The Yakima City Council met on April 14, 2026, at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers. The meeting included recognition of the Davis High School girls' basketball team, public comment, two public hearings, and several department items including a utility tax increase to fund Fire Station 92. Key actions included adoption of an endangerment ordinance, approval of an RFP for Fisher Park Golf Course operation, and a 3% utility tax with a sunset provision tied to a potential county EMS levy.
Mayor Brown recognized the Davis High School girls' basketball team for winning the 4A State Championship. Principal Heather Hastie and Coach Akil White thanked the council. The team received certificates and a signed basketball.
Councilmember Byers requested removal from consent to discuss potential participant contributions. She stated the ordinance does not prohibit asking for contributions and intends to revisit during budget discussions. The resolution passed 7-0.
Associate Planner Connor Kennedy explained that the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) approved a certificate based on incomplete applications and an image of the wrong house. The city appealed to remand for proper review. The hearing was quasi-judicial. Councilmember Glenn recused himself due to ex-parte communication. After testimony, the council voted 6-0 to grant the appeal and remand to HPC.
Planning Manager Trevor Martin and Senior Planner Jason Radtke presented the proposal to subdivide 4.85 acres into 29 lots (28 residential common-wall units and one commercial/retail lot) at 5405 Summitview Avenue. The development is open to all ages, not age-restricted. The developer, Eglin & Eglin LLC, indicated no specific commercial tenant yet. The hearing examiner recommended approval. Council passed Resolution R-2026-049 7-0.
Assistant City Manager Gary Ballew presented 2025 operations: $246,000 revenue, $253,000 expenses. First Tee of Central Washington proposed leasing the course. Parks Manager Ken Wilkinson said the city runs the course well. Megan Nobbs, First Tee Executive Director, outlined benefits including youth programming and cost savings. Council debated proceeding with an RFP. Motion to go forward with an RFP passed 5-2 (Brown and Byers opposed).
Gary Ballew reported 247 nonprofit endorsements, 328 regulatory licenses generating ~$16,500 revenue, with 154 licenses recommended for elimination (~$6,000 loss). Staff proposed capping business license employee count at 120. Council consensus: maintain current regulatory fees until full review complete; keep nonprofit exemption; set employee cap at 120.
City Attorney Sara Watkins introduced an ordinance making it a gross misdemeanor to knowingly or recklessly expose a child to a controlled substance, with exceptions for valid prescriptions. Councilmember Glenn expressed concern about low penalties. Motion passed 7-0. Ordinance 2026-013.
Gary Ballew presented four ordinances to raise utility tax from 21% to 24% on water, wastewater, refuse, and stormwater, generating ~$1.8 million annually to fund Fire Station 92. An initial motion by Glenn and Potrykus to pass all four failed 4-3 (Berg, Byers, Gonzalez no). After debate, an amended motion by Potrykus and Byers passed 6-1 (Gonzalez no): adopt the 3% utility taxes with a contingency that if a county-wide EMS levy of 50 cents per $1,000 passes, the city will sunset the utility tax upon receipt of those funds. Ordinances 2026-014 through 2026-017 were adopted.
Motion by Byers to table discussion to May passed unanimously.
City Manager Vicki Baker reported:
The meeting adjourned at 9:21 p.m. The next regular meeting is April 21, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.
Brown here. Hi ears. Present. Glenn? Here. Gonzalez. Here. Patrick is here. Roy. Here. All right. Join me with in the Pledge of Allegiance. Ready to begin. I pledge allegiance to the side of the United States of America. And to the Republic for my stands. One nation. All right. Interpreter services. Good evening. If somebody needs uh interpreting services, I have my system and everything ready. See alguien necessity uninterprete, tengo los radios. Me ven aquí afuera sale la puerta. Gracias. Thank you. All right. Next is item four. Go to the order, and we're gonna recognize the Davis High School girls basketball team. They uh yeah. I feel like that's most of the audience tonight. Um if I could have uh Tony and the crew come on up here. Um Davis High School girls, they they want back-to-back four-a-state championship in girls' basketball. Uh, and uh take it away, Tony. That's an amazing accomplishment. I mean, uh I play sports, uh uh Congressman Bird coming. Soon, okay. Congress Birds soon uh plays sports, and we all achieved to become state champions and win the championship. Never did. I don't know if you did, but I we I didn't. So this is so awesome. The the city of Yakima should be proud of these ladies uh for accomplishing um probably defeated all-star teams, actually, because on the West side uh they do some recruiting in some of the private schools, and uh these are homegrown ladies, and um they did it. They they got two state championships. So with that, I'd like to turn it back to uh the principal. Yes, uh Principal Hasty. I really appreciate you recognizing the girls' basketball team today, Davis High School. I'm proud principal over there, and our girls, they're they're amazing. It's two right now, it'll be three next year, so we'll see you again. Um and not only not only are they just superstar athletes, they are smart, they are kind, they are everything you would want them to be as citizens. They're incredible. And um, not just them, the families. It's also huge to recognize their families, the parents that I'm I'm a parent of two soccer goalies who not in high school yet, but they will be.