for joining the Seattle City Council meeting.
I am Teresa Mosqueda, Vice Chair of the Committee.
This is the Committee on Homeless Services and Public Assets.
Today is December 27, 2022, and the time is 2.02 p.m.
Today I'll be serving as Chair, given that I am your Vice Chair in the place of our good Chair, Council Member Lewis.
Madam, or Mr. Clerk, will you please call the roll?
Herbold?
Here.
Juarez?
Here.
Morales.
Here.
Vice Chair Mosqueda.
Present.
For present.
Thank you very much, and our good chair is excused.
Thank you so much, colleagues, for joining us.
We do have a truncated agenda for today.
If there's no objection, today's agenda will be adopted.
Hearing no objection, today's agenda is adopted.
Our agenda does include items number one and two, which would be appointment 02418 and 02419 with the Director of Office of Intergovernmental Relations being present with us, Gail Tarleton, as well as Sierra Howlett-Brown.
It also includes agenda item number three, which is Council Bill 120467, And we will have with us the parks director as with us the superintendent from parks, along with their team to present on that item.
Again, the agenda was adopted.
Thank you very much.
And I do understand that we have some folks who are with us to provide public comment here today.
Mr. Clerk, I will turn it over to you to read the item of the person who was with us remotely into the record.
You're welcome to give them two minutes.
And then if we have anybody who is in person, we will then go to in-person.
If folks could remember online, you need to dial in with the same number that you registered, and you need to hit star six when you hear your name called.
You'll hear a chime when your two-minute period is closing.
That's your indication to wrap up your comments so that your remarks don't get cut off.
And if you'd like to submit any public comments that you didn't get a chance to say or if you were not able to dial in today, you can always email us at council at Seattle.gov.
Mr. Clerk, I'll turn it back over to you to read the name of the remote public commenters first.
We have one person signed up for public comment, Jonathan Carter.
Welcome, Jonathan.
Just star 6 to unmute.
Hey Jonathan, I see you still muted on my end.
If you don't mind hitting star 6 one more time.
Star 6 to unmute.
And Mr. Clerk, while he well hi Jonathan, go ahead and please go ahead.
Hi, can you hear me?
I can thank you.
Hi, my name is Jonathan Carter, John Carter.
I live on the corner of East Lake Washington Boulevard and 24th Avenue East across from the 520 project.
And I appreciate being able to address the council about item number three on your agenda, which as I understand it is the continuation of the Washington Department of Transportation views of the so-called WSDOT peninsula that's at the north end of the Arboretum.
I'm one of many neighbors who vehemently oppose the continued use of that peninsula by the Department of Transportation.
The fact that I am the only participant on this call, the only public comment on this call says a lot about the transparency of this process.
There has been absolutely no information provided to the public, the neighbors and the neighborhood about what is going on relative to item number three on this agenda.
And I would strongly suggest that the council delay adoption or any formal action on item three until the public is fully briefed and has an opportunity to comment.
I can't, I haven't even had, I found out about this meeting about an hour ago and the action that the council has proposed to take.
Nobody in the neighborhood knows about this or what's going on.
That peninsula is part of the arboretum and it should continue to be a part of the arboretum and the use of that peninsula should be transferred back to the parks and used as an arboretum and not as a transfer site, a office site, and a parking area for WSDOT.
Thank you very much.
I'm still here.
Thank you.
Please go ahead and conclude your comments.
Okay, thank you very much, Jonathan.
It looks like you went back on mute.
Did you have a summary comment that you'd like?
Go ahead.
I see you off mute.
Did you have a summary to that?
Simply that there's strong opposition among all the neighbors in location of the Arboretum to the continued use by Washtenaw of that peninsula.
and it needs to be returned, particularly for another eight years.
It's been used by WSDOT for years already, and it's ridiculous.
They could go have their offices and parking facility somewhere else.
It's not in the city's arboretum.
Thank you very much.
Thank you for dialing in.
Okay, thank you so much for dialing in today.
That does conclude the individual signed up for public comment remotely.
I just want to confirm, Mr. Clerk, is there anybody in the room for public comment today?
There were no sheets submitted for public comment in the room.
Okay, excellent.
That does conclude our full public comment section for today's agenda.
Mr. Clerk, will you please read the items number one and two into the record for us?
I'll examine them, I don't care.
Why are you doing this?
I can't speak.
This is my name.
Alex Zimmerman, if you did not submit your name, we're going to continue.
Are you sick?
There is no need for that sort of shouting.
OK, one second, Alex.
Oh, my apologies.
No need to apologize, Mr. Alex, you will wait to be called on.
And you know the rules, Alex.
The rules are no offensive language and no offensive gestures.
I want that to be clearly understood.
Mr. Clerk, if you feel that there's any need to cut off the microphone, if you are being consulted as well, that's okay.
But I will wait for you to put up the two minute timer.
Alex, I can hear you, so just hold on a minute, please.
Okay, when you're ready, Alex, I want to tell you one more time, Mr. Zimmerman, no offensive language and no offensive gestures.
Your time has begun.
Your time has begun.
Green now, super.
Thank you very much.
Say hi, my lovely consul.
I said no offensive language.
What?
No offensive language.
Your time is continuing.
I love you.
Say hi, my lovely consul.
Cheap, dirty, aggressive crook with Nazi Gestapo psychopath.
My name is Alex Zimmerman.
I want to speak about agenda number one and two.
You always approve people for commission.
You know what this means.
These people for commission look to me like a blind puppy.
Why?
Because I am 100 times in different commission, it's all identical.
They're stupid, primitive, copy like you, nothing different.
For example, I give you classic example.
So many commission include Human Rights Commission and everybody who talking about human right in Seattle.
You like human right.
Nobody talking why you don't show people faces.
Hundred people here and no one commissioner from dozen commission from hundred people come to here and ask you why you don't show faces.
You only one in America who doing this.
I speak around dozen time every week.
Everybody show faces.
Why are you doing this for seven months?
And I complain to everybody, to clerk, to you, to mayor, to Council Banducci, and another council, Zahilay, and nobody touch this problem.
Why are you doing this?
It's not legal.
And I ask you dozen time, why?
Give me answer why.
And nobody give me answer black and white.
Nobody, you ever scared make this legal?
because you are sick Nazi psychopath.
Stand up 750,000 cretina who live in this city.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Alex.
Right, your time has expired and I want to thank the clerk.
Apologies for that, Mr. Clerk.
We are ready when you are to go on to items number one and two.
Agenda items one and two appointments 2418 through 2419. reappointment of Robert J. Flowers and Katie Garrow as members of Washington State Convention Center Public Facilities District Board for a term to July 30, 2026. Briefing discussion and possible vote.
Well, thank you very much.
I'm very excited to have with us today, the Director of the Office of Intergovernmental Relations.
Thank you for being here with us, Director Charlton.
I will turn it over to you.
And if you have others from your team you'd like to introduce, that's welcome as well.
Good to see you again.
Good to see you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to you and all of the council members for the opportunity to speak to the committee today on a very important and obviously not well known to people who have given so much public service to our city and our community at large, we are thrilled to have the opportunity to welcome Mr. Bob Flowers and Katie Garrow as recommendations to be appointed to the Washington State Convention Center Public Facilities District Board.
For those who have not been in the city for as long as the convention center has been here, It is now known as the Seattle Convention Center, but Mr. Flowers and Katie Garrow have agreed to serve on what is the Public Facilities District Board for what is still called the Washington State Convention Center Public Facilities District.
And we are thrilled to bring forward their names, Madam Chair.
I would just like to introduce each of them briefly and then give both of them an opportunity to make a couple of minutes of comments.
But Bob Flowers, great to see you.
And thank you so much for joining us today.
Bob was first appointed to the Public Facilities District Board in 2010, but prior to that he served on the Convention Center's nonprofit board since 1996. I think all of us can agree that we owe a real debt of gratitude to Bob for his extraordinary community service, not just to the convention center, but years and years of community service and leadership on many local nonprofit boards, advancing the cultural and educational and philanthropic strength and vitality of our community.
We strongly urge that he be confirmed to the board of the Public Facility District.
Katie Garrow.
She uses she and her pronouns.
And Katie was recently appointed to the Public Facilities District Board, but she is not new to the city.
She has served in her day job as Executive Secretary and Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Martin Luther King Labor Council.
And before that, she was the Deputy Executive Secretary.
But for years, she has been actively engaged in our community on political and union organizing and community organizing efforts.
She brings years of experience understanding the people who built the convention center, the people who work at the convention center, how that convention center connects our communities to the rest of the country and to the world.
And Katie was born in Grays Harbor, strong labor roots, working family, and she is educated at Pacific Lutheran University so she understands our region.
We strongly recommend Katie's appointment to and confirmation to the Board of Directors for the Public Facilities District.
And now, Madam Chair, with your okay, I would love to turn it over first to Bob and then to Katie to share why they are so willing to serve our community.
Bob, welcome and great to see you.
Thank you.
Thank you for that nice introduction, Gail.
A little bit about me very briefly.
I'm a Seattle native, born at Virginia Mason, graduated from Garfield High School, graduated from the University of Washington, earned a master's degree in public administration, served 34 years in banking, The last five years of my career I was a president of external relations headquartered in Los Angeles.
I returned to Seattle in 2005 and retired and spent a lot of time as Gail has indicated, working with nonprofits during my career.
At Washington Mutual, I had a portfolio of over a billion dollars in affordable multifamily loans and tax credit investments, so I was very familiar with working with non-profits.
My experience at the Washington State, now the Seattle Convention Center, has been very positive.
We're excited about it opening with the addition next month, which will double the size of the Seattle Convention Center and make it one of the most attractive convention centers in the nation.
Obviously, we can't compete with San Diego and the ocean.
But other than that, I think we have probably the most attractive convention center for meetings.
I've served as chair of the finance committee.
We're looking forward to closing out the construction budget and going to a new operating budget that will include the space that doubles the size of the convention space.
So I'm looking forward to being reappointed and to serving another term on the convention center board.
Thank you.
Wonderful.
It's great to see you again and very excited about your interest in this.
I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Jeff Blosser, also from the Seattle Convention Center.
And I believe that Executive Director Katie Garrow from MLK Labor can't join us today.
So, Jeff, if there's anything else that you'd like to add about these appointees, including Katie, who can't be here today, to complement what Director Charlton mentioned, you're welcome to.
And also, if you have any other updates for us, we'd love to hear those.
Thank you, Vice Chair Mosqueda and members of the committee.
Katie can't be here today.
She's out of town on business.
So I just wanted to reiterate a lot of Gail's comments.
Katie's been very instrumental with the addition committee being on that relative to all of the issues surrounding how we have built and constructed the project.
She's also on our art committee, which has been one of the very good I think, and valuable pieces of addition to the community relative to the almost $10 million worth of art that is going to be in the new convention center facility she's been on that committee to help selection of that lots of diversity in our art program, both at the summit building and the arts building and Katie's been instrumental in that, along with really helping us out on the union side.
We're nine unions here in the building, and having her input has been very valuable to staff for making sure that we're being able to do the very important work that we do with our teams.
So we would wholly recommend, again, the reappointment of Katie.
She did fill Nicole Grant's position for about two, almost two years, and now we're asking for her to be reappointed for the second term to help us with moving forward and opening up the new building.
Thank you so much.
Director Charleston, anything else you'd like to add?
We are thrilled that we have two people who are so completely dedicated to helping fill really important volunteer positions on these boards and really appreciate the time of the committee and the council members individually who spend so much time making sure that these public projects and these public facilities are in good hands.
And I think it would be terrific to continue to have Bob and Katie on the board.
Welcome.
Well, I agree.
So I'm going to move to get these appointments in front of us and see if there's any additional conversation.
Council members, I move the committee recommends confirmation of the reappointments of Robert J. Flowers and Katie Garrow appointments 2418 and 2419. Is there a second?
Second.
Thank you very much.
It has been moved and seconded.
Colleagues, are there any additional comments, questions?
items you'd like to raise for these two reappointments?
I'm not hearing any.
And of course, we want to thank you to Mr. Flowers and Miss Garrow.
Thanks for all of the work that you've already done.
Looking forward to continuing to work with you and just very thankful that you'd like to continue to serve and thank you to Director Charlton and Jeff for your overview of the good work that's already been done.
And we of course look forward to partnering with you to continue to move forward on the next phase of the Convention Center expansions.
All right, it's been moved and seconded to recommend the confirmation of these reappointments.
Hearing no additional remarks, Mr. Clerk, will you please call the roll on the confirmation of the reappointments?
Herbold?
Yes.
Suarez?
Aye.
Morales?
Yes.
Vice Chair Mosqueda.
Aye.
Four in favor, none opposed.
Thank you very much and congratulations, Mr. Flowers.
Congratulations to Kitty Garrow as well.
The motion carries and the committee recommendation that the appointments be reconfirmed, excuse me, that the reappointments will be confirmed, will be sent to the December 13th Seattle City Council meeting.
Again, congratulations.
You do not have to be present with us on the December 13th meeting.
We will make sure to sing your praises there.
So thanks for your ongoing service and for being with us here today.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
All right, Mr. Clerk, would you please read item number 3 into the record?
Agenda item 3, Council Bill 120467, an ordinance relating to Department of Parks and Recreation approving the execution of a settlement agreement with the Washington State Department of Transportation, briefing, discussion, and possible vote.
Thank you very much.
We have a large panel here with us today.
So I'm going to do my best to read into the record who's here.
And if I miss anyone, please let me know.
I believe from our own central staff, we have Calvin Chow, and we will also be joined by potentially Tracy Roscliff and Brian Goodnight as well.
I see Calvin with us.
So perhaps you are standing in for everybody.
Okay, fantastic, Calvin.
Thanks for being here.
I see with us Director AP Diaz.
This is the superintendent for Parks and Recreation, our interim superintendent.
Good to see you again.
Also from Parks and Rec is David Graves.
With us from the Washington State Department of Transportation is Don Yacacauskas.
I look forward to you correcting my pronunciation.
Don, thank you for being here with us.
Jane Stoneshipper, also the Executive Director from the Aridum Foundation.
Thanks for being with us.
And Christina Owen, the Director of the University of Washington Botanic Gardens.
Did I miss anyone on this list?
Hello, Christopher Williams.
I see you also off mute.
So perhaps I will turn it directly over to central staff and then they can turn it directly over to you, Director Williams.
Thank you, council members.
Good afternoon.
Calvin Chow with council central staff.
I think that there is a lot to get into.
So maybe I'll save my comments for if there are questions or as we get to through the presentation and let Park start off with their prepared remarks.
Wonderful.
I will turn it right back over.
Thank you, Madam Vice Chair.
Thank you, members of the City Council Committee.
This is actually my first Seattle City Council meeting, so it's a pleasure to be with you here today, as well as my colleagues, Christopher Williams and David Graves, who will be talking more in depth about the agreement.
But I wanted to start out by saying thank you for having us here today.
We've been working a long time on the SR 520 Seattle Parks Arboretum.
North Entry and Property Transfer Agreement for the upcoming Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project, which is slated to have a few more years needed to complete that project.
This agreement between our Parks Department and the Washington State Department of Transportation has had a lot of intricacies and a lot of work.
I want to thank all of the staff members from both agencies who have worked to come together on agreement and collaboration on issues and to present this package to the council for consideration to achieve our mutual goals.
The agreement is really critical to the Washington Department of Transportation's ability to move forward with the Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid project.
well at the same time providing a great benefit to Seattle residents by supporting redevelopment of the Arboretum Peninsula and really sort of shoring up infrastructure that it's needed there for public access and access to the valuable sites around there.
So we're happy to have reached this agreement.
This is mutually beneficial and we are going to walk you through some of the key points and then be available to answer any questions.
So I will now turn it to my colleague, David Graves.
Thank you.
Here we go.
Good afternoon, my name is David Graves.
I'm a strategic advisor in the Planning, Development and Maintenance Division here at Seattle Parks and Recreation.
I'm joined by Don Yankoskis, the Deputy Program Administrator for the SR 520 and AWV program.
For some brief context, WSDOT and Seattle Parks and Recreation have been coordinating for over a decade and a half on the SR 520 reconstruction project.
In 2021, WSDOT and SPR approved a term sheet outlining the process and negotiating a framework by which the two agencies would compensate each other for the necessary property transaction and property rights WSDOT needs to proceed with the upcoming Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke LID project.
Over the past two years, we've been working diligently on terms for that agreement, and this agreement is critical to WSDOT's ability to move forward with the advertisement of the Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid Project, which received $400 million this past legislative session to stay on schedule.
We're happy to say we've reached an agreement that we believe is mutually beneficial, and we're here today to ask for your consideration to move this forward.
With that, I'm going to turn it over to Dawn so she can give you a brief context about the SR 520 program.
Just want to double check, Dawn.
Is your audio working?
OK, that will work.
You should hear me now.
Great.
Sorry about that.
So thanks, David.
And hello, City Council members.
As David mentioned, my name is Dawn Yankoskis, and I'm the Deputy Program Administrator for the 520 NAWV program.
Before we discuss North Entry Property Transfer Agreement and the upcoming Portage Bay and Roanoke Lid Project, I want to give you a brief overview of the 520 program, including what we've accomplished over the past decade and what we have left moving forward.
As you know, we've rebuilt the highway's east side segment between 405 and Lake Washington.
We replaced a floating bridge, and we've completed the first of two parallel west approach bridges over Union Bay.
Now we're delivering what we call Rest of the West, and this slide here shows the four projects that make up the Rest of the West.
The first one is Montlake Project in Orange, which you've likely experienced is currently in construction.
The project is going to be ending in early 2024. The I-5 Express Lane, which is in turquoise, is slated to end in early 2024 as well.
The Portage Bay and Roanoke Lid project in dark blue is our program's last project to be constructed on the 524 door.
For reference, this project is slated to begin construction in 2024 and last approximately six years.
The project faced a $400 million budget shortfall last year, as David had mentioned.
With the governor and the legislature, they recognized the critical safety needs and included $400 million in the final budget to keep the project moving forward and on schedule.
I'm going to provide some more information about this project in the following slide.
The last Rest of the West project is Montlake-Hutt-Baskell Bridge Project, which is outlined in green.
That project isn't currently funded.
Moving on to the next slide.
Okay, so this slide, it shows the key features of the upcoming Porridge Bay and Roanoke Lid project.
As you're likely aware, the current Porridge Bay bridge is supported by hollow columns that are at risk of collapse in a severe earthquake.
To make the bridge safer from earthquakes, we will be replacing the old bridge and building two new parallel bridges to modern seismic code.
In addition to the new bridges, the project has several other key features that are a result of over 15 years of environmental collaboration and enhancements with the community, the Seattle Design Commission, and many other city partners and stakeholders.
To highlight some of these key features, we are creating three acres of accessible open space, which is located just south of Roanoke Park on the new Roanoke Lid.
with four viewpoints.
One of those viewpoints is actual relocation of the Bagley viewpoint onto the lid.
We're also extending the 14-foot wide 520 trail west over Porch Bay Bridge from Montlake to Capitol Hill in the vicinity of the new Roanoke lid, and also providing non-motorized connections to the city's multimodal systems and parks, such as a direct connection from the 520 trail to East Montlake Playfield.
We also refined the non-motorized trails in the Roanoke Lid, including connections to the city's non-motorized network, both in the vicinity of the Lid and moving westward to the vicinity of I-5, and also on the east side of Portage Bay.
Many of these improvements require acquisition of property or temporary easements of park property from Interlaken, Roanoke, and East Montlake Playfield Parks and Bagley View Point.
The Courge Bay and Roanoke Lid project, our program's last project to be completed on the 520 corridor, is going to be a design-build project, which means the contractor will both finalize the project design and construct the project.
We published the request for qualifications this November.
The RFP is going to be going out to add in January 2023. And then we will plan on awarding the contract late summer 2023, begin construction 2024, and then complete the project sometime in 2030, 2031. This agreement is with Seattle Parks and Recreation is essential for the project to move forward and advertise RFP in January.
It includes the completion of all the property transactions with Seattle Parks that is necessary to build the project.
and really finish up all the project improvements in 520, as I've mentioned.
Before turning it over to David, I just wanted to mention one of the really important items that we'll get into more detail, David will.
Part of this agreement is the transfer of the Washtenaw Peninsula to Seattle Parks and Recreation, and then being able to restore that to be part of the arboretum.
There's been some concerns expressed by the community, as you heard one here at the end of the council meeting about the continued use of the peninsula as a staging area.
This has always been planned and it's been part of our environmental document dating clear back to 2021. We've provided this information to the communities through emails and other ways of communicating with them.
So I just want that to be clear to folks that this has been planned a long time in the works and we're actually starting to make some great progress with this agreement and moving forward in that direction.
And so with that, I want to go ahead and hand it back to David and he can provide more information about the agreement.
Thanks Don.
There we go.
In broad strokes, the SR 520 parks North entry and property transfer agreement includes really three key elements.
First is property transferred associated with four parks, and you can see those in green.
which amount to about four and a half acres, mostly aquatic and some upland parcels.
They include temporary construction easements, permanent acquisitions from Seattle Parks and Recreation to WSDOT to construct the Portage Bay Bridge and Roanoke Lid project.
Second, and the big piece, and this is the transfer of the Washtenaw Peninsula to what everyone calls the Washtenaw Peninsula to Seattle Parks and Recreation.
This has been something that we've been working on and has been envisioned since 2011. It's something we've all kind of been working towards, and so this is really exciting for us.
In the transfer, WSAT retains temporary construction staging easements to meet permitting requirements and to re-establish and disturb shoreline areas and plantings and also enables them to continue to use a portion of the peninsula for a staging area as they complete the program.
It's a really constrained corridor and it's the one area of property that they actually own that enables them to stage the construction of the project.
And third, also super important for us is a contribution from WSDOT to Seattle Parks and Recreation to enable us to construct the North Entry project.
So as mentioned, as John just mentioned, WSDOT plans to advertise the RFP in January and authorization of the property transfers is needed early in January in order for the project to be authorized for that January advertisement.
And so that's why it's so important for this agreement to pass the full council action in early December.
And so this just focuses on the area that everyone refers to as the Washtenaw Peninsula.
It's just to the east of what's the Arboretum today.
And the graphic depicts the plans to transfer approximately 27 acres of the peninsula property as part of the agreement with us.
It's about almost 16 acres of uplands and about a little over 11 acres of aquatic lands.
Watchtower will retain a contemporary construction easement over approximately six acres shown in the hatched area for construction staging throughout the duration of the Port of Bay Bridge project estimated to be done in the 2030-2031 timeframe.
They also retain an additional temporary construction easement of approximately five acres, and that's in green on your screen, for riparian shoreline restoration, and that's estimated to be done in the 2028 timeframe.
And then at the bottom of there, if folks can see my cursor, there's an area that's going to be turned over to Seattle Parks and Recreation after the Montlake phase of the project is completed in 2024, which includes the demolition of bridge structures and roadways.
So it's that very bottom of the peninsula that we'll have access to early on in this process.
And that shifts into, so we've turned your orientation now.
North is to everyone's left.
You can see the 520 bridge on the left of your screen.
And this is some concept, early concept work that was done for the North Entry Project back in 2012, 2013. And so separate from this land transfer, WSDOT and the Arboretum and Botanical Garden Committee, which is the three entities that manage the Arboretum at Seattle Parks and Recreation.
It's also University of Washington and the Arboretum Foundation.
We all entered into an agreement in 2013 known as GCB 1182, implementation of Arboretum mitigation plan projects, which is early mitigation for that includes a WSDOT commitment to help fund the Arboretum North Entry project.
And this agreement identified the project value at the time in 2020, $12 as 12.58 million.
The parties have mutually agreed to a mitigation payment of $26 million as part of this agreement, which is based on an escalation of the 12.58 million in 2012 dollars to 2031 dollars.
What you see is a conceptual rendering of the North Entry project developed in 2012 by our consultant in coordination with the 520 team and a subcommittee of the Arboretum Botanical Garden Committee.
The key highlights of the north entry include a connection to the multi-use trail through the Arboretum and also a connection north to the new pedestrian and bicycle bridge over 520 that's currently in construction.
There's shoreline restoration, there's walking trails, and the daylighting of Arboretum Creek.
And so that brings us to the final financial breakdown for the property transfers, the North Entry Project.
WSDOT's agreed to pay us $26 million for the North Entry Project.
And we've agreed to pay WSDOT $3.75 million for the difference in value between our properties and the WSDOT peninsula, as set out in WSDOT's appraisal.
And there's also a commitment from us to prioritize.
There's a remaining almost $6 million for development in North Entry that we'll prioritize in the next MPD cycle.
We've worked closely with our partners in ABGC, the Aberdeen Foundation, and UW.
And at this point, I know Jane Stonecipher, the executive director of the Arboretum Foundation is here, and I'd like to turn it over to her to say a few words.
Thank you, David, and good afternoon.
I'm Jane Stonecipher, executive director of the Arboretum Foundation, and we are the conduit for volunteer engagement at the Arboretum, as well as fundraising and advocacy.
Starting almost 15 years ago, we've been at the table with our arboretum partners at UW and Parks, working with WSDOT on how to minimize the environmental impacts of the 520 project, as well as how to best provide mitigation benefits to the community.
The agreement that you see before you today reflects many years of collaboration and our shared understanding of how the 27 acres currently under WSDOT control can be best reincorporated into our state's arboretum later in this decade.
The accompanying mitigation dollars we see as being crucial in allowing the land to be restored for public use with great attention and respect for its native origins.
We really appreciate the leadership of Seattle Parks and Recreation in this most recent round of negotiations, as well as their willingness to prioritize the additional funding of the land value in future parks district cycles.
The Arboretum Foundation believes that this transaction represents a generational opportunity for our city, and as the community arm of the Arboretum Partnership, we request your support for the agreement.
Thank you, and I'm going to now hand off to my colleague, Dr. Christina Owen, Director of UW Botanic Gardens.
Thank you, Jane, and thank you all.
So at the University of Washington Botanic Gardens, we manage the Arboretum's plant collections, and we also provide education and outreach programming for people of all ages there.
So with our partners, we're working to really try to bring plants and people together to cultivate a more sustainable, inspired, and just community.
The addition of the peninsula to the Arboretum and the accompanying mitigation funds is really a tremendous step forward in advancing these goals.
Research from our own faculty at the UW clearly demonstrates the myriad of benefits that additional green space provides to our community and that green space in general does.
When I think about our role in stewarding this land, I first think about how we can best honor its original inhabitants.
I think about the opportunities for learning through research on restoration, ecology, and urban adaptation to climate change, particularly of our green spaces.
I think about how we can share that learning with the public broadly through our engagement work.
And I also think about how this addition provides a new geographic continuity for the Botanic Gardens.
So we'll have managed green space spanning from the Center for Urban Horticulture and the University District all the way down to Madison Valley.
And as Jane mentioned, this agreement has really been the product of strong and effective partnership.
And like our partners, UW Botanic Gardens sees this as a profound gift to the public.
And we invite you to join us with your support.
Thank you very much.
And I'll turn it back over to David.
Thanks, Jane.
Thanks, Christina.
I think with that, I'll turn it back to council members, and we're all happy to answer any questions.
I'm happy to click back through to any of the slides that folks want to see again, too.
Great.
Thank you very much.
And Mr. Williams as well, did you have anything else you'd like to add?
Sure.
I would just maybe re-emphasize that our intent 11 years ago was to have 100% of the proceeds from the land transaction be directed towards the mitigation and the future redevelopment of the Arboretum Peninsula.
At the time of this transaction, we had not identified the $3.75 million to complete the land transaction.
So as not to deprive the project of the full $26 million, we are making a commitment over the next six years to figure out how to restore that $3.75 million.
And that could come from it could come from.
Park fund balance.
It could come from REIT revenues and in the worst case scenario, it could be included in the next tranche of park district prioritization.
Or spending so.
That's how that's a little more detail on how we got here with commitment.
Excellent Thank you.
Okay Are there any additional questions?
Colleagues.
Anything from the panelists?
Director Diaz, anything else?
No, thank you.
Okay.
Superintendent, excuse me, I keep- Council member.
Giving you different titles.
Yes, please go ahead.
I've got one more point here.
Fantastic.
We wanted to ask for a ratify and confirm so that we could begin immediately working with WSDOT to transfer this property.
Great, well I do see an action in front of us today and I'm going to turn it over to Calvin to explain the action or how that ties with the ratify and confirm request Calvin.
Yes, I believe, I'm just going to check right now but I believe that rough I confirm is included in the legislation that's already in front of you.
Fantastic.
OK, well, why don't I go ahead and move that so that it is in front of us and we can ask any additional questions on that.
Colleagues, you've had the brief overview now of item number three on the agenda.
Thanks to our robust panel of both community and city participants in that panel.
I'm going to move the item in front of us for the purposes of considering the legislation that Calvin just noted and the request for action, as noted by Parks as well from Christopher Williams.
Colleagues, I move the committee recommends the passage of Council Bill 120467. Is there a second?
Second.
It's been moved and seconded.
Is there any additional comments?
Calvin, would you like to add anything else about the legislation?
Just to confirm that section nine in the legislation does include a ratify and confirm clause.
Excellent.
Thank you very much.
I'm not seeing any additional hands.
Not seeing any additional comments.
The good chair has let us know that he is very supportive of this as well and excited to see this move forward.
So as his stand in, I will also be supporting this legislation today.
If there's no additional comments, Mr. Clerk, will you please call the roll on the recommendation that Council Bill 120467 pass?
Council Member Herbold?
Yes.
Council President Juarez?
Aye.
Council Member Morales?
Yes.
Vice Chair Mosqueda.
Aye.
All in favor, none opposed.
Thank you very much.
The motion carries and the committee recommendation is that the bill pass and this will be sent to the December 13th Seattle City Council full council meeting.
I don't see any additional comments on this unless Calvin that's a new hand.
No, sorry.
Okay, no problem.
Well, thank you all for the presentation.
And it sounds like many, many meetings worth of work and years on this topic.
So we look forward to getting updates from you as you move forward.
Okay, I'm not seeing anything else for the good of the order.
Thank you again for your presentation.
This concludes the December 7 2022 meeting of the Public Assets and Homelessness Committee.
Thank you for attending this discussion today.
Our next meeting will be sometime in January.
Happy New Year.
Happy holiday.
Thanks for all your work this year, colleagues.
Bye-bye.
Thank you.
Bye.
Thank you to the kiddos in the world as well.