Update Tue. morning: Interim City Manager Jon Amundson confirms that the city will retain a 30′ easement on the Davenport Road extension property as a pedestrian path that can be improved in the future.

Councilmember Terry Christensen hasn’t worried about ignoring the city charter on ethics committees, city manager’s place of residence and other issues. Now he’s ready to re-write the whole thing to address his fantasy problem. According to Christensen, IF the Washington State Supreme Court decides that city income taxes are constitutional and IF Richland decides to have an income tax, it would be bad for business.

While the IF, IF, IF thing is giving him nightmares, he has sweet dreams about resurrecting the pre-meeting that most residents thought was a private, councilmembers only affair before it was axed almost two years ago. Because, gosh, if you don’t read your packet, you need that meeting to have the agenda explained to you.

These two Christensen initiatives will be discussed at the end of the city council meeting. Try to stay awake until then.

The promised 30-foot easement that children who live near Wellsian Way use to walk to school may be on the chopping block. No mention is made of it in the notice for a public hearing to approve the giveaway of the unused Davenport Road right-of-way, Item 8.

To be one step ahead of Christensen, read the packet. Page numbers following the items below correspond to the pages in the packet. Instructions for commenting are at the top of the agenda.

1.Richland Police Chief John Bruce will explain that now that the Washington State Legislature has banned chokeholds and high speed chase he had no choice but to hire an officer with experience firing 27 times at a fleeing vehicle.

2. Picking up where former City Manager Cindy Reents left off, Interim City Manager Jon Amundson will give a COVID-19 update.

PUBLIC HEARING If you follow the rules on the agenda you can comment on Item 3.

3. This amends the 2022-2027 Transportation Improvement Program to include a grants for $1,494,449. These funds will go to the Stevens Drive pavement preservation and the Vantage Highway Pathway. Pg. 52-57.

4. Approval of the minutes from the August 2 and August 9 meetings. Pg. 8-15

5. New rules for accepting gifts. This describes what the city manager will have authority to accept and what the council must approve. Pg.16-20

6. Amendments to the 2021 budget to add solid waste environmental funding (the landfill), sidewalk repair, pavement stripping truck, and repayment to a developer for a street. Pg. 21-25

7. Brad Tapani will pay $828,141 for 8.09 acres on Logan Street in the Horn Rapids Business Center. His price was based on 2018 appraisals. New appraisals are on the agenda. Pg. 26-44

8. This sets September 21, 2021 as the public hearing date for the giveaway of the Davenport right-of-way. The paperwork here makes NO mention of the promised preservation of the 30-foot easement that neighborhood school children use to walk to the crossing light to Carmichael Middle School and Richland High School. We’ll soon see if the councilmembers really care about families. Pg. 45-47

9. There’s a new price list for the city’s Horn Rapids business property, Tapani got in under the wire. Prices went up. Pg. 48-52

10. See Item 3.

11. Tri-City Development Corporation has filed a final plat approval to divide 26.2 acres into 109 residential lots in the Badger Mountain South development. Pg. 58-87

12. An agreement with WRH associates related to the Horn Rapids Landfill Gas-to-Fuel Project. The city will make $100,000 a year for the next 30 years. Pg. 88-94

13. Wendy Higgins is re-appointed to the Tri-City Regional Hotel-Motel Commission. Pg. 95-96

14. July checks. Page. 97-172.

15. Pre-meeting Pg. 173

16. Prohibition on Local Income Tax. Pg. 174-176

City Manager and City Councilmembers do more blah, blah, blah.