City Manager Weekly Report October 25, 2024

Wooton Park Accessibility Improvements Completed

The City’s Engineering Services Department announced this week that they have successfully completed an accessibility upgrade to the Wooton Park entrance. After receiving a request to improve accessibility, our City team quickly designed a plan and worked with our existing contractor to expedite the process. The design and construction were completed within just 3 weeks, ensuring that the park is now more accessible for everyone in our community.

Wooton Park

Trunk or Treat Monday night!

Join us at Steven J Underwood Park on October 28th, 5-6:30pm for our second annual Trunk or Treat! Check out the Parks and Recreation Facebook page here for more info!

Trunk or Treat

Sustainable Airport Master Plan Update

The Puget Sound region is expected to grow by another one million people by 2035. The Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) is the blueprint for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) development, guiding the strategic design and development to meet future forecasted demand.

The SAMP includes Near-Term Projects (NTPs) for SEA that are planned for construction upon completion of the environmental review and Commission approval. The SAMP also includes a Long-Term Vision for SEA.

Currently, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental review is underway, with the draft NEPA document being released this past Monday, Oct 21, 2024. The public comment period is open from October 21 through December 5, 2024. Commenting on a draft Environmental Assessment is an important way for the public to participate in the environmental review process and contribute to the decision-making process. You can submit comments throughout the comment period at a public meeting, online, by email, or postal mail.

There are four upcoming public meetings, including one in Des Moines on November 13th. Please attend, submit a public comment, and stay involved. More information can be found here.

Des Moines Farmers Market Holiday Bazaar

Come on down to the Des Moines Beach Park Event Center on Saturday, November 2, from 10am-6pm for the Des Moines Farmers Market yearly Holiday Bazaar. You’ll find one of a kind gifts for winter giving! Parking is free with validation.

Holiday Bazaar

Highline MaST Center – Fishy Friday

Follow MaST Center on Facebook or on their website for their weekly Fishy Friday (and other weekly educational highlights) like meeting the Sailfin Sculpin. www.mast.highline.edu

Sailfin Sculpin are ornate fish found in the Salish Sea in a dazzling range of colors and patterns, two of which are shown here. No matter what color they appear as, however, they are known for the large black stripe over the eye, and the tall dorsal fin over their head. Sometimes, this dorsal fin is tucked down, like in the front sculpin.

Sailfin sculpin are nocturnal, and if seen by divers during the day they are usually tucked into crevices or around structures, waiting to hunt at night.

MaST Center

City Council Meeting Summary

The City Council met on Thursday October 24th, the agenda and materials can be found here. Highlights from the meeting included a first reading of the 2025/26 budget and a presentation from Port of Seattle staff on the Sustainable Airport Master Plan and Comment Period (see article above).

The Municipal Facilities Committee met at 4pm on the 24th and the Economic Development Committee met at 5pm. The agendas and materials can be found in the links.

There is no Council meeting next week as the Council generally does not meet on the fifth Thursday of the month (plus it’s Halloween).

Sports Update

The Fall Classic opens up tonight under the bright lights in Los Angeles with two powerhouse teams duking it out to be named the 2024 MLB World Series Champions. The National League champion Dodgers host the American League champ New York Yankees in the first of a seven game series. Two of the best to ever play the game in Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani will be squaring off in a matchup that has the potential to be an instant classic. Another New York team took home the hardware this week when the Liberty won the WNBA Final in 5 against the Minnesota Lynx. Congrats ladies! The 2024/25 NBA season kicked off this week but until baseball season is over I have no additional sports capacity left. Will check back in a week. The Huskies take on undefeated Indiana on Saturday morning and the Cougs play San Diego State on Saturday night. The Buffalo Bills hope to circle the wagons Sunday in Seattle as they play the Seahawks at 1pm. It’s going to be a wet weekend, stay dry!

Have a great weekend,
Interim City Manager Tim George

Ongoing Stuff

Get vaccinated! Yeah I know you’d like to forget about it, but there are new variants and the infection rate is climbing. Fortunately, there is an effective booster, which is recommended for people 65 and older and those who are immuno-compromised. It is available now, effective, free and you can get your appointment today here and here , including walk-Ins at SAFEWAY, Walgreen’s, Rite-Aid, SeaMar and Healthpoint.

Sign up for the King County Code Red Alert program. When you sign up for Code Red you’ll be notified immediately when there is a possible health threat. After the recent ‘Boil Water Notice’ I received just a few grouses that ‘it did not work’. I’m 99% certain that the problem is that you have to actually sign up for an account. Do It! There is this ‘guest’ option which is stupid and should not even be an option. Everyone who had an account in their system was notified. If you’re like me and signed up ten years ago (after the last notification), go to the site immediately and verify your account. Ten years is a long time for any computer system.
Check out the 223rd Green Street Project web site and take the 223rd Green Street Survey before December 11th!
Check out the Des Moines Marina Steps web site and take the Marina Steps Survey.
If you’re interested in any of our Kids or Senior activities, you can sign up here.
Learn more about our Comprehensive Plan and take the Housing Action Plan Survey.
Take the City Communication and Engagement Survey
Give blood! Schedule an appointment today. There is a CODE RED emergency shortage.
Masonic Home! There is a petition for those who are interested in historic preservation of the property. If you have questions, don’t contact me. Contact Barbara McMichael and Lloyd Lytle Jr
Community Service Officer Tonya Seaberry wants to hear from neighborhood groups interested in establishing block watch programs: Tseaberry@desmoineswa.gov or 206-878-3301.
City Of Des Moines Minor Home Repair Program: Low to moderate income households can get grants to do all sorts of necessary repairs. Email Tina Hickey (206) 870-6535.
Every home should have a Carbon Monoxide Detector–especially during the colder months! Full stop. If you need one but money is tight, South King County Fire And Rescue will get you one. Just call their Community Affairs Office at 253-946-7347.
And last, but not least: If your home has Port Package (sound insulation system) that is having issues, please go to SeatacNoise.Info

How to attend meetings and provide Public Comment

City Council Meetings are scheduled for Thursdays at 6:00PM at City Hall 21630 11th Avenue S., Suite #C Des Moines WA 98198. They can also be viewed live on Comcast Channel 21/321 or on the City’s YouTube channel. Committee Meetings are either at 4:00PM or 5:00PM, also on Thursdays.

You do not have to sign in to attend a meeting!
The sign-in sheet is only for people wishing to make a Public Comment.

There are three ways to provide Public Comment:

In person: Show up a few minutes before the meeting and sign the sheet. Public Comment is usually conducted at the beginning of the meeting.
By e-mail: All e-mails sent to citycouncil@desmoineswa.gov are considered public comment. They are instantly available to all members of the City Council and the City Clerk who includes them into the record of public comments at the next meeting.
By US Mail: Attn: City Clerk Office, 21630 11th Avenue S., Des Moines WA 98198 no later than 4:00 p.m. day of the meeting. Please provide us with your first and last name and the city in which you live.

All letters or e-mails requesting a specific action are referred by the City Clerk to the appropriate City department.

If you would like a follow up from me, personally please indicate that or call me (206) 878-0578.

The Clerk does not read e-mails to the Council in full; only the subject line. However, we do see them as soon as you send them. Your comments are added to the Agenda Packet available on the City web site following each meeting.

How to view public comments, correspondence and meeting materials

The City publishes a meeting agenda on the Friday (six days) before city council meetings. On the day after the meeting (Friday) the City updates that same file with all the slide presentations, the correspondence, and a list of the people who signed up to give public comment at the meeting. Currently, there is no button on the web site that says Show me the meeting comments for xx/xx/xxxx. You just have to know that this is the procedure. Below is a recipe to get you there.

Go to www.desmoineswa.gov
Once there, hover over Your Government and then click Council Meeting Center. (Or, you can skip Step #1 and just click on Council Meeting Center.)
Select the meeting date you’re interested in from the Schedule Of Meetings calendar.
Click on Regular Meeting for the meeting date you want. In this case, December 1, 2022.
Click the Agenda Packet link under “Print Verson”.
You can also select a meeting using the list near the top. You can also use the left and right arrows to select older meetings.
Once the agenda packet loads, there are two links we’re interested in:
- Correspondence to view all e-mails received by the City Council since the last meeting.
- Comments From The Public to view a list of the people who spoke in-person at the meeting.