evening thank you everyone for joining us uh welcome to the Tuesday January 20th 2026 meeting of the Astoria City Council for the record the time is 7 oh it's now 706 p.m and we appreciate people's patience while we cleared the room and uh bid a fake uh proper farewell to our guests who uh joined us here for our work session regarding the uh storia column so we will start with the pledge of allegiance and Mr.

Spence if you could please lead us in the pledge we would ask that you please rise if you are willing and able to allegiance to the United States of America and to the Republic for which one individual thank you Mr.

Spence if we could have a roll call please council Davis here counselor Mozzarella here counselor Adams Councilor Conklin here Mayor Fitzpatrick here so we're gonna start with reports of counselors and tonight councilor Conklin gets to lead us off well thank you um so probably the biggest thing that we've done the last few weeks is um uh councillor Adams and I combined to do a town hall in ward four so that was quite exciting um we had really great community feedback um lots of really um good information um to bring back to staff um to try to address um and I just have to be give a big shout out to counselor adams because especially being in council for not very long um she really was able she was able to direct that meeting really well um and was able to answer a lot of questions um and then I have to do a really another big shout out to Chief Kelly um because during the meeting he was uh asking questions like a texting and emailing individuals so then by close to the end of the meeting he was able to address any concerns and and be able to answer them for people so that was so thank you very much um and then outside of that um had a few different meetings with um the police chief with fire chief um with um David Reed at the Chamber of Commerce um so learned kind of what's going on at the chamber um they have 600 members which is really commendable um it's a lot of members for a smaller chamber especially um so yeah great thank you councillor Conklin Councilor Adams good evening I have a few items I want to share I attended uh Senator Merkley's town hall this weekend with the entire city council which was unplanned uh and also quite um exciting to see so much representation for Austoria it was held in Warrington there were some other uh mayors across the county and other council members commissioners uh but we were in in full force including uh our city managers that was quite a moment um for all of us I think it just made me feel very um proud that everyone came out on a beautiful Saturday evening where we could have been doing other things and wanted to engage with our uh representatives Oda is going to be having their open house coming up Saturday the 31st and that's gonna be about the bridge closure next year so they're gonna be doing a series of open houses to try to gather information about how that bridge closure is going to affect people traveling across I was asked to sit on the Sunday market committee uh previously for the past three years I have been assisting uh with the vetting applications for new vendors they receive um quite a few I think last year was almost a hundred new uh vendor applications which are difficult there's only so much space and and room for for the Sunday market to choose vendors so they go through a very detailed vetting process so I've been sitting on that committee and they've decided to expand that committee a little bit further to continue to find ways to um market the Sunday market and again those date the dates is it starts in May and goes to October another thing I would like to share is that Consejo Espanio has asked me to attend their lobby day for uh funding they're gonna go down to Salem they've uh hired a lobbyist to help prepare their um funding requests for the Oregon backed lottery bonds uh which is a big process so I'm gonna assist them in their legislative day since the council is um a part of moving their uh purchase of Mariposa um Casa Mariposa thank you mayor Casa Mariposa uh so that's an exciting uh opportunity to attend the Lord Columbia

They've uh hired a lobbyist to help prepare their um funding requests for the Oregon-backed lottery bonds, uh, which is a big process.

So I'm gonna assist them in their legislative day since the council is um a part of moving their uh purchase of Mariposa um Casa Mariposa.

Thank you, Mayor, Casa Mariposa.

Uh so that's an exciting uh opportunity to attend.

The Lower Columbia Tourism Committee has been rebranded.

So just to share uh briefly, they're now called the Astoria Warranton Travel Alliance with some changed um strategic goals and plans and how that committee is going to move forward.

So stay tuned for more development on that.

I know that they will be coming in budget seasons coming.

So I know that our community grant program information is out there.

So we'll see uh that organization have just a change in some of their goals and strategies and also in the name as well.

Um the last thing I wanted to share is that there is a veterans group who put together the um it's called Rogue Cell, and they put together the project uh for bringing awareness to veteran suicide in rural areas, and they've decided to create a nonprofit called Rogue Cell, and they've asked for me to sit on that board.

Um probably for grant writing uh assistance.

Um, but I am honored and uh excited to sit on that board with uh some veterans.

Oregon still is in the top five states in the nation for veteran suicide, and we know that rural areas are affected even more um intensely.

Uh the goal is to create environments for psychological safety, veteran-centered service.

Uh an example of that is getting veterans ham radio trained and involved in emergency management um opportunities.

So there's a lot of really great things this group's gonna do.

Um, and also just create stability and repe repeatability in other communities.

And that's what I have to report.

Thank you.

Great.

Thank you, Counselor Adams.

That's great that can say, oh, Hispano uh has asked you to speak for them, then that you will join them in Salem for that.

And then also I'm impressed that you were asked to be on the board of Rogue Saul.

So good for you.

Counselor Mazzarella.

Thank you.

Um I have less to share or less interesting, maybe um fun facts as previous counselors.

Um, but I I did want to also touch in on how cool it was to see all of us at Senator Merkley's um leadership meeting and town hall meeting.

Um it was a lot of good information and it just yeah, I really enjoyed seeing everyone there.

Um also will be uh was asked to join with Consejo on February 12th in supporting their lobbying efforts.

So I'm trying to work out my schedule for that, but I'm hoping to be able to join them and fielding a lot of emails, um, questions about from constituents about um easement right of way, driveways, city road, that kind of stuff when there's lot lines or places that sections of land that are you know, say that it's a city road on on the web map, but it's just like an a random lot or maybe some gravel or maybe completely unimproved, and just trying to help um people wrap their minds around whose responsibility is for what in those in those cases on those pieces, and that's a lot of learning for me too.

So that's been kind of interesting um to get to watch the back and forth and learn a bit more about how that stuff works and the different definitions of things.

And um gosh, there was one other thing I wanted to mention, and I it's escaping my brain at the moment, but um if I think of it, I'll let you know.

Yeah, you were welcome to bring it up in their business.

So thank you.

I may I may have something for new business.

Thank you.

Great.

Thank you, Councillor Mazzarola.

Counselor Davis.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um I was also um happy to see the delegation we had at the Senator Merkley event.

Um I will briefly comment uh because I don't know that anybody's covered content yet uh really.

Um I didn't find it a particularly optimistic uh town hall uh from Senator Merkley.

Um I think that the problems he's describing at the federal government level are serious and pervasive and challenging, and that uh he doesn't describe that there are good tools to confront uh the challenges they're seeing from the federal government right now or from the executive branch of the federal government.

Um I think one of the things that he brings up as an issue and that at a local level we may have some impact over uh is it is an election year, and he's he described uh some nervousness about uh the election and whether or not um there might be some efforts to stop the election from happening.

And um given that that we have uh a state and county apparatus for conducting elections.

I think uh part of the thing that we can do as citizens is try and uh support our county clerk at the local level and make sure that uh we get to vote in the upcoming election in November at least.

Um I don't know that there's risk that I I have heard about the May election.

Um there's another town hall coming up for uh Senator Ron Wyden on the 23rd.

Uh I don't know that I've seen a venue announced for that.

Um, but if you're interested in hearing from the other uh of our uh senators, uh he should be in town on the 23rd of this month.

Um I wanted to give uh quick kudos to uh they're not in the room.

I don't know if uh if Jeff is on Zoom or not.

I don't have my glasses on.

Um kudos to Public Works.