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Auburn City Council Study Session Re-Cap: October 14, 2019

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On Monday, October 14th, 2019 Auburn City Council held its regular biweekly study session. The Study Session was called to order at 5:30 pm Councilmember Wales and Mayor Backus were both absent and excused from the session.  Watch the full recorded livestream here.

Auburn International Farmer’s Market Update
The Council’s first item for discussion was the Farmers Market 2019 Season Report. The report showed that the farmers market has had excessive growth since its move from the Auburn Transit Station to Les Gove Park.  The market saw a 3% growth in Farmers and Farmers’ sales since the 2018 season. Councilmember Holman thanked all the volunteers that help put the Farmers Market together and for helping it grow. (Watch here)

Smoking and Vaping Ban in Auburn City Parks
Next, the Council considered possible legislation to make it illegal to smoke or vape in the City of Auburn parks. Council discussed statistics related to smoking.

  • 20% of residents in Auburn still smoke
  • 1 in 5 students in King County was smoking in 2014
  • Almost 1 in 5 deaths in King County is caused by smoking
  • From 2016-2018, e-cigarette use increased by 82% among 10th
  • 11% of pregnant women smoked during pregnancy

Auburn Parks and Rec Director Daryl Faber stated that there is support for smoke and vape free parks.  He shared the parks department has communicated with the Chief of Police as to how they could enforce this if legislation was passed. Councilmember Trout-Manuel stated, “Youth are the ones getting sick” and that the Council needs to think about the youth. (Watch here)

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2020-2025 Transportation Improvement Program
The next items on the agenda discussed were the updates to the 2020-2025 Transportation Improvement Program.  Preservation stage 2 and 3 will come in the next couple of years. It is currently planned that  49th St SE will be preserved and redoing 2nd St will be redone. (Watch Here)

Normandy Aircraft moves to the Auburn Municipal Airport
Council then discussed Resolution Number 5458 which talks about an Airport Office agreement with Normandy Aircraft.  This resolution will allow Normandy Aircraft to run their business of fixing airplanes out of Auburn, instead of Kent. (Watch Here)

Moving the Auburn Gateway Project Forward
Then Ordinance Number 6728 was discussed.  This ordinance will make changes to zoning codes for the purposes of allowing the Inland Washington Gateway project to move forward.  The Gateway project is slated for the old Valley-6 Drive-in theaters property in north Auburn. Councilmember John Holman said this proposed project of horizontal mixed-use development will be “perfect” for the area. (Watch Here)

Community Needs Assessment
After Ordinance Number 6728, Council had several Community Wellness Presentations.  The first presentation was the Community Needs Assessment, which talked about the community profile.  This profile included trends, needs by topic, housing needs, and focus groups trends.  The group provided Council with their key takeaways from in-person meetings and surveys, their general recommendations, and their budget allocated recommendations. A critical need identified in the groups’ assessment was affordable housing. (Watch Here)

Community Development Block Grant Program Consolidated Plan
The final items of the night before Council was the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) Consolidated Plan and 2020 Annual Action Plan. The CDBG Plan is to be done every 5 years to ensure the city will receive its CDBG dollars. This plan updates the current plan by adding data from the Community Needs Assessment to make the plan more accurate for the community. (Watch Here)

2020 Annual Action Plan
The Council then debated the Annual Action Plan.  This plan details what council wants to do through the next year with the CDBG dollars, these include Affordable Housing Improvements, Housing Repair, Sidewalk Accessibility Improvements, and Public Services.

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The Council ended the meeting by planning for future study sessions. The meeting was adjourned at 8:42pm. (Watch Here)

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