Lake Forest Park council reviews 2025–30 capital improvement plan, requests fixes before formal adoption

LAKE FOREST PARK, Wash. — At a Lake Forest Park City Council work session Thursday, Jan. 9, councilmembers reviewed Resolution 25-1997, the draft 2025–2030 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), and directed staff to correct data discrepancies and return the plan for formal adoption.

The discussion focused on mismatches between the CIP “head sheet” and the detailed backup pages, unclear funding sources for several projects and whether certain costs were categorized correctly. Director Mark Hoffman, who presented the draft, said the CIP “lays out, as you remember from our presentation back in August, projects with funding challenges, the numbers are in red. Green was identified as projects that could be paid for by the new traffic camera revenue.”

Why it matters: the CIP schedules multi-year capital work — street overlays, stormwater repairs, park master planning, culverts and other infrastructure — and guides budgeting and grant applications. Councilmembers pressed staff to ensure project years, funding sources and project numbers match across all documents before the council takes a formal vote.

Major points raised

• Data and timing discrepancies: Multiple councilmembers noted that the summary sheet and the detail pages list different years for some projects. Councilmember Riddle asked when an updated, consolidated packet could be provided for final review. Hoffman said staff would clean up the backup pages and return the plan for formal action, and that some of the out-year items remain placeholders.

• Funding clarity and restrictions: Councilmember Reynolds asked, “Is it okay to use sewer capital money to move stormwater?” Hoffman responded plainly: “So you can’t use sewer capital to do stormwater.” Councilmembers asked staff to reassign any stormwater costs that had been placed in sewer columns and to mark financing gaps (shown in red) clearly.

• Newly added projects: Staff noted that several projects not on the August draft were now listed, including material-storage bins and electric-vehicle chargers for a safe-parking lot and an associated solar parking canopies. Hoffman said the material-bin construction drawings arrived the week of the meeting and that consultant quotes for EV charger design and construction management were in progress.

• Parks and master planning: Councilmembers discussed the item listed as “master plan for existing parks and trails.” Deborah Goldman and others said the item should focus on existing parks and trails inventory and updating the city’s PROS (parks, recreation and open space) plan so the city remains eligible for certain grants. Hoffman said the PROS plan will be amended in 2025 and that a more discrete parks master-plan effort may be scheduled later.

• Maintenance and emergent needs: Staff described a stormwater line replacement project similar to work recently completed near Grace Cole Park and said some line items in the CIP are placeholders to fund reactive repairs as they are identified. Hoffman confirmed that unused amounts for certain projects could be rolled into later years if work does not proceed as scheduled.

• Guardrail replacement and culverts: A councilmember flagged that King County has reduced work the county previously performed, meaning the city will need to contract for guardrail work. Hoffman also noted the city is beginning to program the next major culvert (CL‑110) for future planning, though no funding is currently listed.

• Traffic and safety projects: Councilmembers discussed using traffic-camera revenue to fund pedestrian and safety work, and implementing a multi-fund approach (e.g., overlay funds plus other transportation or 0-0-2 funds) to stretch dollars. Hoffman said the overlay projects planned for the north end will use overlay funds for pavement and separate contractors and funding for adjacent walkway work, as had been done previously on 35th Avenue.

• Speed-limit signs and WSDOT work: Staff reported King County would install signage for new local speed limits on Jan. 30–31, with enforcement beginning the following Monday. The council also discussed a WSDOT project (the “L100/104” work referenced in the packet) that is expected to include a roughly six-week detour and constrained operations near a roundabout; staff said traffic-quality measures and enhanced camera coverage at 195th and 35th will be considered to protect local crossing points, including a preschool location.

Quotes from the session

• Director Mark Hoffman: “Green was identified as projects that could be paid for by the new traffic camera revenue.”

• Councilmember Reynolds: “Is it okay to use sewer capital money to move stormwater?”

• Councilmember Alex: “If there are projects that have no money listed for any of the six years, does that just mean that there are sort of nice projects that are on the shelf for if a funding opportunity presents itself?”

Next steps and timing

Councilmembers did not take a formal vote on Resolution 25‑1997 during the work session. Councilmembers asked staff to reconcile project-year mismatches, add project numbers to each backup page, reclassify any improperly assigned funds (for example, stormwater line items in sewer columns), and list newly added projects consistently. Hoffman said staff would clean up the packet and return it for final action; the city’s new public works director is scheduled to begin Jan. 27, 2025, and staff anticipated the reconciled CIP could be ready for council review in early February.

Ending

Councilmembers closed the work session after confirming those follow-up steps. Several items discussed — including guardrail replacement, the CL‑110 culvert, material bins and EV chargers — will remain on the city’s multi-year planning list until funding and project details are finalized.