Arlington City Council approves temporary airport hire, accepts $79,000 tribal grant, waives FAA permit fee and extends Safe Built agreements

At a regular meeting the Arlington City Council approved several staff and contract actions, including a six‑month temporary operations specialist at the municipal airport, acceptance of a $79,000 community contribution grant, a waiver of the building permit fee for a federally funded runway lighting project, and two contract authorizations with Safe Built Washington LLC.

The council voted to add the six‑month temporary airport operations specialist position, which staff said is not budgeted and would be funded from the airport operating fund. Staff estimated the cost for six months, including benefits, at about $60,600. A councilmember moved to approve the position and the motion carried by voice vote.

Council members also approved acceptance of a Stillaguamish scribe community contribution grant of $79,000 to address impacts from casino‑related activity. Staff said the grant will fund equipment needs identified during joint operations with the tribal police department — including higher‑quality drones and ballistic rifle shields — and asked that the mayor be authorized to sign the grant and related budget amendment. The motion passed with no opposed votes heard.

On a separate item, staff requested authorization to waive the city building permit fee for a U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Aviation Administration‑funded replacement of the Runway 34 medium intensity approach lighting system at the Arlington Municipal Airport. Staff reported the building permit fee amount as $15,790.32 and noted the state surcharge of $25 is not exempt. One councilmember questioned whether the federal supremacy clause applied because the city owns the property, saying, “I don't believe this falls under the supremacy clause because we own the property.” Staff responded that they would research the legal basis and proceed under council authority to waive fees; the council authorized the mayor to sign the permit‑fee waiver form.

The council also authorized two actions with Safe Built Washington LLC. First, members approved a second amendment to an existing professional services agreement for building plan review and inspection services; staff said the consultant relationship dates to 2018 and helps the city handle large projects that exceed in‑house capacity. Staff stated the permit revenue fund included $500,000 allocated for these services and described current fund balance and recent expenditures; exact balance figures in the transcript were unclear and are noted as approximate. Second, the council authorized a new one‑year professional services agreement with Safe Built for planning review services on an hourly basis; staff said $30,000 is currently budgeted from permit revenue for anticipated use and that additional funds would require a budget amendment.

Procedural notes: the council announced an executive session to discuss interpretation and application of a labor agreement under RCW 42.30.144 earlier in the meeting; the session was held and the meeting returned to open session before the new business items were taken up. All motions reported in the transcript were carried by voice vote with no opposed votes recorded on the public record.

The council ended the meeting after brief member reports on July 4 events and upcoming downtown street fair.