09/13/2026
🏛️ PASCO CITY COUNCIL RECAP | SEPTEMBER 8, 2026
We had a packed City Council meeting this week, with discussions ranging from data centers and cannabis retail to manufacturing incentives, Broadmoor transportation projects, the HAPO Center, and code enforcement. Here’s a rundown of what happened:
✅ CONSENT AGENDA
We started the evening by approving our consent agenda, which included meeting minutes, payment of City claims, funding adjustments for park security enhancements, renewal of the Lightspeed Networks franchise, and acceptance of completed work on several City utility projects.
We also approved an increase to the City’s General Petty Cash Fund later in the meeting to help departments handle normal day-to-day City business, particularly as new operations such as the Pasco Aquatic Center have come online.
📜 PROCLAMATIONS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Council recognized Attendance Awareness Month, Su***de Prevention Month, and the 25th anniversary of September 11, 2001.
These proclamations give us an opportunity to recognize organizations and individuals doing important work in our community while also remembering events that have shaped our country.
🏢 DATA CENTERS — SIX-MONTH MORATORIUM
A significant portion of public comment and our first public hearing centered around Pasco’s six-month moratorium on new data centers, cryptocurrency mining facilities, blockchain computing facilities, artificial intelligence computing facilities, and other high-density computing uses.
We heard thoughtful comments from people on both sides.
Some residents spoke about potential concerns involving infrastructure, utilities, noise, energy, water and other impacts. Others spoke about the jobs, investment and economic activity data centers could bring to Pasco.
The purpose of the moratorium is not to permanently prohibit data centers. It gives the City time to study these facilities and determine whether our current regulations adequately address their potential impacts before new applications are accepted and processed.
I support taking the time to get this right while also recognizing the tremendous economic-development opportunity these projects could represent.
I would like to see additional community meetings held soon, and I am also considering hosting my own town hall on data centers so residents can ask questions, hear the information and provide feedback directly.
🌿 CANNABIS RETAIL FACILITIES
We also conducted a public hearing regarding a potential amendment to Pasco’s cannabis retail regulations and whether the City’s current cap of four stores should be increased.
We heard significant support for allowing additional cannabis retailers, while others told Council they believe four stores are already enough and expressed concerns about potential impacts on the community.
Ultimately, each Councilmember will have to weigh the testimony, the regulations and the broader community impacts before making a decision.
Council is expected to consider the issue again later this month.
🏭 TARGETED URBAN AREA — MANUFACTURING TAX INCENTIVE
One of the economic-development items I am particularly excited about was the public hearing for the Targeted Urban Area Tax Exemption Program.
The program is intended to provide a 10-year property-tax exemption for qualifying new manufacturing investments, creating another tool Pasco can use to compete for major employers and industrial investment.
We heard from TRIDEC’s Karl Dye and Stephen McFadden about the importance of economic-development partnerships and working collaboratively with Franklin County.
This has the potential to become a very important recruitment tool for Pasco. We should be aggressively pursuing businesses that create good-paying jobs, expand our tax base and bring long-term private investment into our community.
🛣️ ROAD 108 RIGHT-OF-WAY
Council also held a public hearing and approved the vacation of a portion of the Road 108 right-of-way.
This is essentially a cleanup and realignment that allows the future roadway network to better match the development pattern in the area rather than leaving an awkward or misaligned section of right-of-way.
No members of the public spoke in opposition.
🚧 BROADMOOR TRANSPORTATION PROJECTS
Council then considered amendments to the 2027–2032 Transportation Improvement Program and engineering work associated with future Broadmoor-area roadway improvements.
Initially, I raised concerns that we might be putting the cart before the horse, because Council has not yet approved a development agreement associated with the project.
Staff explained that these actions simply position the City so that, if a development agreement is ultimately approved, we are not starting from zero and losing additional months before beginning design work.
That distinction was important to me.
Approving these items does not mean we are committing to the development agreement or automatically spending all of the project money. It means we can be prepared to move quickly if the project moves forward.
With that clarification, I voted in favor.
🥎 PASCO SOFTBALL COMPLEX & HAPO CENTER
We finished the major business of the evening with a discussion I have been concerned about for quite some time: the relationship between the City of Pasco and Franklin County regarding the HAPO Center and softball complex.
Right now, we do not have a functioning long-term interlocal agreement governing operation of the HAPO Center, and our arrangement involving the softball fields remains uncertain.
I expressed serious frustration with the lack of progress.
The City invested substantially in developing those softball fields, and I do not believe Pasco taxpayers should now be placed in a position where we are expected to pay an unreasonable amount simply to maintain access to facilities we helped create.
I am also concerned about the lack of meaningful communication and engagement from Franklin County.
At some point, if we cannot establish a genuine partnership, we may need to seriously consider whether it is time to divorce ourselves from the current HAPO Center arrangement and move forward in another direction.
At the same time, I believe the City should continue challenging the County’s assertion that it effectively purchased Pasco’s interest in the HAPO Center for $1.
The HAPO Center and surrounding property have tremendous potential. Combined with the softball fields and other sports facilities, this area could become a much larger regional sports and events complex.
Most importantly, there are youth teams, clubs and tournament organizers who simply want certainty about whether they will have fields available next spring. They should not be caught in the middle of an unresolved dispute between local governments.
🏗️ CODE ENFORCEMENT & CONSTRUCTION IMPACTS
During miscellaneous discussion, I also raised concerns I’ve been hearing directly from residents about construction-related code enforcement, particularly fugitive dust and runoff from development sites.
One resident provided me an invoice showing he had to spend nearly $200 to have his home cleaned because dust from a neighboring development was not being adequately controlled.
Another resident raised concerns about construction-related water runoff nearly reaching his swimming pool.
These may sound like small issues when we’re discussing multimillion-dollar projects, but they are real-world problems affecting Pasco families and their pocketbooks.
Pasco is going to continue growing. That means we need development — but growth also has to be managed responsibly.
Contractors and developers need to follow the rules, control dust and runoff, and respect the people who already live next door. And when they don’t, the City needs to respond.
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It was a long meeting, but there was a lot of meaningful discussion about how Pasco grows, how we attract new investment, how we protect existing residents, and how we make sure taxpayers are treated fairly.
As always, I’ll keep working to provide these recaps so you know what your City Council is discussing, how I voted, and why.
