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Home My WebLink AboutCity Council Committees - Economic and Community Development Committee - 02/13/2023 Approved Economic and Community KENT Development Committee W-...... CC ECDC Regular Meeting Minutes February 13, 2023 Date: February 13, 2023 Time: 4:00 p.m. Place: Chambers Members: Toni Troutner, Committee Chair Marli Larimer, Councilmember Zandria Michaud, Councilmember Agenda: 1. Call to Order 4:00 p.m. 2. Roll Call Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Toni Troutner Committee Chair Present Marli Larimer Councilmember Present _ Zandria Michaud Councilmember Present 3. Agenda Approval 4. Business A. Approval of Minutes 1. Approval of Minutes dated January 9, 2023 MOTION: Move to approve the Minutes dated January 9, 2023 RESULT: APPROVED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Marli Larimer, Councilmember SECONDER: Zandria Michaud, Councilmember AYES: Troutner, Larimer, Michaud B. Wagner Architects and Planners KEHOC design - Authorize Will Moore, Facilities Manager in the Kent Parks and Recreation department presents to council on the selection of Wagner Architects and Planners as the consultant for the design phase of the Kent East Hill Operations Center (KEHOC). The current assemblage of buildings serving as the KEHOC has not really been adequate for a long time. In addition to not looking great, it is not providing a comfortable work environment for the staff who utilize it, especially considering the size of the city it is meant to serve. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Page 1 of 5 Economic and Community Development February 13, 2023 Committee CC ECDC Regular Meeting Kent, Washington Minutes The contract with the Wagner Group will cover their services through the design, permitting, contractor bidding and selection, and construction phase services for the development of a new KEHOC that will provide more efficient function through better storage of equipment and supplies, improved energy efficiency and a significantly more comfortable work environment for our colleagues who utilize that facility. This contract is NTE $2,462,014. MOTION: I move to recommend Council authorize the Mayor to sign a Consultant Services Agreement with Wagner Architects and Planners in an amount not to exceed $2,462,014.00, subject to final terms and conditions acceptable to the Parks Director and City Attorney. RESULT: RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL [UNANIMOUS] Next: 2/21/2023 7:00 PM MOVER: Marli Larimer, Councilmember SECONDER: Zandria Michaud, Councilmember AYES: Troutner, Larimer, Michaud C. 2021 Countywide Planning Policy Amendments - Adopt Kristen Holdsworth, Long Range Planning Manager provides a brief explanation of the proceeding to ratify an amendment to 2021 King County's County Wide Planning Policies (CPP's). Though this amendment does not impact the City of Kent, it acknowledges that the CPP's are a living document whose purpose is to keep the County and its cities on track to meet resident's needs. King County's CPPs were initially adopted in the early 1990s to create a shared and consistent framework for growth management planning for all jurisdictions in King County in accordance with RCW 36.70A.210. The CPPs present a shared vision of King County and the 39 cities within King County to guide jurisdictions as they develop and amend their comprehensive plans. The CPPs were last updated in 2021 to be consistent with updated Multicounty Planning Policies (MPPs) and the Regional Growth Strategy (RGS) contained in the Puget Sound Regional Council's (PSRC) VISION 2050. New growth targets were adopted for the 2019-2044 planning period as a part of the 2021 CPP Update, created collaboratively by all cities and King County to implement the Regional Growth Strategy in VISION 2050 by providing land use assumptions for periodic comprehensive plan updates. During the adoption process of the 2021 CPPs, the King County Council directed the Growth Management Planning Council (GMPC) to establish final growth targets for the City of Sammamish to reflect updated sewer ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Page 2 of 5 Economic and Community Development February 13, 2023 Committee CC ECDC Regular Meeting Kent, Washington Minutes ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................._............................................................................................................................................................................................................... capacity. • On December 22, 2022, the Metropolitan King County Council adopted Ordinance No. 19553 to ratify the 2021 CPPs amendments to incorporate the updated growth targets for the City of Sammamish. These CPP amendments do not affect Kent's growth targets or have any substantive impact on Kent or other jurisdictions' comprehensive plan update efforts. The CPP amendments are presented to jurisdictions in King County for ratification; or, a city will be deemed to have ratified the amendments to the CPPs unless the city takes legislative action to disapprove the amendments within 90 days of adoption by King County, which in this case is April 1, 2023. MOTION: Move to adopt Resolution No. 2055, ratifying an amendment to the 2021 King County Countywide Planning Policies adopted by King County through ordinance 19553, updating the growth targets for the City of Sammamish. RESULT: RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL [UNANIMOUS] Next: 2/21/2023 7:00 PM MOVER: Marli Larimer, Councilmember SECONDER: Zandria Michaud, Councilmember AYES: Troutner, Larimer, Michaud D. INFO ONLY: Update on Flex Fund Contracts with National Development Council Bill Ellis presents to the committee an update on the Economic Development Teams regionally impactful work with the National Development Council to provide wide ranging and significant assistance to small businesses and cultural community organizations in our city and elsewhere with funds received to aid Covid recovery. As a reminder, the City of Kent chose to allocate some 1.6 million of its ARPA monies to the FlexFund effort, in order to effectively provide 4 million in aid due to NDC's ability to leverage funds. It is expected by the end of the loan application period, that over 2 million in low interest loans will have been made to Kent located businesses, and that a significant portion of these lendees will be minority owned entities. Bill also discussed an envisioned program with the NDC that may partially address the affordability dilemma in Kent - a complex issue that will require multi-pronged approach to solve. The obvious first hurdle, especially for small businesses, is the steep upfront ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Page 3 of 5 Economic and Community Development February 13, 2023 Committee CC ECDC Regular Meeting Kent, Washington Minutes barrier to improving buildings and making them ready. A few things have been tried already, e.g. offering pro bono design and permitting assistance, and some new programs have become available from King County. City and County have been exploring how the City and Council can deploy ARPA funds to support related policy issues that are of concern. Commercial affordability and commercial displacement is higher rent caused by higher land value that is more than local and culturally appropriate or relevant businesses can afford, inadvertently forcing them to move out of a community. The team noted that this was most pertinent to long-established businesses pressured by rising real estate valuations. Another problem is that commercial spaces over the last decade have been getting bigger while viable space requirements were decreasing, and lending per capita in south King County communities was 7.48% to 60% less than King County as a whole. Investment capital is largely directed where it there was already significant development. Various projects in the region since 2020, have brought resources such as technical assistance (primarily financial counseling, then permits) and funding (public and philanthropic). The findings included tenanting challenges and the fact that projects seeking more than $250k but less than $1 million face most trouble getting debt (lack of collateral, higher risk). It is hoped CDFIs would have a role in reducing this inequity, to include technical assistance, financing, and identification of funding gaps after owner contributions, debt, and other resources are exhausted. They also discussed the role of the government in creating the space and investing in CDFIs. There was an unsuccessful application to Wash. State for closer collaboration through grant application, which included three major buckets: tenant improvements, pre-development funds, and technical assistance. Other new offerings include the $25 million allocation to address racism as a public health emergency, which covered 'small business grants' and 'physical infrastructure' grants, and new King County grants. Non-profit/STEM groups also expressed their desires for proximity to schools, transit, community, and young people, as well as proximity to manufacturing and other high-tech workers and career paths, and greater visibility and a central location in south King County. At a future meeting Bill hopes to present a scope of work for a new project with NDC focused on these precise issues. 5. Adjournment 4:40 p.m. ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 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Rho 3yU� Committee Secretary ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Page 5 of 5