At its Jan. 9 meeting the Des Moines City Council Environment Committee reviewed and discussed a draft 2025 work plan that schedules regular capital project updates, permit- and program-overviews, and targeted reports on shoreline and stormwater topics across the year.

Surface Water Manager Tyler Beakley presented the calendar-style plan, which lists monthly committee items including CIP project updates in February, June and December; an NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) program overview and the city’s 2025 stormwater management plan in March; an interlocal agreement update with Ryan 9 in April; an operations-and-maintenance briefing in May; an annual Storm Fest outreach report in July; Duwamish/Ryan 9 basin committee status in August alongside a draft 2026–2031 SWIM CIP budget; a final six-year CIP budget in September; a Poverty Bay Shellfish Protection District status update and a source-control program report in October; and a final CIP update in December. Beakley also said the planning director may add a critical-areas update later in the year.

During public comment and committee Q&A, a resident asked whether source-control outreach would include businesses along Pacific Highway or remain concentrated in the Marina District. Beakley replied that staff had highlighted about 10% of outreach in the Marina District and that the remainder would be citywide, including some outreach on Pacific Highway.

Committee members asked about coordination with neighboring jurisdictions after one councilmember described Federal Way’s culvert replacement work upstream on Redondo Creek and asked how that might affect Des Moines. Beakley said the Federal Way project had not been formally noticed to Des Moines public-works staff yet, and that formal outreach typically occurs for those projects.

Votes at a glance: the meeting recorded approval of the Dec. 12, 2024 minutes at the start of the Jan. 9 meeting (motion to approve recorded on the transcript; second recorded; outcome: approved). The meeting also recorded a motion to adjourn at the end and an approved adjournment; no roll-call tallies were provided in the transcript.

Why it matters: The 2025 work plan sets committee focus for permit compliance, capital project oversight and public education on stormwater and source-control work. Staff’s plan to expand business outreach beyond the Marina District to include Pacific Highway will affect where inspection and prevention efforts are concentrated this year.