Shoreline City Council Regular Meeting - 2026-10-26

The Shoreline City Council held a regular meeting on 2026-10-26 at Shoreline City Hall. The meeting included a community presentation from the Shoreline Sister Cities Association, followed by a detailed study session on the 2027-2028 Proposed Biennial Budget and the 2027-2032 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Key topics covered the general fund, public works, surface water utility, wastewater utility, and capital project funding.

Consent Calendar

• The council approved the Consent Calendar unanimously (7-0), which included the regular meeting minutes of October 5, 2026, the workshop dinner meeting minutes of October 12, 2026, and the approval of expenses and payroll as of October 7, 2026, in the amount of $4,037,985.93.

Public Comments & Testimony

• Kevin Atkinson (President, North City Neighborhood Association): Expressed strong support for a flood vault project on 175th Avenue, a $3 million stormwater mitigation project. He urged the council to add a budget line item for a cool public amenity or pocket park on the parcel, noting the project is entering its design phase in 2027 and that such an amenity would complement planned street improvements.
• David Stegstra (Shoreline Resident): Expressed concern about the city's ability to deliver planned public works projects at current staffing levels. Cited the returned grant money for the Meridian Avenue North Project, which was attributed to insufficient project management staff. Noted that a limited-term engineering position was converted to regular status with no net change to overall engineering staff count.

Community Presentation - Shoreline Sister Cities Association

• Laura James (President) presented on the delegation's recent trip to Akropong, Ghana, made official as Shoreline's sister city in 2024/2025. The delegation of eight attended the Odira Festival, a five-day harvest spiritual celebration marking its 200th anniversary.
• The association outlined goals for the trip: meeting governmental and traditional counterparts, understanding local culture, and identifying opportunities for collaboration.
• Next Steps: The association is developing a mobile museum for local schools, exploring a student-to-student program with Shoreline College, planning a community celebration for Ghanaian Independence Day on March 6, 2027, and hopes to host their Akropong counterparts in Shoreline in 2027.

Discussion Items: 2027-2028 Proposed Biennial Budget & 2027-2032 Capital Improvement Plan

• Budget Overview: The city manager's office (Joseph Branstader) provided context for the budget discussion, noting the public hearing is scheduled for November 2nd and adoption for November 16th. Baseline budget increases include a 4.53% cost-of-living adjustment and an 11% increase in health and dental insurance premiums.
• Public Works (Trisha Yuke):
  • The department has undergone a realignment. Proposed one-time supplementals include wire theft prevention, guardrail repair, and implementation of residential parking zones (RPZs) near light rail stations.
  • Automated Speed Enforcement: Established fines of $50 per infraction may not cover the program's operational costs.
  • Staffing: Proposed a net increase of 1.25 positions. This includes converting a 0.75 ground maintenance worker to a full 1.0 FTE due to new park bonds, converting a term-limited engineer to a regular position funded by capital, and creating limited-term positions for a GIS technician and a Public Works Management Analyst (to handle franchise agreements and grant coordination).
• Surface Water Utility (Trisha Yuke):
  • This enterprise fund is expanding its green stormwater infrastructure program per the 2025 Master Plan. The budget includes rate increases through 2030. Two new CIP projects were introduced: a gravity line at Serpentine and storm drainage stabilization on 16th Avenue.
  • Staffing: Two new utility-funded positions: a Surface Water Program Specialist and a maintenance worker.
  • Funding: No general fund dollars are used for surface water capital or operations.
• Wastewater Utility (Trisha Yuke):
  • Expenditures are increasing significantly ($26 million), driven by a $9 million pass-through increase in treatment costs from King County and Edmonds, plus higher electricity costs.
  • Proposed spending includes migrating the Springbrook billing system to the cloud and acquiring Granite AI defect detection software, which uses video from sewer cameras to identify defects and prioritize replacements.
  • A new Infiltration and Inflow (I&I) study will help target repairs to reduce treatment costs. New CIP projects focus on lift station replacements.
• Capital Improvement Plan (Liz Kelly):
  • REET Revenue: The Real Estate Excise Tax (REET), a primary funding source for general and roads capital, is volatile. Collections dropped from nearly $6.5 million in 2021 to about half that in 2023, creating significant funding shortfalls.
  • General Capital & Facilities: Includes $18.3M for parks maintenance, $22.6M for facilities (North City Commons, Hamlin Maintenance Facility), and $35.3M for parks bond project completion.
  • Roads Capital: Pedestrian projects total $92M, safety/operations total ~$200M (including a new safety project on 175th), and system preservation totals ~$20M. Staff expressed significant concern about the chronic underfunding of the annual road surface maintenance program.
  • Asset Maintenance: The city is performing emergency HVAC repairs at the Spartan Gym facility (shared with the school district) due to leaking heat exchangers, impacting programming. Staff assumed a 4% annual increase in construction costs.
• General Fund Transfers & Debt Service (Christy Hopkins):
  • General fund transfers out total approximately $11.4 million, with $5.5 million going to capital projects and $3.8 million subsidizing the street fund. Total debt service across seven funds is roughly $20.5 million.

Key Outcomes

• Unanimous Approvals: The meeting agenda and the consent calendar were both approved by unanimous consent (7-0).
• Budget Schedule: Staff requested council amendments to the budget by November 2, 2026, for analysis. The public hearing on the budget, property tax levy, and fee schedules is scheduled for November 2, 2026. Final amendments are due by November 5, 2026, with adoption scheduled for November 16, 2026.
• Staff Directives: Staff committed to providing follow-up information on questions raised by the council, including details on utility taxes charged on stormwater and wastewater funds, the soak-it-up program's community resources and common questions, benchmarks for road maintenance, and the cost recovery and partnership agreement with the school district regarding the Spartan Gym facility.