Clark County Council

0:00 Good morning and welcome everyone calling to order Clark County Council Tuesday, August 4th, 2026. If you'll join me in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for the invocation today it will be Keith Miller from the county wide chaplaincy. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. That would be. Heavenly Father we thank you for the opportunity to gather in service to our community. Thank you for the freedoms we enjoy, for the privilege

0:56 of serving our neighbors. Grant us the wisdom, humility, and discernment as we consider the matters before us today. Help us listen well, speak honestly, and make decisions with integrity and conviction that promote the safety and well-being of everyone in this county. We also pray for the firefighters battling the wildfires across this region. Given the strength, endurance, wisdom, and protection. Bring comfort to those affected by the fires and grant favorable conditions in aid in bringing them under control. May all we do today honor you and faithfully serve this entrusted to our care. In Jesus name, Amen. Okay, thank you. Let's move on to the roll call. Michelle. Councilor Young. Here. Councilor Belcott is not here today. Councilor Fuentes. Here. Councilor Young. I mean Councilor Little. Present.

1:52 And Jim Marshall. Here. Thank you. Okay are there any amendments to the agenda? Yes I have two for council. I would like to remove item number five under separate business and then add a number seven. It's a public defense contract. Okay so noted. That brings us to open public comment. You can speak on any topic related to county business and also on the consent and separate business items. And just a reminder, keep your comments to three minutes and keep them civil related to county business and refrain from making statements that are disruptive to conducting county business. Is anyone signed up? Yes. Carmen De Leon.

2:48 Yeah my name is Carmen De Leon. I go by Mellow and I was looking at number seven like she said and it talks about the water. And in case you haven't been looking at the news lately, our water has been threatened throughout the country. They say that the hackers have went and disturbed our water supply. In ancient times the Romans and things like that in order to shut down a village they would cut off the water supply. They were a definite threat because you know water is life. We're 80% water. So that being said and since you say that it is open public comment and I believe that the safety of our country is utmost importance, priority number one. So when you're allowing people into this country who and I quote an Islamic preacher, when Muslims become the majority in the West

3:45 in the next 40 years, non-muslims will have to pay a Jitsi or be killed because they're Sharia law. And that's what Muslims, that's why I don't think security of our country is racism, it's security. And when we say banning them coming to this country, it's our own safety. This is what another one said because I'm not allowed to say I'm gonna come up here and do any harm. But they're allowed into country knowing that oh by the way they're outbreeding us ten to one. Because in our country we say abort abort oh you're so empowered yeah why don't you shut your legs lady. Because they're killing their babies and they're having ten apiece on your food stamp dollar. So when I say these people are breeding us and they're talking about 40 years I can see that. Because in the past what since the 60s over a hundred million babies have been aborted. We would be a population of over 400,000 400 million instead of just 350 million.

4:45 But hey we don't need all those you know U.S. citizens now you go kill that mistake you had the other night. Anyways it says Hamas our issues not with the Palestine's our issues killing every non-muslim. We will pursue Jews and Christians all over the world either they will convert to Islam or we will kill them. So to me that's not really a godly religion because my God says hey you know forgive and and be forgiven do unto others is that you would have them do unto you. And I know you don't want me doing this to you just because you're not one my religion. So when our and I've told you before they can lie straight to your face and it's seen as a blessing because either they got somebody dead or they got somebody converted. So that's why when Trump went and talked about peace to his face they're saying yeah we're gonna we're gonna open the the waterway and there's gonna be a ceasefire. They were lying to his face

5:43 and bombing him behind his back because they can lie to us and they do it constantly. And you should tell the legislators to agree no more Muslims in this country. Is there anyone else? Chair that's all we have signed up in the room. Is there anybody else that would like to speak that did get a chance to sign up on the sign-up sheet? Then we have two online. Okay.

6:17 well there was two. Oh there's one. Caller you've been sent to request to unmute. Please go ahead and do so. State your name for the record and go ahead with your comment.

6:47 Caller it looks like. Hello. Yes. This is Kimberly Gohee in Elbin. God morning. Thank you for the prayer. Vote today it's the last day. Some people know and believe they have a call to duty from God our creator. One of my duties is to bring accountability and transparency to the people of Clark County, Washington USA and about our local government and our unconstitutional law and justice system. Especially now that my son Cleve Gohee in Ringo is a victim of many constitutional violations here in the Clark County judicial system. I'll read on. Washington also I'll say this that I've attended three meetings for the law and justice and have been denied access. Washington state mandated every county

7:44 to establish a local law and justice council in 1987 through the enactment of state legislation codified under RCW 72.09.300. It is to encourage local and state governments to form partnerships reduce duplication and share resources regarding the management of offenders and correctional systems. Every county legislation authority must adopt a resolution or ordinance to form the council. It includes the county sheriff, county prosecutor, jail administrator, county clerk, risk manager, superior district, juvenile, municipal courts, representative, uh, city municipal police and prosecutor representatives and the state secretary of corrections. Also, there are no laws, policies or statutes

8:44 that permit a law and justice council, especially here in Clark County, to bar the public from attending the meetings as a whole. In fact, Washington state law explicitly mandates that these meetings remain open to the public because law and justice councils are created by county ordinances to advise local government on public policy. They qualify as governing bodies of public sub agencies. Therefore, they must comply fully with the Washington State Open Public Meetings Act. Under Chapter 42.30. Yeah, I got off here. And, um, anyway, I wanna let people know that we need to, uh, my timers are going off. So if I need it, I'm gonna get a specific specific policy draft. I'm gonna order those because the law and justice council is a sub agency created by local ordinances. It is legally bound to the state's open

9:44 meeting standards. The county provides local compliance checklist and public meeting transparency, uh, resources. And so I'm letting you know now, especially our county manager, Kathleen Otto, that those meetings are to be open there. Okay, thank you. Your time is up. Is there one more? There are two more. Two more color. You've been sent a request to unmute. Please go ahead and do so. State your name for the record and go ahead with your comment. Teresa Hardy. You were sent a request to unmute. Can you go ahead and unmute yourself and go ahead with your comment?

10:39 Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Um, I'm going to be addressing the Clark County rules of procedures that were, um, decided to get suggestions were made at the 7 29 County Council meeting. I'm gonna be addressing attendance by, um, Clark County counselors. And on page six, as you talked about, it says, while council meetings can be attended in person or virtually is preferred that counselors attend in person and preferred means that that's really what they should be doing most of the time. Yes, we understand that counselors sometimes have to have a second job, and that job has other requirements. So there are times when they may be missing. There may be vacation time.

11:35 There may be times when they're not feeling well, but preferred means that they show up most of the time in person on page 17. It says counselors should strive for excellence. So excellent means that you're there most engaged. And then on page 18, it refers to what you are supposed to be in attendance at, and that is already work sessions. Council times Tuesday Council meetings, and we have a county counselor where people have showed up in person and online and expressed complaints about the lack of attendance, either in person or actually even attending or while online. We don't see the person engaged. The person may not. This counselor may not ever say anything during the whole meeting. They don't ask questions. They don't contribute.

12:32 They don't they don't add any extra insight into what comes up in county council meetings. And there's a strong possibility that this person could get reelected. Those people that are engaged in county council meetings and follow what's happening in the county, they understand the lack of participation by a counselor. But there are people who do not know. And if we get another four years of the lack of participation that we have received, what is the enforcement and the consequences around this lack of attendance, lack of disengagement, which has created a loss of public trust and respect around the person in this position. So as you look at rules and procedures and we move

13:30 forward on implementing the comp plan and we have a counselor who's not engaged, how and what does the council do to make sure that this person does step up and really do their job? Thank you. Thank you. Sure. That concludes public comment. Okay. Thank you very much for all those comments. We're moving on to the consent agenda items one through 13. Is there any item anyone would like to pull? Sure. Yes. I'd like to pull item number five. We don't need staff for this. Item five. Okay. Anyone else? Okay. Then I'll entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda one through 13 omitting

14:25 item five. So moved. Thank you. It's been moved. Moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Okay. Item five. Councilor Young. Just wanted to bring this one out to the public because it is sad. These are some trees here. Actually you can see them both right here through the shades. They're taller than our building. Sad to see them go and you know it goes to speak about some of the challenges we're experiencing. We believe they were challenged by the some of the you know the the beetle problems that we're having with trees but sad to see them go and just hoping that that staff can work to try to see if there's a way that we can preserve and stop some of these trees that are dying down here because I read this the staff report and there's quite a bit of our of our old and aging trees and growth dying

15:22 around the Public Service Center but I see Michelle on there if you've had any comments go ahead but otherwise I just wanted to recognize and so the public is aware. Yeah it is very sad that we're seeing this happening with a lot of our trees in the downtown area so we are working with our Forestry Department and our grounds crew department and hopefully we can get this to stop so. Sure. Yes go ahead. Will will they be replaced or replanted? Yeah the city does make us put in new trees whenever we take out a tree so we will be putting something back in. I'm not aware of what exactly at this time but hopefully we can get something similar to what's currently there but it'll take many many years to get to the place where those trees were because they are definitely

16:15 old historical trees so. Thank you. Other comments? I would just add that the heat dome some years ago did a lot of damage to trees but they've been slowly dying so you don't you it's hard to connect cause and effect related to some of the weather challenges. Do you want to make a motion? Yeah I'll move approval of item number five. Okay it's been moved. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you. Then we'll be moving on to separate business item number one. The Auditor's Sheriff District Court Diane Rathbun.

17:02 Hello. And Mitchell. Good to see you. Is that better? There we go. Thank you. I have been working with the District Court and the Sheriff's Office to submit an application under round two of the HB Public Safety Program grant. We recently we had submitted round one and we were recently funded but we are eligible to apply under round two as well so we decided to do that after having a conversation with the District Court and primarily our request is to support their electronic monitoring programs. They have one for electronic monitoring with victim notification technology. There's drug testing and then there's electronic and transdermal alcohol monitoring programs. These programs are a

18:00 collaborative effort with the Vancouver PD, the Sheriff's Office, Superior Court and the jail to provide pretrial options and alternatives to incarceration. So they allow real-time monitoring of individuals charged with domestic violence and allow for notification to the victims and law enforcement should those individuals approach the victim's location. Substance use testing and post-disposition electronic and transdermal alcohol monitoring and it serves as a tool to help prevent crime potential crime and allow those individuals to stay in the community versus being housed in the jail while they are waiting trial. So which has provided a significant savings to the county. For the Sheriff's Office we're requesting funds to support an alternative light source for crime scene processing, training weapons and

18:55 protective gear, two three-month recruitment campaigns and support for the Police Activity League to help build and support law enforcement engagement with young people across the county. So are there any questions? Thank you very much. I know we were fortunate to secure a grant from the first grant. How much was that that we received? Just under 5 million. Okay yes that's great and so I'm really pleased to see that we're going right back out there and asking for more. Other comments? Yeah really good question. You mentioned Diane that this program allows for a significant savings to the county which is approximately almost 50 million dollars as opposed to incarcerating folks right? Right. What happens if we do not get approved for this grant? What happens to this program? I know that the

19:53 I'm not completely sure the grant the original grant funding in support of the program has ended and so I know that the District Court is working with their collaborators and stakeholders to determine long-term funding and sustainability. I know that Mary Ann Clear is here and I'm sure if there are further questions that I don't know about she's happy to come forward and answer that question but I think the hope is that this grant funding would give them that window of opportunity of supporting it through June 2026 and while they determine the long-term. Okay so the hope is that we can figure out the expectation the hope is that we get approved for the grants and there's a good chance that we are we got approved for round one so there's a good chance we get approved for round two but in the event that this is and I hope that we can figure out how to continue providing this program because of the significant savings to the taxpayer and because right capacity at the jail. Yes. So thank you. You bet. Go ahead. Sure just wanted to thank the council for making it what

20:53 was a tough decision to collect the law the criminal justice sales tax if we hadn't done that we would not be eligible for these grants so I appreciate your work and I absolutely am supportive I think that that program is something that has to continue for sure. Right I'd also like to thank the council for funding your position which I think is a wise decision is this a multi-year grant? It goes through a June of 2028 with with very little likelihood of the time being extended. Right and that's a good thing to know being that we were fortunate to have previous grants for this program the this is provided to as I understand indigent folks otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it and I think it underscores the justice part of the law and justice system to be able to

21:51 do this so but it's a note to the future future councils that if we want to continue this program will need to secure funding for it. So any other questions? I'll entertain a motion then to approve item one. I move to approve super business item number one. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Motion carries. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay then on to public works Laura Henry Slye. Good to see you again. Good morning councillors. The business we have in front in front of you today is

22:46 to for you to approve a resolution granting the the authority for the county manager to sign a right-of-way deed or dedication deed. It's a little background information on this particular situation is in 2007 Clark County acquired the parcel that you see highlighted in red as part of a planned improvement in the extension of 94th Avenue. This parcel is located on the south side of 119th next to the Linwood ball fields and across the street from busy farms for those who are out in the community. This acquisition, excuse me, this parcel is in the alignment of the Arterial Atlas which is likely why the county purchased this property in the first place. And a little additional information is approximately 2014 during the project development of 119th, I'm

23:46 sorry, 94th Avenue. The project limits were shortened to end at 99th Street which left this parcel that we're talking about as a continued as a vacant piece of land. Because the county purchased the entire parcel rather than just a portion of it this resulted in creating a tax parcel and not designated as right-of-way. So currently there is a a plan site that's been recently submitted to community development for a subdivision this is the preliminary plan and community development approached me and asked for about whether this was right-of-way or a land and I said at this point it's a private parcel and so this is why I'm in front of you today is to have the council declare that this be changed the use to right away so that that extension

24:46 of that road could be continued through to help support the subdivision. So in order for this to happen the tax parcel that was purchased in 2007 needs to be transformed from the raw land into right-of-way and as a result staff is requesting council to approve the resolution. Okay thank you are there any questions from council? Go ahead. Are we purchasing just the amount of right-of-way for the road or repurchasing the whole parcel? We purchased it in 2007 so it's part of it was part of the extension of the road and it didn't happen for you know their projects develop and shrink and expand all the time and for this case we just have kind of an orphan sitting here so we purchased this in

25:38 2007. Okay and then just a you know question so the the Glenwood landing subdivision that's not yet built? That's correct. Okay so the developer as part of their plan need to dedicate 94th Avenue as right-of-way? No it well that's the job in front of me excuse me that's the job in front of you folks today is that we it is County owned property it's a chunk of land it's a full parcel of land in order for a road to get constructed on that we need to have it converted to right-of-way. Right but that's the word that's the parcel to the north I was curious I'm sorry all the interior all the interior roads that are not there yet would be dedicated per the plat. Okay it just kind of brings up a kind of an odd point where you know the the first developer comes in here

26:38 and they have to create that they have to dedicate that right away and just north of it you know that property is not developing in the county purchases the right way it's just an interesting thing about how the process works and kind of the first first developments that come in often end up kind of taking a brunt of some of that infrastructure but it doesn't have anything to do with approval I'm supportive of approving it just thought it was interesting to point out. It is interesting yes. Does 94th is that road exists continues to the not yet currently today it's just a it's an it looks like it's part of the ball failed honestly okay and so there's no railroad crossing that would need to eventually there would need to be a railroad crossing yeah all right sure yes go ahead what are the positions of the adjacent landowners are they

27:35 supportive and also a further question from the chair what plans have been made to extend the 94th south of the railroad I don't know hold on that's out of here okay you are in the room thanks for coming up sure good morning council Jeremy Provenzolo County engineer with respect to your question about the plans for 94th Avenue south of the railroad tracks or that crossing that would be privately financed so as development comes in south of the railroad tracks they would be conditioned to dedicate and build that connection but there's no been no agreement from the landowners or any plans yet to do that so if they built it in the Glenwood Landing subdivision it would just end at the

28:33 railroad tracks for now okay and what is there any position or is there support from the adjacent landowners for this decision today is there do you know what the positions of the adjacent landowners are I do not know what the positions of our adjacent landowners this request came from community development to public works to have this converted so this development could move forward for traffic circulation but as far as a discussion with property owners I've not had any and I'm unaware of whatever their positions may or may not be are they aware and have that you received any complaints I don't really know how to answer that but I do know that since it's a subdivision there will be a public hearing and there will be plenty of time for the community to put their

29:29 input for the public hearing process on that okay thank you any other questions from council chair just one quick comment this isn't for you guys this would be more for like community planning or community development but you know here we are look at all those houses that are being built right on the railroad line so I'm curious what you know you know we've got a we've got to start talking about railroad sometime soon and what the long-term plans are for it and looking at our code and seeing if the adjacent development is proper for what our long-term plans are with the railroad that's a very good point and the council won't be involved with the permitting of this development

30:21 and you're just narrowly asking for that segment today so is there further discussion or a motion that and this one there's a red it's a resolution is this a roll call or just okay but the resolution is 20 20 6 0 8 0 4 so moved thank you second moved and seconded all those in favor say aye aye aye motion carries thank you thank you okay item 3 Oh Laura it's you again good morning again counselors for the record my name is Laura Henry slide I managed a real property services section in Public Works so the business we have in front of you today is the another dedication but this time it is from our to from the

31:18 county to this city so a little background information that this isn't inside the city limits so Clark County purchased tax parcel 1 7 6 3 8 4 - 0 0 0 in 1956 with the with the purpose of using it as a gravel resource or gravel pit this parcel was never utilized as a gravel pit by Public Works and in 1982 the county entered into a long lease with harmony harmonies Sports Association which manages and operates this facility today and it's commonly known as a harmony sports complex over the last over the last four decades the county has partnered with the harmony Sports Association to transform this piece of property into a major year-round recreational hub that supports baseball

32:15 softball soccer and ultimate frisbees the complex success has continued to grow and has and has eventually led to some long-standing access and parking challenges in 2018 the Association secured a Washington State grant to enhance the park to include improving the entrance and upgrading the facilities upgraded the internal circulation and paving the parking lot because this piece of property now lies within the city of this Vancouver city limits the city requires additional right-of-way as a condition of approval of the park improvements the dedication will satisfy the city's requirements providing a 60 foot half width right-of-way which will meet the city's transportation needs currently the city is developing improvements along 192nd Avenue and

33:12 northeast 18th Street and construction is going to be dependent upon when they get funding and as a result staffers requesting council to approve the resolution to authorize the county manager to execute the right-of-way deed to the city this concludes my presentation do they have any questions thank you are there any questions I do really quick question so I'm very familiar with the harmony sports complex rain or shine it's always being utilized and I've been one of those individuals that have been stuck in traffic when people are entering or exiting the facility because 192nd and this stretch is only a two-lane road so what this does this resolution it helps improve

34:01 internal circulation so the 60 foot let me ask you this is 192nd a county road or a city road it's a city road it is a city road do you know if the city has any plans of widening 192nd okay yes they do they have the it is in their their equivalent of a six-year tip which includes 192nd and an 18th perfect and they'll be whether I don't can you speak more to what their plans are do you know Jeremy Prodensola County engineer a little reluctant to speak to the specifics on that because I don't recall offhand what was conceptual and what was actually part of their design but yes and that's okay I mean that's the city the city's handling that that's fine I was more curious and interested in that whether it was account there was a county then we we needed to look at

34:58 widening the road but if the city is responsible for that good for them I think it should have happened some time ago but it's it's better that happens sooner than later yeah and they are eager to make those improvements they are or aren't they are they are okay good and some of that improvements is require that a day the dedication of the county-owned property perfect thank you go ahead yeah and this is where the new crossing is where the new exit from the parking lot onto 192nd at the light yes is crossing that right yes okay so that that's already built and that was you know the the county got permitted to install those improvements as a condition of approval for that this the 60-foot dedication is required okay great they'll be pressed probably less political science might like that and then just really a quick question so

35:57 harmony sports complex is within the city of Vancouver it is but we own the county-owned said the county originally bought it to be a gravel resource as a pet okay okay thank you okay any other questions hearing none I'll entertain a motion to approve and this is resolution 20 26 0 8 0 5 okay motion to approve separate business item number three second okay it's been moved and seconded all those in favor say aye aye aye motion carries thank you very much okay moving on to item four and this is Danielle and Jenny good to see ya

36:51 good morning Council well Jenny Coker deputy director Clark County Public Works and here today with Danielle Cowley who is the legacy lands program coordinator and we're here to talk about a property acquisition that touches on clean water land access habitat preservation and touches on some of our climate goals so with that I'll turn it over to Danielle good morning counsel Danielle Cowley legacy lands program coordinator so we are here today to request approval for a resolution to create a capital project and authorize the county manager to execute the purchase and sale agreement accept the statutory warranty deed and execute all necessary closing documents amendments to acquire the property from the Massey family joint trust we're going to go to

37:48 slide number two so the Massey property is in teal on the south side across the street is Alderbrook Park if you're familiar with that location this is in the upper Salmon Creek watershed in Hawkinson it's about two miles from the headwaters of Salmon Creek this property was identified as a high-value conservation land through the county's watershed based planning process and we'll go to the next slide so why is this property and why why this property right that's the question everybody asks not every property in the sub area becomes available for conservation this one aligns and and this is unique because the family came to the county to initiate the acquisition the property

38:43 scores high because of the stream corridor there's 22 linear feet of Salmon Creek in the property it has a forest throughout you know it is a forest 40 parcel the act the acquisition was reviewed by the parks advisory board and recommended to move forward to your approval today it is a willing seller willing buyer property and it's twenty one point four acres next slide this allows the county to act on a unique opportunity while staying consistent with the adopted capital improvement plan when council adopted the natural areas acquisition plan the upper Salmon Creek sub area was identified as one of the county's priority conservation areas because of the fish brain stream the working forests and intact watershed function Salmon Creek drains 89 square

39:41 miles in central Clark County it is the largest watershed in the entirety of Clark County the creek flows westward for 26 miles from Elkhorn Mountain into Lake River the next line and so the fat the family probably is online potentially with us today but we are seeking approval of a resolution to start this process to acquire this property and move it forward thank you very much and I just if the family I'd like to thank the family for coming forward and offering this to us any questions or comments okay I have a couple what is the current use in zoning of the property forest 40 with the potential of one home built based on the code okay and there's no home there's no

40:36 it is current forest 40 great and then this being the first purchase in this area do we I mean do we have an ex like a plan in place for our envisioning of that area we're going to be going to continue to develop or not develop it add to the properties that we own or is it this is like the first one and so we don't really have a plan at this point just a little bit about how that system works would be great yes so the watershed based model identified this property along Salmon Creek we will look at other adjacent landowners it's a willing seller willing buyer program the intention is to conserve that hip upper headwaters for fish-bearing streams and you know the habitat in general if there was an intention to do something related to public access we would go through a master plan process but that right now it's more about conservation for us on

41:36 this parcel and we have had adjacent landowner conversations okay do we try to keep or try to look at contiguous yes okay what I would add is parks and lands jointly are initiating the park system plan which also includes the natural areas acquisition plan and this is the opportunity for that outreach to really talk to the citizens and see what they want and help shape what that development and strategy would look like so that is ongoing great looks like a great property to start with and I echo the chairs comments I appreciate the landowners for being willing to come to us sure yes please go ahead yeah this is awesome what is so will this end up in our inventory for harvest it managed managing it sustainably over time and I remember we requested some kind of work

42:34 session with our forester to talk about long-term management of all our lands is that still on the is that on the books at some point and and will this be part of that strategy because I at least my perspective is that we would manage it sustainably still get some benefits locally of products but we would be focused more on sustainably managing the like the older growth characteristics of the forest versus trying to get the maximum capacity out of it yeah so I can answer maybe one of the questions and the one question that you ask is it would this move into the the FSC certified forests and we have discussed this Kevin and I have discussed this we need to actually do an inventory and confirm that it would it would go into that program but that is a potential and

43:30 then I'm not sure about the forestry side of things that's the question I can answer I do recall this Kevin and I have been working to schedule it I think it would be late this year early next year and it aligns with one of the forestry plans that he's initiating now so yeah great looking forward to that obviously great thanks for the reminder about that work session I recall that we asked for that too so that would be that would be great is there spawning habitat in this reach yeah just below is where the the fish are spawning at the top end it's salmon Falls is on private property and they kind of go down there so yeah okay not too far great and then I would just remind folks that you know these there's a long range of vision that we have with the legacy lands program and I look at the East Fork and how many years we've been working on the East Fork and having

44:27 a contiguous stretch along the river there so this may be one of the first purchases and we'll keep that long range vision going so with that this is yes please go ahead I want to echo what my colleagues have said thank you to the family for coming forward and offering this these 21 acres of what looks like untouched forest property now I think you may have said I think council young asked this question but are there other properties adjacent to this particular to this property that may be up for sale in the future yes there are okay and you're having conversations I believe with property owners the Massey families is the only property that they own or correct okay they have they have a home site across the street I'm sure to alderbrook Park but this is a piece that they acquired this used to be an old long long view fiber property at one

45:24 point okay not now but in the when the county acquires it are these properties accessible to the public or they're just completely out of bounds I think I think the question or the answer for that is we don't really have parking so I think that that's kind of a tricky situation that would have to go through a master plan process and an overarching view of the environmental constraints with the creek right through there there is no logging road on the property itself that is very overgrown on one section so we would have to be systematically thoughtful on what we do for that but yeah right now it's more conservation focused but if somebody finds itself wandering into this property in the future it's not considered trespassing correct correct that's what I want yes thank you yes we'll look out for you okay yes go ahead a couple little things here first I was curious about the budget so in November 25 we'd

46:23 approved the the capital facilities plan or improvement plan what was its capital facility plan capital improvement plan capital plan and so this is an addition to I mean is the the entire purchase edition or is it only the difference between the 750,000 and the million 35,000 so we've revised the capital improvement plan that you will see in November this property actually is already in the the draft plan that you'll be reviewing ready to go we have the full total of a million plus the due diligence in there if it hits within the seven 650 and the million that's where we would close that but it is drafted for that top end just just to be careful okay and then it's just as far as the budget though we're we're changing the operated oh no no what no operating budget impacts okay nevermind creating an amendment to repurpose funds great be

47:21 sure and tell our folks and the parks advisory that we appreciate the work that they do day in and day out for us and then the last thing is perhaps I'll be there perhaps I won't but and you know the the coming year I think it would be excellent to have kind of a deeper dive work session on you know this plan because you know it's we've had a lot come for this and it's all kind of piecemeal and so I would love to have a fundamental understanding of where we have property you know where our efforts are focused and how that property is currently functioning whether it's available to the public in any way or not something like that but not this year sure yes just in line with the interests of the councilors who would like to be part of this it would be good to have that work session at least for the long-term management of

48:19 these lands before the end of the calendar year if if that's possible we will connect with Ross Hoover parks and nature as well as Kevin Tyler when he gets back and we'll respond to you about whether what that looks like with the current system plan that's launching I think I think that's sounds like a reasonable request to me okay any other comments or questions hearing none I'll entertain a motion and this is resolution 20 26 0 8 0 6 so moved it's been moved second moved and seconded all those in favor say aye aye aye motion carries and Daniel I would just say very good work on that agricultural conservation easement the very first one for Clark County so good work thank you so much Thank You counsel

49:16 okay that brings us we removed five we're going down to item six and that's Brett Gallup welcome good morning chair marshall and council for the record my name is Brett Gallup and I am a public works real property agent the matter before you today is to finalize the road vacation request for a portion of Northeast 139th Street road vacation approvals are a three-step council process that starts by receiving a petition to vacate the road next slide

50:04 yep nevermind the road in question was conveyed to Clark County on April 6 1942 by Otter file e 6 8 1 7 3 and used until the 60s when i-5 was established Thomas F Meyer petitioned the county to vacate the portion of Northeast 139th Street on September 28 2025 this portion is point to eight acres and is zoned general commercial next step one of the council process is approving a resolution directing the county engineer to create an engineer's report to review if they believe vacating the road will be a benefit to the county council pass resolution number 20 26 0 3 0 2 with the directive on March 3rd 20 26 step 2 of the council process is to hold a public hearing which allows any neighboring owner or citizens to voice their concerns or approval of the road

51:04 vacation and for the county engineer to present their findings on June 2nd 20 26 the county engineer submitted his report in favor of the road vacation and the public hearing was held with no contentious parties coming forward council signed the preliminary order of vacating the county road directing that Thomas Meyer pay make payment for all administrative costs and expenses occurred during the proceedings on June 29 20 26 Thomas Meyer paid all administrative costs and expenses that totaled five thousand three hundred and forty one dollars forty five cents having received payment all conditions of the preliminary order have now been met next line this is an overview of where the road is located within the county next line this is an overview of the portion of road that is being vacated and this is a recent photo of the road as it sits today the portion of road being requested for vacation is

52:03 between the gravel road and the orange post that you see and this is the proposed Salmon Creek RV Park that will be installed by Thomas Meyer if the road vacation is approved the section in red indicates the road vacation portion that we are requesting and that concludes the staff's presentation and at this time we recommend council approve and sign the final order vacation that will transfer this portion of Northeast 139th Street to Thomas Meyer and conclude the road vacation process great thank you very much to multi-stage process and listen to what here we are at the final stage are there any comments or questions from Council yep go ahead one question you may have answered this one of the previous touches that we had but I don't recall did how how did we originally acquire it was it just how did we do we purchase it

53:00 thank you this was actually donated to the county in 1942 specifically for us to build okay so it was donated okay yes so it makes sense and part of the donation request was that should it ever be vacated that it would be vacated back to the person the property owner that donated to us okay because of that during the petition requests our our attorneys reviewed and decided that we weren't allowed to sell this back to them we had to react okay yeah it was just that's what I was curious about how they were getting it just for the cost of the administrative part of it but that is a great question yeah thank you okay anything else I'll entertain a motion to approve separate business item six so moved been moved second moved in seconded thank you all those in favor say aye aye aye motion carries thanks very much okay and their final item

53:59 under separate business is public defense and I'm not sure m April good morning chair and council can you hear me yes we can all right for the record April 4th deputy county manager as you may know from March through June of this year we have accumulated a backlog of 204 felony cases and a hundred and seven hundred and ninety seven misdemeanor cases to help address this backlog we've reached out to local defense attorneys and identified Columbia legal advocates as a firm prepared to assist with both the felony and the misdemeanor backlog cases we are still finalizing the number of case points they can take but we anticipate that this contract will exceed the county manager signing authority we also have several contracted attorneys approaching their

54:55 contract limits even though they may have capacity under the 2026 caseload standards to take on additional work for those willing to accept more cases we would execute contract amendments to expand their allowable caseloads so this request includes councils pre-approval to allocate five hundred fifty thousand dollars in one-time general fund resources authorize the county manager to execute felony and district court contracts with Columbia legal advocates to address backlog cases this will allow us to execute new contracts with Columbia legal advocate and then authorizing the county manager to execute amendments with the current felony and district court contracted attorneys to address backlog cases if they have capacity above their contracted amount and then if approved a full budget package will be submitted as part of the 2026 fall supplemental process thank you for your consideration

55:52 thank you very much are there any questions from Council and what will this resolve the backlog or this is part of resolving the backlog this amount is calculated to be able to contract out and take care of the backlog okay for for this year so that's right 26 right okay and so this will be something we'll need to look take a close look at going forward into next year's budget right okay comments questions it's very important thank you very much for putting this together appreciate that I'll entertain a motion to approve separate business items seven so moved it's been moved second moved in seconded

56:44 all those in favor say aye aye aye motion carries okay thank you if I could interrupt real quick I can later Public Works director I just wanted to confirm that council took a vote on separate business item number four we were discussing coming up after but I didn't hear the vote so well yeah we can buy it we rolled them all into one vote so yes it was approved yeah so good to double-check for the separate business item Oh separate business for for the yes okay did we not vote just double-checking we didn't we did not back so okay okay just making sure all right okay we're looking around at each other so Michelle confirms that we voted I wrote down the motion and the second and

57:38 four to zero so I'm assuming you were so fast we just didn't thank you all right good good to keep us on our toes okay then moving on to county managers report just sort of mind folks that the fair starts on Friday that's all that's great thank you for that reminder I'll put it on my calendar and with that we've completed our agenda and without objection this meeting is adjourned