The Yakima City Council held a study session on January 14, 2025, at 5:00 PM in City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting covered proclamations, updates on the Yakima Air Terminal modernization, two Supporting Investments in Economic Development (SIED) grant applications, a report on service calls at supportive housing facilities, and discussions on affordable housing funding options. Mayor Patricia Byers presided; Councilmember Leo Roy was absent. The meeting adjourned at 6:47 PM.
Yakima Air Terminal Modernization Update – Airport Director Rob Hodgman presented updates on multiple projects:
Resolution Authorizing SIED Grant – Airport Terminal Modernization – Resolution R-2025-018 was presented, authorizing a grant application to Yakima County for the terminal building modernization. The motion passed 6-0 (Roy absent).
Resolution Authorizing SIED Grant – Wiley City Wastewater Feasibility Study – Planning Manager Trevor Martin presented Resolution R-2025-019, authorizing application for approximately $120,000 in SIED funds (100% grant, no city match) to study wastewater infrastructure in the Wiley City area (outside city limits but within the Urban Growth Area). The city would act as applicant and administrator; staff time is covered by the grant. The study would not obligate the city to implement any recommendations. Councilmembers questioned why the county was not leading and whether city resources could be used for underserved areas within the city. The motion passed 4-2 (Brown and Berg opposed; Roy absent).
Report: Service Calls and Code Compliance at Hotels and Supportive Housing – Code Administration Manager Glenn Denman, Interim Police Chief Shawn Boyle, and Crime Analytics Supervisor Brandon Lynn presented data on 2024 service calls and code cases for hotels and supportive housing. Key findings:
Discussion of 1406 Funds (Retained Sales Tax for Affordable Housing) – City Attorney Sara Watkins presented:
Information on Filing Fee Funds (2163/2060) – Attorney Watkins continued:
Additional Options Discussed – Watkins also noted:
Note: The meeting start time was 5:00 PM and adjournment at 6:47 PM. Mayor Byers also announced that Yakima was selected as an Official Fan Zone for the FIFA World Cup 2026.
All right. Good evening, welcome. I will call to order the January fourteenth, twenty twenty-five uh City Council study session. We'll start with roll call. Bird. Here. Brown. Here. Present. DCO. Here. Glenn. Here. Erena. Here. Roy is absent. Thank you. Uh, before we go any further tonight, before we start with public comment, I'm going to make a special announcement. Very exciting from the city of Yakima. I'm going to stand up so you can see my FIFA World Cup scarf. Today, Yakima was designated an official FIFA twenty twenty-six World Cup fan zone. So we'll have lots to do getting ready, and it'll be in a very exciting time in our city. Just wanted to let you know. And each person coming to the podium, please identify yourself and the city in which you live. Good evening, Madam Mayor, Council Members, staff, Kyle Curtis, proud to be your Yakima County Commissioner for District 2. My comments tonight are on item number G, more specifically the 2163 filing fees. First, I want to thank council for your interest in having this discussion. This is an important discussion any time we discuss the homeless response system in Yakima County, what's working, what's not working, and then what's also on the horizon. I also want to thank your staff for the work product they put forward for you tonight. It's really well thought out, and it does a good job of highlighting the complexities of these uh filing fees that you will be discussing. Uh the two things I want to share with you is that any time you think of the Yakima County homeless response system, I want you to take three steps back and look at the funding sources. 73% of the dollars that flow into our county to help us uh address homelessness come from the state. And in order to access those dollars, we have to have an updated five-year plan to address homelessness. The other 27% is these filing fees that you will be discussing. And the difference is is that the state dollars that we get are very much more restricted dollars versus our local dollars. So I always say the local dollars are precious to us because we can do cool things with those local dollars that we otherwise can't do uh with with the state dollars. Some prime examples are making uh investments in uh capital infrastructure, such as the Camp Hope uh Laundry Center and Shower Center. We would never be able to do that with your commerce dollars. The second thing, uh council, I wanted to highlight that Yakima County is updating its five-year uh homeless housing strategic plan update. This has been provided for you. I encourage you to think of stakeholders in our community who need to be at at the table. There are three three-day-long sessions that we have planned this next year for the update. Um, and it's a robust plan that uh I hope we will engage over 35 different stakeholder groups so that at the end of the day, this updated plan that we have to live with for the next five years and and make annual updates, it has everything in it that we need to be successful. So, with that, happy new year and thank you for your time. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner. Good to have you here. The next person is Joseph Lewis Daniels. Speaking for the people in the streets.