Committee forwards consent agenda items including jail-rate amendments, FirstNet migration and senior commission plan

Federal Way's Finance & Economic Development Committee on Oct. 28 voted unanimously to forward multiple administrative and contracting items to the Nov. 5 consent agenda.

Members approved forwarding a proposed 2026 rate amendment to the SCORE jail services agreement; a new interagency housing agreement with Puyallup City Jail; a migration of most city cellular lines from Verizon to AT&T FirstNet; the Senior Advisory Commission's 2026 work plan; a Dell purchase for replacement computers; and the city's September accounts-payable and payroll vouchers. Committee members recorded the votes as passing by voice votes reported as 3-0 on each item.

The SCORE amendment, presented by Commander Kyle Buchanan, includes about a 5% increase for bed types, raises the booking fee from $80 to $95 and adds a $75 per-appearance video court fee. Buchanan told the committee the police department will continue using Nisqually for some bookings to mitigate higher costs.

City IT staff presented the FirstNet migration as a longer-term cost- and reliability-saving measure after describing intermittent Verizon capacity and drop issues in patrol cars. Staff said the migration includes a 36-month contract, device refresh credits and an equipment refresh; initial estimates in staff materials forecast roughly $68,000 in annual savings over the first three years and continued savings thereafter.

Amy Glandon presented the Senior Advisory Commission's 2026 work plan, which adds funding to the farmer’s-market voucher program and expanded outreach for seniors without internet access. Council members discussed brochure printing costs and whether leftover printing funds should automatically roll into the voucher program.

Finance staff presented September vouchers and the monthly financial report; the committee forwarded the vouchers and the monthly report to the consent agenda. The committee did not take final action on policy items such as cannabis zoning: an extended discussion on cannabis was held for information only.

No item was defeated. Each forwarded matter will be placed on the Nov. 5 consent agenda for full council consideration.