Observing Government

Work Sessions

Council Attendees: Sue Marshall, Will Fuentes, Matt Little, Michelle Belkot. No Glen Yung,

Link to materials: Clark County Council Meetings | Clark County

Observer: Jackie Lane

Work Session: Fireworks

• Last year sales were lower.
• Biggest sales day is July 4^th.
• Roughly $3 million dollars in sales last year.
• Any changes for 2027 have to be made by June 7^th.
• Sue goes over options. (do nothing, Safe & Sane, no fireworks at all)
• Michelle says she wants to keep things as they are, says fireworks sold in tents are already safe and sane, don’t go up in the air. (This is not true). Matt also doesn’t want change.
• Wil asks what is Safe and Sane: Doesn’t go up more than a foot, or sideways 6 feet, and don’t explode. What is sold in the county is NOT safe and sane.
• Sue asks how things are going in Camas/Washougal. They removed the aerial fire shells, which was most of the complaints. Go high, explode and send debris far and wide. Begins this year, so can’t say how it will go. Wil asks about community feedback. Was a 50-50 split.
• Wil leans to Safe and Sane.
• Sue agrees but should discuss when they have a full council since right now they have a split (Sue/Wil vs. Matt/Michelle).

Work Session: Parks System Planning. Microsoft PowerPoint - 20260401 PROST Council PPT

• Natural Areas Acquisition Plan (starts slide 7)
• Consolidate acquisition strategy for parks, open space.
• Regional Trails plan
• Not a lot of progress made since first adopted. Needs update (see slide 9)
• The new plan will have performance measures.
• Matt asks what’s lowest hanging fruit? There are some great corridors, want to hear from community and partners. There are a dozen or so in the existing plan but need to prioritize.
• Level of service. (slide 11)
• Move from simple acres per capita to a more complex, nuanced approach. Quality, access, and so on. Better way to know how they are meeting the community needs. Can be updated based on community input.
• Wil asks if Camp Bonneville included. Current plan includes 500 acres of Bonneville, as more achievable in one bite than 1000 – which may be future.
• Public engagement Plan Slide 12.
• Key decision points where will be checking in with Council slide 13.
• Will engage a consultant.
• Plan is required by statute.
• Hopes, dreams, aspirations and needs of the community.
• Council questions
• Matt – asks about funding strategy. Group tasked with this has met 8 times, report being finalized. Task team will meet in April with presentation to council May 20. This will help understand next steps. Need a funding source. Most cities have been participating.
• Sue: Resource Lands. We don’t have to buy everything; there are willing property owners to allow public access through resource lands (example: trails through forests). Asked how Public Benefit Rating System can be an asset. Noted that Assessor can’t do PBRS – resources. (PBRS on Council Time Agenda later today) Talks about future Trail network as a public benefit.
• Sue asks about Tri-mountain golf course best use. Fewer people are golfing. Gordy Jolma natural area was a golf course. Ridgefield and La Center don’t have a lot of county park land around them and would like to see more.
• Sue asked about DNR properties. Some county land is adjacent to DNR land. Trust Land transfer or reconveyance possible programs.
• Matt also interested in DNR managed properties and access. Staff will explore further with DNR.
• Sue: Youth advisory commission – interested in more stuff for teens (skate parks, etc.). Staff have plans to meet with them, and having a focus group focused on youth. Sue also mentioned collaboration with CTran re: access.
• Staff: Very interested in meaningfully engaging with people/groups they haven’t in the past.

Council Time

Council Attendees: Sue Marshall, Will Fuentes, Matt Little, Michelle Belkot. No Glen Yung,

• Amendments: 4.2 State of the county removed (will get topics to councilors for review), 9.1 executive session one removed, one added (no after action).
• Proclamation requests: National Volunteer Week, Education and Sharing Day. Approved
• ECHO systems Analysis Project
• echo-systems-analysis-request.pdf
• Want to hire a consultant to look at the parts of the system, as sometimes they operate in silos. How do they interact, gaps, what improvements can be made to prevent and reduce homelessness. Want County to cover half the cost. The cities would cover the other half proportionately (population).
• Michelle asked how is this different from the data that Council for the Homeless collects. This would be broader than that. The grants they get define a more limited set of data. There are agencies, etc., outside of CFTH scope such as public health to consider.
• Matt – questions about funding too. What are we approving today? Final approval would have to come to a Tuesday meeting. A lot of data being collected, but is narrowly focused based on requirements from Federal and Dept of Commerce grants. Matt needs more information, wants Council for the Homeless (CFTH) to come speak to Council.
• Wil – Explains that this is not just a Council for the Homeless thing. Fully supports it.
• Sue also tries to explain the difference between this scope and CFTH. Sue asks where the County’s half ($100K) comes from – Community Services has identified a source. Because Glen is not there, they may not have 3 to move forward. Defer for 2 weeks, have someone from community services available to speak.
• Public Benefit Rating System (PBRS). (see also 5/15/26 work session). Assessor has said they don’t have staff to support. Sue sees a lot of value, Council hasn’t given clear direction. Matt supports. Council would provide a framework. There is past work that can be used. Someone with knowledge in the area has offered to help (Steve Thalberg) for free. Full support. Kathleen has asked Legal if staff outside Assessor’s office can work on this, and will get back if any issues.
• Work session requests: Minnehaha (Trillium) park plan. Approved
• Policy updates
• SB 5820 – removes FRDU – signed Monday. Sue asks about impacts. Planning and Legal folks can weigh in on. Legal – should remove overlay as part of comp plan. Add to preferred alternative. Oliver – Council can direct staff to remove overlay and references when they select a preferred alternative.
• HB 2442 – Provides tax and fund flexibility.
• WA association of counties has developed a report on how counties fared.
• HB 2451, tax increment financing – limits on area, and sunset timeframe added. Sue asked if any exemptions added? Schools are exempt, it hit fire districts hard. Will get back.
• 1.2 million for county road administration board.
• HB 1345 – ADUs outside UGAs. Staff will be reviewing the bill. Look to see if can be done as part of this comp plan update. Chris asks how this would affect density. Does the bill change the density calculation? Oliver will read the bill.
• Additional Public Defense funding was not provided.
• HB 2266 – prohibits development regulations within UGAs re: shelters, emergency and supportive housing
• Discussion of grants and funding (I can’t type that fast).