so really understand everywhere in this system there is food waste.

Um I work with the city on on lifting up fresh bucks and still executing it as best we can, as well as um revamping our food rescue in the city stores, so to increase the efficacy and the equity of the food rescue and donation program.

Uh in addition, we give millions in grants of for food security every year.

So very familiar with the nonprofit organizations that do this work, and I am the chair of the Washington Food Coalition, which is an association of 330 food banks throughout the state.

So I come with some knowledge um about the gaps and voids in this system, but also the ways that private and public partnerships um can address those, which is why I'm very excited to be working and advising homemade in this new project.

Um, but so please I am proud to introduce I'm not really introducing, but Joel, take it away.

Yeah, thank you.

Uh hard to follow that.

Um, but I'm Joel Gameron.

I'm uh born and raised here in Seattle.

Um I am a chef and I am uh well known nationally for food waste.

I wrote a cookbook called Cooking Scrappy.

I have a cooking show on AE all about called Scraps.

I go on the Today Show four to six times a year, good morning America, um, and comment nationally about uh the problem that we waste about 40% of the food that we create here in America.

Um trillions of food just down the tubes, which is crazy.

Um and I launched the and run the largest cooking school free cooking platform in America called Homemade, which is two blocks from here.

So I was born two blocks from here, run this company two boxes from here.

Couldn't be more proud to be here.

So grateful, uh Joy, for you inviting us and Sarah for including me.

So first, before we get into solutions, we'll talk about the issues currently in the food and nutrition security program.

So this is true everywhere.

This is not just a city issue, um, but statewide, countywide, citywide.

Food security programs were not created for the people, we're not created to be easily accessible for the people who use them.

They're very fractured by the agencies who run them, different motivations, but essentially in an industry in a private industry that does everything it can to be frictionless and really user obsessed.

The government programs are opposite.

They're very difficult.

There's so many programs.

There's basic foo in the Snap, EBT, WIC, there's now Medicaid waivers, there's meal programs, there's a lot of different options.

But if you're a person who needs to access all of those, they're being managed by different agencies, they're being found on different platforms.

And if you have a job, and if you're a working parent or if you're working parent and a caretaker, it is really difficult to navigate that those programs.

Um part of our solution today is really having one place where somebody can learn about all the different food assistants that could be available to them.

Second, uh, as I mentioned, there is waste in the system that is gonna be inherent in any system where people don't choose the food that is being provided to them.

Um so we'll talk about how this can address that a bit.

But you can imagine if you're receiving food boxes where you didn't necessarily choose, there's probably some food that goes to waste that your family might not be able to eat or prefer not to eat.

It just it happens, we know it happens, we've seen it happen several times, um, where people are provided the boxes, they take food out of the boxes, leave it there outside of the food bank, and they go, we know it exists, but there should there is solutions for that.

There's also unfamiliar foods in food banks.

We have a wide variety of cultures in Seattle, obviously, and they're going into the food bank with the same foods, might not necessarily be familiar with those foods.

So the food bank, even though people are in that need, if they don't know how to cook the food or not able to cook the food.

Sarah, that can I stop you for one second because you're kind of really going fast here.

Okay.

If you would just indulge me for one minute, Council President.

Absolutely.

I have a printout of a PowerPoint, and it's not lining up with what you had.

Is this do I have the right one?

You do.

We had we added there are two additional slides.

I can get you a copy of this.

Oh, okay.

So I just I'll send my I'll get my staff to get you the two additional slides that were added.

Oh, so they're in front of meat homemade, or I'm not sure.

Yeah, so we there's two slides that are the background on this uh missing.

Yeah, I'll get those to you.

We we they they were added.

I apologize for that.

Okay.

I got you.

Page numbers are always helpful.

So I I know that that was my slip up.

I should I should have let I should have let them know.

I know.

Sarah knows how I feel about this.

How I feel about dang page numbers.

So hopefully my staff is watching.

So I'm over here flipping like I can't find this.

Where the hell is it?

Okay, we got it.

Yours went right into the solutions.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

I apologize.

Yeah, that's we can move on to that.

They're on it.

And then this current programs, we are providing food.

The city is investing millions of dollars to provide food.

But there is very little cooking instruction.

And why is cooking important?

Cooking is so so important because it improves health, it reduces food costs, and it reduces waste.

Proven time and time again, but there is very little culinary instruction involved in our food and nutrition security program.

So you can see there is an increase of ultra-processed food consumption.

That's there's a variety of reasons for that, but one of them is people are cooking much less.

62% of calories that children consume, ultra-processed foods.

Diet-related chronic diseases are increasing.

Food waste.

We all know that's a problem.

60% of food waste happens at home.

And there's definitely a solution to that.

Also, if households are cooking, they will be saving a lot more money.

They'll be able to stretch their benefits, stretch a limited budget to have healthier foods.

What we do know is that culinary classes are effective.

Teaching kitchens, when done properly, do actually lead to people saving money and eating healthier.

The issue is they're not scalable.

These are in-person, limited capacity, it's really not scalable to reach everybody who needs to be reached with these cooking classes.

And the instruction has to, has to, has to be tailored to foods that people can afford, that their family will actually eat, and that fit into real, real schedules.

And most importantly, the instruction needs to be fun.

It needs to be joyful.

It needs to be inspiring.

We need to feel good about it and want to go home and whip it up as soon as possible.

You mean feel good about cooking?

Cooking, yes.

Yeah.

We can even inspire you to come in.

We can get you there.

But cooking is literally, it's life-changing.

If you had not done it before and now are inspired to do so, it just needs to be accessible.

And this is what I get up in the morning thinking about every single day.

How do I get people, like councilwoman Juarez, to cook more?

I'm not gonna do it.

I don't have to.

Start now.

So I launched Home Aid five years ago in my garage in West Seattle with some cell phones.

Um I used to be the head chef for a company called Sir Litab, which is also based here, which runs cooking classes out of their stores.

But I, like Sarah recognize that's not scalable.

How do I reach more people?

Um it's for a pretty affluent community.

How do we open that up to the masses?

So I launched Home Aid with a mission of make free cooking classes because I believe everyone deserves to learn how to cook.

Um and how do we reach millions of people?

So since then of launching at my garage, we have done that.

We reach about 20 million students a year.

We have a class completion rate of about 80%.

We have 2500 cooking videos in our ever growing library.

We work with amazing partners like Safeway, um, like GE, um, like some amazing kitchen aid, uh, incredible foods that align up with our ethics of whole foods, minimally processed foods.

And we have the most badass fun chefs in the world that make cooking fun.

We are the free Peloton of cooking, and that is why we are uh we are resonating and we're effective and we're impactful.

And uh I've never sat in a room like this, I've never spoken to people uh like yourselves, but um it makes so much sense sitting up here.

It feels right, it feels organic.

Um, and I'm really grateful for Sarah tapping me to to be a part of this journey.

Um what we know is that to scale, we need to lean into two really big pieces.

One is videos.

Videos really drive behavior change.

If you want to get people to cook more and eat better, you better make some videos better, and they better be fun and they better be quick and snappy.

Eight out of ten people say that food videos drive them to cook more.

Eighty percent of people say that.

72% feel more confident cooking healthy meals after watching videos.

Um you can imagine social media.

We have this data.

This is very proven, this is not new.

Um, cooking videos, if you master that craft, which we have done at HomeMade, can be incredibly impactful.

And the other is AI, which Sarah's gonna talk about.

So AI, as I'm sure you have seen, has emerged hugely in the retail grocery market, and that is because we know that we can show up right when people are making food decisions, which is the most important time to show up.

Yeah.

So AI is now number two most influential shopping source.

70% of consumers have said that AI influences the food that they buy, and already 168 billion is being invested to figure out how we can use AI to influence people's food decisions.

But here's why we're bringing it up today.

Bottom line, video and AI influence food decisions, but the city does have the ability to adopt those tools for good and help give people good food guidance.

So, as we were developing this plan, we did have some we do have some seed partners to really kind of develop the benefits of what this could be.

So the Department of Health really knows this is gonna improve nutrition security.

Department of Human Services is optimistic that it can improve food security.

And then we do have partners um at the World Resources Institute that want to help us measure that it actually does change behavior, and they're partnering with the UN and EPA, um, mostly focused on food waste.

So all three of these areas where we think this can have a huge impact.

We do have partners that are already that are ready to support us and help us grow.

I also do want to say this is providing the tools, the expertise, the fun, the media, but when we have a partner, you influence the content.

So it would be the city telling us what types of recipes, what types of partners we should bring in, what community leaders, et cetera.

So as we're presenting this, please do know that the content of anything that is in the AI systems or on the video is created in partnership with communities and with city.

Yep.

And we know Seattle has been a leader in investing millions of dollars in getting people food.

Food assistance, we are the assistance side.

That is what we're talking about today.

Food, you guys rock in.

Seattle's amazing.

If we layer on assistance, can we stretch that food further for people?

Can it can it do better for them?

So, how are we gonna do that?

The first is we developed text support.

So imagine this like a little chef in your pocket.

This is free, real-time SMS.

This is for digital equity equality, right?

So this is not an app that you sign up for where you make a login or a password.

You literally see a QR code at a food bank at a grocery store at a farmer's market, you scan it with your phone, and you are texting with culinary guidance.

You scan it with your phone, and you are texting with culinary guidance.

We call it good food guidance.

And it helps you get dinner on the table based off of what's culturally relevant, your budget, how many people are in your family, what is in front of you.

It knows what's on the shelves, it knows what's at the farmer's market, and it can help you navigate that, which is so hard for us at four o'clock when you've got two kids screaming or you're running from job to job.

So to have some assistance in that is really important.

Um what we know is that to get people into this guidance, the front door is a recipe.

People love recipes.

So what you're not gonna see is a sign of the tool.

Hey, sign up for this tool.

This tool comes with your food prescription box.

You'll never hear us use the word tool.

What you're gonna see is gorgeous photos that are mouthwatering that make sense that make you want to eat that, and that's what leads to a scan, and then ultimately to further guidance.

We know recipes are the gateway because we've proven that it's a 17x engagement on social videos of 3x in click-through rates on emails and a six times more open rate on text message.

One important note too is that this can be in any language.

Yep.

It could be changed to any language somebody needs.

Totally free for people.

In addition to the text tool and the guidance, we know that some people don't love their phones and are more visual, learn different ways.

So we will have a video and resource hub.

So this is a library of videos.

You might recognize someone here stealing the show, rocking out the potatoes.

Uh, you did so good.

Um, but but working she juggled potatoes.

She juggled them.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Um like with joy with community leaders, right?

Um, from your districts, from our neighborhoods, showing and highlighting the cultural abundance that we have here in Seattle and highlighting all the amazing local resources.

So that could be pointing people in the right direction of where they can really find their food bank or what kind of benefits they qualify for.

Um, and nothing replaces being in person.

Nothing.

When you're cooking, you're smelling, you're touching, you're feeling, you use all of your senses.

We just held a field trip uh that was so impactful.

We just went to El Santro uh de la Raza, which is in Beacon Hill, uh, which is a community center.

So a part of our program is not just AI, it's not just a text and tool, and it's not just a website.

We totally lean into this idea that in real life has to happen, but it needs to be community-led.

We need to be told by the community what is appropriate, what is gonna resonate with this neighborhood, and then we will bring in the homemade assistance to support that.

So, now how is the good food guidance gonna help the Seattle Food Plan?

There are a lot of goals in the Seattle Food Plan, but we identified four that this could really help enhance.

So, first is community food security.

So, generally, anybody can think about this.

If you're getting guidance at home about how to stretch what you already have, what you've already purchased, you are more food secure.

This this tool is amazing with those skills.

So just generally, even though that's not in the Seattle Food Plan, teaching those skills is priceless.

But second, it really can strengthen fresh bucks, one of my very favorite programs.

Um, I know that about 70% of fresh bucks are redeemed at Safeway stores.

Um, I know there's a lot of other independent stores and farmers markets and whatnot that can redeem those as well, and people should be prompted and reminded of that.

So if they're using the tool, it could say, hey, do you know in that your neighborhood, this store on the corner actually accepts fresh bucks too, and they have this type of produce that you might be looking for.

Same with farmers markets.

It could say the farmers market in Delridge has these type of greens, or they could ask that that they can ask the texting tool, where can I find this specific type of green that my family likes?

It'll tell it which farmers market is carrying that, or which corner store could be carrying that.

So it really helps promote those other retailers that are part of the fresh box program for diversifying recipes for for more types of produce.

Um we also know we see what people purchase with the fresh bucks, and it's a lot of fresh cut fruit, which is beautiful, and that's great, and we know why, because it's convenient.

Convenience is always top priority.

Convenience and cost.

The city's taking care of cost.

We really need to work on the convenience.

And so this tool can help people realize you can cut that fruit at home, or you can try different types of fruits or different types of vegetables.

Here's much how much money you would save if you did so.

Here's how long it would take you.

If they're interested in do it, like just re-inspire them to do it.

I know when I became re-inspired to cut my own fruit, it is very much so money saving.

Um, assistance in food is medicine context.

This is a huge topic right now.

Um we are having conversations about the Medicaid waivers, but for for anybody in your city who is using the Medicaid waivers for food boxes, for pantry stocking, for all of that type of thing, this assistance with this texting tool is really gonna help them be able to transform the food they receive into actual meals that they're gonna want to eat.

This could be really great assistance for food banks.

Uh, food banks, as you know, they operate with volunteer labor.

And so sometimes the volunteers aren't necessarily as skilled or familiar with the people that they're serving to be able to serve them appropriately.

So there's a lot of translation that's required, and this tool can help them do so.

If they're if there's unfamiliar foods where somebody's coming in from a different culture and being introduced to a certain kind of produce, it can suggest it can suggest recipes that are more familiar.

I know somebody on Chair Hollingsburg's staff, Nina told us when her grandma came here from Vietnam, she used food banks quite a bit.

She had never seen a potato in her life.

But fast forward one year later, and she made the best Vietnamese potato dish anybody's ever tasted.

And so sometimes it's just about that transition.

We need it to be culturally relevant, but we also need it to be locally produced.

And sometimes those things can't coexist, but a really good recipe can help.

Yeah, and I and just walking through some food banks, you don't get to choose what's on the shelves of the food banks.

You can't reliably know that they're gonna have peppers that day or chicken.

So a lot of people don't have that cooking skill to say I can just use what they have today.

They don't have that cooking skill.

So this instantly again gives them a chef in their pockets and guidance to help them make the most of what's around them.

And as we're transitioning, I think Councilmember Warz had a question.

Council Member Wars.

Oh, yeah.

I just want to slow you down for a sec.

Um, we work closely with now Kelly is my chief of staff, Kelly Brown, as you know, at North Haven, uh, up in D5, and we work really closely to get the Seattle Indian Health Board Clinic within North Haven.

And we also what what piqued our interest and what we were continuing to work on is the Medicaid waivers.

Can you explain a lot of that?

Because I'm I'm just gonna just cut to the chase.

This is all nice, but the bottom line is for our folks that are um well, we say food insecure, but basically hungry, mainly children.

Um, how does the Medicaid piece fit into all of this?

Because I'm just gonna be honest, I'm not gonna get this text and app and I'm not gonna do that.

But but other people might.

But my point is what how does the Medicaid piece fit into this?

So it really depends what they're receiving.

Do you know if they're receiving medically tailored meals, food boxes, or produce vouchers, or do you know that?

No, I don't.

I know that that that they they've got it through the CLIN Health Board in Indian Country for Medicaid and food is medicine.

Yeah, and that's one of the things that we're looking at at Northgate Commons for the tribes to have a position and a place there for sea to table, no middle person, indigenous food, plants, salmon, fresh foods, and that's what we're kind of dealing with right now.

But I know one big piece was the Medicaid piece that because Seattle Indian Health Board and Tribes, it's really interesting, but I'll just get a little bit wonky for one minute because it's important to understand this backdrop.

The tribes and groups like the Seattle Indian Health Board, where the state can build bill one dollar to the federal government, tribes and saline helper can build three dollars for that reason that you know there's food insecurity.

So that's why I want to when you when you said the Medicaid piece, if if it's just a general answer, that's fine.

I can go find it.

But no, so four of the pillars of the Medicaid piece are one is food boxes, one's what they call pantry stocking, then there's produce vouchers, and there's also just general food assistance.

So it would help in the same way it helps any of these programs, whereas if an individual or family is receiving a food box to be able to use, make the most use out of all of that food, not allow any of it to go to waste, but also give it really easy recipes that they can they can adapt with their own circumstances.

So it could tell the texting start like I I need to make something in less than 20 minutes, here are my dietary restrictions, here's what my kids will not eat, here's what our cultural preference is, and then they it's something it adapts to them, and this is why I like this program so much is that we talk a lot about being culturally relevant, but it's impossible to be culturally relevant.

One program to be for everybody, but this tool can adapt and allow them to know how.

So it's all those when you give them either food vouchers or food assistance or a box of food, it just takes them the extra steps to be able to eat the food that they will that their family will like, but also not waste that food.

Okay.

Thank you, madam chair.

Awesome.

Thank you.

And then this again, this is because of the array of different places to look for all the different food programs.

We know that we can compile all that information, and an individual can just be using the texting tool to ask where's the nearest food bank that's open, where's a meal program, what kind of assistance might I qualify for, and connect them directly with people, either people who can help them, or just give them the info of how you can become eligible or if you are eligible.

Yeah, even people who don't cook could can use this just to kind of know where the resources are.

So next, I I lightly touched on this, but I know it is one of the priorities of the Seattle Food Plan to really uplift the local supply chains as well as equitably purchase food.

And I'm sure you're aware of how much marketing goes into the mainstream food system and the large um chains.

So this is really just trying to you know level the playing field a little bit for people who are using this texting tool and really uplift the farms and the local businesses where the food assistance is accepted, or just generally for anybody if they're unaware of the stores or of what's available at these farmers markets.

Yep, and what you can do with this is amazing.

I mean, uh most of the food waste like Sarah mentioned happens at home.

So we we're just throwing food down the drain.

Uh you can take a picture of your fridge, just open it up, and we can tell you recipes based off of what you already have.

You can scan your receipt and send us the text, a picture of your receipt, and we can make recipes and ideas of how to kind of meal plan for the week so you can stretch it out.

Um, and then we'll have cooking tips kind of throughout around food safety labeling, so you just don't throw food away and you make the most of it.

Um and then, you know, leaning into schools.

Um, about a week ago, I had my my kids' schoolies in first grade um at a Seattle public school, and uh we had about a hundred kids come into our studio, and you can see me up there, and we are filming, and all the kids are, of course, watching the screen, not watching me, but they're seeing what's inside the pot there.

Um, so how do we make you know how do we go into schools?

Um, and when we do that live, which is not scalable, um, how do we make it scalable?

Well, we bring in video, and how do we repurpose those videos?

We make those resources for teachers.

You know, do we scan the recipe and now all the kids and their families have this tool that they're able to access?

So um, it was a really impactful moment.

Everyone you could see kind of drew a thank you card and what they learn.

Um, we need to do more of this, more culinary field trips, home ec doesn't exist anymore, Snap Ed doesn't exist anymore.

We forgot how to cook.

We got to start at an early age.

Um my kids eat almost everything.

It's not because I shove food down their mouth, it's because I get them in the kitchen and they cut cucumbers and they taste broccoli, and that's how that's how kids get comfortable around new colors, new textures, new flavors.

So, of course, we know we need to prove that this is actually working to change behavior.

Um, so there are measurement tactics, unlike giving people recipes at food banks or at clinics or otherwise.

We actually know if that person has engaged with the recipe, is asking questions about the recipe and is cooking it at home.

And just that information alone, knowing the information was provided and now they are cooking, is huge for a lot of different research and behavior change.

Um, we could ask we could ask them surveys on the texting tool as well.

So, generally wanting to know are you saving money?

Is this helping you save money?

Are you eating healthier?

Are you wasting less?

Just so there's an awareness there if they even feel like that's helping them, and we could adjust the program if they don't.

Um, we could, of course, monitor if the pro if the businesses that we're promoting on the texting tool are actually seeing more traffic.

As I mentioned, we have World Resources Institute in partnership with the EPA and the UN that wants to analyze our data to see if it truly is changing behavior.

And then, of course, there's always different ways to measure um food waste decline or increase.

And then uh we are building this tool with the utmost security.

We we understand people are gonna be opting into this, texting it, so we'll have their phone number, but we're not gonna have any personal data.

We're not gonna know your age, uh, your gender, where you live, there's no long-term surveillance, there's no tracking.

We are gonna collect data just to make sure that we know it's working, but it's aggregated and anomanized.

So, again, we don't know who it is, we just can see this population is cooking more, this population is eating more fresh fruits or vegetables.

Um, and at any time people can opt out of this, no problem, delete.

There's no second guessing that everything will be encrypted and secure, and then we have our entire kind of security privacy and data principles here if you want to double click into that.

So, to close out, um, just reiterating the time is really now for a program like this to get more advanced in how we're providing good food guidance.

Fresh food costs are increasing for a variety of reasons.

Uh, basic food assistance is more vulnerable, and a lot more people are gonna be losing it in the next six months.

Processed food consumption is increasing.

Retail is shaping decisions at massive scale and really really quickly.

Um, and what motivates that is gonna be the ad placement and product placement.

So that there needs to be a counter for the good food guidance, and the public system needs to modernize and adapt just to really meet people in the moment and provide them that guidance when they're making food decisions.

Yeah, and I just want to say I'm so proud to be a Seattleite, and food is so core to being in Seattle.

If you live here, you know food is a big part of our culture.

Food is not a privilege.

Food is a need.

Everyone deserves to learn how to cook, everyone deserves fresh food, minimally processed food.

We will, with your partnership, lead the way in good food guidance.

There is nothing like this.

I promise you, nothing like this.

This will be the first of its kind.

So thank you very much.

Thank you, Chef.

Thank you, Sarah.

Um, and colleagues, I'll open it up if you have any questions.

I wanted us to come and get this presentation because I'm gonna tell you all this.

By 2050, we have to grow 50% more food uh in our planet, and the thing that we have not looked at is the amount of waste that we have in extending the life of food, and that has not been in the plan as a city, we just throw more money at it, number one.

Um we also um just say, hey, we need to figure out more food access points.

We don't think about the system itself and redefining what that looks like.

So um wanted to just set the table with that.

I know we've been asking questions throughout this, but I know as a city there are things that we can do.

There's different food programs in a ton of different departments.

There's not one localized uh source, there's not one localized department that does a lot of this, and so sometimes it's hard for us to figure out um pathways forward and to build because we are working a lot in silos, and so that's why we're always talking about food waste as being one of the pillars and how we can be able to address food insecurity in this way as well.

So I just wanted to put that, and then last but not least, during the pandemic, I saw how people would get food from the Yakima Valley because we partnered with uh Yakima Trot, we get food from Yakima Valley, and folks, it was the first time that they would see a uh eggplant.

First time they would see a spaghetti squash, didn't know how to cook it or how to incorporate into their their their diet, and a lot of that food went to waste because people just did not know.

And so um, anyways, that's why I'm passionate about this.

Anyways, if there are any other other any questions, I know we can follow up with them.

Councilmember Wars.

Thank you.

And I want to thank you, Council President, for for doing this.

I know this is um this is how you introduced us to Safeway Sarah.

Um, and I know that that's been an issue for us across the city, particularly like when Kroger left that you know we've seen these different issues, and not just Kroger.

I've watched I've been here nine, ten years, so I've watched big stores leave for different reasons, and we passed some legislation this year with representative uh Faria um to um to get rid of the covenants that stores have with each other for competitive purposes and say that you can't use those anymore because food is a human right and it shouldn't be a commercial decision.

And I mayor Harold did that, and then the state did it, so we're proud of those efforts as well.

And Council President and uh Council Member Rivera joining in and being very supportive to make sure that happened.

But there she had we had three other bills that did not pass, so we take another run.

I won't be here next year, but I'm sure this wonderful council will take another run at it.

So I want to go back to something the council president said.

Um first of all, uh, two things.

I was gonna ask you, Council President.

Um, I have two questions about what are your thoughts or what are we talking about when you say food access points.

Are you talking about grocery stores?

What are you talking about?

Anything you can get food.

So it could be a grocery store, it could be uh uh bodega, it could be a food bank, it could be an after-school program that services food.

That's what we call that when I'm talking about talking about food access points, not just thinking outside the system of food banks, it could be food pantries, thinking about food access points in that capacity.

That's what I mean.

It could have different definitions for for other folks.

Okay, so my follow-up then to to the panel then is, and I think this goes to what the council president astutely recognized, particularly when she was elected and became our council president, is and correct me if I'm wrong, in the silo piece that you were mentioning, Council President.

Um, we don't have a city department dedicated to food security.

We j we have everything else.

We have uh 19 departments dedicated to everything, right down.

I mean, you know, we have like pea patches, and then we have like the food banks over here.

We have never, as a government, which is sad, and this is I'm sure this is nationally, we have never had a city department or a state department specifically dedicated to the issues that you're talking about today.

We don't have a the food department that goes is that's in the budget that's a line item every year, nor do we have because it's been so siloed, we never had like a map to say, okay, here's all the grocery stores, here's when their leases are up, here's the bodegas, here's the food banks.

We've never had and if we had an actual city department, I mean think what if we we have a department for Seattle City Lights, Seattle Public Utilities, SPD, fire, you can go on.

And I have always been raised that food is an essential governmental function.

And I am gonna take take a little um privilege here to share.

I grew up in a food desert.

So people throw it around like I have to walk an extra nine blocks to a store.

That's not a food desert.

I grew up on the Piel Preservation, there were no grocery stores until we got casinos, nobody really gave a damn.

But now everybody's there.

Um no one went to Portland Avenue, there was no bus service, we had transportation deserts.

So I think it's really we have to be very clear what a food desert is in 2026.

Um I think that we have to be serious, and I know this council president is, and I'm sure Mayor Wilson is as well, that that is something we should think about maybe in the next budget cycle, or I don't know how that would be.

I know that we're we're passing tons of levies, but no one's ever put forward a food levy.

No one has ever said, let's put on the ballot, City of Seattle voters, that we fund, you know, for seven years an institution within city government where their only job is to make sure that people, particularly children, have food.

We passed the sugar tax, and I think one of my things that I was not happy about, but that was a long time ago, is I wasn't happy with them handing over a million dollars to an institution to study how sugar affects children.

We know it's not good and they gain weight.

I don't need a million dollar study to tell me that.

Um also we don't have a relation a really good strong partnership legally or um citywide with Seattle Public Schools.

We've always it's this, you know, you're the school, we're you guys are the government, we're not picking up the tab for feeding these kids, so that's been the tension there.

So maybe I'm just laying, you know, pardon the pun, planting the seeds for the government to take food insecurity or people that are hungry seriously and actually make it an essential governmental function that they actually fund.

So that's that's my that's my speech, Council President.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman.

You're awesome.

Thank you.

There are meetings happening at the statewide level regarding just that.

We'd love to invite you.

Yeah, but I think when we just when we just focus on, oh, you know, we want to do fresh bucks, or oh, we need another food bank.

I think people are missing the real humanity there, that people are hungry.

You know what I mean?

And as a kid that went to school hungry every day or got free lunch, you know, that that's near and dear to my heart.

It's probably why I don't like to cook.

Um actually I had to cook, but that's another story.

Um, so I guess my point is in a perfect world, that would be recognized.

Uh and you know what this is analogous to is when we fought hard to have pre-K.

Remember, no one thought that government money should go to pre-K.

And we pushed hard that now we have a whole pre-K system.

Every child from the federal government to the state to the city deserves to have pre-K before they enter kindergarten and the government pays for that now.

We've never had that kind of study that says the government should be responsible to some degree in the city department or a State Department to make sure that people have food.

Period.

Sorry, Council President.

No, you're good.

Thank you, Council Member.

No, you're good.

Uh Councilmember Rivera, and then we'll wrap it up and we'll get to our next agenda items.

Thank you, Councilman Rivera.

Thank you, Council President, and thank you, Councilmember Juarez, for your comments.

Um we don't have a centralized location for food across the city, and it doesn't always have to be a separate department, but we can have within a department an office or a you know, we could centralize it so we could do it because you're right, fresh bucks is an OSC and then sweet beverage tax money is at a deal, and like it just it's all over the place.

And that Don has pea patches and the food, so it is HSD.

So I mean, look, it's not funny, but you know, um uh it is something that we really should look at.

There's so much to say about food.

I want to I I want to say two things.

I'll start I'll I'm gonna end with the like happy piece I want to tout in our district from this past weekend, but first I want to say thank you to council president for always keeping the eye on food.

Thank you for the presentation and for all you're doing on food waste and also um the importance of you know cooking and nourishing yourself.

I will say within that, since COVID, we've seen an uprise in eating disorders in children.

So I want to be really mindful that when we are saying that some foods are bad and some foods are better, the message kids are hearing is having an impact.

Or an adult for that matter, because this is something that affects kids from the age of nine, girls primarily, but boys as well, and then into the grown-up years, and this isn't a new disease, it's been around forever, but since COVID, with it, and I think it's the advent of social media.

So when we're talking about the use of AI and we're having this conversation about food and what foods are bad, just we need to be mindful that for someone with that disease, there is no such thing as a bad food because they're not eating.

So whether you're eating what we deem healthy foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, of course, you know, versus ultra-processed, there is no bad food.

So I just, and if you're working with kids and given the uptick and given AI, we just need to be mindful because AI tools target kids, and that's why we're seeing this uptick on uh eating disorders and other things like uh suicidal thoughts, and there's there's a host of things that kids are dealing with in the advent of AI and um and and the internet and how much time kids are spending on there.

So I just want to be mindful of that when we're talking about good foods versus bad foods, and you know, all food is good to all kids because eating is better than not.

And so I just sometimes we inadvertently send messages.

I certainly have been guilty of that in my life because we're big cooks at home, and we always cooked with our kids growing up.

Um, but I know that's out there.

Um, and I have heard from many families of kids who've since COVID.

Um, so I just want to be mindful of how when we talk about food in terms of bad and good, that is you know, sometimes we're sending out messages that might not be good for a particular person.

So wanted to just leave that there.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Um, the but I we love to cook in our house, so I love it.

I love teaching people how to cook.

When I was growing up, we didn't have a lot of money, so we ate rice and beans every single day.

It was really cheap, and my mom cooked it at home.

So we didn't have money to eat out for any kind of food, and that was our culturally specific food because my family's from Puerto Rico, which is a place that used to grow all its food, then it it moved away from that, and now it's moving back toward growing food because we have this food shortage piece, and because it's so expensive when you live on an island and you're now importing food when we you used to grow it, that is a big problem.

So now the younger generation, I'm I'm pleased to see, and I was recently there visiting my family.

There's a lot more farming going on again, which is really great.

Um so we need to uh make more food, we need to have more access to food, particularly children, but all humans.

Um, I appreciate all the work that you're doing.

And then my my D4 thing I'm excited about is the Family Works has the Wallingford Food Bank that they host, and they received a million dollars from Seattle and then some other funding to redo their food bank, and what and it is such a great.

I was able to, the the opening grand reopening was this weekend.

They never stopped delivering food, but they did redo the food bank, and it looks so great, and it looks like a grocery store.

And also university um uh food bank also looks like a grocery store because we've reimagined how to do food uh banks in a way that we're recognizing that not everybody eats all the different foods, and people should be able to pick what they're gonna eat.

And so I love and also there should be no shame in going to a food bank when I was growing up, that was a source of shame.

And some of us went hungry because we were too afraid to go to the food bank because people would look at you, and there was some judgment attached to this, and there should be no judgment attached to people that need to go to a food bank and other food places to get you know the food pantries and um and even I've seen um where it's like the little libraries for books now have food, um uh non-perishable foods in them.

So that should not be a source of shame, and we should be doing more of that, not less, and encouraging our folks to use all the access points for food.

So I'm really proud of the the family works.

I'm so grateful that they're in the district.

I was so happy to participate.

Um, Marcia Wright, Soika is the executive director there, and I just want to give them a shout out because they did a great job and they do such a great job in the district, and people come from other parts of the city to access food there and the University Avenue of food bank um university district food bank as well.

So want to give them all our food banks across the city a huge shout out, but thank you for what you're doing to help people cook more.

I know Council Member Juarez, you're not gonna cook more.

That's okay.

You've cooked a lot in your life, as have I, so it's okay if we don't want to do it anymore.

But joking aside, what you're doing is important, providing access to food, um, teaching people how to cook food, teaching folks how to how you're here, you know.

You have to you have access to the food that's here.

How do you how do you learn to cook that type of food?

I know in Puerto Rico we have different kinds of foods.

I can't get my Puerto Rican food here always.

I have to have my mom mail it to me when I'm looking for ingredients to make my Puerto Rican foods here.

So I get that, and I get the importance of people need to nourish themselves, so teaching them how to use the foods that may not they may not have grown up, seeing knowing and how to cook them so they can nourish themselves and their families is really great.

So thank you for doing that.

Thank you, Council President.

Thank you, Councilmember Rivera.

Really appreciate those comments from you and Council Member uh Juarez.

Uh any other final thoughts before we move on to our gender.

Really grateful for to Chef Joel and to I know she's not in her full capacity a Safeway Sarah.

Okay, she's here as Sarah Osborne.

Okay.

Just throwing that out.

All right.

Any other final comments?

Just thank you for sharing your personal stories.

Food does this, right?

This is connection, right?

And this is how we grow a community closer.

We just did it live right here.

And so just wanted to say thank you and thank you to you, Joy.

Awesome.

Thank you, Joel.

Thank you, Chef Joel.

Thank you, Sarah.

Um, we're now gonna jump into item number five.

Uh we'll have our presenters, SPU come to the table.

I'm gonna read it into the records and ordinance relating to Seattle Public Utilities authorizing general manager CEO, Seattle Public Utilities to accept slope stabilization easements with two parcels of private property identified at King County parcel uh located at 3822 Northeast 91st Street and King County Parcel uh located at 38th 32 Northeast 91 Street, placing the properties under the jurisdiction of Seattle Public Utilities and ratifying uh and confirming certain prior acts.

So great to see you, Director uh Lee and team.

Looking forward to hearing this presentation and jump right in.

Great.

Um, should we do quick introductions?

Um, I'm Andrew Lee, General Manager, CEO for Seattle Public Utilities.

Hi, Liana Aguila, senior real property agent with Seattle Public Utilities.

Hi, I'm Izzy Schwartz, uh senior engineer with Seattle Public Utilities.

Keel Freeman, Council Central Staff, I'm warming Brian Goodnight seat today.

Um thank you, Council President Hollingsworth and members of the committee.

Um, as you noted, we have three items for you this morning.

The first of which is an ordinance authorizing SPU to accept two permanent easements for drainage improvements to stabilize a slope in the Wedgewood neighborhood in District 4.

Um, with me today are Liana Aguila and then Izzy Schwartz, who will provide the briefing on the legislation.

I'll hand it off to Liana.

Okay.

You can move it forward.

Oh, yeah.

Okay.

Hello.

We are presenting a slope easement acquisition ordinance related to the Northeast 91st Street culvert and slope stabilization project.

This action supports construction of permanent culvert and slope stabilization improvements.

This legislation authorizes Seattle public utilities to accept two permanent slope easements on private property to ensure long-term access for drainage and slope stabilization.

The project is located at Northeast 91st Street in the Wedgewood neighborhood within Council District 4.

The map highlights the site's location in Northeast Seattle.

The two adjacent properties are directly above the area where the slope stabilization work will occur.

And now Izzy will share an overview of the existing conditions that led to this project.

Hi.

Yes, so for a bit of background, the site is located at the dead end of Northeast 91st Street, shown in the red box on the screen.

The site map also shows SPU culverts in light blue and maple creek in dark blue.

Um this project originally came to the attention of SPU in 2022 when an SPU restoration project noticed signs of slope instability.

These signs included a void at the top of the slope and visible downward movement.

Um SPU at this time also determined that the culvert had failed near the location of the void and water had eroded the toe of the slope at the culvert outlet.

In 2023, SPU installed a temporary culvert around the unstable slope area to safely convey drainage to the base of the slope.

A permanent solution is required in order to stabilize the slope, protect public and private property, and maintain drainage function.

SPU SPU determined that the reinforced soil slope would stabilize the steep slope.

A reinforced soil slope is an engineered slope that is constructed using compacted soil and geotextile reinforcement.

The face, the face is vegetated, so will have a natural appearance.

The reinforced soil slope will primarily be in the unopened right-of-way, but due to site constraints, some of it needs to be on private property.

So here are some photos.

The photos, the photos on the left show the unstable slope and failing culvert in 2022.

The left photo is at the bottom of the slope looking up with house 3822 northeast 91st Street up at the top.

The top right photo shows the void, and the bottom right photo shows erosion near the culvert outlet.

In 2023, SPU installed a temporary culvert to safely convey stormwater away from the unstable area to the base of the slope.

And this is shown on the photo to the right.

While the temporary solution prevented further destabilization of the slope, a permanent solution is required to stabilize the slope and install a new drainage outfall to the base of the slope in the right-of-way.

The photo on the right shows an example of what a vegetated reinforced soil slope looks like.

The plan on the left shows the location of the reinforced soil slope in gray.

It is primarily within the unopened right-of-way, but due to site constraints, some will extend onto private property.

The property owners are okay with this and are happy that the slope will be stabilized.

The lines in blue show the new drainage infrastructure.

The main drainage pipes conveying runoff are located within the right-of-way, but some of the reinforced soil slope drains will be on private property due to the location of the reinforced soil slope.

This project requires two permanent slope stabilization easements on adjacent private properties.

Easement values were determined through professional appraisals and acquired for a combined fair market value of $9,900.

Final settlement offers were accepted through mutual agreement with both property owners.

Easements are limited to portions needed for the reinforced slope.

Seattle Public Utilities has worked closely with both property owners to explain soil slope to explain the slope risk, project scope, and long-term benefits.

We reached agreement with both property owners following appraisal and negotiation, and the process was smooth.

Communication will continue during construction to address access noise and timing.

And that concludes our presentation.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for that presentation.

Keatle, do you have any follow-ups from central staff?

No, just uh to note that the um purchase of the easement will come from the drainage and wastewater fund for what doors there's existing appropriation authority.

So this is something that is assumed in the adopted budget.

Awesome.

Thank you, Keatel.

You're doing a great job.

Uh standing in for Brian Goodnight.

Really good job.

No, you are.

Uh are there any uh questions about this?

Uh colleagues, Councilmember is at Old Hand.

That was new.

New okay.

Councilmember Rivera.

Thank you, Council President.

Just confirming that what you're saying, Keaton means, and thank you for being here, General Manager Lee and your team.

Um that uh this is not gonna result in a rate increase.

We we have the funding to do this particular purchase.

I think that's true, but I just for the record so people know.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Great question.

That's uh people need yes, that is great because people need to know that.

You get asked.

Yes, absolutely.

Um other final comments.

I'm comfortable voting on this today.

Yes, just doing a quick glance.

Awesome.

Okay, so I'm going to move that the committee recommends passage of council bill 121192.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and seconded to recommend the passage of this bill.

Are there any other final comments?

Seeing and hearing, will the court please call the roll?

Councilmember Warren's Councilmember Rivera.

Aye.

Councilmember Strauss.

Yes.

Three in favor.

Motion carries the committee recommendation of the bill will be sent to Tuesday.

I only almost said August 14th, I wish.

Uh April 14th for our next meeting.

Thank you all for this.

So thank you.

Thank you.

So I'm going to read item number six into the agenda while Cam helps get our as we do a switch out.

Item number six is Council Bill 12193 on the ordinance relating to Seattle Public Utilities authorizing the acquisition of two parcels of land identified as King County parcel number four 42657 0090 and King County parcel number four to 65700085 for bracing for briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you for being here.

Looking forward to the presentation.

Great.

And I'll pass, I'll just let them do quick quick introductions, Brian.

Sure.

My name is Brian Solomsace.

I'm a senior real property agent with Seattle Public Utilities.

And I'm Carson Jacobson.

I'm the project manager for Pump Station 4.

Awesome.

Great.

The second proposed ordinance before you would authorize SPU to acquire two properties in the Rainier Beach neighborhood for the pump station number four replacement project.

The existing pump station in this area does not have adequate capacity to accommodate new development and therefore new sewer flows from redevelopment within the sewer basin, which is within the Rainier Beach residential urban village.

This project will build a new pump station to accommodate that capacity that's needed to maintain our service levels.

I'll now hand it off to Brian to walk you through our presentation.

Good morning, Council members.

And just speak close up to the mic.

In your clean white jacket for spring.

How do you keep that white?

The day's still young.

So the name of this project is the Seattle Public Utilities Pump Station 4 replacement project.

The purpose of this legislation is to authorize Seattle Public Utilities to acquire by negotiation or eminent domain two properties required to construct the pump station four replacement project.

This map highlights the location of the properties.

And then I wanted to add a couple notes here of the picture on your right shows the existing pump station located within the right-of-way.

And uh what we are excited about with these two parcels is from our conversations with SDOSDOT wouldn't actually allow us to build the pump station as it is, and that they would uh require us to build everything below grade, which is um not as ideal for our crews um to have to go um into below grade structures that are perhaps tighter than they need to be, um, but also is much more expensive.

And so these two parcels offer the ability to build facilities above grade, um, which is nice for our crews, but also uh much more cost effective.

So we have we have reached a conditional purchase and sale agreement with both property owners for both properties.

Uh the purchase price is $760,000 for both properties.

Um that is $380,000 for each.

And the funding will come from Seattle Public Utilities Drainage and Wastewater Rates Fund.

So in summary, both of the parcels provide the most cost-effective option to replace the existing pump station.

Uh both of the parcel owners are willing sellers, and a new larger pump station provides the ability to support future development.

Um for preliminary schedule, we hope to have the design completed by the second quarter of 2029, followed closely by the construction of the notice to proceed in the third quarter of 2029 with the hopes of completing construction by the third quarter of 2031.

And that concludes our presentation.

Thank you.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Director Lee.

If I may add, just um, with respect to the same question, Councilmember Rivera that you asked previously.

This this project, the budget for it is included in our capital improvement program, our six-year CIP, and so these um the costs are fully accounted for within our existing rates.

Awesome.

Thank you for that.

I knew that was the next question from Councilmember Vera.

Um Keatel, anything to add?

No.

It's uh again, drainage and wastewater fund is as Director Lee mentioned.

This is uh existing appropriation authority.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Super helpful um on the presentation and then walking us through the costs and then also uh the timeline of the project as well, and then where the source of the funds are coming from.

And to know that the property owners are willing to sell.

What's the other opposite?

Not willing, or is that what you all would put?

They don't want to.

Yeah.

Okay, I got you.

Um, colleagues, I'm comfortable voting on this.

Are there any uh awesome?

So I'm gonna motion doesn't carry until I move it.

I move that the committee recommend passage of council bill one to one one nine three.

Is there a second?

Second.

It's been moved and second to recommend the passage of this council bill.

Are there any other final comments?

Seeing none.

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Councilmember Warriors.

Aye.

Councilmember Rivera.

Aye.

Yes.

Motion carries, it's gonna be sent to April 14th at our full council meeting.

Thank you all for being here, and I hope you keep your white jacket super clean.

It's fresh.

Came here fresh for spring.

That's how you know spring is in the building.

White jackets.

Yes, winter time too.

No, no, no.

But lovely pictures that they put in here.

They did they didn't additional pictures.

I'm gonna read another agenda item number seven to the record.

Um it is Council Bill 121190, an ordinance relating to the storm water code update, updating stormwater control requirements for development, roadways, utilities, and maintenance activities for briefing and discussion.

General manager, I always say director, I'm sorry.

Uh all the above, Director Lee.

I'll let Kevin quickly introduce himself.

Good morning, Council members, Council President Hollingsworth.

I'm Kevin Barrow, I'm a senior policy uh manager for SPU.

Good to see you.

Our final presentation today relates to our 2026 update of the city's stormwater code, which regulates drainage, erosion control, and water quality for new developments in the city.

The purpose of the stormwater code is to protect life, property, public health, and the environment from the adverse impacts of urban stormwater runoff.

Adverse impacts can include flooding, water pollution, landslides, and erosion.

Every five years, we are required to update this code to ensure that it complies with the Department of Ecology's requirements.

This is the Washington State Department of Ecology.

At this point, Kevin Burrell is here to pre-brief you on the code update and how it affects development here in Seattle.

So I'll hand it off to Kevin.

Thank you, Andrew.

Appreciate that very much.

Um as I dig in, I just wanted to thank and recognize the city's interdepartmental team who worked uh tirelessly for the last couple of years to get us to this point.

It's a big lift every every cycle.

And there are um many folks to thank.

Also just want to thank and recognize the folks that took time today to provide public comment.

It's important to us to General Manager Lee.

And we um take their comments seriously.

We also want to just note as I'm going through the briefing that we did provide a response to comments, and um we can touch on that in just a bit.

All right.

All right, so Andrew touched on some of this, so I will try to move us quickly.

So, again, the background, I'll talk about the purpose of the code, who it applies to, why we're updating it now.

I'll give you a quick thumbnail of the schedule, both looking backwards in terms of what um what we've done to get to this point.

I'll give you a quick thumbnail of the summary of the code updates, um, describe some of the outreach and feedback that we received so far, and then talk about next steps.

Uh so Andrew touched on this already.

Um, you know, we have a code because we're required.

Um I just want to maybe step back and say effectively any developed area of Western Washington that has more than 10,000 people in a developed area has to have permission from the state as the municipal jurisdiction to collect the rainwater, be kind to it, and put it back into receiving waters, which they are in charge of.

So Seattle, Tacoma, King Pierce, and Snohomish Counties have the exact same permit and are under the same obligation.

So Seattle's not unique in this way.

I just wanted to give you that the altitude and context.

We've also had the stormwater code since 1979, so feather and our cap, we had this framework together before there were these rules, which is pretty exciting.

Okay.

Um so what what is in the stormwater code?

Uh, there's really three major components.

First, it's about controlling sources of pollution from everyday ongoing practices or activities.

That's the societal stuff.

It also regulates construction site activities to control sources of pollution.

The last thing is about new and redevelopment.

It's about managing rainwater when it lands on site through on site stormwater BMPs.

It's about putting facilities in place to manage the volume of water that lands on a site, and it also manages and treats the water so it is clean when it leaves the site.

That's that's again for new and redevelopment, which applies to city projects as well, including roadway projects.

I said it before I got to it.

So uh the code applies to private development and city projects, current business practices and activities.

If someone has a spill, if someone's doing uh auto auto care or preventative maintenance out in their street or something, you know, all these all these codes apply to everyday behaviors and activities and also residential things like uh uh pet waste bags and and other fun things that we have all come to be accustomed to.

So the Department of Construction Inspections is responsible for administering the code and regulating private property development.

They do permitting and plan review.

SBU, we look at the right-of-way development projects and activities because often what is constructed in the right-of-way ends up being donated to the utility as a as a utility drainage asset.

And then SDOT is helpful in enforcing uh construction, erosion and sediment control activities when uh activities are happening in the in the SDAR right away.

The big driver here is that we're required to have this work done, completed and approved by council so it can be effective by July 1, 2026.

It's a regulatory requirement from the state.

So we want to meet our state permit requirements.

Um we've also taken the opportunity through this update to adjust policies with you know current city priorities.

That's taking into account a lot of the public comments that we received.

And also the code and manual are dense.

They're they're voluminous, and we've uh take time each time to improve clarity and usability.

So actually, if there are any questions, you can uh pause and stop me for the moment, too.

I should just mention that the users typically of these tools are architects, engineers, and developers, people who are designing and building facilities or designing uh for facilities to be constructed by private parcels or roadway projects.

So let's look at what's gotten us here today.

Um, and this happens every five years.

So, fall, uh summer of 2024, ecology gave Western Washington this new permit, and in it uh came new requirements, new expectations from the state that we had to look at and adopt.

So, summer to the fall of 2024, we came up with the changes that we thought made most sense, and we gave them to the public to give us their feedback.

So that was last year.

At the same time, with their public being input, um, we had to give our drafts to ecology so that they can approve them.

We're not allowed to adopt the code without their consent.

And so um that was really the first iteration between the city and the state to have that first conversation.

Later that that fall, just last fall, they gave us the response to comments and approved what we've proposed in our package.

So then we went back out for a second review with the public and got more comments and input.

And uh again today, this is the not the third, but this is one of yet many opportunities for public, uh, including you know, design and engineering firms, environmental groups, and so on, to give us feedback.

So I'll be short.

Um the the joy that I can bring to this is that there are very few new requirements.

Other iterations of the stormwater code updates have been um really intense just based on new technologies or advances in how we want to regulate how the state wanted us to regulate uh development.

In this case, there are were just a few new requirements from ecology.

As I mentioned, many of the updates are technical and for users of the manual as the city's stormwater manual.

And I would say with some joy, and hopefully keto will back me up here that there are minimal fiscal impacts to the city and capital projects, and those that are are actually a result of what's been required of ecology.

I can we can talk about specifics at the end.

So this is just a way of providing um uh evidence and honoring the work that the team has done to just be accessible, proactively pursue public comment.

So SDCI is one of our main uh channels and thoroughfares to get and capture frequent flyers.

Uh we've done several public meetings online.

We've met separately with different agency partners like the Port of Seattle.

Um we have met separately with the development community for several different meetings as well.

And um this is yet another yet again another forum for us uh to listen to feedback and and uh take to comments.

So through that, there are over 550 public comments to date, and I just will say I think we've incorporated many of those.

Um most resulting in no changes due to the fact that there are require requirements of ecology, or we haven't made any changes because uh they're driven by the city's priorities and policy decisions.

So we heard today during public comment there are some outstanding concerns.

I can try to address those just before we leave today, or perhaps um we can talk about that as our part of our written response to comments that we've already provided.

Okay, um, so I as I said, so if I were to summarize, like what's the what do we hear from all this feedback?

Again, most of the users of the the code and the stormwater manual were asking clarifying questions about you know what did you mean by this and how do we put this into our designs and plans.

There again, as we heard again um to start the council committee meeting today, very strong support for tree preservation, environmental protection, water quality protection, and so on.

And then separately, we've heard from the development community about ecology's requirements for like projects, and I can put a little bit of um flavor on this.

I mentioned that we've hosted two meetings.

This issue is essentially around uh ecology's requirements to treat the entire disturbed area of an act of an active construction project as one permitted area.

If an applicant were to decide their construction construction area into smaller bite-sized permitted parcels, uh they may avoid the environmental requirements that they require or that we require.

And so that's not allowed, and they put that in our permit as a as a requirement, and that's we know that, and that's been in there since 2013.

So they're just making sure that it's um it's clear for all of Western Washington.

So here's a wireframe of kind of where we've been and where we hope to go.

So today we're at me, you know, committee meeting number one.

Um, if you know, as we answer questions, we want to keep moving forward so that we can get to the second committee meeting and hopefully a vote.

Um we ideally what's what's outlined here is again the July 1 effective date, but for people who have projects in the queue, we need to give them some grace period so that they can change course if they need to update their um permits and project plans.

And so that's the bar below 30 days prior to effective date that we just give uh folks ample notice if they need to change course on their project decisions if they don't have a completed application at the time of permit effectiveness.

I think that's that's all I have for now.

Questions that you may have, and I know we'll pass it over to Keito as well.

Yeah, uh Keedel.

I have Brian will be uh writing a memo that'll be available to you all before the May 14th meeting.

Um so that there'll be some additional content there for you to consider.

Um but I have I have nothing to offer here beyond that reassurance.

Absolutely, and I know this is one of the times where I'm grateful where we have uh time in between meetings to digest a lot of the uh information because I know that um we've received a lot of comments about obviously uh we had comments today, but just received a lot of feedback um regarding uh this policy.

And so it'd just great just to have time just to absorb it to understand it.

Um so uh thank you, Kevin, for that presentation.

Um Director Lee, did you have any follow-up comments?

I want to open up to my colleagues to see if they had any questions.

No, I'm just happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Awesome.

Councilmember Rivera, is that yep, new hand?

Awesome.

Councilmember Rivera.

Sorry, CP, a lot of comments today.

You're good from me.

Um I guess thank you for presenting this.

Um thank you, Keatel, for pitch hitting for Brian.

Um Kevin, can you tell us a little bit?

I I'm I will admit I wasn't familiar with some of the concerns from the public commenters.

So can you please address those?

Um, and I heard you say you incorporated a lot of feedback from public comment in general, not this public comment, but in general as you were doing this.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, there's two topics that I might be able to just um help summarize so that public comment appreciates SPU's direction and where we're headed with this proposal.

Um maybe just to start by saying that of all the proposed changes that we've asked ecology to consider and they've accepted, we've added a table for the whole world to look at to see why we've made the changes that we've had, what's the derivation for the change, or the driver in many cases the techology uh be an ecology requirement or other changes that we're considering.

And that I hope the public has had a chance to look at in just and certainly they're welcome to ask questions of us during this kind of in-between period for clarification.

Two things that came to mind as I was listening to the very helpful comments today.

There is a lot.

This is a big, you know, voluminous uh amount of work.

The first one's around tree preservation, and I just will say kindly that I appreciate the um the you know the points that have been made and uh the healthy tension that's there.

Seattle has a tree ordinance and uh you know land use codes that protect protect trees.

Uh I do want to clarify that trees are included and and as one of many of the tools that we use to manage stormwater runoff.

I think commenters suggested that Seattle doesn't consider them, and we do, in fact.

And more to the point, we also offer credit, as do other cities and counties, for trees uh for uh new trees or retained trees.

So that hopefully will maybe help partly set the record straight that we're not really that different than than any of the other Western Washington jurisdictions and have been doing that for some time.

So that's that's part one.

Um part two.

Um it's a little technical, but I think maybe I'll just open the conversation by um clarifying that the Seattle is revising its flow control standards for some small areas of the city.

That is how much water a small project has to collect and manage as part of its new redevelopment activity.

And the areas that we're focused on are areas surrounding Bitter Lake, Howler Lake, and Green Lake, and then typically areas north of 85th where it's served by um ditches and culverts on the side of the road.

And what we found in talking with our development partners and the engineers and science scientists who help us think through this, is the current flow control requirements may not provide the amount of benefit that we would hope.

Meaning the cost and of expense of putting a small tank in someone's development project, like a like a new single family style project that now has to put a uh tank underground to collect and manage rainwater, is maybe only collecting and managing the right rainwater, but not necessarily making it cleaner than what it was before.

So we have increased or relaxed the standard in those areas in exchange for asking every project, small projects and large projects to evaluate using different tools that will not only collect the rainwater but treat it as well.

So that I think what's missing between the commenters and the substance behind the science and proposal we put together is uh just a missing of the framework.

So it's a new framework that we put in that we think will provide better more environmental protection than the old standard.

So there won't be less flow control.

We actually think there will be more volume and quality treated as a result of this new package.

And so I want to make that clear.

Better environmental outcomes than what's currently happening today.

Because all sites will have to use this concept, not just a few.

I do you have something to add, general managers.

And and so the suite of alternatives that we provide to the developers to manage stormwater includes trees as an option, um, but not just trees, right?

There are other ways that you can do it, rain gardens, et cetera.

Um and we have chosen not to be prescriptive, that they must use trees.

Um obviously they still need to comply with the tree ordinance.

Um but again they have flexibility, um, which is what we've granted through the stormwater code.

And I think one of the commenters wanted, I believe, us to be more prescriptive about that, and we've obviously chosen to be more less prescriptive and provide the options.

That it okay, that's helpful.

Um I will ask for a briefing in between so I can better understand some of this that that came up.

Thank you, thank you, CP.

Awesome, thank you, Councilman Merivera.

And just for uh clarity, we will have a um a memo from Brian Goodnight helping us understand a lot of the stuff as well.

Um it is a lot.

No, absolutely.

Are there any other um questions regarding this?

Awesome.

I know that we'll follow up, we'll have more questions, uh, we'll get more briefings, we'll get more memos, um, so we can continue this process.

So thank you all for being here.

Looking forward to working with you all on this as well.

So thank you, Sam.

Thank you.

Okay, colleagues.

Look, I'm proud to get out on time today.

Uh well, I don't know, I guess.

All right.

Um, so anyways, we're gonna that will conclude uh our are there before I end, are there any other comments to come before the council?

To come before the committee.

Us three.

Okay.

Uh with that, there's no other items on the agenda.

There are no further business.

And so this is gonna conclude our April um ninth meeting of the governance and utilities committee.

I also want to say yesterday was my dad's birthday, so happy birthday, Pops, we love you.

All right.

Happy birthday.

Yeah, felise cumpleaños.

Felice.

I won't tell everyone how old you are, though.

Um but our next committee meeting is scheduled for May 14th at 2027.

May 14th at 9 30 a.m.

Hearing no further business.

It is 11 30 a.m.

on the dot.

This meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.

Thank you, CP.