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CANCELLED 06-22-2022 Senior Advisory Agenda PacketCITY OF Federal Way Centered on Opportunity SENIOR ADVISORY COMMISSION In -Person Meeting June 22nd, 2022 at 2:00pm CANCELLED Notice: Meetings are held in -person. To request an accommodation to attend or provide public comment virtually, please contact Amy Glandon at amy_glandon@cityoffederalway.com or by phone at 253-835-2401 no later than the close of business the day before the meeting. 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. CITIZEN COMMENT Comment limit — 3 minutes 3. COMMISSIONER COMMENTS 4. COMMISSION BUSINESS Topic A. Approval of May 18t", 2022 Meeting Minutes B. Senior Programs/Housing/Opportunities C. Senior Health & Resource Fair D. Senior Advisory Commission Budget E. Approval for Brochure Printing F. Approval for Posting Additional Resources 5. STAFF REPORT 6. NEXT MEETING July 20t", 2022 @ 2:OOPM 7. ADJOURN Action or Est. Presenter Info Time Action 5 Min Chair Harvey Info 20 Min Sarah Bridgeford Action 45Min Commissioner North Action 20 Min Deputy Mayor Honda Action 10 Min Amy Glandon Action 10 Min Amy Glandon Amy Glandon, Executive Assistant to Council, 253-835-2401 Deputy Mayor Susan Honda, 253-835-2401 CITY OF Federal Way Centered on Opportunity SENIOR ADVISORY COMMISSION SUMMARY Wednesday, May 181", 2022 @ 2pm Hylebos Conference Room & Zoom Commissioners Present: Chair Debbie Harvey, Vice -Chair Lana Bostic, Commissioner Kenneth Pratt, Commissioner Catherine North, Commissioner Sue Ellebrecht, Commissioner Cheryl Volheim, Commissioner Frank Fields (remote), Commissioner Kevin King (remote) Absent: Commissioner Tammy Dziak Staff Present: Deputy Mayor Susan Honda, Amy Glandon, Chaney Skadsen, Keith Niven, Councilmember Erica Norton (remote) Citizens Present: Pastor Colleen Chinen (Steel Lake Presbyterian) 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 2:03 p.m. Chair Debbie Harvey excused the absence of missing Commissioner Tammy Dziak, and excused the late arrival of Commissioner Kevin King. 2. CITIZEN COMMENTS • None 3. COMMISSIONER'S COMMENTS COMMISSION BUSINESS • Vice -Chair Lana Bostic reviewed the attendance at the May 3rd, 2022 City Council Meeting, and discussed the success of the presentation. The Proclamation for May's Older Americans Month was read and the copy was passed around. Vice -Chair Bostic stated that she would be finding a nice frame for the proclamation as well. 4. COMMISSION BUSINESS A. APPROVAL OF APRIL 27T", 2022 MEETING MINUTES Vice -Chair Lana Bostic moved approval of the April 27t", 2022 Meeting Minutes as presented; Commissioner Kenneth Pratt second. Motion passed unanimously. B. SENIOR HEALTH & RESOURCE FAIR DISCUSSION Commissioner Catherine North passed out an email from Rocky Kirwin at the Auburn Senior Center regarding the finances/budget for Auburn's Health Fair. She also passed out a copy of a comparison between two anonymous locations for hosting the fair. The two locations ended up being the Community Center and the PAEC. Both locations have positives and negatives that were discussed. Commissioner North requested that Page 1 of 6 Deputy Mayor Susan Honda and Amy Glandon research other health/wellness fairs around the United States for additional resources and information on successful fairs. If the Federal Way Community Center is available at no cost, that would be the location of choice regardless of the negatives that were discussed including personal set- up/tear-down. Commissioner North mentioned that she believes that the turnout will be very low. Chair Debbie Harvey was disappointed that Commissioner North believes that, and mentioned that at other fairs that she has worked at, the attendance grew exponentially when families came in. Commissioner Cheryl Volheim mentioned that more seniors go to the Federal Way Community Center than they do to the Performing Arts & Events Center, so there would be a better chance for turnout. Commissioner North mentioned that advertising would be very important, including in the Parks Circular. Keith Niven mentioned that in previous employment with a different city, the most successful advertising came from sandwich boards on the sidewalks. **Vice -Chair Lana Bostic left the meeting briefly at 2:22pm.** Commissioner Frank Fields asked what would happen if there is another Covid outbreak that may require masking, to which Chair Harvey responded that this is scheduled for the spring and should not be a problem. Commissioner North's preference is for the location to be the PAEC, and Chair Harvey requested that final costing information come from Deputy Mayor Honda prior to the next meeting, so that at the next meeting, the Commissioners will be able to break into subcommittees and begin work. Commissioner North will be sending additional information and links to Amy Glandon to send out to the Commission. Deputy Mayor Honda reminded the Commission not to use "Reply -All" so that there is no quorum during non -meetings. **Vice -Chair Lana Bostic returned to the meeting at 2:25pm.** C. ECONOMIC IMPACT TO SENIOR CITIZENS — GUEST- COUNCILMEMBER ERICA NORTON Councilmember Erica Nortonjoined the Senior Advisory Commission Meeting via Zoom and acknowledged care for the senior community. Chair Debbie Harvey asked Councilmember Norton about the economic impact to senior citizens and ways to maximize their fixed incomes. Deputy Mayor Susan Honda mentioned that since there is no economic development director, that this is causing issues to not knowing what resources are already in place and available. Councilmember Norton said that she didn't have the information, but she used to run a non-profit for low-income senior citizens to aid in aging in place. Councilmember Norton pledged to do whatever she can to assist with resource development, including trying to get in touch with Former Economic Development Director, Tim Johnson. Chair Harvey asked whether the document that was supposed to be sent was ever found; however, it was not. Councilmember Norton said she would help with pricing on gas, electricity, water, basic needs that make it difficult for seniors, food insecurity, home repairs including gutter & roof cleaning, ADA remodels (especially from her contacts with the construction industry), house cleaning, medication/prescription pick-up, rides. She mentioned that financial insecurity is the biggest difficulty for seniors. Councilmember Norton is Page 2 of 6 interested in creating a community of friendship and service for working together. She is willing to organize the group, as well as to discuss with the ARPA grant funding team to find out the amount that they are willing to give to seniors. Chair Harvey requested that Councilmember Norton send all contact information to Amy in order to add to the senior resource brochure. **Commissioner Kevin King joined the meeting remotely at 2:38pm.** Commissioner Frank Fields thanked Councilmember Norton forjoining the meeting. He stated that seniors face a lot of scamming and asked what could be done about that, as well as any companies that could help seniors move. Councilmember Norton said that didn't know what could be done, but that she is committed to finding a group of people that would be willing to help. Chair Harvey noted that this group is a great idea and that there are things that they hadn't even considered that could be aided by something like this. **Chair Debbie Harvey briefly left the meeting at 2:43pm.** Commissioner Catherine North requested that these companies the can help seniors should help them at least once per month or once per quarter for free. Commissioner Kevin King noted that the Boeing Machinist Union have a ramp -building construction contact that does it at no charge. Their contact information is found in the brochure. Commissioner North mentioned that the fire department would come out and change clocks and change batteries for smoke detectors annually as well. **Chair Debbie Harvey returned to the meeting at 2:45pm.** D. AD HOC COMMITTEE PRESENTATION — GUESTS KEITH NIVEN & CHANEY S/CADSEN Chair Debbie Harvey introduced Keith Niven and Chaney Skadsen from the Planning Department. Keith Niven explained that currently the Ad Hoc Committee is reviewing the Comprehensive Plan and having conversations with the community about what needs to change over the next 20 years, where the city may need some tune-ups. Chair Harvey mentioned that seniors are often overlooked with expansion, and wants to make sure that the senior are being taken into consideration with expansion and housing. Chaney Skadsen pledged to take it into consideration, and that there will be community engagement throughout the process. She noted that the senior community had grown to 13.5% of the population of Federal Way, noting the growth year -over -year. Mr. Niven mentioned that the demographics show that Federal Way is getting older, that the number of families with small children is going down. This is making them address all aspects of the city, including mobility for the aging population and housing that would match. Commissioner Cheryl Volheim asked why zoning cannot be changed to include additional types of housing such as duplexes and ADU's. Ms. Skadsen mentioned that zoning is very difficult and there are very few opportunities for that kind of housing. Vice -Chair Lana Bostic asked how zoning was changed in response to Ms. Skadsen's reply, and Mr. Niven replied that it goes through the Staff, City Council and Mayor. The Page 3 of 6 E. F. community needs to request it as well. Vice -Chair Bostic mentioned creating better housing rather than building bigger houses. Mr. Niven hopes this is the outcome, and that part of the vision is to create a walkable neighborhood complete with condos/apartments above infrastructure such as stores, etc. that would make life doable without driving. He is hoping the downtown will be a mixed use area with employment opportunities, restaurants, parks, housing, benches, and plazas. Chair Harvey noted that increasing the population adds pressure to existing resources such as schools, medical, etc. and creates questions of safety for seniors through the walkability access, and asked whether the police department is included in the conversations about downtown. Mr. Niven mentioned that the Council has approved 13 new police officers that would be bicycle cops so that their presence would be known downtown, promoting security and safety. Citizen Colleen Chinen asked about building community gathering areas in residential areas, to which Mr. Niven replied that it depends on the builder and that typically they will build community spaces but they are for primary use of the residents. Commissioner Cheryl Volheim mentioned that it would be nice to have a senior center built, along with senior housing, and a food bank all in the same building. Mr. Niven mentioned that a conversation like that is being had with the consultants that were hired for the work on the TC3 property, recommended that City Hall should be downtown, and if a new city hall is built downtown it should include a community center in it. Commissioner North mentioned wanting a senior center, and Vice -Chair Bostic mentioned the Bally's property. Mr. Niven said that the owners of that property are looking into what they can do with it and that a proposal is coming before Council in June. Commissioners noted their concern with adding additional multi -family housing within city limits; however, Mr. Niven mentioned that there is only so much space available and multi -family has to be the way to house the expected growth. Ms. Skadsen mentioned that housing is very scarce within Federal Way, and that is concerning. Mr. Niven mentioned that developers will not build if there is a high rate of vacancy which will prevent overbuilding of multi -family housing, and that as the population and building continues, green spaces and parks become even more important. Mr. Niven mentioned that the Comprehensive Plan touches everything in the city, including transit, housing, walkability, parks, recreation, tree canopy. He offered to return with Ms. Skadsen to continue the conversations. He also mentioned community engagement opportunities at future community meetings. Chair Harvey and Vice -Chair Bostic thanked Mr. Niven and Ms. Skadsen for attending the meeting. Ms. Skadsen showed the Engage Federal Way website, and Amy said that she would send out the link to the Commission. ADDITION TO SENIOR ADVISORY RESOURCES Amy Glandon brought three resources that had reached out regarding the landing page on the City website for the Senior Advisory Commission requesting that information gets added. Chair Harvey noted that any information that is added needs to appear to be generic and not overly specific, and requested a chance to review the resources. Ms. Glandon said that she would send out the information to the Commission to review and it can be decided at the next meeting. SENIOR ADVISORY COMMISSION BUDGET Deputy Mayor Susan Honda brought the budget conversation back to the commissioners. She noted that the budget is for years 2023 & 2024, so any charges for Page 4 of 6 those years would need to be taken into account. She asked whether the Health & Resource Fair would be an annual event once it has kicked off, which was affirmed by the Commissioners. Deputy Mayor Honda mentioned that she would put a budget to include two fairs, and printing of the brochures twice per year. Commissioner Cheryl Volheim mentioned that there are items that were not included in Rocky's budget email that should be taken into consideration with the budget request including advertising, rentals of tables/supplies. G. UTILITY TAX REBATE PROGRAM Deputy Mayor Susan Honda brought up that this program was originally for seniors, disabled people only, but has now been opened to all people. She said that she has spoken with Community Services Manager Sarah Bridgeford about updating the income limits to make this more accessible, and that the Finance Department is heading this up and seeing if it feasible. Chair Debbie Harvey mentioned that people need help, but the qualifications are too high. She would like the income qualifications to be adjusted as inflation goes into effect to make it more accessible. She stated that the process needs to be easier, as many other programs are so difficult to access (ex. Medicare). Commissioner Catherine North mentioned that the senior center should have advocates for seniors that can assist with applying for programs and computer aid. **Commissioner Frank Fields left the meeting at 3:50pm** Comments moved away from the utility tax rebate program to the need for senior interactions, including a senior center. Commissioner North mentioned that many people live alone, and the suicide rate for seniors has skyrocketed because of loneliness. Deputy Mayor Susan Honda stated that there is a senior lounge at the community center, and it would help if this was open more often during the days. Vice -Chair Lana Bostic mentioned that this senior lounge is able to be used for gatherings, although the tables are not set up, not many people know that it exists. Deputy Mayor Honda noted that membership to the community center is not necessary to utilize the senior lounge, called the Fireside Lounge by the Arts Commission. S. STAFF REPORT • Amy Glandon thanked Chair Debbie Harvey for keeping the meeting moving forward and getting through the extensive agenda. She mentioned that she would send out all the information given at the meeting today, and the housekeeping items for consideration. • Deputy Mayor Susan Honda noted that the Ad Hoc Committee for the ARPA funding met this week, and that they will be meeting again next week, and then presenting their recommendations to Council. She noted that most of the funds are being allocated towards community services, including seniors, youth. Chair Debbie Harvey recommended that some of the funding go to aid seniors with their medications. **Commissioner Kevin King left the meeting at 3:58pm** 6. NEXT MEETING — Wednesday, June 15t", 2022 at 2:OOpm in the Hylebos Room. Page 5 of 6 7. ADJOURN —The meeting adjourned at 4:01 pm. Attest: Amy Glandon, Executive Assistant to Council Approved by Senior Advisory Commission: Page 6 of 6