The scheduled City Council Workshop was not held this week because Mayor Pro tem Gary Gill, who leads the workshop, failed to make it to the meeting. During this time the remainder of the Council heard staff reports from several city departments and heard reports from several Council Members.

Public Works Director Steve Leniszewski announced that the city would be the recipient of the 2010 Governor’s Smart Community Award. This award is given each year to cities that have outstanding achievement in growth management.

Leniszewski also commented that the skate park on Big Rock Rd was rated in the top ten of all skate parks in Washington. It was ranked at #7 and the skate park in Carnation was ranked at #10.

During the council meeting the Council heard from Mayor Lee from Jangheung, South Korea who thanked the city for their hospitality during his visit for Duvall Days. The council then watched a video presentation from the Korean delegation.

Mayor Ibershof also presented Mayor Lee with the key to the City.

City Attorney Bruce Disend gave a presentation to the City Council about public records requests. He informed the Council that in recent years there has been an increase in requests for public records and this was the intent of the legislature. He quoted from the Revised Code of Washington 42.56.030 which states:

“Thepeople of this state do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies that serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may maintain control over the instruments that they have created. This chapter shall be liberally construed and its exemptions narrowly construed to promote this public policy and to assure that the public interest will be fully protected.”

Attorney Disend explained that almost anything the city comes in contact with is a public record. He explained that there are some rare exceptions but they are small and far between.

TheCouncil had a public hearing on the 6 year transportation improvement plan which lays out 13 improvements that the city is working on to improve transportation and traffic over the next 6 years. There were no public comments or council comments on the plan. The plan was approved unanimously.

The Mayor initiated a discussion about a staff exchange between Jangheung and Duvall. The staff and the Mayor will be researching this and will continue the discussion at a later date.

The Council cancelled the council meeting scheduled for the 24th and rescheduled it for 6 pm June 30th at the Community Center.