TV and the city's website at weisetta.org. Public comment during the public forum and or public hearing portions of the meeting may be provided in person at the meeting in advance to our staff or by logging into teams call and raising your hand during the public hearing. When your name is called in the meeting, you will be seen and heard in our council chambers and the cable channel. You'll be asked to unmute and turn your camera on and then you may begin your comment. All public comment should include your first name and the uh representing group. Next on our agenda is the pledge of allegiance. I would uh ask you to stand if you are able and follow along. >> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. Next on our agenda is roll call and uh please let the record reflect that uh the council is present with one excused absence. Um and earlier tonight we held a workshop to discuss the following items. Uh a report from our uh energy environment committee on the discussion of the dark sky initiative. Uh and then we had a session on our preliminary 2027 budget for enterprise and special revenue funds. uh and the 2027 fee schedule and then discussed our future workshop topics. Next on the agenda is to approve the agenda. I need to have a motion to approve the agenda as amended or does any changes required? >> I'd move to approve the agenda as is. >> Thank you. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Any further discussion? Hearing none. All in favor say I. I. That moves forward. Next is our public forum. Um, just as a reminder for those uh members of the public in attendance tonight, if you're interested in speaking, please state [clears throat] your first name and the group that you're representing and limit your comments to three minutes. If it's something on the agenda, um, there's forms at the back of the room. I know we have a couple already for the public forum that we'll get to here in a second. Um, and uh, there is no other items other than the two new ads for the public forum. So um first I'll invite to the dis uh Anna Johnson from 280 central. Thank you. Welcome. >> Okay. Great. Thanks. [clears throat] >> Maybe you can share it. >> Sure. Yeah. >> We're sharing. Okay. >> Just so you know what. >> All right. No, thank you for that. >> Sure. >> Take that. >> Welcome. just if you state your name. >> Thank you. Uh my name is Anna Johnson and I live in 280 Central. >> Great. Thank you. >> Um I wanted to talk about the um parking by the Weisera Beach area. Um the photos that I gave you, one of the photos shows all the cars. You you're require a permit to park there. If you're a resident, you're allowed. As you can see from the top picture, all the cars there do not have a permit and they park. So, there's been several times that I try to go to the beach with my grandson. Uh, you know, with a car seat and a stroller trying and I can't find parking and every car that's there is not supposed to be there. And if you notice like the parking permit and sometimes I don't blame them because it's not very well um the sign is very tiny. Somebody tried to scratch the area where it says permit required. >> Uh, and I think the snowplow must have hit the stop sign because it's sideways and in the where it says a permit require parking. Also, it's it needs to be painted. It it's not very legible. And so I just wanted to bring that to your attention because it's it's one of the perks of paying high taxes and living here in Weisera that I enjoy as a grandma going to the beach and taking my grandkids there. >> Thank you for taking the time to bring it to our attention tonight. I appreciate that. >> Um do we have any comments or just general reaction? >> Um I'll I'll take a look at the pictures you provided and talk with our public works staff on replacing signage that's there um and whatnot. Um, the only other thing I know is, um, I I hear comments like this where, um, I've heard from other folks where they go down there and lots of non-p permitted people are parking there. I do want to assure you that our police department, our community service officers are patrolling that. We've issued over a 100 citations related to that. So, um, we're we're hoping that that tamps that behavior down, but we'll look and see if we can make some replacements to the sign signage as well to help with that as well. I think we need a bigger sign >> and then you need to repaint that area so it's more visible for people because every weekend especially on the weekends when we have a lot of tourists that come down here you know they might get a ticket that weekend but we have a lot of people on the weekends >> anyway just wanted to bring that up to you guys. >> Yeah thank you I appreciate it. >> Thank you. That's all I had. >> Thank you very much. >> Yeah, go ahead. Um I just I just make a quick comment. I mean, I would concur wholeheartedly with Miss Johnson's comments with this warm weather the last couple weeks. Uh, we've been down to that beach area on a pretty regular basis and it's very consistent where you see I'd say the majority of the cars that are in that lot do not have stickers. So, um, I appreciate you bringing this forward. Thanks. >> Thank you. Um, next I'd like to call Maryborg Babcock to the dis. Um, and I just want to note because while you're handing this out, um, we do have a item on our consent agenda that relates to the topic that, um, >> Mr. Lee will be presenting us tonight about a generous donation from the friends of the, uh, the big woods. So that's on our agenda on item 7H, the consent agenda, that is. So Merrily, over to you. Thank you. >> Thank you, Merrily Babcock, 337 Marino Street. Thank you for letting me speak to you tonight. Now, I hope I can just read my uh words here. >> Absolutely. >> Um we Sorry, let me get my glasses. We are pleased to donate $1,000 on behalf of of the many community members and officials who came together for more than two more than two decades ago and to preserve the uh remnants of the big woods. uh this historic remnant. Uh therefore or therefore sorry can't even read my own writing. uh their foresight along with oh their foresight along with the city's interest and going steward and continuing stewardship remains the source of pride and a gift for future generations. With this donation, we close the books on the friends of the Weisetta Big Woods and we ask that the city to use this donation for the educational signage to enhance the visitors appreciation for this 13 acres of hardwood sugar maple forest. uh dedicate delicate spring wild flowers and blazing fall color can be enjoyed by all walking this path in this exceptionally inspirational park. Our thanks also to the generous community spirit back in 1999. We remain deeply grateful. >> Mary, do you want to present the check? >> Oh, thank you, Mary. Thank you very much. Yeah, thank you. Round of applause for [applause] pass. >> Thank you. >> Thank you very much. And um we have several uh former council members here that I know worked tirelessly on this. Um uh council, former council member Ambrose uh Amdall and you Mary Bader. Um also other members of the public. So just uh that was a heavy lift I guess more than 25 years ago now. And it's a treasured asset for the community. And I think your intent of this uh funds to help promote the site, you know, for public use and and visitors is is appropriate. And I commend you for all your work over the years and uh now a very treasured community asset, the Big Woods. So, thank you for all your work and to all the volunteers and other contributors that made this happen over a number of years ago. So, that any other comments from my colleagues? No. Thank you again. Another round of applause. [applause] Okay. Do we have anyone else on teams that wanted to make some public comments tonight? >> Mr. Mayor, we do not. >> Okay. Great. So, next item is new agenda items. Uh, are there any new agenda items that council would like to bring up for future meetings? >> Okay. Hearing none, we'll move on to our consent agenda. Um, we need to approve our consent agenda. Included on our consent agenda tonight is the approval of city council workshop and regular meeting minutes of July 6th, 2026. Approval of our check register. Approval of our municipal licenses. Receipt of our police activity report. Receipt of our building activity report. Authorizing the release of a call to artist for the Clap Clap warming house mural. Adoption of resolution 362026 declaring the 1997 ladder truck as surplus and authorizing the sale of the same which is in our parking lot there uh with a for sale sign on it. I'm guessing. No, I'm kidding. Um, adoption of resolution 372026 accepting the donation from the friends of the Wisetta Big Woods, which is what we just talked about, and then approval of the fall 2026 street tree planting proposal by Protree Outdoor Services. I would need a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Are there any adjustments required? >> I'll make that motion, Mr. Mayor. >> Thank you. May I have a second? >> Second. >> Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say I. That moves along. Um, now we have a public hearing. There's no public hearing items for tonight and we move on to new business. Um, and on our new business agenda is consider approval of outdoor outdoor sidewalk cafe permit for Eloise in their patio expansion. Uh, city manager Joerger. >> Uh, thank you mayor and council member. I'm going to turn this over to community development director Sharp to walk us through a presentation. >> Thank you, city manager Joerger. As stated, this is for a expansion of Eloise's uh existing sidewalk cafe permit uh for 2026. So, this is not for the 2027 year. This is for uh the expansion in the 2026 calendar year. These are an annual permit and uh they require council renewal at the beginning of each year. Typically March, April, May, somewhere along those lines is where we really start working on it. Council has approved them as late as June, but we shoot for a May time frame at their latest. For this application, it is a new expansion of the Eloise uh existing location into uh areas that are all within city rightway. Uh they are proposing 468 square f feet uh to add to the 165 foot existing patio space and the modifications to that patio space uh are proposed to allow for the minimum access points uh minimum sidewalk thoroughfare etc. Uh there are fire code regulations that need to be met, sidewalk clearance regulations that need to be met, etc. Uh the proposal meets those standards. Uh the current sidewalk cafe permit footprint was approved originally in 2024. So this isn't one of the older sidewalk cafes that the community has seen. It is one of the newer ones. Um but it has been rec reviewed by the council each subsequent year since its approval. And as stated, the plans uh meet all of the ordinance requirements, but do require a further step of either an amendment or potential change to an encroachment agreement that uh is in place whenever we do a sidewalk cafe uh permit. At this time, it's not believed that that will need to come back forward to council, but um typically those do come when they first are enacted before council. So you oftentimes see two consent agenda items on these with this application. The one pause that I want to take here is typically these are on consent except for potentially the first time that they're created. Um and that has been slightly inconsistent depending upon whether it was a larger area, whether they were installing larger fixtures or whether it was more tables and chairs. In this instance, the unique feature is that the patio would extend in front of a neighboring tenant within the same parcel, but in front of a neighboring tenant on public property. And so that makes uh that pushes this application with uh without as many permanent fixtures as one that we wanted to make sure that we brought to the council's attention and ensured that there was clarity behind. Uh before I get into greater details on that and show some of uh the photos, etc., want to go through some of the sidewalk cafe requirements. So, as stated, it requires uh the permit to be issued by city council. They must meet the functional and li uh operational and aesthetic requirements. Um I've got those before me and a little cheat sheet at the end of the presentation in case council have any has any direct questions as to those requirements. Um and then after the approval has been originally approved does require a yearly renewal as I stated at the beginning and um council may limit or place additional conditions of approval upon unique patios. Uh duration being one of them and uh in this case um the public works department has actually uh requested some individual conditions to be added to this one. So as we're considering this application or as the council considers this application as stated I kind of purviewed that this application is unique is that it uh extends in front of Chico. Uh so it comes out from Eloise and will proceed south towards the lake in front of Chico and that is not something the city council has reviewed previously out of any of our other sidewalk cafe applications. That is something that could occur out of other applications. We've got 641 lake where that could quite easily occur with some of the new tenants moving into that being a coffee shop on the ground floor as well as uh some financial consulting on the ground floor. We could actually see this out of Gianis moving westward uh pretty easily as well uh in front of some of the vacant space or retail space that would be there as an example. So there are a number of examples where this could occur in other sites within the community. Uh the other aspect that staff wants to be brought to council's attention because this has been a regular item that has been discussed is that parking for the exterior spots has never been a consideration or a filop or any of those uh additional parking requirements have not been added for outdoor sidewalk cafe permits. That is consistent across the board. So that would be consistent with this application. We're not uh seeking or advising any different application or interpretation with this application, but we do want to make sure that council is aware that that is not part of uh a standard practice for us for our sidewalk outdoor sorry outdoor sidewalk cafe permits. And then as I alluded to previously, uh public works um is recommending that the removal of all patio furniture be done by November 1st of each year. That is a relatively standard condition for those that are not covered so that we don't uh have issues with snow clearing and things of that nature. In terms of the actual location, uh now that you've seen some of the kind of nitty-gritty details and code pieces, the location proposed is the approximate red uh box with orange covering here. This is for the existing patio and the expansion. The plan sets of this show that there uh the one unique feature of this area is that the city does have a large planter on that south side where the curb uh butts or juts out into the rightway narrowing the pedestrian crossing there. They have had to change their plans slightly because as you can see on the existing plan on the lefth hand side there's a bike rack there and that bike rack would need to be relocated. public works has reviewed that and um has not made any initial comments or concerns about the proposed bike rack location. And then uh the required five-foot separation uh or walkway that is required for ADA access and by our standards that I had noted uh previously in code is being met. The proposal would be a 6' 1 in uh proposal. But to give some perspective on what that feels like along the corridor, I noted that it's approximately 10 feet uh further north because of that planter not being present. So this would tighten up this corridor slightly. However, there are other examples of this within the community such as Giani's across the street which is right at the 5- foot and then has some curb overhang. So we do have other examples nearby. Uh the applicant was kind enough to furnish us with uh a visual of what that area would be and it does show some of the impact uh to where Chico would be and their advertising area. staff has encouraged and you will find in your packet a letter uh from the landlord expressing support for the expansion that staff's encouragement was that Chico be notified and informed and brought forward on the decision. Um, ultimately the landlord has endorsed the application but not received an endorsement from Chico at this time. And so we want to make sure councils is aware of that because there can be concerns when the city installs public utilities and things in front of a storefront in public rightways. We've seen in surrounding communities and perhaps even within Weisetta in the past where installing some of those features can sometimes uh cause angst for advertising for those businesses and that was uh the purpose behind staff's desire to see some of the outreach occur with Chico. Uh this is another uh location showing kind of the relocated bike rack and perspective. And then as a final item of note, uh I would note that the applicant is present and would be able to provide answers to questions and purpose for expansion, uh things of that nature. Overall, one of the final summary pieces that I would like to note is that while this is a pretty significant expansion to the exterior, a more than doubling of square footage and seats, it is not a doubling of square footage of the interior. they have about 97 seats inside and uh exterior would end up being between 28 and 32. So it's a substantial increase but not a doubling um which was one of the items that had initially come to a item of concern for city staff. With that I'd open it up for any questions. >> Yeah. And just note that the the applicant and owner is is here. Is there any other comments that you'd like to offer? You certainly don't have to. Um just note that you're here. Um there's any uh >> if you wanted to come to the DAS. Yeah, just because then we can hear you better and the public can hear you. Just want to make sure we have a complete set of information and then we'll go to questions. >> Um so yeah, I'm happy to answer any questions. Uh this is >> state your your name. >> Lindsay Pad. Um I am the owner of uh Eloise Restaurant. Um, so the the reason behind us wanting to do this expansion is that we do have a uh a current patio that we built out there um in 2024 when we opened the restaurant. It was meant primarily for just some cocktails and and casual appetizers. We noticed right away that people obviously wanted to enjoy a full meal out there. That's just the way Weisetta is. Everyone wants to take advantage of, you know, every opportunity they have to sit outside. Um, and it, you know, even sometimes during the day, the grocerers table, people go wander over there and sit and have coffee with their dogs, etc. Um, it is very, very tight on that patio. We did add some dining tables out there this summer, uh, to be able to have people almost enjoy that kind of beastro um, even two people sitting next to each other. Uh, and that's not the current plan of what it looks like, but it is tighter than it it is right now. Um, we just have like two small tables and two small tables on the other end. Uh, we do get a fair amount of complaints that it's very tight. Uh, people don't like sitting that close to one another. So, the ability to put some more tables out there to be able to have, you know, some four tops out there would be really nice. Um and then we approached um the Belts family with that and they loved the idea. Um they do they did write a letter on our behalf. Um and they have spoken to just the local um uh staff there at Chico's who does really enjoy being neighbors with us and enjoys the foot traffic and all of that. So um there wasn't a main there wasn't a big concern for them um with the Chico's tenant. Thank you for that additional information and thank you for being here tonight. >> Um, okay. So, I'll bring it back to council for questions of staff or the applicant >> questions. Anyone? >> Yeah, I'll throw one out. So right now Chico's is a clothing store, retail clothing store, but what if that turned over in a year or two to some other establishment, say a restaurant? What then occurs with this? So, mayor, uh, council member, what would likely occur because the permit is annual is it would run for the remainder of the year that it had been issued and then likely city council could either entertain an amended application for that restaurant when it came in should there be one or deny if there was concerns. Ultimately, because it's city rightaway, the city has ultimate discretion over how it would be used. Um, so you'd have wide latitude with what you'd want to do should the circumstances change. >> Okay. Another question I've got is regarding the planter. Uh, it's really not a planter. It looks to me it's just, you know, surface level, but my guess would be that that was put in place because it was kind of a wide sidewalk and it just for aesthetics to put something there rather than sidewalk. With this going in, would there could we contemplate getting rid of that planter because it would be interesting in its own right with the new seating and things. >> Council member, uh I'm sorry, mayor, council member. Yes, it could be a consideration. Um, I think because this is a of temporary nature, uh, the P I'd want to speak with public works before talking about a more permanent solution of filling in a planting space and then what what that would do to ongoing maintenance and stuff with having a newer concrete area. Sometimes that can cause some different heave thaws issues, but certainly something that we could explore um, if that was of interest for council. >> All right. Thank you. >> Other questions of staff of the applicant? Yeah, if you go to the next picture kind of taken from Yeah. from there. So we if you look at where the relocated bike rack is and you think about how if bikes now can only be parked from the intersection side. Um have we done any measurements and know like a standard bike is going to hang out in that kind of impede on that ramp in the crosswalk area? Council member, mayor, I've not done specific uh measurements of a typical bicycle within the area. Um the constriction of that intersection was certainly an item of discussion that staff wanted to make sure was brought forward and that's why we were uh wanting to make sure that the application included some of these images and thankfully the applicant has been great to work with and was able to supply some of that. Um, it's also why they had to rework some of their plans over some of those concerns to try to fit ADA access, etc. Um, it is meeting ADA access, but it doesn't exceed ADA access in a lot of locations. >> I have a question. >> Um, is it okay if I ask? >> Yeah, go ahead. >> Um, I I wonder if uh public works would consider even looking um I guess that's south. Is that south of the planter? um instead. Yeah. Um I I would agree it is a little bit tight on that corner. That's a hightra corner and you've got people trying to cross from different there's more space. I know it's a little bit closer to where my signs are and everything, but it could just allow for a little bit more space for the bike rack if they're considering that. >> Thank you for that suggestion. Is that something we could look at? >> Certainly something we can look at. I'd want to speak with public works about access, but yes. >> Okay. Other questions of staff or the applicant? Okay, hearing none. Um, thank you very much. Um, to both the applicant and staff, uh, bring it back to council for discussion. Um, [clears throat] I guess staff is recommending approval. It meets all of our requirements. There are some nuances about its location that we should probably discuss, but um, who would like to begin, uh, weighing in on this topic? I'll go ahead and weigh in. >> Thank you, Mr. Puckish. >> Not fully formed thoughts, but I'll say is I'm in favor of this. I mean, the uh um the owner of the building and the the occupants of the affected retail establishment all seem to be in favor of this. And I think extending you outdoor seating just adds to the character of Weisetta. It adds features. Uh everyone seems to be in favor of it. and I think it'd be a lovely addition. So, I don't have any problem with it. >> Thank you, Mr. Pleish. Others, Mr. Sornson. >> Yeah, I'm in favor of uh supporting this uh patio expansion. Also, I mean, the really the unique thing about it is it's first time we're building an outdoor patio space in front of a building that that that doesn't own that space, right? Or or or or where they operate. But um you know this is a vibrant successful business and it's locallyowned and I think unless there's a good reason not to support it, we should support it. Um it's comforting to know that we have annual approvals. If you know if this turns out to be uh an issue where there are some things that we didn't anticipate, I think it's significant that we have the adjacent landlord's approval and blessing. Um, and you think about it. I mean, right now, sure, sure, we could change they could change occupancy, but you know, that retail space, the times that that retail space is busy versus when the restaurants there. There may be some overlap in the early evenings, but not not a lot. It doesn't uh seem um I think the feed parking issue we're kind of hand handling consistently here with with other other properties. I can see why it was brought up, but um that that seems to be the the the issue. Uh it meets the permit requirements. It's seasonal and use. So I at this point in time I don't I don't I'd be in favor of supporting this. >> Okay. Thank you, Mr. Swanson. Mr. Cook. >> Yeah, I'm I'm generally in favor of this. My my concerns are about crowding in that in that gathering space right at that the arguably the busiest intersection. We've got a lot of pedestrian traffic going back and forth to and from the parking ramp. Uh and it's just a place for people to kind of wait for other people as they're trying to cross the road and all that. So, um I I would like to take a look at like as as we go through this. It sounds like it's moving forward. um that bike rack and not impeding on the south side of that planter box. Um if there's room to move it to the north, it's great. Um and I guess I'd say, you know, it's a it's a shortened season that they're going to be trying this out. So, it's actually probably a good test to see what works, what doesn't work. Um I would just ask the applicant if we keep an open mind if if there are things that don't work about it or it's just that, you know, it's a logistical nightmare. Hopefully, it's not. I think it it should be good, but if there is, we can address those issues next year and make this because this is a this is an important intersection uh for the city from a pedestrian standpoint and we want to make sure we don't um muck it up. So, but I I I love the idea. I'm totally supportive of outdoor seating and maximizing the uh the benefits of being in Weisetta and being able to eat outside. So, >> thank you. Um, I don't have much to add. I do, uh, echo council member Cook's suggestion to look at moving that bike rack to the north because that might um, open up that corner as the applicant has also noted and is supportive of exploring it. Um, we're very fortunate to have uh, so many independently owned restaurants right in our downtown corridor and many of them are locally owned, including this one. And I think that's been noted by council member Sorenson. I'd like to call that out again and and we need to support our local independently owned uh businesses. So, um I too am supportive and uh thank you for everyone's comments tonight and thank you for the presentation and for the applicant for being here. That says a lot also um that you're present here uh in tonight to to represent your business. So, appreciate that. Um okay, so I heard another comment for >> just a side question. So, what would be the timing of of the of building this additional patio space? It would be furniture and those kind of items to come in. So it will be chairs, tables, um couple different color umbrellas and then it's really that take a little bit of time to order and then so hoping for honestly end of August. It's going to be a very short season for us, but we'd really like to try and capture that last month of um of that outdoor seating in order to get a little bit more traction going into >> Okay. Thank you. >> Just to repeat, the the target is end of August to to open subject to the inventory ordered for tables uh planters to be in, but trying to get in yet this season was the response in case it wasn't picked up by the microphone. So, thank you for that um comment um and question. Um any other further questions or comments? Okay, hearing none. So, I would um accept a motion to approve uh the outdoor sidewalk cafe permit for Eloise's patio patio uh expansion. >> I make that motion, Mr. Mayor. >> Great. Could I have a second, please? >> A second. >> Moved and seconded. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. I. I. That passes four to zero. Thank you very much and good luck and hope you're able to get in yet this season and thank you for your choosing Weisetta for uh your two restaurants now. So, thank you. >> Um next we have our city managers report and discussion. >> Uh thank you, mayor and councel. Uh one thing I want to remind the public of is we do have uh open filing for city council seats. Um, so that opened last week and if folks are interested, we have two four-year terms on city council that are up. Um, but you have to file at city hall by July 28th um, to participate in the election. So, we have one more week. So, just want to raise awareness about that. Um, another thing I want to highlight is that our Sunday music in the park series starts again in August. So, um, music on the Great Lawn will start on the first Sunday, Sunday, August 2nd, and it will be each Sunday in August from 4:30 to 6:00 on the Great Lawn with live music there. You can check our website for the list of performers, but don't forget your lawn chair and see some music on on Sundays in Weisetta. Uh, another thing to promote is that Night to Unite is coming up on August 4th. So, there's still time to sign up um by the end of this week to host a block party, but um our public safety departments, our city council, a bunch of staff will be out in the community visiting block parties on night, which is August 4th. And that will push our regular city council meeting is normally that Tuesday. So, that will be the following Wednesday, August 5th. So, just a reminder to please participate in night two night, but you'll see the city council meeting on the 5th. >> Thank you. >> That's what I have for you. questions of uh city manager Jagger. I just have one if you if you know when the entry entry point to 394 is opening again to the west um by the BP. >> Um yeah, I looked and that will open next Friday. >> Great. That will be helpful to many residents for access to 394. So thank you for that. Any other questions of city manager Joerger? >> Okay, hearing none. Um, do we have anyone else that came in for public forum? >> Mr. Mayor, we do not. >> Okay. Um, I would accept a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting then. >> So, move, Mr. Mayor. >> May I have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor or further discussion? All in favor say I. I. >> That passes and we're adjourned. Thank you very much.