Council to place Chamber of Commerce contract on May 1 consent agenda after staff clarification

City Manager presented a continuing contract for 2025–2026 with the Mountlake Terrace Chamber of Commerce to provide economic development, business engagement and advocacy services. The city manager told the council the contract continues funding from the 2023–24 biennium and that the city will contract directly with the Chamber rather than routing funds through EASC as before.

Council members asked for more detail on the contract deliverables and how the Chamber would track spending. "So they're getting almost $50,000 a year. Do they actually have, like, a project management plan where they track how they spend their money?" a councilmember asked. The city manager said the Chamber would provide professional staff for marketing and administration and is required to deliver an annual report of deliverables to council on or before Dec. 15 each year.

Councilmember Steve Woodard asked staff to provide examples of how the funds would be used in practice and suggested the council could review that material before the contract is finalized. The city manager agreed to provide the Chamber strategic plan and to request a more detailed breakdown of expenditures. With those clarifications, council agreed to place the contract on the consent agenda for May 1.

The contract change from a pass-through to a direct contract and a pro rata termination clause were highlighted in the presentation. The transcript records no formal roll-call adoption; council directed staff to include the contract on the May 1 consent calendar, where the full contract and final vote will appear.