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Bridge to Bridge/River to Railroad Task Force Meeting – November 18, 2009 Attendees: Task Force Members: Hank Sauer – Parks & Recreation Commission Bob Spaulding – Planning Commission Larry Peterson for Tim Arntzen – Port of Kennewick Absent Members: Thomas Moak – Mayor, City of Kennewick Steve Young ‐ Councilman, City of Kennewick Ken Williamson ‐ Historic Downtown District Other Attendees Russ Burtner – Special Projects Coordinator, City of Kennewick Ferdouse Oneza –Planning Manager, City of Kennewick Anthony Muai – Assistant Planner, City of Kennewick Steve Mallory – Arculus Design & Technical Services Spencer Montgomery – JUB Engineering Tim Dalton – Historic Downtown Partnership Ken Silliman Consultant ‐ Beckwith Consulting Group Tom Beckwith Steve Price Don Stastny Nancy Jordan Discussion Steve Price gave an overview of the stakeholder’s interviews and the responses generated. There has been a general consensus that this is a good idea among those interviewed. Questions were posed to each person interviewed and every answer was recorded. Once interviews were complete a list of most common responses was compiled. Steve gave a brief description of the most common responses for each question. Tom Beckwith gave an update on the progress of the online survey. As of the meeting, the survey has been taken 142 times. Tom gave a brief overview of the most common responses to each question in the survey. Discussion arose regarding auto dealerships based on survey responses. Task Force discussed the likelihood of them remaining in the long‐term. It was stated that auto dealers have expressed the desire to stay in the area. It was also stated that in the long‐term, it is possible that land values may increase to the point that many auto dealers may leave the area because the price of land in ---PAGE BREAK--- Bridge to Bridge/River to Railroad Task Force Meeting – November 18, 2009 the BBRR area will have become more valuable for uses other than auto sales. Task Force discussed that it was not the intent to “zone out” auto dealers or make it difficult for them to thrive in existing locations, but to be aware that in the future they may leave and we should keep in mind what types of uses should be there if they leave. Tom then discussed the citywide workshop to be held that evening. The consulting group is prepared for up to 4 groups of 20 each. Once this workshop is complete, data from all 8 workshops will be compiled and a workshop will be held on Dec. 20th for the Task Force and key agencies. Agencies that must be at the Task Force workshop were identified as the Corp of Engineers, Yakama and Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, WA Dept. of Ecology and Port of Kennewick. If Corp, tribes or Port cannot attend the workshop then it would need to be rescheduled so that they could all be there. Also, the 12/2 workshop will allow Task Force to view a composite of what the workshops came up with. The Task Force could then add to what the workshops suggested, but the Task Force cannot take away anything that the workshops suggested. Larry Peterson brought up the need to address the critical areas ordinance in order to produce the types of development currently planned for near Duffy’s Pond. Also, the Port is looking at Neighborhood 7 as a possible lead off example for the entire area. He also stated that the Port has no intention of using condemnation. The same intention was shared by the City.