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Redmond reviews 2025 state legislative agenda, splits priorities by election outcome
Summary
City staff presented a two-track draft of Redmond’s 2025 state legislative agenda, with priority funding requests for AC water-main replacement, a City Services Center in Overlake, multimodal access projects and contingency funding for an electric fire engine depending on post‑election Climate Commitment Act status.
Amy Tsai, Redmond’s chief policy advisor, told the City Council during a study session Oct. 8 that staff prepared a two‑track legislative agenda so the city can press priorities whether or not the Climate Commitment Act (CCA) funding remains after the November election.
The front page lists four priority requests. Tsai described an asbestos‑cement (AC) water‑main replacement ask for the Avondale Road NE area, a $1,000,000 state request for the front‑page ask with a local replacement cost for that segment estimated around $3,000,000 plus roadway work. "There’s 53 miles of it," Tsai said of AC pipe in Redmond, noting brittle pipes increase breaks and risk to drinking water, fire protection and salmon‑bearing streams.
Tsai also detailed a $618,000 request to secure city space in Overlake for a City Services Center that would co‑locate customer service, translation and bill‑pay functions near the incoming light‑rail station. Staff said the project sits in the 48th Legislative District and emphasized the neighborhood’s multicultural demographics.
On multimodal access, staff proposed repurposing an existing $8,000,000 appropriation under Draft A (if CCA funding holds) and seeking $750,000 in the biennium to rescope the Overlake project into the Multimodal Overlake Village Access (MOVA) program, which would fill shared‑use path gaps on 148th NE and improve bike connections on NE 36th. "When you fill in those blue dotted lines, it creates a more, integrated multimodal path and network," Tsai said.
Staff presented a contingency (Draft B) that would ask the legislature to use other funds to honor a previously promised $200,000 allocation for Washington’s first electric fire engine if CCA funds are not available. The city cited air‑quality, noise and first‑responder health benefits for the vehicle.
Tsai also recommended asking the legislature to support the city’s specific grant applications rather than requesting program‑level dollar totals. Staff identified a WSDOT Mobility Grant proposal for downtown microtransit (first/last‑mile service) and a Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office WWRP grant application for a 3.2‑acre Southeast Redmond Park (a $500,000 request ranked 19 of 64 in the program’s ranking).
The document includes strengthened regional asks—such as extended producer responsibility language for recycling and a new paragraph acknowledging a roughly $100,000,000 transportation preservation and maintenance gap statewide—and a clarified housing statement that adds support for "state funding consistent with" Redmond’s Housing Action Plan.
Council members broadly supported the changes and asked staff to return a post‑election 'final' version for consent on Nov. 19. Tsai said the full legislative session begins Jan. 13, 2025, and staff will provide materials for councilmembers who meet with state legislators.
What’s next: staff will circulate a post‑election version of the agenda and return it for consent on Nov. 19; councilmembers were asked to participate in legislative outreach in Olympia where feasible.
