Over 300 responses to teen-services engagement; teens favor Old Firehouse and want civic voice, staff to report assessments in July and final engagement report 

City staff reported more than 300 questionnaire responses and significant outreach activity for Redmond’s teen-services engagement and said contractors are completing building assessments that staff will present to council in July, with a final engagement report scheduled for a September study session.

"Community engagement surrounding options moving forward on the building based on assessments and reports will follow," Deputy Parks Director Zach Huevner told the committee. Huevner said the contractor work will include structural, seismic, hazmat and space-use analyses and that those results will be shared at a July study session. He said final recommendations on teen programs and services will be compiled for a Sept. 9 study session and that conversations about the Old Firehouse (building) and programming will be brought together in the fall.

Staff said outreach has produced more than 300 questionnaire responses in eight weeks, with participation from teens (27%), parents and caregivers (34%), community members (32%) and service providers (7%). Digital outreach generated nearly 7,000 web visits across the teen-services pages; a utility-bill insert reached about 7,800 households; staff tabled at 15 in-person events with nine more events planned through Derby Days weekend; and outreach to 26 service providers has occurred.

Initial themes identified by staff included: a highly diverse teen population (64% of teen respondents identify as LGBTQIA+; 31% are first- or second-generation immigrants; 15% report disabilities); demand with access gaps (staff said nearly 70% of teen respondents use community-center programs but 18% of teens and 30% of parents reported using no teen services); teens’ desire for civic voice ("Nearly half or 48% identified a platform to have teen voices heard in city decisions as their top unmet need," Huevner said); and a preference among teens for the Old Firehouse as a centralized space (63% of teens and 37% of parents expressed that preference).

Huevner said staff are using a mix of formal meetings and open-house formats, integrating teens into city decision-making through RIPAC and school visits, and that the engagement surfaced many people who were not previously aware the city offered teen programs. He encouraged the public to attend an upcoming community listening session on May 28 at the Redmond Senior and Community Center (6–8 p.m.), noted staff will appear for a PES update on July 20 (which will also include an Old Firehouse study-session presentation), and reiterated the Sept. 9 study session for the final engagement report.

Next steps: contractors' assessments will be presented in July; staff will continue community outreach throughout the summer; and a final report and recommendations will be presented to council on Sept. 9.