Seattle City Council Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities 8222

Good morning, the August 2nd, 2022 meeting of the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee will come to order.

The time is 9.30 a.m.

I'm Alex Peterson, chair of the committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll?

Council Member Morales.

Here.

Council Member Sawant.

Present.

Chair Peterson.

Present.

Three present.

Thank you.

And Council Members Herbold and Strauss are excused.

If there's no objection, today's proposed agenda will be adopted.

Hearing or seeing no objection, the agenda is adopted.

A quick chair's report.

Good morning again.

Welcome to the Transportation Seattle Public Utilities Committee.

On our agenda today, we have 23 items.

The first item is an ordinance to enable Seattle Public Utilities to accept easements for installation, operation, and maintenance of hydrants, water mains, domestic meter vaults, fire service meters, and other equipment necessary for water utility purposes at various locations in Seattle.

I do intend to vote on that today.

The second item on our agenda is an ordinance we're hearing the second time.

This would designate parking spaces for tractor trucks.

We heard this item on a previous committee, July 19th, and today it's back with an amendment that I had central staff draft, which would formalize an SDOT director's rule to require the crafting of that rule for such parking designations so that we ensure public engagement for future locations.

And we can talk more about that when we get to that item number two.

And lastly, we have 21 appointments to advisory and oversight boards.

That's nine appointments to the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board, two to the Seattle School Safety Committee, one to Transit Advisory Board, two to the Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee, and seven appointments to the Seattle Public Utilities Customer Review Panel.

Typically, we'll have whoever can attend attend if they are a new appointment, especially and but we have their appointment packets on the agenda.

So if people aren't able to show up, that's fine.

We could still vote on them because we got all their information here online on the agenda.

These advisory boards and oversight committees, of course, help to advise the mayor's office, the city council, and executive departments on transportation or utility areas of expertise.

At this time, we'll open the general public comment period for transportation and Seattle Public Utilities.

Oh, we are joined by Councilor Herbold, excellent.

Good morning, Councilor Herbold.

So at this time, we'll open the general public comment period for Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee.

For our hybrid meeting, we often have people signed up both in person and online.

Currently, we just have online speakers.

I'll moderate the public comment period in the following manner.

I'll start with the speakers who have registered online and then call on any speakers who have signed up here in the council chambers.

The public comment period is going to be up to 20 minutes, although we have just one, I think we have just one online speaker at this point.

I'll call on, normally I'd call on two speakers at a time and in the order in which they're registered on the council's website and on the sign-in sheet in council chambers at city hall.

If you've not yet registered to speak but would like to, you can sign up before the end of this public comment period by going to the council's website at seattle.gov forward slash council or by signing up at the sign-in sheet near the public comment microphone toward the front of this chamber.

Remote speakers, once I call a speaker's name, staff will unmute the appropriate microphone and automatic prompt of you have been unmuted will be the speaker's cue that is their turn and the speaker must press star six to begin speaking.

That's star six.

For all public commenters, please begin speaking by stating your name and the item you are addressing.

As a reminder, public comment should relate to an item on today's agenda or to our committee's oversight responsibilities.

speakers will hear a chime when 10 seconds are left of the allotted time.

Once you hear the chime, we ask that you begin to wrap up your public comment.

If speakers do not end their comments at the end of the allotted time, the speaker's microphone will be muted to allow us to call on the next speaker.

If you're providing public comment remotely, Once you have completed your comment, we ask that you please disconnect from the line and if you plan to continue following this meeting, please do so via Seattle Channel or the listening options listed on the agenda.

One moment.

Okay, the regular public comment period for this committee meeting is now open.

And we'll begin with the first speaker on the list.

Please remember to press star six before speaking.

We have Sabrina Ballou.

Go ahead, Sabrina.

Hi, good morning, council members.

My name is Sabrina Ballou.

I am speaking today on behalf of the Port of Seattle and the Northwest Seaport Alliance as it relates to Council Bill 120364 to dedicate truck tractor parking in industrial zone locations nearby the active terminals and facilities that truck drivers service.

This is a great piece of legislation that's good for the environment, Duwamish Valley residents and truck driver safety.

What I really like about this legislation is it does not penalize truck drivers for parking in industrial areas, but rather provides an incentive for drivers to park in locations that are more convenient to them and better for our neighborhood, and closer to our working terminals.

This work is not new and the port remains an active partner of the cities in identifying additional off-street parking to alleviate heavy truck traffic on our residential streets and reduce truck idling and greenhouse gas emissions and I urge your support.

Thank you so much.

Thank you very much.

That concludes our online speakers and I don't see any speakers signed up in council chambers.

So we'll go ahead and move on to the items of business.

I will close the public comment period.

So items of business, item one, will the clerk please read the short title of the first agenda item into the record.

Agenda item one.

Council Bill 120373, an ordinance relating to Seattle Public Utilities, accepting easements granted to the City of Seattle for installation, operation, and maintenance of hydrants, water mains, domestic meter vaults, fire service meters, and opportunities necessary for water utility purposes at various locations in Seattle for briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Thank you.

All right, as I understand it, this bill would authorize Seattle Public Utilities to accept nine utility easements, establish SPU's right to operate facilities on certain private property.

And there's good news, apparently this would come at no cost to rate payers.

So let's say hello to our presenters.

We are joined by Seattle Public Utilities, of course, and also our own City Council Central Staff Analyst, Brian Goodnight.

As usual, I wanted to ask Central Staff if there are any opening remarks they wanted to make about this legislation.

Thank you, Council Member Peterson.

Again, just for the record, Brian Goodnight, Council Central Staff.

I don't have any opening comments.

I have reviewed the legislation and no concerns from Central Staff's perspective.

Thank you.

Thank you, that's very helpful to hear no concerns from central staff.

Welcome to Seattle Public Utilities.

I think we've got Brian and Judith.

Go ahead and introduce yourselves.

And I think you have a PowerPoint presentation for us to view.

Yes, good morning.

My name is Judith Cross.

I'm the manager of the Real Property Services team for Seattle Public Utilities, but I'd like to defer to our GM and CEO, Andrew Lee is here.

And so, Andrew, I didn't know if you had any opening remarks.

Yeah.

Oh, yes.

Hi.

Thank you very much.

Good morning, General Manager and CEO, Andrew Lee.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Peterson, members of the committee.

I'm just going to lead off with a very few words and then I'll pass it on to Judith and Brian.

Seattle Public Utilities from time to time comes before this committee to secure authorization to accept or convey property rights for drainage, sewer, and water lines.

And when property owners develop or improve their property, they may be required to install SP facilities on their property.

And when they do that, we require an access easement for maintenance.

So today, again, we have Judith Cross and Brian Salensus.

from our real property division to provide you the background and the need for this ordinance.

And so I'll hand it off to Judith at this point.

Okay, thank you.

Brian, would you like to introduce yourself and bring up the PowerPoint, please?

Yes.

Hello, I'm Brian.

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

And here we go.

Are you able to see my screen?

Just a moment.

And for the viewing audience, this PowerPoint presentation is on our agenda, item one, presentation.

The presentation is up and you're at your first slide, Brian.

There we go.

Go ahead.

OK, so the name of this presentation is the SPU water easements acceptance ordinance.

The purpose of the legislation is it authorizes SPU to accept non-utility easements.

When property owners develop or improve their property, they may be required to put SPU facilities on their property.

To operate facilities such as water mains or hydrants on private property, the city requires easements for access, operations and maintenance.

The benefits of this are SPU accepts permanent property rights in multiple locations.

It establishes Seattle Public Utilities rights to operate city facilities on private property.

It is at no cost to the rate payers.

And it's a batching of acceptance easement documents, which saves times for SPU, council and other departments.

Here is a list of all of the nine locations that we are accepting.

And this is a visual to kind of give you an idea of the various areas within Seattle where they are located.

It extends from north in the shoreline area all the way down south to south Seattle and west Seattle.

And that is our presentation.

Any questions?

Thank you.

And at the beginning, we heard from our central staff that they have no concerns with this legislation enabling Seattle Public Utilities to accept these utility easements.

Colleagues, any questions or comments about this before I move to a vote on it?

Okay.

All right, well, Council Members, I now move that the committee recommends passage of Council Bill 120373, item one on our agenda.

Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to recommend passage of the Council Bill.

Any final comments?

Okay, will the clerk please call the roll on the committee recommendation to pass Council Bill 120373?

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Chair Peterson?

Yes.

All in favor?

None opposed.

Thank you.

The motion carries and the committee recommendation that the bill pass will be sent to the August 9th City Council meeting.

Thank you everybody from Seattle Public Utilities.

And I think Andrew Lee will probably stay with us for the customer review panel.

Will the clerk please read the full title of the next agenda item into the record?

Agenda item two, council bill 120364, an ordinance relating to the traffic code, adding a new section 11.72.445 to the Seattle Municipal Code to establish the authority to designate parking for truck tractors in the public right of way and amending section 11.31.121 to allow for enforcement of truck tractor parking for briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you.

Colleagues, as you may recall from our previous committee, Council Bill 120364 would add a new section of the traffic code establishing the authority to designate parking for truck tractors in the public right of way and would amend another section of the Seattle Municipal Code to allow for enforcement of that designated truck parking.

And while SDOT's presentation was clear about four locations where it would initially designate temporary truck parking, including Harbor Island, Georgetown, and Soto, the legislation as transmitted would provide blanket authority to SDOT throughout the city.

So to address some concerns expressed by the general public about that blanket authority and public outreach, I had central staff draft an amendment to SDOT's bill that will have SDOT craft a relatively quick director's rule.

The director's rule would enable the department to formally articulate the principles they're using for designating such truck parking, and most importantly, its process for future public engagement on such parking locations.

Calvin Chow from central staff can walk us through the details of that amendment, that was published online with the agenda.

We also have back at our committee today, Mike and Matt from Seattle Department of Transportation, and they've made themselves available for any outstanding questions on the council bill.

We won't have the same presentation we had last time, but that is attached to the agenda.

So before I move the bill and the amendment, I just wanted to ask if there are any questions for Mike or Matt on the underlying bill, and then we can address the amendment.

Okay, I'll just do some parliamentary procedure to put it into play here, and then we can have further discussion and walk through this amendment.

So I now move that the committee recommend passage of Council Bill 120364, item two on our agenda.

Is there a second?

Thank you, it's been moved and seconded to recommend passage of Council Bill 120364, and I'll go ahead and move the amendment, and then we can walk through it and discuss it and vote on it.

I move to amend Council Bill 120364 as presented on Amendment 1 on the agenda.

Is there a second?

Thank you.

It's been moved and seconded to amend the council bill.

Let's go ahead and have Calvin Chow walk us through the amendment.

And Calvin, are you able to share your screen with the amendment?

I am, council members.

Good morning.

I hope that is up.

Yes, we see it.

Great.

So, Council Member, your amendment would add language to the Seattle Municipal Code to require SDOT to establish a director's rule in order to implement the new truck-tractor parking zones.

And the idea behind this is that requiring the director's rule would document SDOT's policies and procedures in the interests of greater transparency.

So, the language shown on the screen, the new language is in red.

It would be added to the very end of Section 1. And it reads, the director of the Seattle Department of Transportation shall promulgate rules to implement this section 1172445, including but not limited to a description of the justification for truck tractor parking zones, the criteria used to locate these zones and the public outreach process for implementing these zones.

I think the key idea behind this is that while the department has laid out its case for implementing truck tractor parking for drage, overnight drage parking, which was the impetus behind this.

There could be other rationales down the line and this would require us to establish that by director's rule to explain the rationale and the procedures and processes that they use.

Thank you very much, well said.

Yes, I support what SDOT is trying to do here with incentivizing this truck tractor parking's designated zones and enforcing that.

It's just the way the legislation was written.

It was provided blanket authority, so this would put some, formalize the principles being used and also the public engagement, which I know was important to a lot of or some people calling in with concerns about the legislation going forward.

So colleagues, any questions about this amendment?

Council Member Morales.

Yeah, no questions.

I just want to thank you, Chair Peterson, for this amendment.

We did have several folks calling in at the last committee meeting about this particular topic, wondering how SDOT was going to make decisions for future parking requirements or opportunities.

So I appreciate this offering some clarity and some direction to the department about how they make sure it's transparent, how those decisions are made.

So just want to thank you for bringing the amendment.

Thanks.

Thank you very much, Council Member Morales.

Any other comments or questions about the amendment before we vote on the amendment?

Okay, so we moved to, I moved the amendment and there was a second, and then we discussed it.

So it's been moved and seconded to adopt Amendment 1 to Council Bill 120364. Any final comments or questions before we do a roll call vote?

Okay, will the clerk please call the roll on Amendment 1?

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Chair Peterson?

Yes.

Four in favor, none opposed.

Thank you.

The amendment passes and is incorporated into the bill.

Are there any questions or comments on Council Bill 120364 as amended?

Yes, Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

Apologies for being off screen this morning, but I do want to thank you so much for bringing this legislation forward, making it better with your amendment.

Really appreciate the work of SDOT on behalf of South Park residents who often have these trucks parked in their neighborhoods.

And the impacts are not just felt because of the traffic impacts, but also the impacts associated with additional emissions from the vehicles in these residential neighborhoods.

So really, really appreciate that work bringing this forward.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Councilmember Herbold.

Okay, any other final comments or questions on the bill as amended?

Okay, will the clerk please call the roll on Council Bill 120364 as amended?

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Chair Peterson?

Yes.

All in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the motion carries and the committee recommendation that the bill pass as amended will be sent to the August 9 City Council meeting.

Thank you very much, Calvin chow especially for working on that amendment for us and thank us for coming up with this, this policy.

Okay, colleagues, so we're gonna move on to the next items in the agenda.

So there are several appointments.

I'll ask for your grace as we try to get people on the screen who are applying to be on these boards and commissions.

And again, we're gonna try to focus on those who are new appointments.

Of course, everybody's appointment packets are on the agenda today.

And I know that council colleagues have already looked at these.

We're gonna start with, and we are gonna do them in groups.

So we are gonna start with items three through 11. So we'll go ahead and have our committee clerk read items three through 11 into the record.

Agenda Items 3 through 11. Appointment numbers 02280 through 02288. Appointments of David L. France, Chelsea Morrison, and Natasha Riverone as members of the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board for terms to March 31, 2023, and Rohit Amanamanshi Fallon Boyle, Christopher Gergich, Wes Mills, and Emily Zito, and reappointment of Emily D. Davis as members of the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board for terms to March 31st, 2024, for briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you, and colleagues, as we know, the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board advises the mayor, city council, and all departments and offices of the city on pedestrian safety.

Pedestrian safety is especially important as pedestrians comprise the largest number of people killed by collisions on Seattle's streets.

The board is composed of 12 members, six appointed by the mayor, five by the city council, and one seat specifically for a young adult member.

Okay, so let's go ahead and turn it over to our presenter from SDOT so we can introduce whoever is able to join us today.

I think it's Belin who's going to introduce them.

Hello, everybody.

My name I am the pedestrian advisory board liaison.

I use pronouns she, her, and I identify as Latina.

So each of, I'm doing a little blurb.

Sorry, I haven't done one of these confirmations in a while.

Do I need to read the packet or just have them themselves and that's it?

Well, I actually, um, we, the good news is we've got the, uh, appointment packets online.

You know, we, we see everybody do it a little bit differently in terms of how much information they convey at this point.

We can really just, um, see who's here today and, um, ask them a couple of basic questions, you know, tell us a little bit about yourself and why you'd like to serve on the pedestrian advisory board.

We can go ahead and do that.

That sounds good.

So in terms of- I need the first one.

Go ahead, please.

Oh, and I was just gonna introduce them one by one, if that makes sense to go away, that process.

Yes, yes, please.

If you could help us organize that, that would be great.

Okay, so one of the first ones on the agenda to be introduced, David Reyes, if you would unmute.

Good morning.

Oh yeah, so let's start with David.

Go ahead, David.

Good morning and welcome.

Thanks for joining us today and your willingness to serve.

Why don't you just tell us a little bit about your background and then why you'd like to serve on the Pedestrian Advisory Board.

Hi all, thank you so much for having me.

Yeah, my name is David I use he him pronouns.

I have studied geography and communication at the UW so I'm very interested in, you know, how people live how people work and how people get around our beautiful city so I was really really excited to find this opportunity and I'm very honored to be able to serve on the board because I hope to learn more about local legislation and local governance and how pedestrians and people all around the city can engage with transportation and make the city safer and more enjoyable for all of us.

So thank you so much for this opportunity.

Thank you.

And then colleagues, I think what we'll do is we'll go through each applicant who's here and then we can circle back with any questions if there are any.

So Belinda, who do we have next?

Chelsea, are you here?

I think Chelsea Morrison should be here.

Yes, I'm here.

Good morning Chelsea welcome and tell us about your background and why you'd like to serve on the board.

Great.

Hi, I'm Chelsea Morrison, I use she her pronouns.

I have been a resident of the Belltown neighborhood for five years now living a car free lifestyle.

love that the city is somewhere that I can indulge in that and not need to rely on a car.

And I want to help make the city more accessible so that everyone has that same opportunity.

I'm also trained as a transportation engineer and city planner.

So I really am excited about the opportunity to utilize my professional skills in a personal passion area of mine.

So I'm very excited to be on the board.

Excellent.

Thank you.

All right, next, do we have, is Natasha here?

I think I looked on the pan.

Participants, I don't believe we have Natasha, so we'll probably have to move on to the next person.

Rojit?

Great, Rojit?

Yes.

Hi, everyone.

My name is Rohit.

I'm a transportation planner, as well as a Belltown resident.

And so my degree is from Georgia Tech in civil engineering, but I do have a passion for multimodal transportation specifically.

I think it's a matter of equity to improve non-vehicle access to everyone.

I moved to Seattle just six months ago, and I feel like there are a lot of things that Seattle is doing right.

And that we could be doing more of it.

I'm honored to be considered for the committee.

Thank you, the pedestrian board.

Thank you very much.

Okay, Ellen, who's next?

Fallon Boyle, I think I saw their name on here.

Are you here?

I am, yes.

Hi.

Morning.

Morning.

My name is Fallon Boyle.

I have lived in Ballard neighborhood for the last 10 years.

And I'm very excited to begin this appointment for the Pedestrian Advisory Board.

I am interested in helping communities from all around Seattle just become engaged with different processes where they can approach the city and try to make their neighborhoods better for them.

So I'm focusing on outreach to different types of communities.

Excellent.

Thank you very much.

Next, do we have, I'm not sure if Emily is here.

Maybe, oh, hi, Emily.

Is that, well, is it Emily?

for Pedestrian Advisory Board.

Great.

If you're here for the Pedestrian Advisory Board, great, welcome.

And please tell us a little bit about your background and why you'd like to serve.

Just to clarify, you were calling on me or Emily Davis?

Emily Davis is a reappointment and this is a...

Okay, well, we'll talk to Emily.

Emily, we'll talk to you later.

And we're going to talk to, I guess, Chris next.

Hello.

Hello.

Yeah, so I am Chris Gurgich.

I live in First Hill.

I've lived in the First Hill and Capitol Hill neighborhoods for about six years now.

I am a traffic engineer by trade and work in urban design.

I also question a lot of the principles that Um, has gone behind the traffic engineering trade for the last 60 years, um, considering the, uh, pedestrian collisions and fatalities that, uh, you pointed out at the beginning of these, uh, appointments.

Um, so I, I walk and bike as my primary modes of transportation.

I lived a car-free lifestyle as well, um, up until the pandemic and then ended up going back to getting a car again there, but, um, and very.

interested in helping the city figure out how to make the city safer for everyone who walks and bikes.

In First Hill, we see a lot of people on walkers, a lot of people in wheelchairs, different abilities, all trying to sort of survive the intersections and just find a place where they're allowed to exist.

And I'm happy to help on the advisory board to help us do better at that for them.

Excellent, thank you very much.

I'm really impressed with everybody's backgrounds and how they're seeing the need here.

We've got two more who are here.

Let's go to Wes, and then we'll come back to Emily.

Go ahead, Wes.

Good morning.

Hello, good morning.

My name is Wes Mills, he, him.

I live in Northgate and have lived in Northgate and Lake City for over a decade now.

My background is not in transportation planning.

It's actually in technical support and customer service.

And I've been a transit and civic volunteer for several years.

And since no one in my household drives, I'm very interested in getting around largely by foot, bicycle and transit, since that's how we do everything.

And I'm interested in helping people be able to expand that across the city, make things safer, sidewalks, just all of the basics that we have here.

And happy to serve, look forward to the opportunity.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thanks for your willingness to serve.

And let's get back to, if I'm pronouncing your name right, Emily.

We've got two Emilies.

One is not here and one is here.

So sorry about that earlier.

Welcome back.

Thank you for your patience and willingness to serve.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and why you'd like to serve.

Yeah, thank you for having me.

My name is Emily Seto.

My pronouns are she and her.

I lived in Columbia City since 2009 and I currently work in finance in project and program management spaces.

I'm really interested in serving for the PED board because I'd like to represent my community.

There's a very diverse community that I live in.

It's mixed income renters.

We have a senior living facility and we also have homeowners here as well.

I'm really interested in leveraging my project management skills with this board because I've worked in previous roles on a volunteer basis for local organizations like the Department of Neighborhoods, SHA, Neighborhood House, on pedestrian accessibility and traffic safety projects.

Very excited to be here.

Thank you very much for being here.

Colleagues, as you see, we've got a great roster of people who wanna be on the pedestrian advisory board.

Are there any questions or comments before we vote on them?

Council Member Morales.

Thank you, chair.

Well, I, I'm thrilled.

I just want to say thank you to everyone for being willing to serve on the pedestrian advisory board, particularly those of you in the south end.

profound need to be focusing on pedestrian safety in the city.

I'm really excited about the work.

It sounds like our, our new director of the department might be interested in around Vision Zero.

And doing everything we can to increase traffic calming throughout the city, making sure we have bike and pedestrian infrastructure in the city so that people can navigate through their neighborhoods more safely and look forward to working with all of you on this board in your different neighborhoods to make sure that every part of the city.

is accessible to people who can't or choose not to drive.

So really appreciate your willingness to be on this board and look forward to what's to come.

Thanks very much.

Thank you.

Council Member Herbold.

Thank you.

I just want to flag that it doesn't look like there are any District 1 members on the pedestrian advisory board.

And so I just want to offer to help solicit interest in residents of District 1 in serving on this board when there are openings coming up.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Yeah, I know SDOT and in my newsletter and elsewhere, advertising for these open positions.

You know, we've got six or seven transportation advisory boards.

It is difficult to keep them full all the time, but thank you for looking out for West Seattle.

Any other comments or questions before we vote on our recommendation for these appointments?

Okay.

Well, again, thank you everybody for being here today and your willingness to serve.

And this is a priority for the council.

And yes, I do think that the SDOT nominee, his resume experience and also what he spoke to when he was nominated and we'll focus on Vision Zero and we will hear from him on August 16th and September 6th and we can ask him more about that.

All right, colleagues, well, let's go ahead and vote on these appointments.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the eight appointments and one reappointment to the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board?

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Chair Peterson?

Yes.

Four in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the motion carries and the committee recommendation of confirmation of appointments 02280 through 02288 will be sent to the August 9th city council meeting.

Again, thank you everybody for being here and thanks, Blinn, for organizing everybody.

Okay, will the clerk please read the full title of the next two agenda items into the record?

Agenda items 12 and 13, appointments 02298 and 02299, appointment of Noah Gouda and reappointment of Mary Ellen Bessel as members of the Seattle School Traffic Safety Committee for terms to March 31st, 2025 for briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you, colleagues.

The School Traffic Safety Committee is represented by community members who are parents of students, as well as city, government, and school district employees, all of whom care about getting to and from school safely, especially when walking or biking.

This advisory committee recommends new school crosswalk locations, matters regarding crossing guards, and other bigger plans for safe traffic circulation around schools and other issues.

and I know they're very dedicated.

So let's go ahead and welcome Ashley Reed from SDOT, and we can then say hello to the appointments.

Yes, hello.

I'm Ashley Reed, and I manage the Safe Routes to School Program at SDOT, and I'm the liaison to the School Traffic CD Committee.

So today, we're going to talk about reappointment for Mary Ellen Russell, who has served one term and is the chair of the committee, and a new appointment for Noah Guter, who would be a new person joining our committee.

So first, Mary Ellen Russell, please introduce yourself and talk about why you're interested in continuing to serve.

Hi, thank you.

Yes, Mary Ellen Russell.

I've been on the committee since 2017 and have been the chair for the last four years.

And I'm a parent of two kids at Seattle Public Schools and a landscape architect in my day job working on a lot of projects in the right of way that have a pedestrian focus.

And we have a lot of challenges in order to work with SDOT and work with Seattle Public Schools to try and make it safer and help families feel safe letting their kids walk to school.

But we've made some really important gains during that time too.

And so we're just excited to keep doing it and keep building on those gains.

Thank you.

Okay, Noah, you're up next.

Thank you.

Good morning, everybody.

My name is Noah Gooder, and I've been living in Ballard for the last 15 years.

My background is in stakeholder engagement and strategy implementation, and I have two young kids in elementary school.

I've been involved in our local schools transportation safety committee, and I'm looking forward to expanding my work to serve the broader Seattle school community.

Thank you very much.

I also just butt back in, I meant to say that I also wanted to just point out how deeply we appreciate working with you council members and particularly with Council Member Peterson that we've worked closely with in the past, who's been a really strong advocate for using, you know, helping to improve safety for kids heading to school.

We deeply appreciate that.

Thank you.

Colleagues, any comments or questions for the reappointment and new appointment for the School Traffic Safety Committee?

All right.

Well, again, for the viewing public, these appointment packets are attached to our agenda and we really appreciate the willingness to serve and the care for, especially for the kids going back and forth from school, getting them there safely and back.

So let's go ahead and if there are no comments or questions, we can go ahead and move these appointments.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment and reappointment to the Seattle School Traffic Safety Committee.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Chair Peterson?

Yes.

Four in favor, none opposed.

Excellent.

The motion carries and the committee recommendation of confirmation of appointment 02298 and 02299 will be sent to the August 9 city council meeting.

Thank you, Noah and Mary Ellen, and thanks Ashley for organizing it.

Okay.

All right, colleagues, let's keep moving here.

Will the clerk please read the full title of the next agenda items into the record.

Agenda item 14, appointment 02300, appointment of McKenna Lux as a member of Seattle Transit Advisory Board for a term to August 2nd, 2023, for briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you.

Colleagues, as you know, the Transit Advisory Board has 12 members, five appointed by the city council, six by the mayor, and one get engaged member, a young adult member.

And the board of course advises on matters related to public mass transit and that includes the Seattle transportation benefit district.

So, really pleased to have.

people willing to serve on this.

It's very important for us as we try to move the most people in the most environmentally friendly way.

And that's typically going to be buses and light rail.

So let's turn it over to Estat to talk about the nominee or the appointment.

Good morning, Cliff.

Good morning.

Thanks for that great introduction of the board.

I'm Cliff Mountjoy-Venning.

I'm the staff liaison for the Transit Advisory Board.

And today we're nominating McKenna Lux.

She could not be here today.

She had her wedding this weekend and is on her honeymoon now, so congrats to her.

But as you can see in her appointment packet, she is a frequent transit user.

She works at Transportation Choices Coalition as the Engagement and Events Manager.

And so we're excited to have that perspective.

She's very tuned in to rider priorities and concerns because of that work, and she also has great outreach experience.

and experience living in areas with different types of transit access.

So she really understands what good transit access can do for you.

And we think she'll be a great member of the board.

Thank you very much for summarizing her background and her interest in serving on the Transit Advisory Board and for, it's really helpful to get your expert opinion on it too.

So thank you for sharing that.

Colleagues, any comments or questions on the appointment to the Transit Advisory Board?

All right, well, let's go ahead and vote this through our committee.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the appointment to the Transit Advisory Board?

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Swant?

Yes.

Chair Peterson?

Yes.

Four in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the motion carries and the committee recommendation of confirmation of appointment 02300 will be sent to the August 9th city council meeting.

Thank you, Cliff, appreciate it.

All right, let's go ahead and have the clerk please read the full title of the next two agenda items into the record.

Agenda items 15 and 16, appointments 02301 and 02303. Appointment of Stephen R. Sawyer as a member of Levy to Move Seattle Oversight Committee for a term to December 31st, 2022. And Jessica Nguyen as a member of Levy to Move Seattle Oversight Committee for a term to December 31st, 2025. For briefing discussion and possible vote.

Thank you colleagues.

We know the move Seattle property tax was approved by voters in 2015 to supplement the city's long range spending for improving the safe mobility of all modes of transportation.

And the oversight committee monitors SDOT spending and progress for the transportation projects promised to Seattle voters.

And they make recommendations to the mayor and city council on whether to ask voters to continue this supplemental spending.

So that'll be a big responsibility coming up here as we look back on what has been achieved and how we should move forward with transportation investments going forward.

So the Oversight Committee is very important in monitoring large dollar amount investments.

So we're really pleased to have folks interested in replenishing our oversight committee.

They meet once a month.

In fact, tonight they're meeting.

So Katie Olson, thank you for being here from SDOT.

If you could give us a quick introduction of our nominees.

Yes, happy to.

Good morning, everyone.

I'm Katie Olson from SDOT here in my role as the levy to move Seattle Oversight Committee liaison.

And today, I'll introduce two new appointees to this committee.

So first, I'll introduce Stephen Sawyer.

Stephen, please feel free to unmute and share a bit about yourself and your interest in serving on the committee.

Thank you, Katie and thank you to the council.

My name is Stephen Sawyer he him pronouns.

I'm the executive director of cocaine formerly known as people color against AIDS Network, a legacy social service agency here in Seattle so serving community more than 35 years.

Also, was a member of inaugural member of the transportation equity work group.

and a very big voice to make that work group a permanent part of our transportation equity work here in Seattle.

And so it is my pleasure to really to serve on this levy oversight committee, really in representation of them and to continue to see that investments in equity and transportation is made in the city and Seattle on behalf of these residents.

Excellent.

Thank you very much.

And we have Jessica.

Yes, next I'll introduce Jessica Wynn.

Jessica, feel free to unmute and share a bit about yourself and your interest in the committee.

Hi, I'm Jessica Wynn.

I live in South Seattle.

I moved back last November, but for the previous nine years, I lived in the Bay Area.

I grew up in Portland, Oregon, Seattle, and I decided to move back home to the Northwest during the pandemic.

My background is in city planning and public health.

And I currently work as a senior planner at Change Job Solutions, where I provide technical assistance on issues related to health equity, transportation, and planning.

I'm a walking and public transit enthusiast, so I'm really excited to have the opportunity to help make transportation options safer and more accessible for everyone.

Thank you.

I really appreciate the different backgrounds of all the members of the Oversight Committee.

It's one of the most interesting advisory boards to listen to because of all the different backgrounds everyone has and trying to integrate all the modes of transportation, as well as focusing on project delivery and fulfilling promises and being a good steward of those property tax dollars.

Colleagues, any comments or questions for our two appointments for the MOVE Seattle Oversight Committee?

Okay, well, let's go ahead and approve these appointments then.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the two appointments to the Move Seattle Levy Oversight Committee.

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Chair Peterson?

Yes.

Four in favor, none opposed.

Excellent.

The motion carries and the committee recommendation of the confirmation of appointments is 02301 and 02303 will be since the August nine city council meeting.

Thank you, Steven and Jessica.

Maybe we'll see you tonight, but no pressure.

You don't have to be there tonight if you can't make it.

All right, well, thanks everybody from SDOT.

And now we're gonna move on colleagues to our final round of appointments here.

This is for Seattle Public Utilities Customer Review Panel.

So will the clerk please read the full title of the next seven agenda items into the record.

Agenda items 17 through 23. Appointments 02262, 02263, 02264, 02275, 02276, 02277, and 02278. Appointment of Raj Kumar, Amanda Richer, Ebony Rose Frazier, Noel Miller, Robin Schwartz, and reappointment of Bobby Coleman to the Seattle Public Utilities 2018 to 2023 Strategic Plan Update Customer Review Panel for terms to July 31st, 2025. and reappointment of Suzanne Burke to the Seattle Public Utilities 2018-2023 Strategic Plan Update Customer Review Panel for a term to July 31, 2024, for briefing, discussion, and possible vote.

Thank you.

Colleagues, for our last agenda items of the day, we have appointments to the Seattle Public Utilities Customer Review Panel.

The Customer Review Panel was established to provide input on the strategic business plan and periodically review Seattle Public Utilities progress in implementing the plan, which includes utility rates.

The Customer Review Panel is, in my view, they're essentially a watchdog over the, $1 billion publicly owned enterprise that is so vital to our city by delivering clean water and disposing of waste.

So we're really fortunate to actually have CEO and General Manager Andrew Lee here present in the building at City Council Chambers with one of our appointments as well.

We've got several people online joining us.

So why don't we go ahead and turn it over to Andrew Lee and he can he can help walk us through the appointments.

Good morning.

Thank you, Chair Peterson and members of the committee.

I really appreciate the opportunity to introduce the new cohort for SPU's customer review panel.

As Council Member Peterson mentioned, this panel provides guidance and input on SPU's strategic business plan and reviews the utility's progress implementing the plan.

Before I get started, I'd like to acknowledge the staff work by Samantha Stork and Kate Morrison of SPU, who helped us assemble this outstanding group of people.

These nominees expand our connections to community organizations serving Black, Indigenous, people of color, low-income, unhoused, and immigrant and refugee communities, such as our BIPOC member representation, and they include representation from the Duwamish Valley in Southeast Seattle.

These individuals are dedicated to the work in their respective communities and we're honored that they have chosen to make SPU and Seattle a great place for everyone.

I'd now like to very briefly provide the committee with some background on each of these very, very qualified partners.

And afterwards, I'll ask each of them to say a few words.

I'm starting off with ebony rose Frazier ebony works at King County Community Corrections division administration section as a project manager.

She has a master's degree in public administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington.

She's on the Executive Board of Africatown and a lead volunteer with Gifts of Hope.

Ebony sees the importance of connecting community to local government and will bring her lived experience and anti-racism lens to work with SPU on ways to model inclusive and equitable practices.

Next we have Raj Kumar, who is sitting right next to me.

Raj has spent more than 35 years directing process improvements and managing energy, water and waste reduction for 20 manufacturing plants and corporate headquarters of Nestle Purina, bringing them to zero waste to landfills.

He currently volunteers with the AARP on tax preparation for low income seniors in Seattle.

He works with youth at Northwest Education Access and grows food and his pea patch for Mary's Place and Ballard Food Bank.

Raj is passionate about waste reduction, energy and water conservation to make our world a better place for future generations.

He moved to Seattle about five years ago to get closer to his grandchildren.

And he's been observing that city of Seattle recycles and composts its waste.

And Raj would like to take this to even higher levels by smart recycling and educating its residents.

Next we have Amanda Richer who leverages her lived experience being unhoused to advocate for data-driven and evidence-based solutions to end homelessness locally, regionally, nationally.

As a community liaison for the Department of Neighborhoods, Amanda is able to bring valuable feedback from the unhoused community and service providers to inform projects and programs throughout the city.

She serves on several boards and committees and is the vice chair of the Seattle King County Healthcare Network for the Homeless Governance Council.

Amanda is a passionate advocate for those without clean and regular access to water and the environment, health, and social media, and the social and the mental impact that this has.

Robin Schwartz is not able to join us today.

However, she is a South Park resident, heavily involved in the Duwamish community through the Duwamish River Community Coalition, Concord Elementary PTA, the Duwamish Valley Affordable Housing Coalition, and the South Park Neighborhood Association.

Robin is very interested in climate resilience in the Duwamish Valley and equitable outreach, particularly those who are most impacted like renters and lower income folks.

Next, we have two folks that are already currently CRP members who are up for reappointment.

The first is Bobby Coleman.

Bobby leads environmental stewardship and sustainability initiatives at the Seattle Housing Authority and has worked in the sustainability and clean energy space since 2008. He lives in Council District 7 and spends most of his free time with his partner and their dog, Bear.

And then we have Noel Miller, who is also a current member of the CRP.

Noel is a retired Municipal Public Works and Utilities Director, a civil engineer, and a longtime SP volunteer and retail residential customer.

His 40-year career has been focused on municipal stormwater, wastewater, water supply, and transportation infrastructure in the Puget Sound region.

He is an advocate for increasing the public's understanding and appreciation of these essential services and systems and finding effective solutions to the ongoing challenge of financing SPUs programs and projects.

And in addition to the 60 members of the CRP, today we're also submitting paperwork for the reappointment of Susie Burke, who has continued her service on the panel for the last year and will serve for two more additional years as part of the 2021 cohort.

And so if it's okay with you, Chair Peterson, I'd like to invite our nominees that are here with us today to introduce themselves to the committee.

And I will start with Ebony.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Hi, I'm Ebony Rose Frazier.

As Andrew said, I am a King County employee, and I understand the importance of being in community with the community.

I don't think, you know, sometimes as government agencies, we don't do a great job of doing that.

So I really appreciate the customer review panel for bridging that gap.

I am excited to bring my equity lens with me to serve on the customer review panel.

Thank you.

Thanks so much, Ebony.

Up next, I'll ask Raj, who is here in person with us today.

Raj.

Hi.

Good morning.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to join the customer review panel.

Thanks especially to Sam Stork and her team of Liz and Angela for interviewing me on May 24th.

I'm looking forward to work with other CRP and SPU to take SPU's waste reduction to next higher level.

And it's really exciting.

Emergency.

I'm really excited to see what FPU does in the waste in our neighborhood.

I live in Queen Anne area.

There they pick up waste, compost, and recycle.

I want to take this to a higher level.

Raj, we can come back to you if you'd like.

I think in the process of trying to mute his phone, you might have accidentally dialed 911. So hopefully everything will be set.

I apologize.

I'm sorry.

The phone call shouldn't have happened.

No worries.

Yeah.

It's OK.

I'm really excited to join the panel and help out to help serve the customers of SPU.

Thank you so much, Raj.

Next, we have Amanda, who is, I believe, online with us.

Hi.

Sorry about that.

So I was very excited to join the customer review panel because I hope to elevate the concerns and the voices of a community that historically has not had their most basic needs met on this level.

So I am super excited to be there, advocate, and hopefully make this a more equitable process for everyone, not just those with means.

So thank you.

Thank you, Amanda.

I believe Bobby may not be here with us today.

So I'm going to, at this point, go to Noel, who I see right there on the screen.

Noel Miller.

Good morning.

My name is Noel Miller.

I've been a customer, residential customer since 1979. My main focus has been utilities my entire career, and I'd like to give back to my community in my retirement.

The ongoing six-year business plan.

There's so many parts and pieces to it, and I'm quite familiar since I was involved with the development of the current plan, and look forward to working with the many other community members on this current panel.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

That concludes it I'm very excited again about each of these CRP members joining us for this next the next few years.

Thank you Councilmember Peterson and the committee.

Thank you and I know, former chairs and customer herbal was a chair.

committee that oversaw Seattle Public Utilities as well.

For me personally, when something big is happening at SPU, I wanna know what the customer review panel thinks.

That's one of my first questions because I know they spend a lot of time.

applying their variety of backgrounds to the major issues, including when it comes to rate increases and the business plan, strategic plan basically for this $1 billion enterprise.

So really important to have this oversight panel and really appreciate the willingness for people to serve and continue to serve on it.

It's good to have a mix of people with that institutional knowledge and then newer people joining.

So colleagues, any comments or questions for the customer review panel appointments?

Okay.

Well, we're gonna go ahead and vote on these, but again, thank you everybody for your willingness to serve and continue to serve on the customer review panel.

Will the clerk please call the roll on the confirmation of the four appointments and three reappointments to Seattle Public Utilities customer review panel?

Council Member Herbold?

Yes.

Council Member Morales?

Yes.

Council Member Sawant?

Yes.

Chair Peterson?

Yes.

Four in favor, none opposed.

Thank you, the motion carries.

The committee recommendation of confirmation of appointments 02262, 02263, 02264, 02275, 02276, 02277, and 02278 will be sent to the August 9 city council meeting.

Colleagues, that was the end of our agenda.

Are there any comments or questions for the good of the order before we adjourn?

It can also be not for the good of the order.

Okay, well, thank you, everybody.

The time is 10.33 a.m.

This concludes the August 2nd, 2022 meeting of the Transportation and Seattle Public Utilities Committee.

We anticipate our next meeting will be on August 16th.

Thank you, and we are adjourned.