There were no public comments at Tuesday night’s (Aug. 6, 2024) brief meeting of the Kent City Council.

The meeting was held two hours earlier than the usual 7 p.m. start time in order to allow everyone to attend neighborhood gatherings during National Night Out. According to Mayor Dana Ralph, there were around 60 official National Night Out gatherings throughout the city. At this annual event, neighbors gather together and enjoy food and drink, and get to know each other with the aim of increasing public safety.

Employee Of The Month

Victoria Robben of the Kent Law Department was chosen by her coworkers for August Employee of the Month. Robben was originally hired in 2014 as Assistant City Attorney, and has since been promoted to Senior Assistant City Attorney. Her position requires specialized legal knowledge and municipal government experience. 

Mayor Dana Ralph said Robben goes above and beyond every single day. She is a driver of code enforcement cases that have a real and positive impact on people’s lives. Her work has helped to make the notorious Phoenix Court Apartments prioritize safety, potentially saving lives. She was the lead in a lawsuit against the apartments, where a drastic reduction in crime has since taken place. Robben was one of three employees who began the Sunshine Committee, whose aim is to celebrate and acknowledge coworker birthdays, work anniversaries, and life events.

Two Bids Approved

When a property is donated to the city to become a public park, often there are buildings on site that need to be torn down. That is the case for a new addition to Clark Lake Park. Demolition is more extensive than usual, as there are several outbuildings as well as the main house on this lakefront property. The winning bid for demolition came in at $145,574, well under half the engineer’s estimate.

The second bid was for multimodal improvements along Meeker Street, with the aim of improving pedestrian and bicycle safety. The low bid came in a bit higher than estimated, at $4.16 million. This project received multiple large grants, and the city will contribute around $500,000.

Meeker Street Bridge Closed

Councilmember Brenda Fincher wanted to remind everyone that the Meeker Street Bridge is closed for repairs, and the project will continue for the next couple of months.

Mellow DeTray

Mellow DeTray is a Seattle native who has spent the last 17 years raising her family in the region. For many years she published a moderately popular cooking & lifestyle blog, and she had a brief stint in political journalism during a local election. Clear and informative writing has always been a side hobby of Mellow’s and she looks forward to bringing you unbiased coverage of City Council meetings.