I'd like to call to order the study session of September 9th, 2025.

Clerk, will you please call the roll?

Councilmember Bushnell.

Present.

Deputy Mayor Daniels.

Absent Councilmember Diaz.

Councilmember Hines.

Here.

Councilmember Remba.

Here.

Councilmember Sidalgay.

Councilmember Scott.

Councilmember Walker.

She said here.

Mayor Woodards.

Here.

The study session material sent to you at 1101.

Great.

Thank you very much.

All right.

We have one module.

I'm making sure you got me.

Huh?

Did you give me?

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

Um we have one agenda modified.

We have one modification to the agenda today.

The state of the court's presentation will be scheduled for a later date.

And so we're going to move on to our second agenda item, which is our homeless strategy update.

And I'd like to call on neighborhood and community services principal, community resource analyst Caleb Carbone, as well as the interim director of neighborhood and community services, Vicky McLaurin.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

For the record, Caleb Carbone, Homeless Strategy Systems and Service Manager with Neighborhood and Community Services.

As mentioned before, I'm joined with Vicky McLaurin, interim director in neighborhood and community services, as well, who will primarily be available for any questions council may have after the presentation.

This presentation will focus majority of our attention on shelter and strategy implementation during this presentation.

Additionally, we will be providing an updated TMC 819 implementation memo to the city council during the CMO's weekly report that you'll receive later on.

And then lastly, I do want to make sure I am joined by Javon Carlisle, who is a city's uh homeless engagement alternative liaison manager, um, who can be available for any questions after we've uh um have done the presentation as well.

Um additionally, before I begin the presentation, I would like to specifically thank our public works team and their partnership on the decommissioning of shelter sites for the last few months uh months, excuse me.

The engineering construction management team has been the leader in supporting the transition of all of our sites.

They've been very intentional about how to best utilize our resources and have been ahead of anticipated timeline.

So we're truly thankful for them and their partnership.

I also want to thank my staff and neighborhood and community services department staff for their work on coordinating much of this work that I'll be presenting today.

Um these individuals really truly represent the city well.

Um, they're very committed to the work.

Um, they're always looking for ways to improve and innovate while also maintaining strong relationships without the city.

So um thank you for them.

And some of them are here with us today and watching online as well.

Um, and then I also want to just make sure that I thank our dedicated providers and organizations who continue to uh that are committed to this work, supporting the work uh that the city does and and still holding their missions and visions aligned with that, and then also to the volunteers and community members that continue to engage in these issues and want to see a healthy and vibrant city.

Um, here is our outline for today's conversation.

We'll begin the presentation with an update on the City of Tacoma's five-year homeless strategy um implementation and what we look like we supported for the third quarter and what we'll be focusing and shifting our focus for the fourth quarter of 2025.

Um, following the strategy, I'll brief council on the initial data from the 2025 point in time count that we received um in the last few weeks, and then next we'll review our regular overview of the city's uh inclement weather response for people who are primarily unsheltered, and then we'll finish lastly with giving council a quick update on the city's shelter system.

Next slide.

And these next three slides is some of the strategic actions uh for this from the city's homelessness strategy uh during the third quarter of 2025.

A lot of these are are should be familiar with council.

We've given updates before on many of these, but just to reiterate the work that NCS has been doing and the homelessness um side of the teams.

Um as a reminder for context, we have five goals that are associated with um uh objectives for the strategic plan.

Uh we spend significant efforts in the third quarter focusing on goals two and three.

Uh for goal two, the strategy looks to find ways to support everyone experiencing homelessness and tacoma or impacted by homelessness, can access services and support.

The first highlighted is to supporting objective two one, um, which focuses on providing access to hygiene, outreach, and seasonal weather shelter for unhoused residents of Tacoma.

Recently, given an update, the City of Tacoma has expanded its partnership with St.

Vincent de Paul to expand the services in South Tacoma, helping to fill in gaps created by a reduction in the current system.

And the expansion expansion will strengthen inclement weather response at the same time.

In August of 2025 at their community resource center, St.

Vincent de Paul will expand operations from or had expanded operations from five to seven days a week, bringing additional case manager and site security support for expanded hours during the inclement weather.

Secondly, starting this week, St.

Vincent's DePaul will be expanding their services to re-establish family services, day services at 50th in South Tacoma Way, in response to a provider that had to had to stop services there.

The St.

Vincent DePaul has picked up that work and is actually will be expanding those services with their CRC.

The services do include hygiene facilities, restrooms, showers, laundries, and additional case management services and hygiene and inclement weather supplies.

And then additionally, the city will also be working with St.

Vincent DePaul to expand overnight shelter capacity during inclement weather response along with this agreement, which will also support enhanced case management and oversight for a hotel program during acute events.

The next two bullet points are supported by the city strategy to support Objective 2.4, which is how we collaborate with community organizations and businesses to mitigate the impact of homelessness.

The City of Tacoma in partnership with Pierce Transit and TRM facilitated the transfer of two shuttles, buses, from Pierce Transit to Tacoma Rescue Mission.

Both vehicles will be used by the rescue mission to support shelters to non-emergency medical services.

This added capacity is intended to reduce 911 calls for non-emergent transportation from the downtown adult shelter and enable Tacoma's fire department to better focus its emergency response throughout the city.

Tacoma Rescue Mission has already begun operating services, and these transit vans are on a limited scope as they continue to procure additional funding to address kind of long-term operational funds.

And they will be able to do a regular schedule once that's procured.

And then, secondly, the city partnered in a regional effort to address inclement weather response in Pierce County.

And I will talk a little bit more in depth about this later on in the presentation.

For goal three, the strategy is either to help create, maintain, or enhance the shelter system in Tacoma residents so that people are experiencing homelessness can have a safe and dignified experience and easy to access.

One action highlighted was this from this previous weekend where Tacoma Rescue Mission had broke ground on their expansion project.

The funding for this project includes City of Tacoma's grant package, which was a $4 million in the community project funding from the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known as HUD, and then the $3.5 million from the city's general fund that council approved originally in 2023 and 2024.

And this project Tacoma Rescue Mission will increase their capacity by 100 beds and will host a total of 260 in their downtown campus for single adults.

The city in the last quarter finalized their agreement with HUD and is working on an action plan to begin withdrawing down those funds.

So that was a big heavy lift as well.

Additionally, the city in this last quarter had also finalized its agreement with commerce on maintaining 140 shelter beds in the city of Tacoma's homelessness response system.

And additionally, we have finished our contract negotiations with the shelter providers for maintaining the shelter operations through June of 2026.

And then the last action I would like to highlight as been because of our stand down of other locations, we have been able to utilize other facilities and resources to support our stability site improvements.

This includes a new and additional spaces for meeting with residents on site with resources and other providers that have co-occurring services.

Additionally, storage for supplies, including a fridge for cooling water during summer was also added to the stability site.

A kitchen tent, and then we also switched out a rental shower unit for one that we owned that is fully ADA accessible.

And so that site is able to better support all the residents that are needing ADA accessibility.

Next slide.

The team is currently working with service providers on way to increase shelter capacity during the cold winter services, especially during the front time frame of mid-November through March 31st, including both day and overnight sheltering services.

We'll also be working with the inclement weather task force to evaluate the hot weather response that we just we just went through as in the summer as a as a region and make any necessary adjustments and alignment that may be needed for cold weather response.

Additionally, we'll continue to focus on a regional response, and that will be a theme throughout this presentation as well.

The city will continue to put its efforts towards our commitment to work with local partners to collaborate and develop solutions to supportive housing units, including services and pathways for people experiencing homelessness towards stability.

The specific group to highlight is the unified regional approach participation through the work that the county is doing with their contracted team Uncommon Bridges.

Later this month, community vitality and safety committee is planned to hear from Uncommon Bridges and their progress with the planning of a unified regional approach and the next steps towards implementation.

Additionally, the city will continue to participate in three areas in the next quarter.

The elected officials will meet in the end of September this month to steer direction of that unified approach.

A monthly jurisdiction staffing is to help with championing and providing feasibility for that approach.

And then several task force meetings to help develop proposed options based on the scope and problems set by the elected officials.

Next slide.

And then the last slide for this strategy implementation focuses on three and four, especially around accessing to shelter and services that are often those services that are often associated with sheltering.

And the tailor resorts that assist people who are working towards housing with their co-occurring barriers and services needed to address it.

The city will continue to work with our partners to increase access to shelter, and both in number of units of how people can access it and how many are available to access.

Especially we look at ways to engage with vulnerable populations or specific groups that are underrepresented, finding all ways all ways towards stable housing.

Four goal four, the city finalized its agreement with the Washington State Health Care Authority to add additional funds for street medicine.

The original agreement was awarded one million for an implementation plan in which the city partnered with the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department.

The new agreement with the state includes a regular progress report on implementation.

Contractors will include a weekly update of a summary, written report of the contractor related related to each quarter, an update, and then I'll have a final report for the year year on how each year that it's on the programs that are utilizing Medicaid billing, challenges and barriers on providing implementation of care and a summary of the budget and expenditures.

Lessons learned in how the program will make changes in the future.

It'll also have the top five medical concerns addressed with that report.

The next step will put these dollars out into the community.

Though this is a pilot project for the state, several jurisdictions have experienced some staffing challenges.

Medicaid billing for sustainable funding, and the state has been involved with helping to address these problems on a regular basis and is aware of these challenges that street medicine programming throughout the state has experienced.

The goal for the city, though, with passing through these funds, is it will continue to work with the provider to improve services and maintain strong relationships with the provider and the community that we serve, while providing a realistic expectation that the program is meant to support people experiencing homelessness, unsheltered, that are not, and it's not intended to replace the hospital system nor emergency services response systems.

But it should be focused on diverting resources appropriately and providing both a good report with the unhoused residents while focusing on main objectives of street medicine programming, which are to reduce health disparities and to improve health outcomes among the unhoused population.

Next slide.

As we develop the strategy, one of the main values is it was to support data-driven decisions.

Data continues to be an important tool for us to continue to develop our tracking towards what is known as functional zero.

As we continue to use several ways to understand our response system that will help inform us regarding our people that are experiencing homelessness in our city and throughout our region.

And so trying to understand trends a little bit.

As a reminder, the point in time count continues to clarify an overall year to year trend of people who are experiencing homelessness.

Some of the common challenges with point in time count of when it is counted is that it differs from year to year, depending on volume of volunteers, how many are first-time volunteers, what their approach and abilities are and their comfort level of counting.

So those are all factors of the count.

And then also often weather plays a role in influencing the outcome of the count.

The COC is responsible to the housing and urban development, Department of Housing and Urban Development for the point in time count.

So that's just something I want to emphasize is that this is a COC-led.

And this is for people who are experiencing homelessness within the geographic area that is mandate mandated by HUD.

The collective applicant of the COC, who is Pierce County Human Services for our area, is responsible for coordinating and mandating point in time count on behalf of the COC, as described in the MOU between that COC and that collective collaborative applicant.

Overall, the count is done during the coldest day of the year, but the system's response changes dramatically without with throughout each season, and then additionally the count adheres to at least the following requirements.

So it's persons experiencing homelessness who are living in a place not designated or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodations for humans, and it must be counted as unsheltered homeless persons, and then a person living in emergency sheltering, safe haven, and transitional housing must be counted as shelter persons experiencing homelessness.

As a reminder, the point in time count happened on January 30th and 31st in this year of 2025.

On this slide, the chart shows the data, the data between 2024 and 2025 point in time count throughout Pierce County.

Some trends between the two years that the county saw was an 11% increase in overall individuals experiencing homelessness.

We can see both an increase of people unsheltered and sheltered with a higher percentage of total counted being identified as unsheltered compared to last year.

Secondly, we see an increase in total households, which are disproportionately in households that are largely single adults.

And lastly, one note to also mention is that there is a reduction in people who were surveyed during the count that last reported the zip code in Tacoma.

Next slide.

Additionally to the point in time count data throughout the county is that the surveys that are completed also have a geographic information system, a GIS component, in which we're able to see the data of surveys that were completed in the City of Tacoma jurisdictional limits.

So that's what this chart shows here is these are all the surveys that happened in in Tacoma specifically.

Additionally, on this slide, this slide, the chart data shows that 24 and 25 point in time count.

This data shows similar trends to in the city as the data that showed in Pierce County overall.

Between the two years, the city saw a 9% increase over individuals experiencing homelessness.

We see an increase in people counted as unsheltered and a decrease of people who were sheltered.

While the decrease and counted for people who were homeless and sheltered can be tied to our response system, seeing a reduction of shelter beds in 2024 in the city.

As for the increase in people counted as unsheltering, we'll need to continue to analyze to better understand this data.

One main difference though to point out that we do know is that there was a request from the COC in Pierce County that jurisdictions not perform any non-emergency removals.

So the county could strategize specific areas and lay out a plan for volunteers to count specific encampments or areas that have seen an increased area of unsheltered homelessness.

The City of Tacoma decided to pause a non-emergent removals two weeks leading up.

So it deposits those removals two weeks leading up to the count.

Secondly, we also see an increase in total households, which are also disproportionately in households that are single adults.

And lastly, one note to mention in this is that we also saw a reduction in people who were surveyed during the count that last reported Tacoma and zip or zip code in Tacoma.

A takeaway from the point in time count is that the data continues to show that this is a regional issue.

The data is fairly consistent with both Pierce County data and the City of Tacoma specific surveys.

While the primary work that the city will continue to be on is effort will impact City of Tacoma residents and our community members and businesses.

We are also seeing that recent momentum of collaborative relationships with our regional partners, including nearby jurisdictions, relationships with our providers and volunteers, and we anticipate seeing significant impacts to homelessness not only in the city of Tacoma but also through the county if we maintain this unified approach.

Next slide.

Neighborhood and community services did a provide an over overview of this response with the community vitality and safety committee on August 28th.

For background information, the city, along with our regional partners, which includes other jurisdictions, service providers, and volunteers came together earlier this spring for a weekly meeting for several weeks to find a way to find to find a way towards a regional solution for inclement weather response.

The primary function of inclement weather task force was to create a recommendation on how to coordinate access to additional temporary sheltering beds, warming centers, and other supplies such as water, food, transportation, and other needed items for people who are experiencing unsheltered.

A unified A tier activation threshold and response protocols, and agreeing on coordinating access to establishing services and response for said tier thresholds.

Based on the task force, we were able to come to an agreement on a lot of these goals in Pierce County.

And Pierce County Human Services did publish a document that outlines criteria for escalating interventions and coordinated actions and partners and agencies and when to host conference calls and how to coordinate volunteers, contractor providers that best utilize our resources.

Pierce County Human Services staff has volunteered that they will monitor the forecasts and weather conditions and then in the response system and they will host daily briefings, update the chart, and provide the national weather service update.

The role for NCS will better to make recommendations on how we align our response to the regional response, and so providers are clear on when the response is happening, regardless of service delivery or where they might be in the county, and while additionally making decisions on what services to fund and supplies to have for inclement weather response to support our residents.

Next slide.

The next two slides show the city's current plans for how we intend to respond to system or how the response system will address the cold weather when inclement weather events is expected.

This includes our ready response, which is the 40 degree is the indicator there for three consecutive days, or when high demands are expected.

High winds are expected, excuse me.

These days, three days beforehand is when outreach teams will begin to coordinate response and begin scheduling daily briefing briefings for tier one.

And additionally, in this tier, the response system will coordinate and monitor conditions to prepare prepare for potential tier two.

Next slide.

The top row is the weather thresholds that we use.

That next row under it shows the communication plan and which includes Pierce County Human Services sending out daily updates of resource guide for the region, and which would include the City of Tacoma.

And then the third row refers to either the daytime or overnight shelter activations.

And then the last row is what we will specifically pass out for supplies.

Next slide.

The highlighted section in orange, the shelters are supported by the state's legislative 25 and 27 budget process, and the funding supporting these shelters to support three sites to a hundred or a hundred and forty bed capacity.

This timeline of the projects listed here are currently aligned with the contracted agreements and the property owners' agreements.

Originally, the city expected to receive three million for one year of operations.

However, the city did get an agreement that included commerce for three million for each for two years, so a total of six million.

So that would support shelter operations through June 2027.

Um and we'll continue to work with our shelter providers throughout the system and seeing how this the city can continue to maintain our shelter operations in the city of Tacoma as needed.

The blue highlighted section at the bottom is a reminder that this is supported by the city's baseline budget, and the funding goes to support shelters that have a collective capacity of 722 or 720 beds, excuse me.

Next slide.

That uh concludes my presentation, and I'm ready for any questions.

Right, I'm gonna ask for questions, but can you go back a slide really quickly?

Thank you, Alison.

I'm assuming on our paper, you can't really see the light.

No, go go, yeah, you can't really see the light the one in between.

There we go.

Um you can't really see the light blue in in in on our on what was printed for us.

So I just want to call that out.

And then you said for the ones highlighted in orange or red or whatever, yellow, whatever we're calling that color.

You said June 2027.

And these all say June 2026.

Yeah.

What is correct?

Thanks, Mayor.

So um I mentioned that based on our agreement, current agreements with the providers and the agreements with the property owners.

Yeah, we only have agreements through June 2026 as of right now, but we do have funding that we can continue past to June 2027.

Gotcha, gotcha, gotcha.

Well, I I just I this the this is great.

So actually we have um it looks like we've increased the number of beds we're gonna have um available this winter.

Am I reading this correctly based on what the number the number we had in June, I felt like was closer to five or six hundred, and now we're at eight hundred or almost sorry, glasses 860, so over 850 beds.

So that's that's great.

I will open it up for questions.

Um and again, while those questions are coming, I guess Caleb, the other question I would ask ask you is that we know that in the winter that should things get really cold, that there tends to be opportunities where people can can open up additional capacity.

Do we anticipate that with any of these shelters?

So I see the numbers 860 now.

By the time we get into mid-December, what I don't know what the average number of increased beds we get in the winter, but I know in the winter there are people who open either open up or open up a different space, or we do something with cots on the floor just to get everybody inside.

Can you talk a little bit about what those numbers look like?

Yeah, thanks, Mayor, for the question.

I appreciate that.

So yes, the city has historically during the the winter and now even in summer prepared for additional beds as needed and the inclement weather plan that would happen at the tier uh three.

Um, and so we'll continue to monitor that.

We're going to be working with our regional partners to better understand what systems and shelters they're gonna set up before we make final recommendations.

But we are planning and had those conversations last year.

As an example, we opened up two types of shelter beds.

We opened up one, which was a seasonal sheltering, which opened up from mid-November through March, um, and it regardless of the temperature, the daily temperatures.

Um, we did that with our valleo partners at the Calix um site on uh 813 MLK.

Um, and then we also added additional beds based on weather thresholds, and and that was with our partners at St.

Vincent's de Paul with hotel capacity and our partners at Nativity House or Catholic Community Services with Nativity House.

And so those were specific nights that hit more extreme severe weather that we would open up to as well.

Um, and so we'll continue to look at both ways to be able to do that.

Um, one of one of the other things.

Oh, and I just want to mention Beacon also adds additional beds per their contract for youth and young adults.

Okay, regardless, and we'll continue to maintain that this year too in our agreement.

Okay, perfect.

Perfect.

That's that's great news.

Thank you very much.

Do we have any questions for um for Caleb or Vicky?

Well, great.

Great presentation, great update.

Um, appreciate the numbers.

Yeah, thinking about it.

I think I was like, I didn't see any lights on.

We're mulling thinking.

Yes, Councilmember Rumba.

I I just um I've heard all of this at community vitality and safety, and I did have to just give a talk at North End Neighborhood Council last night on homelessness.

And I just want to say, I want to give you just like really positive feedback about what we're doing for inclement weather.

Um, I really it really does make a difference when we're working side by side with Pierce County, and I just really appreciate that we keep bringing them up.

That's just really I remember when I first got on council, it was like, no, we only talk about the city of Tacoma, and we understand now that this issue is not just the city of Tacoma, it's how we present fully through the county, and you just mentioned the unified regional approach.

So I just want to say thank you so much.

The inclement weather part is really important because I do not want people to be out in like extreme conditions, and I like that they've changed the um way we're looking at the weather, the temperature.

I think I think it's really important to be thinking about people and how they live outside when that's what they've chosen at that point.

So thank you.

Uh thank you very much.

Um I would say um, oh sorry, thank you very much, Councilmember Romba.

I just like to add to that.

I I I think the differences is that now we have the county at the table as a partner.

Yeah, right.

So before it wasn't for lack of trying, it was just we hadn't quite got there, and then when the county finally passed the one-tenth of one percent, and now we're having this regional conversation.

So I think I think it really is not that we didn't always want to talk about it, but that the council the county wasn't a partner like they are now, and really excited about the expansion of that partnership.

So thank you for that.

All right, now we got lots of good questions.

So we'll go to Deputy Mayor Daniels and then to Council Member Heinz.

Perfect.

Thanks, Mir.

Um, I was trying to gather my thoughts and because I had so many positive things, and then some questions, and this is my first time seeing this, so um, I haven't got to you know prep you all on anything that I am curious about.

Um I'm excited to see the um the van uh the shuttle transfer.

I think that's critical.

I think that um a lot of times when I'm talking to folks um and like kind of letting them know where they can go.

Number one, they know where they can go, but they also know that they've got a certain amount of time to get there, and sometimes that's a barrier if they can make it all the way there and you know, in time, and so having that extra support to make the call time is um I think it's really helpful.

Um, I really really appreciate us not having to ask what we're gonna do before it gets cold and like thinking about this really really intentionally while it's still warm outside.

Um I I really appreciate that.

Um other things I noticed uh this um when it was cold was that I knew when the temperatures I I knew it was really clear for me when we were um doing removals and when we weren't because there was a specific temperature and all of those things, and so um that was helpful for me to be able to communicate to folks that were asking, um, especially as it pertains to the laws around their property and things like that.

Um however, this is not a you things, this is a I'm concerned uh regionally uh thing is uh you mentioned that the the last report of zip code being Tacoma went down, so that means that we had essentially almost a hundred and fifty more people come to Tacoma that aren't originally either from here or hadn't been here, and that indicates a negative that's not good, right?

Um, yeah, so uh council member, I I think what you're asking is is that we're starting to see a huge impact in the city that aren't necessarily reporting Tacoma as their last zip code.

Right, yeah.

Um that that and as something that has been a very common theme that we have talked about as a region is is that the city of Tacoma has held a large amount of responsibility by hosting a lot of sites, uh shelter sites and services in the city of Tacoma, which is why it's really important that we do work with the county and this this momentum with working with the county because something that's been common since we've done the homeless strategy has been very intentional, is that we want to host more resources, shelter including outside of the city, so that people that are experiencing homelessness and their communities can access those services and don't feel like they have to go to the jurisdiction that may or may not have it, and that that's so that's really been the common thing that we really wanted.

We've been driving home since the homelessness strategy in 2022 when we released that.

And so I just want to emphasize that there because I think that's where that's where you're going.

And then the last one I just want to mention is that we also saw a significant increase in observation folks too as well in point-in-time count, which usually gets lumped into the unsheltered count.

And so we saw a significant of unknown zip codes, and and so that's part of the data that I want to drive a little bit um di or dig into a little bit more to understand is there a reason, was it a volunteer specific where they felt maybe last year they felt more comfortable putting in a zip code, or did they feel less comfortable putting in a zip code?

So that's helping us to kind of understand and digging a little bit deeper.

Um, but of the people that said what zip code they knew, we saw a drop in Tacoma specifically.

Okay, yeah.

So overall, and our in the city we had about 150 increase.

I'm really happy to see the not happy to see that's weird.

The individuals that are 55 and older, one of my biggest concerns was that they would they were gonna be drastically increasing, and it seems like they're staying steady somewhat, specifically in the city of Tacoma.

So not good, but less alarming than some other um things.

Um I think the single adults is also interesting.

Um I have my assumptions about single people and cost to rent and um how and and the just the amount of affordable housing for single people and like single occupancy spaces that we have.

Um I continue to you know be curious about what that looks like for us in the future.

Um overall, I'm I'm really happy with this report in general and how much information is on here and to see our shelter sites coming on um in June.

The one question I have is that and I don't know how you'll if this is even able to be answered, but it's one community question that I've heard over and over again, um, is that we are just shuffling people around, and I'm curious if that's a function of our policy, or if there is a way that we can better implement, or if there's different things that we can do to kind of get at that, and I've heard it in many different um ways, and I want to make sure that the community sees the good work that we're doing, and I'm just I don't I don't know that was one of the things that I was worried about, and it is here, and it feels like people understand that is a concern, and I I'm curious if you feel like there's anything that we can do.

So um thank you.

And I again Vicki McLaurin, I serve as a interim director for neighborhood and community services.

I first want to thank Caleb for this excellent presentation and for my staff that's behind me rooting us on saying, yeah, you know, um I can't see behind it, I know they're there.

Um one thing I want to add is and this is kind of picky backing on council member um Ramba's question, but neighboring community services meets with Pierce County at all levels.

So at the director level, we're working on some things kind of to answer your question.

We're looking at the big picture of how we can make sure that we're meeting the needs of the residents, but also understanding that you know to come is in Pierce County.

So we have the same issues that we're trying to address, and then also Caleb has been meeting for years with the Pierce County program manager staff.

So this regional approach that we're talking about has been of something that has been worked on with neighborhood community services with all of the directors in the past as well as staff, and so we hear the community like you of what they're saying, and it is something that we're working on and we're trying to address.

Do you feel like we have an answer for that, or do you feel like our the policy that we have doesn't really quite get at that and we might need something else?

So we're working based on the current policy, and um it's not something that I I would be able to answer, but uh based on the the needs or the tools that we currently have, we are addressing um and our priority is getting people into shelter.

Okay.

If I can just add to I think the the work that we do specifically is to build on the momentum of providing good sustainable resources for people experiencing homelessness.

That is really our function.

Um we are trying to make sure we are building on the momentum of good relationships with either volunteers or other outreach teams, right?

So if people are unsheltered, do they have the resources they need in order to get people off the streets?

That is our primary function for for our team is to make sure we have those services, and that's how we should be evaluating the response system from our our advantage is that are we providing the right response?

And and if we're not, what do we need in order to be able to do that?

And so that's why we stay continued with those regional partners because we want to know what those are and what resources might be available.

Um, and there are there's some that are uh resources that are out in the county currently right now that are being accessed by City of Tacoma residents.

Um there's even uh a shelter, uh, Marine Howard Place, which is in Lakewood that is done through the encampment resolution program for the state that encampments that are happening in Tacoma does have access to depending on availability.

Um, and so we'll continue those partnerships, but that is our primary focus is making sure we're giving first the most important thing, which is the right services.

Appreciate the answer.

Thank you.

Councilmember Hines.

Uh thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um no, I I think the many of the questions I had asked are here.

I just I do think there's a um just the back envelope math.

If I just look at the count totals, and first of all, I I would encourage anyone who hasn't already done it to do the point in time count.

I've done it two years in a row.

Um, I think some of the other colleagues have done it too.

Um I think it's a valuable opportunity to see kind of how it works.

Um in both it's kind of a chance to kind of be out and doing the work, but also I think to get to what Caleb said, just some of the how hard it is to get accurate data sometimes, right?

Because I've done it, and it's hard to get someone it you have to get someone to stand there and go through a list of you know 30 questions of which one of which is zip code.

And you know, some of these folks don't want to talk to you, right?

So it while it's an imperfect tool, right?

It is it's what we have.

So um, and I just a clarifying question, Caleb, or uh Vicky, the federal government is requires us to do the point in time count as the way we count people experience homelessness, correct?

Um so yeah, it's um historically it was every other year we were there uh COC was required to do it.

Um, and then up until this last legislative session, I believe it was every year for the state.

Um, and I think it's still every year for sheltered and every other year for unsheltered, but um as we have been what Pierce County Human Services committed is a and COC has committed is they would like to do this annually, regardless of requirements because of the year to year over trends that we can uh we can have uh in our pocket.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I I I just bring that up because I mean I've been doing this for quite a while, and usually every time I go to a conversation around how many people are experiencing homelessness in the community, someone will say the point in time count is not the best way to identify that.

And I always just want to reiterate that that it's not because we believe that the time count is the most effective way to count the number of people that are unsheltered or homeless in our community, but it's because that's requirements of the federal government in order to receive funding and also through the state.

So I just uh that's always a I can hear someone in the background saying that.

With that being said, when I look at these numbers, I guess back in the envelope math, looking at year to year, about 70% of the people who are experiencing homelessness in Pierce County are inside the city of Tacoma.

And of that, only 22% of them had a last known address inside the city of Tacoma.

Is that like a fairly yeah, of the people surveyed that knew their last zip code, that's what the data shows.

Um, but as mentioned, it was a significant unknown.

Um, and we do have some that are outside of Pierce County too, and part of that.

So they'll they'll track either whether from Washington State, outside of the state, maybe they're even from a jurisdictional county like King County.

Um, so they do track that as well.

Yeah.

Well, I think that just leans lends credence to the idea that this needs to be a regional conversation, not just the City's Tacoma conversation.

Um, because we have been kind of doing an unburdened.

I think at some of that point we're not gonna be able to adjust, get away from that because one most of the services and shelter here is in the city of Tacoma, the hospitals are here in the city of Tacoma, the jails in the city of Tacoma.

Like there's just a lot of reasons why we end up having more of a disproportionate share of people who experience homelessness, like any county seat, probably in the entire state of Washington.

Um to get to Debbie Randale's question, I something that I did not hear about this session, but maybe later is are we still working on a by name list?

Is that still a conversation that's happening?

Yeah, actually, that's a great question.

Um so as of last year, the county did take um a by name list initiative for certain populations and put out a competitive process and did that as well.

Um currently we are working with the county through the homeless management information system, um, especially with our heel team being trained to be able to input data.

Um, and we also had additional staff brought on that could help us with tracking a by name list.

Um, and the reason we we use the homeless management information system is one, there's a confidentiality part of that that we can protect our residents more and better.

And then also second reason is is that everybody would be using that, and so we can create a more accurate by name list of people inside the city of Tacoma or any other jurisdiction.

Um, and so we are currently working on that too as well, which also helps us influence to your point, um, Councilmember Hines about what the data looks like while using also point in time count data and using both of them to better understand if we're reaching functional zero or not.

Yeah.

Um I I bring that up because I've always thought that was probably the most important piece of data we need because I think it's one to Deborah Dale's point, we do see people that are out on on the streets and they do seem to kind of come back to the same places again and again.

Um and the question I've always asked, it's like why?

Because I know someone has asked that person if they want shelter.

I know we're providing multiple shelter types.

They're not just offering one, we've had multiple types.

I know that there are lots of people out there that are making contact with these folks, and so they're cycling back.

And so the question I've always come back to is like, well, why is that person here again?

And if we can get to that, then maybe we can actually find a way to help them.

Um I do think there's a there's no one reason why anyone is homeless.

There's no one reason why anyone is any situation, and I think we just have to be I think we can kind of talk broadly, but I think really diving in is really important because the person who um the woman who was near the I live the tip near Six and Orchard, who was kicked out of there, had a child, refused sheltered services multiple times, kind of moved around the district in my neighborhood for quite a bit, and then finally was offered something where she wanted to, and now she's off living in housing that took multiple months and years.

So I think if you would stop the tape at any point in time, be like, well, the city just keeps moving her around.

But really, the answer is like she wasn't getting what she needed, and then we finally got it to her, and now she's off and doing and on with her life.

Uh I think is a part of part of the conversation.

And um versus like the large group of people who are camped down behind the lows off of South 19th, which I think is a very different, they are there for a very different reason than say the woman who was around the sixth order shelter.

And I think trying to understand and for the community, right?

Because I think the community looks at it and says, I see people experiencing homelessness everywhere.

This, you know, what are we doing?

Um, and the answer is we're doing lots of things.

Um, but it it really comes back to that kind of that fine grain of like what point do we uh like get you the thing that you need.

Uh so I I mean I think the her point I I'm interested in talking about what policy and like policy changes that would be more effective at getting us to that.

Um I am and I and I I'd really like to have a real good serious conversation about what that might look like because I I have I've been on the council of kind of two ends of the spectrum.

I was here in 2020 and 2021 where we didn't move anybody at all.

And um, sorry, Councilmember Walker, but she was here with me on the you know, and that no one has told me that we need to go back to those days.

Um I'm in the period where we have the current policy that's in place, and I'd like to know kind of what the what we think might be the next kind of iteration is.

I think we're at the stage we need to integration.

So thank you.

It was you, I know.

She's in charge here.

Exactly.

That would be Deputy Mayor Daniels, but I made it back just in time.

Great.

Are there any other questions?

All right, you all again.

Oh no, Councilmember Walker.

I'll just be really brief.

All the questions I had have been asked, and this presentation was really, really great.

I just wanted to thank you and the team for everything that you do, both out on the streets and in translating this information to us.

And I would be remiss if I didn't highlight the um the van.

Um we've been talking about that for a very long time.

And thank you to our partners at Pierce Transit um for making that possible.

Thank you to the rescue mission for um getting that up and running.

And I I know what our fire department is very excited um to see what happens with that, and I'm excited to see the data and do a ride along at some point.

But just wanted to thank you, because I know it took as as we talked about many, many folks over the last couple years to make that happen.

I think it will make a huge difference for our 911 calls and still get people what they need medically.

So thank you.

Great.

All right, thank you, um, Councilmember Walker.

Thank you, you two, not only at and the whole team, um, not only for the presentation, but for the great work that you're doing.

All right.

Um, we are now gonna move on to our third agenda item, which is the Tide Flats.

Oh, there you are.

I was like, I was looking around for you, and I was like, I am not seeing.

I'm not seeing them.

So come on up, Stephen Atkinson.

Brian Bodet, are you joining?

Steve's got it.

Steve, the chair belongs to you.

So now we're gonna have um the Tide Flat Sub-area Plan consideration of amendments and public hearing prep um from Steve Atkinson, who is the principal planner, and um is the TIE flat sub-area plan guru king, ambassador.

I don't know, there are lots of there are not lots of words I could put at the end of that, but Steve, on to you.

Great.

Thank you for the introduction there and uh the new titles.

Appreciate that.

I need a few more words.

Stephen Atkinson, uh principal planners who've become a long-range planning.

Uh really pleased to be here today to help provide a briefing on uh the city council's consideration of a resolution this evening to set a public hearing on the tide flat subway plan and the related uh package of code amendments.

Um we'll just jump right into it.

We've got a long day today.

Um so just in the presentation in preparation for the council's uh action this evening, uh wanted to give a brief update and overview of the public hearing exhibits that will be part of that package tonight.

Um a brief introduction into some of the uh code revisions that have been sponsored by uh Mayor Woodards and uh Councilmember Walker, um, and then the tentative schedule for council consideration and adoption.

All right, so this first slide is is just summarizing again just for uh the council's awareness that the package this evening uh includes four primary documents.

Um and the intent is that these would all be uh brought back at first reading of ordinance as separate ordinances for council consideration.

So the first of these is uh would be an ordinance adopting the subway plan itself, uh, and the current draft is before the city council this evening is uh the draft as recommended by the Tide Flat Steering Committee.

Uh the second document are proposed revisions to the one to come up plan that are intended to help integrate some of the initial uh land use recommendations of the plan into and be recognized by the city's comprehensive plan.

Um, and then the final two uh ordinances will ultimately be uh proposed recommendations or proposed amendments to Title 13 land use code and shoreline master program.

Um I want to provide just a uh kind of brief overview of the relationship uh between both the plan and the other code amendments that are coming forward to the city council.

Um, in general, in the tide flat subway plan and as recommended by the steering committee, there were a set of specific proposals uh that were uh forwarded to the city council relating to new zoning districts, uh, new use standards uh and allowances for uses throughout the tide flat sub-area.

Um so one of the primary things that these additional exhibits are doing are integrating uh these zoning and land use recommendations into the municipal code and into our comprehensive plan.

So uh with the intent being that when the plan is adopted, um, it would be adopted concurrent with these code changes so that any new use or development that occurs in the tide flats would be consistent with the recommendations in the tide flat subway plan.

So the intent here is to avoid a situation where uh if the plan were adopted by itself uh and recommends certain uses should not be permitted in the tide flats area, that we end up with a permit because the code has not been fully implemented.

So the concurrency here is to ensure uh that our land use code uh is fully in place to support the subway plan.

Um the um other aspect of this are simply that the plan also incorporated some specific uh use allowances and development standards associated with these zoning districts, and that can be everything from height limits to setbacks, tree canopy, and landscaping requirements.

Um again, the ordinances that are accompanying the plan would help put those uh recommended actions into place at the time of the adoption of this package of amendments.

In addition to uh the exhibits that have been brought forward uh and recommended by the planning commission, um, the council has also uh considered uh and uh been asked to consider at this time any potential amendments to that package that you want to bring forward.

One of the reasons that we're having this conversation today is because through the the plan uh intergovernmental agreement and work plan, the city has made a commitment that if any new amendments, substantive amendments are introduced, um, that we would provide a minimum 45-day public comment period so that our governmental partners have an opportunity uh to review those amendments and provide input to the city council before any final action.

So uh this is a slightly different sequencing or or process in the council has uh typically been accustomed to uh of really trying to get your input and sponsorship at this stage of any amendments to incorporate into the package.

Um so when this goes out for public release tonight, it can all be part of a unified 45-day public comment period, um, and this would allow us to get input from our governmental partners in broader community before any council final action.

Um August 12th, we'd uh briefed the city council on some of the planning commission's recommendations as well as the health impact assessment.

Um, and at that time requested that the city council kind of work with staff to identify any changes that you wanted to sponsor or bring forward today so they could be part of the resolution this evening.

Um these are the four that have been uh sponsored at this time that were provided in the agenda packet uh for the study session and city council meeting this evening.

Um there are four, and all of these uh I'll note are uh in relation to the code exhibits and not plan amendments.

Um I'll just give a very brief.

I know the the materials have been provided to the city council uh in the packet, but just a brief introduction.

Uh the first of these sponsored amendments would modify the city's uh non-conforming use provisions to uh place some limits on expansion of non-conforming residential or institutional uses within uh the seaport core zoning districts.

And this was uh based on public comments that we received through the planning commission process, um identifying that our non-conforming code allowed for some significant expansion of non-conforming uses that could result in significant land use conflicts or public health impacts uh if these types of uses were allowed to expand within heavy industrial areas.

Um so again, this is a a minor amendment uh to the city's nonconforming code based on recommendations in the plan.

Uh the second uh are amendments that are specific to the transit-oriented uh district, the seaport transition TOD district, which is proposed uh in relation to the uh Portland Avenue station for the Tacoma Dome Link extension uh in the plan.

Uh the plan recommended uh a TOD district to be established around that station area that is incorporated into the basics of the zoning code that's been brought forward to the city council.

Uh but upon uh the commission's review, they did suggest and forward to the city some additional um recommendations on how to structure the development and use standards for that district uh to ensure that we can achieve successful TOD in that area.

Um the third amendment are what we're calling minor code amendments, these are often things that are uh that were caught by public review of the draft documents in the code.

So this is often correcting scriveners errors, um, addressing uh internal references that need to be fixed within the code.

Um there's some also uh some improvements that are suggested here to make sure that we have internal consistency on use definitions.

Um and one of the sort of examples of that is in the code, there's a lot of reference to container activity or container shipping.

Um but what the Port of Tacoma conducts in the tide flats is not strictly container related, but also a broader cargo uh operation.

So uh some of these cleanups are intended to better reflect kind of the reality that the operations there are cargo and not strictly container related.

Um, and then there are some cleanups here that were uh uh addressing use uh definitions between our land use code and shoreline master program to make sure that as we move forward with this code that we have consistency between those two uh sets of zoning and development standards that apply within the tide flats area.

Um and then the fourth amendment here uh again came out of public comment uh during the planning commission process and a request to consider uh potential uh amendments to the landscaping and tree canopy uh section of our code uh to allow public agencies to adopt uh urban forestry plans that can meet the city's uh tree canopy and landscaping requirements uh but give some flexibility in the location of where they meet those requirements.

And so this is uh an option that would provide primarily the port of Tacoma in this circumstance, but other public agencies, uh Tacoma School District or Metro Parks Tacoma, uh, some of flexible some flexibility in how they best accommodate uh the tree canopy and landscaping requirements on site and across their different properties.

Uh the intent of this is not to reduce or exempt overall uh tree canopy or landscaping requirements, but provide flexibility on where uh that landscaping occurs on their properties.

Um and then for uh the the council's resolution this evening.

I just want to give uh summary here of some of the next steps following uh the setting of the public hearing.

Uh but again tonight uh there is a resolution before the city council to set the public hearing and there uh will uh potentially be discussion this evening on incorporating.

I guess staff is looking for council to incorporate or decide uh whether they want to incorporate these proposed amendments into the public review package following that decision this evening from the city council.

Uh the public hearing will be set on October 28th, which meets the requirement for a 45-day public comment period, effectively seven weeks between setting the hearing and conducting the hearing.

Um then following that um we will be having first reading of ordinance scheduled for November 12th and final reading on December 2nd.

And just want to note for anyone uh following uh the discussion today that the November 12th meeting is a special meeting and will be conducted on a Wednesday, not on our typical Tuesday night.

So that will be uh a communication that we want to make sure is clear for anyone looking to attend those meetings that they're aware of that change uh in the schedule.

Um, with that, happy uh to answer any questions that the council may have sure.

Thank you, um Stephen, um for the presentation and the laying out of the schedule.

Um I just want to reiterate um something, Stephen, as you outlined those four amendments.

I know we talked a lot about not wanting to do any amendments if possible, but these I just want to be super clear about the four amendments that are on the table, is that they're not changes to the plan.

There they won't affect the plan that the five governments have already voted on.

This is really um as as you kind of talked about.

This is just some amendments to improve the alignment of the code and policies and and and other policies and actions proposed in the sub-area plan.

I also want to be super clear, and I think you said this as well, but want to say this is see say this again too, and that is that these four amendments have been shared with every every one of our partners and every one of our partners is on board.

So these are not changes that will be controversial.

Again, understanding that it doesn't change the heart of what the sub-area plan, what it means and what is in it.

And I am I I don't even have the right words to express how excited I am for December 2nd.

Um we really haven't.

You'll hear me say it a hundred times, but we've seriously been at this eight years since I've been mayor, but it started even before that.

And I I will scream it from the mountaintops.

Um how grateful I am for the work of all five governments and the fact that if you'd asked me on day one when we first sat down in the table, I thought we will never, this is just gonna end up being a three-two vote or four-one vote.

There's no way we will all ever be on the same page.

And at that last meeting, to have all five governments vote yes on this plan.

Um you guys, again, you guys are gonna get sick of hearing me say it, and you're gonna get sick of me saying I'm sick of you're sick of hearing me say it.

But um I I just I I can't um I I just don't have the words to express what that moment felt like.

Um, and that we all worked really hard.

And and that we all got to a place, again, this is one of those things, you know, that seven vote or was it five, four votes is politics, nine-o votes is leadership.

This is one of this is one of those things where that five five-o vote was leadership and not leadership, not my leadership, but the leadership around the table.

Um, and the fact that we could come to this place together.

That also would not have happened without the incredible staff.

Um, I mean, we met every other month, sometimes every quarter, but staff met every what probably felt like every day, but at least every week, um, and and got us to this point.

So I just I can't be grateful enough.

Um I I am fine with these changes, recognizing what they actually do.

And I also want to say that this is that the public hearing in the December 2nd date is not the end of the sub-area plan.

It is not like we created and you can't touch it again for a hundred years.

Um, if there are changes that need to be tweaked or we learn, you know, where we learn something different, that's why it's policy, and that's why you have policymakers so that they can go in and make the necessary changes.

And so um just just super excited about where we are, knowing that it in some instances it's the it's the end of one part, but it really is the beginning of the next phase of development at the point.

So um I'm gonna stop there and hand it over to my great partner, uh, Councilmember Walker.

Thank you, Mayor.

And um, I have a few clarifying questions and question uh process question, but I do want to say that I do think it was your leadership that brought this group together and kept at it for so many years.

So please take some credit for that because it wouldn't have happened without you.

Um Steven, just a few clarifying.

So um obviously I am very um interested in the TOD amendment, and we worked through this.

Um just want to check in for you know on the record.

These are changes like the the transit stations ones that Sound Transit is requesting and that they've looked at, right?

Um yes, in particular, um, so sort of two parts to this.

So one is uh some of these are suggestions that were provided um uh from the planning commission, uh, but then have embedded with Sound Transit, uh particularly how they pertain to the uh the station itself.

Um and uh we are expecting one of the changes here is just to clarify um the permitting status of uh the uh high capacity transit itself, just to make sure that uh Sound Transit has a clear permitting process ahead of them.

Great.

Um this is particularly timely as we um at Zound Transit are in the middle of a process of um looking at our entire process, our entire budget and all the projects, and one of the requests from the board, the Sound Transit Board, is how we can streamline local permitting.

So this is really timely and really helpful to that station in particular.

Um, but I think it also um, and and we talked about this sort of aligning some of those height limits and and other pieces that we have applied in other parts of the city and just to make it consistent.

But because it will have a station there, it is so important that we add in these pedestrian pieces and really making it a space that that focuses on people getting around, not just cars and freight.

So very uh excited about that one.

I did want to um ask a clarifying question about the fourth amendment on the tree canopy standards.

I think one thing um this is a policy that we used to have, and then took out and now we're putting it back in, right?

Is that yeah, that's correct.

Um so uh this had been, I think, just as recently as a couple of years ago, um, an existing standard in our landscaping code uh for public agencies.

Um I think through the Home and Tacoma process um that uh was removed from the code in part because of this stage nobody had actually ever taken advantage of this provision in the code.

Um and it has been something that I think through the public process was requested to come back is that flexibility.

Uh and just to note the way that this had worked in the past is um generally the urban forestry plan that this uh other public agency developed um still required city approval and city review for consistency and compliance with our overall tree canopy and landscaping code, um, and then there were uh provisions to ensure that periodically every 10 years it was revisited to make sure that it was staying in compliance with our standards over time.

The individual plans would be reviewed every 10 years, correct.

Okay, um, and then the other clarification and potentially addition to this one is when we say flexibility, are we saying anywhere or are we saying within the tide flats?

Yeah, I think um I mean I think the language that was sort of included here was a little bit more general.

Um I think that's certainly guidance that we could look for from the council is uh if you want a stronger focus specifically on saying we want flexibility, but we want flexibility in the circumstance within the tide flats area.

Um I think we could certainly just make sure that that gets incorporated uh into the text of the language.

Okay.

And then that leads me to a process question because we need to make that change before tonight, right?

So that it that is the actual language that goes into the 45-day period, which leads to the public hearing, so that everyone's commenting on the um I think um Yeah, I think uh I think we can certainly just I think take the direction from the council.

So if you approve this tonight, I think if you are giving us the direction to make sure that the text um includes that, I don't think we would necessarily ask for an additional amendment to the amendment this evening.

I think we can just keep it simple and make sure we have that direction from you.

Okay.

Um yeah.

Thank you.

That and that was certainly the intention here.

I know this you know came from um public comment, and we worked together on this, but that was certainly the intention is that it would maintain that within the tide flat.

So we'd love to add that um tonight.

Um, and then just in terms of process, I know we talked about this uh uh many times, but the 45 comment period, then the public hearing, if we decide after the public hearing that we want to do something wildly different, then it goes back to another 45-day comment period, right?

Yeah, that's correct.

Um, and then I just uh my last comment, I just wanted to reiterate something that the mayor said is that once we finish this and the plan and the code all gets implemented.

There are other pieces of this that I think deserve more time and um probably digging into.

And I think um that you know getting this done and and put getting this to work, um, particularly the the code and the zoning, in my mind is so important, and then I think the the future work gets started right away, both in implementing what we said we would in the plan, but also as we dig into sort of those jobs numbers, what does it look like to have um transit in the port?

We have got a list of projects within the plan, you know, how do we prioritize those?

So um just to say that this really is a starting point, and if there are things that we need to dig into more or you know, resolutions we need to pass in the future that clarify things, I think uh, or I know we can do that and and dig in further.

Um, but I am so excited to get the the zoning piece in particular done, uh, have some consistency, people know what to expect, um, and then get to work on implementing all of it.

So um I share all the enthusiasm, well, maybe not quite as much enthusiasm as the mayor.

But um I know our partners are are really um excited and proud of the work too.

So looking forward to this final process.

Thanks, Stephen.

Councilmember Rumba.

Um, first off, I want to thank um, I just I have I have quite a few things, so I just wanted to give you a heads up.

Um, but I also first I just want to I want to say that this is pretty momentous that we got to this point.

It took like way more years than I've ever been here, and I really appreciate what you've done, Council um mayor and council member Walker on leading on this.

I really appreciate that.

Um I really want to thank you, Mayor, who championed this since the beginning and who stayed committed to collaboration and whose determination and stickedness was critical to bringing everyone to the table until the decision was reached.

I really appreciate that.

And I also want to thank staff who've lived and breathed this work for years and whose tremendous commitment to transparency and inclusion is exemplary.

Um so when you have a plan this large with so many uh people engaged in its creation, there will always be compromises between different perspectives, even still the plan accomplishes a lot.

And I really feel like I need to read this because this is my district, district two, and um for me a huge win for all of Tacoma is prohibiting rendering plants in the port.

Um we've all heard concerns from community about the impacts rendering plants have and how terrible they smell and what they do, and that community feedback was critical to getting us here.

So I think that's a real win, and no one's brought that up.

And this plan also changes how our industry um will interact with surrounding residential areas by incorporating new transitional zoning along the borders of the tide flats, and that's just a real win, too.

And whoever came up with that, good on you.

The area between Northeast Tacoma and the port allows for less industrial uses than than current zoning, so that's a win.

It also adds conditional use permit requirements as well as requirements to fully enclose facilities to address some of the industrial uses of highest concern to Northeast Tacoma residents.

So that's also great.

Throughout the process, we heard Northeast Tacoma advocate for a land use concept more similar similar to Foss Waterway.

They're trying to get there.

The proposed zoning would allow private recreation and entertainment use, restaurants, cultural institutions, retail public services, and other water enjoyment activities along the shoreline, similar to the mix of uses we have on the FOSS waterway, and developing these uses would also be required to provide public access to the shoreline.

So those are good things.

They may take time, but they're good.

The plan also includes seaport conservancy districts to support habitat preservation to protect the long-term function and viability of key wetland fish and wildlife habitat and drainage districts, and that's really important to my community, and it should be important to our city.

These enhancements to our land use code set up for a healthier, more sustainable future.

I continue to hear concerns from Northeast Tacoma residents that the Tide Flat sub-area plan won't do enough to address noise, air, and odor emissions from industrial businesses in the port.

It's imperative that business and industry in the port be a good neighbor to the residents in Tacoma, and I believe that the way to ensure that is to review how enforcement of our current code occurs.

To that end, I'm working with staff to identify future actions and priorities to be included in the ordinance language when it's brought forward later this year.

These won't be in an amendment to the public review package, but actions I'm asking to be highlighted are assigned community vitality and safety to review noise code enforcement as part of the ongoing work to adopt the international property maintenance code, assign CVS to review the TMC chapter 8.122 noise enforcement to include reviewing its variants and exemption policies, and directs government affairs to engage stakeholders, including the um Puget Sound Clean Air Agency to advocate for enhanced air quality enforcement efforts within the Tide Flats.

Okay, so now the trail.

So there's a little dotted line in the Tide Flat sub-area plan, and that's a trail.

And one of the most exciting things is the plan is how it seeks to connect Northeast Tacoma to the city.

Um you all know the Tide Flats is not known for pedestrian and bike-friendly infrastructure.

I doubt any of you would want to walk or bike from downtown to Northeast Tacoma, and I don't think you could actually.

And I'll be pursuing including funding for this study in maybe our mid-mod budget adjustment.

And if we aren't able to identify funding this year, I'll advocate for the state to allocate funding to assist with this effort.

So I really want to see that happen.

I think it's a positive.

Um, as you're aware, there's no other way to get into town from Northeast Tacoma except for by car.

We don't even have a bus.

So um, and then just um thank you for listening to this.

And then I just have one.

Um I just want to make sure that on the amendment that the mayor and um council member walker have brought forward that when we talk about public um agencies that even though and I like the language that you brought up, Councilmember Walker about it not being the port of Tacoma, but the TIFLAT sub-area.

Um that we don't include um to cut the public schools as part of that, that they're um that they will have to if there's a public school in this area for any reason, anything that happens in the future that they would have to meet the requirements of our landscaping code to protect children and because trees do a great job of taking out those pollutants, and we know there's a lot of pollution in that area.

So those are my things, and thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Councilmember Rumbah, and we will work with you to figure out what's the best way to bring that forward, whether or not that's in this ordinance or as if it's a companion resolution, but we'll work together to figure out how we how we um bring that forward to make sure that we are addressing those issues that you brought forward.

So thank you.

All right, are there any other questions for Stephen?

All right, Stephen Run.

No, no, thank you, thank you.

Thank you, Steve.

All right, right.

Go now.

Quick, they said no more questions.

No, uh, thank you very much, Steve, for the presentation.

All right, we're gonna move on to other items of interest.

Um, our fourth agenda item is the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Code amendment discussion, and I'm gonna call on Councilmember Bushnell.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Uh I just uh I don't have any updates other than um been working with staff on the um the code updates on adding language for non-conforming uses, uh removing language, uh waiver language, clarification for split parcels, uh and minor clotup uh code cleanups based on public comments.

Um we had a chance to walk through these the other day, um, so I don't have anything additional unless there's uh questions.

Do we have um any questions for councilmember Bush now?

Councilmember Rumba.

I don't have a question perhaps.

Okay.

Any questions for Councilmember Bush now?

All right, seeing that Councilmember Rumba.

Okay.

So one of the things in the South Tacoma Groundwater Protection District Code update is how the city is working so closely with the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department on this work, and identified next step is to enter into a moratorium a memorandum of understanding with the Tacoma Pierce County Health Department to define agency roles, coordinate protocols, and jointly implement the STGPD code and related stormwater management requirements.

This is vital work that I think needs to happen in a timely fashion.

My amendment directs the city to use best efforts to complete the MOU within 90 days of the effective date of this ordinance.

I hope this timeline assures everyone watching this work closely that the city's committed to swift action and implementation of this code.

We've all worked so hard for.

Thank you, Councilmember Rumba, and Council Member Bush now.

Um are there any committee reports?

Seeing that agenda review and city manager's weekly report.

City Manager Kim.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Um council, we have two ceremonials for tonight's agenda.

The first being um the city council proclaiming September 12th through the 21st as our welcoming week for 2025, also ceremonial proclaiming September uh as emergency preparedness month.

No changes as proposed for the agenda tonight, and there are two public comment periods, one for public comment as well as community form for tonight.

That is my report.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you very much, City Manager.

All right, with that, um, I will entertain a motion to convene to an executive executive session pursuant to RCW 42.30.1101 II and II to discuss potential litigation not to exceed 15 minutes.

So moved, sorry.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

All those opposed, the motion is declared adopted.

Um there will be no further business once we return except to adjourn the meeting.

So with that, um uh we will now go uh I'll now call a recess and we'll go to executive session for 15 minutes.

Thank you.