City leaders tackled a range of community issues during the Sept. 1 Committee of the Whole and City Council meeting.
From updates on long-running municipal projects to urgent neighborhood environmental concerns, council members took action on local regulations while hearing directly from impacted residents.
Major items on the agenda included reallocating federal recovery funds for local food infrastructure, establishing stricter permitting rules for commercial food vendors, and addressing delayed train horn relief in the city’s new Quiet Zone.
The council unanimously extended a detention facility moratorium and heard alarming testimony regarding a sudden ecological crisis in the Lakes Neighborhood.
Repurposing ARPA Dollars
The city has just over $500,000 of unspent ARPA funds, which will be reallocated. This money was originally put in a fund for local business loans through a Grow America flex fund. However, this money is leftover, and all the ARPA money needs to be utilized before its expiration.
The funds will be moved to another Grow America fund, this time working with Mercy Housing to help pay for a new commissary kitchen. Commissary kitchens are professional, licensed kitchens that provide space for food preparation for food trucks. There is a dedicated food truck plaza at the Kent/Des Moines light rail station, but no commissary kitchen. This money will help pay for establishing one, to help create a thriving small business sector.
New Food Vendor Ordinance
The council unanimously passed an ordinance that will require all prepared food vendors to have and display multiple permits. They need to have a permit from the city, the county, any relevant private property owners, as well as food handlers permits. The ordinance goes into effect in thirty days. The city will focus on educating and assisting food vendors in getting these permits to be in compliance with the law. Informational packets will be available in multiple languages. Eventually though, criminal penalties will be incurred for repeated failures to comply.
This ordinance applies to those selling prepared foods to the public. It does not apply to vendors of fresh fruits and vegetables, where there aren’t the same food safety concerns. There was also an exception made for children running lemonade stands, selling the beverage on their family property.
Quiet Zone Update
The city has been working for many years to reduce the disruption caused by train horns. Mayor Dana Ralph said that train traffic has increased to the point where there are 50 to 60 trains passing through every day, both day and night, blasting their horns at intersections. Recently, an arrangement was made with Burlington Northern to enable their trains to pass safely through intersections without needing to blow their horns. This went into effect last week…but with no success. Train conductors have still been blowing their horns at intersections through the city.
City staff found that Burlington Northern failed to do their part in training drivers on the new Quiet Zone throughout Kent. Now that the issue has been brought to light, these training changes are underway. Mayor Ralph said it should be in effect, finally, by the middle of September.
Moratorium On New Detention Facilities Extended
The council voted unanimously to extend the moratorium on new detention facilities for another six months. State law allows cities to repeat the six month moratorium indefinitely. Multiple public commenters thanked the council for this moratorium, adding that ICE has been hitting the city hard, ramping up arrests of immigrants in the community.
Active Ecological Disaster In Lakes Neighborhood
A speaker during Public Comments shared information of a recent situation in the Lakes Neighborhood. She said that last week her HOA had used a lethal dose of Hydrothol 191, an herbicide that is highly toxic to fish and other aquatic life. Since then, hundreds of dead fish have been rotting in the shallow lake basins. These deaths have been witnessed by many neighbors, who have had to live with the terrible odor of dead fish at their nearby homes.
This speaker said the HOA board has not addressed concerns about the use of Hydrothol 191 or the problem of the dead fish, and have shut down communication. According to the speaker, the HOA has done this same treatment in the past as well. She said that several local agencies have been contacted and made aware of the potential public health hazard.
