City of Newcastle

The council meeting commenced with the reading of the meeting's title indicating the date. Council comments included acknowledgments of the Lantern Festival and the Year of the Fire Horse, along with congratulations to the Newcastle Arts Council for hosting the eighth annual young artist artwork exhibit. Council members also acknowledged the success of the fourth annual Newcastle Lunar New Year celebration. Discussions noted the passing of longtime Planning Commissioner Paul Vanetta and encouraged residents to apply for the vacant position. Council member Frost Blakeley reported on the finance committee meeting, noting the city's finances are in great shape and that future finance committee meetings will occur on the fourth Thursday at 4:00 p.m. Council Member Charbano reported on the Economic and Community Development Committee meeting, which deeply discussed wayfinding signage, including mock-ups, potential locations, text, and obtaining updated vendor bids. The City Manager reported that funding for the Park at 95th design was included in the House's version of the capital budget but not the Senate's, and noted pending legislative items such as those concerning automated license plate readers and downtown development requirements. The council then discussed the recap of the recent City Council retreat, focusing on the fiscal sustainability model discussion, which will be revisited in a study session on April 7th, potentially involving a fiscal sustainability task force to establish community recommendations.

The meeting commenced with a roll call and approval of the agenda. A public comment period was held, which included expressions of appreciation for Commissioner Vanetta as this was stated to be their last meeting after six and a half years of service. The commission proceeded to elect a new Chair and Vice Chair, resulting in Chair Gats and Vice Chair Troutman. Key discussion centered on updates to the sign code. Discussions included leveraging legal opportunities to regulate commercial speech on temporary signs differently than non-commercial speech, which would allow for continuous enforcement during election seasons. Specific proposals involved creating an exemption for electronic signs accessory to Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers and another exemption for publicly funded wayfinding signs. The commission also discussed potentially slightly enlarging maximum size allowances for signs to streamline permit approvals.

The meeting commenced with the approval of the agenda, followed by corrections to previous minutes concerning park naming and reporting commissioners. Public comment did not receive any attendees. Commissioner comments included congratulations to the Seattle Seahawks, recognition for cleaning up trash, and thanks for emptying overflowing solar compactor bins. A key discussion point involved awareness of proposed state legislation (HB 2489) concerning campers on public lands. Reports covered upcoming community events, including the Lunar New Year celebration on March 1st, which requires significant volunteer support, and planning for summer concerts and food truck applications. The Library reported on numerous ongoing programs and planning for the Lunar New Year event. General business focused heavily on a proposal to host a public Pride flag raising ceremony outside City Hall sometime in June, discussing precedent from Veterans Day ceremonies, and planning logistics such as time (evening hours preferred) and refreshments. The Commission also began assigning members to priority subcommittees, specifically Sponsorships, Fireworks and Concerts, and Newcastle Days.

The meeting included public comment regarding a 5-acre parcel adjacent to a property involved in a contentious 2018 clearcut issue, specifically concerning salmon-bearing streams, marsh, and wetlands. The official start of the meeting was delayed to allow attendees of a preceding workshop to have questions answered. The commission approved the agenda and the minutes from the December 17th meeting. Key discussions centered around a public hearing for the proposed update to the Critical Areas Ordinance, mandated by the 2044 Comprehensive Plan update. Updates to the code fall into state-required updates, housekeeping items (including reorganizing the definition section), and quality improvements. Major proposed code changes include reinstating a 10-foot building setback from critical area buffers (with a variance option), establishing a new non-conforming section allowing for a one-time 500 sq ft expansion or rebuilding in place for single-family homes in buffers, clarifying that mitigation trees do not double-count for retention requirements, reducing mitigation monitoring time from 5 to 3 years for smaller projects, introducing a preliminary verification process for wetlands and streams, tightening the size threshold for altering Category 4 wetlands, updating wetland buffers based on the Ecology rating system, and increasing stream buffers. Commissioner comments also touched upon the election of the chair and vice chair, which was postponed until the February meeting.

The special meeting began with technical troubleshooting related to audio connection, followed by the flag salute. The primary agenda item was the adoption of Resolution 2026-1081, supporting the renewal of school levies for the Isiqua School District and Belleview School District. During the public comment period, attendees raised concerns regarding the meeting's notification process, questioning its legitimacy due to perceived inadequate public notice, particularly the omission of ballot numbers/titles on some notices. Other discussion points from the public included concerns about students protesting off school grounds during school hours and the politicization of children, and a call for recordings of daytime finance committee meetings. Council members responded by affirming that the meeting notice procedures met the 24-hour requirement for special meetings and that proposition numbers were included in the official notice packet, accessible online. Staff also confirmed that all meetings are recorded in-house and will be posted online following technical difficulties with the live stream.