City officials met with the Chamber last week in an effort to find a solution and compromise on the contested business district associations concept that was proposed in the economic development strategy draft plan.

Greater Federal Way Chamber of Commerce CEO Rebecca Martin and board chair Lori Santamaria testified against the proposal at a January City Council meeting, stating the associations would stretch the financial resources of the business community, as Business District Associations typically require voluntary dues or taxes.

While Mayor Jim Ferrell and city officials denied there would be extra fees, Martin and others still had questions because the draft plan failed to explain how the business district associations would be funded, maintained and measured.

However, Ferrell, city spokesman Chris Carrel and Deputy Mayor Jeanne Burbidge met with Martin, Santamaria and board chair-elect Lisa Skari at the Chamber’s office on Feb. 4 to discuss these issues. The mayor sent out a letter to Chamber board members explaining the intent of the business district associations as a community outreach measure. Ultimately, he also agreed to change the name to “Business Connections.”

“Clearly the label we put on this about associations is getting in the way of what we’re trying to achieve,” Ferrell said in an interview. “We don’t want to do anything to compete with the Chamber. We want to help with the Chamber.”

Ferrell said Martin has a “ton of experience and maybe she’s had experiences where business district associations were not so positive” but that “when people communicate directly, it’s important to serve them.”

Martin said Ferrell assured them fees were “off the table” with these Business Connections.

“It’s great to be in a community where you’re able to express concerns at public hearings and see action taken,” Martin said in an interview. “The Chamber was invited to attend [the Business Connections meetings] and we plan to do that.”

The board will decide at their next board meeting on Feb. 17 on just how involved they would like to be in the meetings, she added.

The draft plan, titled “Some Assembly Required,” has been updated to include the change to Business Connections and Ferrell said they would operate in a similar way to the city’s current Neighborhood Connections meetings.

“The idea with the business district associations and now Business Connections is getting out there to the clusters of [businesses] in general geographical areas — it is very much site specific,” he said.

The four meetings a year would be dispersed at Twin Lakes, downtown and north and south Pacific Highway.

Ferrell and city staff would attend the events and be available to answer questions about permitting, streets, signage, traffic, zoning and any other city-related business issues.

“It’s kind of like City Hall coming out to the neighborhoods,” he said, explaining the concept of the current Neighborhood Connections meetings. “There have been times in the past businesses left and we never heard anything about it on why they left.”

The meetings won’t be expensive either, Ferrell said.

“To sit down, I don’t think we’re talking about a lot of money,” he said, adding that they may have space donated. “We’re talking about the cost of postage and emails. It doesn’t cost any money to have a conversation.”

And that conversation won’t be in a formal setting with a giant breakfast, although he did say there may be coffee and danishes.

City officials are currently planning a location for the first meeting in March, he said.

“The most important foundation to a community is its businesses,” Martin said. “We are the voice of businesses and we’re happy it’s been heard. I think the business community is supportive of anything that doesn’t add financial burden and prevents fragmentation.”

Martin said the free flow of ideas is an excellent communication outreach strategy from government and she encourages that at these informal meetings.

City officials and Chamber members also discussed other ways participation and collaboration between the two could work as well as a potential partnership.

“We continue to discuss where overlap and duplication may exist,” Martin said. “The Chamber’s end goal is to leverage the resources as much as possible to reduce the financial strain on the business community.”

Ferrell said contrary to what was reported in the initial city announcement, the economic development strategy draft plan will not be adopted by Council members, but they are welcoming feedback.

He expects the final version will be available soon.

For more information, visit www.cityoffederalway.com/index.aspx?nid=659.