Astoria City Council Work Session – April 28, 2026
Astoria City Council Work Session – April 28, 2026
On April 28, 2026, the Astoria City Council held a work session beginning at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers. All council members were present except Mayor Sean Fitzpatrick. The council discussed three major items: charter amendment proposals for the November 2026 ballot, Columbia Memorial Hospital’s campus concept and street vacation proposal, and alternative approaches to homelessness following the decision to pause a designated campsite. No formal votes were taken.
Charter Amendment Proposals
Council reviewed four potential amendments: clarifying the process for filling council vacancies, updating language on appointive officers and the city attorney, requiring council confirmation of mayoral appointments to boards and commissions, and adding two at-large council seats. Councilor Adams prioritized board appointment confirmation; Councilor Conklin also supported it and backed at-large seats; Councilor Mazzarella favored letting voters decide all amendments and supported updating outdated language. City Manager Spence recommended combining the two technical updates into one ballot measure. City Attorney Blair Henningsgaard noted vacancy language clarifies existing authority but suggested modifying the city attorney language to reflect Astoria’s contracted legal services model. Council reached consensus to continue developing all four proposals and directed staff to prepare draft language for a future meeting.
Columbia Memorial Hospital Campus Concept and Street Vacation Proposal
CMH CEO Eric Thorsen and architect Rich Shiga presented an update on the new hospital construction, reporting it remains on schedule to open in early 2028, with phase two renovations completed in 2029. The new hospital will feature expanded emergency capacity (from 8 to 24 private rooms), behavioral health accommodations, and major resiliency features including a rooftop emergency operations center, generators, helipad, and a vertical tsunami evacuation structure for up to 1,900 people. The hospital set a record with 76 emergency department visits in one 24-hour period. CMH proposed vacating portions of Franklin Avenue and 22nd Street to create a unified healthcare campus. City staff explained that utility easements and emergency access would be preserved, and the city would save on street maintenance. The only private adjacent parcel (Lot 900) would retain access via easements. Councilors raised concerns about ambulance traffic, pedestrian safety, and compensation for the city’s parking lot lease (which generates $14,000–$15,000 annually). Staff confirmed the campus agreement would address reimbursement. Council expressed general support and directed staff to prepare resolutions and ordinances for public hearings in June.
Discussion on Designated Campsite and Camping Code Ordinance
Council agreed there was insufficient community support to continue pursuing a designated campsite. Councilor Mazzarella introduced several alternative strategies: a community outreach specialist, a limited permitted camping program with services and accountability, secure dry storage for personal belongings, continued outreach to faith-based organizations for the Community-Based Shelter Program, stronger countywide coordination, and exploration of a future transitional shelter village. Councilor Conklin supported a permitted camping program and suggested designated no-camping days in certain areas to improve maintenance. Councilor Adams supported the framework and emphasized homelessness as a regional issue. City Manager Spence noted that many concepts were feasible but require an enforcement mechanism. Police Chief Stacy Kelly supported a limited permitted camping program and confirmed the department would address camping near the Sunday Market before the season begins. Council directed staff to pause work on the designated campsite and to work with Councilors Mazzarella and Adams to develop these strategies. A special work session on the camping code and related policies was scheduled for May 18, 2026. Additionally, council discussed using existing authority to close a portion of Exchange Street for Sunday Market concerns, with potential enforcement starting May 10.
Key Outcomes
- Charter amendments: Council directed staff to prepare draft language for all four proposals. No formal action.
- CMH street vacation: Council directed staff to prepare resolutions and ordinances for public hearings in June. No formal action.
- Homelessness alternatives: Council paused the designated campsite and directed staff to work with Councilors Mazzarella and Adams on alternative strategies for the May 18 work session. No formal action.
- Sunday Market camping: Council supported using existing city manager authority to address camping on Exchange Street, with further discussion at the next meeting.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome. We will call this meeting to order of the Astora City Council for a work session of April 27th, 2026. Manager Spence, could we do a roll call? Yeah. Councilor Mazzarella? Here. Counselor Adams. Here. Councillor Conklin. Here. Council President Davis. Here. Let the record show that mayor is excused for tonight's meeting. We have three regular agenda items. Any notions from the council about changes to the agenda. Okay. Do you want to start us off with item three A agenda setting? So as council knows this is our opportunity to kind of look at the calendar ahead of us and set any uh discussion for work session, but also inform yourself of regular council meetings. Um last agenda set in setting meeting, there was discussion about charter amendments. And there was an opportunity for council to bring forward some ideas. And my thought was that you wanted to have a fuller discussion of what those ideas would be. As we discussed about in a council retreat, we have a guidance document that kind of helps inform the discussion. So we have a full debate on what those ideas are. So that is on your uh desk, if you will. So I'll open up for council for what they'd like to discuss with potential charter amendments. And what direction are you looking for from us today, Mr. Spence? So I believe if you have, I guess my recommendation if you want to make a charter amendment, I'd probably limit it to one or two. And if there's agreement amongst council, that there's a majority says these are the ones that we'd like to advance, and then we'd obviously refer those to the city attorney for drafting and then put that before the city council for final adoption. For something to be on the November ballot, we need to have those decisions by August 14th. Okay. And we've got items in our packet for today that at least cover the um charter amendments that I put put forward um last fall. Was it now? Um there were some ideas from other counselors as well. Are we at liberty? Do we have a desire as a council to talk about uh the topic broadly? Would you all like to dive into what's in the packet for today? What's what's the preference of council writing? Councillor Adams. Thank you. I think it would be beneficial for us to review the items that are in the packet briefly and then look at our prioritization list of the suggestion of staff to focus on some key priorities that we want to discuss and see if they are worthy of trying to move forward into a deeper discussion of council. Okay. Uh do we do we want to go through the sorry I'll try to direct myself to the mic. Do we want to go through the material that has been presented from uh OMA, AOC? Uh do we want to go through model charter things? Do we want to start on uh just the proposals that I put forward? I don't really have a preference. I've looked at all this. I don't know if if anyone feels like they want to summarize that or feels comfortable doing that just for that purpose. My iPad is dead, so it won't be me, but sure.
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