Federal Way council interviews Northlake Management Advisory Committee candidates; appointments deferred to full council meeting

The Federal Way City Council on Thursday held a special meeting to interview three applicants for two open seats on the Northlake Management Advisory Committee and postponed formal appointments until the council's 6:30 p.m. meeting.

Deborah, who spoke about past work securing an $86,000 grant and helping coordinate arsenic testing with the University of Washington, said she would withdraw if there were no open positions. The chair and council members clarified there are two vacancies and thanked her for applying. "We appreciate you for what you do and for being here tonight," the chair said.

Darren Nash described more than two decades of residence near the lake and over a decade on the lake board. "I've been taking water samples, lake measurements," Nash said, noting he now uses aerial drone photos and works with City of Federal Way staff "to keep a photographic record of the aquatic weeds." He told the council the committee is building a database to track changes in weed biomass and lake surface area and said the group plans different management strategies after dissatisfaction with prior contractors.

Nash outlined monitoring methods: residents collect bottled samples that King County laboratory staff analyze; he said volunteers sample at multiple depths (surface and near-bottom) and record oxygen and temperature profiles every meter. He also gave a figure for stocking: "They provide 9,500 stocked rainbow trout between 6 and 9 inches," Nash said, adding the trout are produced to be infertile in most years and that occasional larger triploids are stocked.

Larry Fletcher described decades of stewardship and warned the council that the North Lake watershed has been heavily altered by development. "At one time the North Lake watershed was almost everything west of the lake," Fletcher said, and added that piecemeal mitigation installed for earlier projects can be undone by later ones. He urged the council to preserve springs and watersheds and recommended an annual briefing to the full council by the staff person he named as "Kirsten." "I would recommend this council have a presentation by Kirsten once a year to tell you what's going on with our lake," Fletcher said.

Council members responded with procedural and logistical questions. Several favored scheduling an annual joint report from the North Lake and Steel Lake management districts at a committee meeting to allow more time for discussion while ensuring the whole council can hear the briefing. The city attorney said she would check whether state statute constrains expanding the district's membership; Fletcher had suggested increasing the board from five to seven members to ease quorum problems.

The chair told applicants the council would not vote at the special meeting and would take up appointments at the scheduled council meeting. The meeting then moved into an executive session citing the Revised Code of Washington: collective bargaining (RCW 42.30.140(4)(b)), potential litigation (RCW 42.30.110(1)(i)) and property acquisition (RCW 42.30.110(1)(b)).

What’s next: the council will consider formal appointments to the Northlake Management Advisory Committee at the 6:30 p.m. council meeting and staff will report back about whether the district's size can be changed under state law.