Okay, I'm gonna call tonight's meeting to order.

Will the reporter call the roll?

I am here.

Councilor Hart, Mayor Prigg.

Councillor Hassan.

Here.

Councillor Kimmy.

Here.

Counselor Teeter.

Here.

Counselor Tifnon.

Here.

Mayor Beatty.

Here.

Okay.

Well, we do have a rather lengthy agenda tonight.

We're gonna start with visitor comment.

We'll hear an update from the city manager.

We have a few items on consent.

We have two presentations, and as a reminder, council presentations are intended to be kind of one-way communications and updates.

While we can ask questions, keep it in mind it is not a work session.

Um so feel free to give kudos to the reserve and um you'll have to absorb the IT strategic plan.

And then if we would like to have input or more consideration, we can ask for it to come back as a work session.

We do have a public hearing.

Uh we have a first reading of an ordinance and two work sessions as a reminder, council.

Work sessions are an area for you to give feedback to the staff in the kind of last runway before it comes back as a policy.

Then we have council any council new business, and we do have an executive session, and it didn't make it to the agenda because it was added last minute.

We will have a vote on the item when we come out of executive session this evening.

Is there anyone waiting for public testimony tonight or just the written testimony we received?

Oh, there is no testimony or visitor comment tonight.

All right.

City manager, your report, please.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

If we can have the slide deck, I just have five um quick items to share with you this evening.

I'll move, yeah, we can go.

I'll move to the first item.

So um, as you know, this uh week is welcoming week.

We actually started the 12th and it ends uh this 21st.

Uh for those of you that aren't familiar with welcoming week at home.

It's um an annual series of events designed to bring together people to ways a ways excuse me, awareness of benefits of welcoming everyone.

And so this year we have a number of cross-cultural relationship and understanding opportunities for the community.

And again, it's September 12th through September 21st.

We're really encouraging the community to come out and to attend an event and snap um uh photo and push it out on social media to celebrate with us.

So we're looking forward to seeing um your experiences and pictures online.

And the next series of announcements has to do with the library.

So many of you had a great opportunity to attend our celebration of 25 years.

It was our 25-year anniversary for the main library.

So hopefully you came out and celebrated and had a cupcake with some of us and Billy the Beaver.

Uh it was September 6th through 14th, and just a couple of numbers that are really astounding.

Over the past 25 years, uh, we've hosted almost 40,000 free events, and about 15 million people have checked out more than 50 million items.

So that's pretty incredible.

Uh and speaking of library, the next slide is a reminder that September is library sign-up uh month.

So we want you to get a library card and find out what the library can do for you.

A couple of things as a reminder to the community.

Beaverton is a part of the Washington County Cooperative Library Service, which we refer to as WCCLS.

And if you get a library card, that allows you to borrow any of the county's 1.5 million items in 16 of the WCCLS's library uh locations, including the Beaverton Main Library and Marie Shoals.

And we are trying to get to 800 new cardholders this September.

So please help us uh meet that benchmark.

And then last to wrap up um library uh celebrations, we have the Friends of the Library for their fall sale.

It is gonna be held on Wednesday, September 24th through Sunday, September 28th.

And just a few details.

Um members and teacher night will kick off the sale on the 24th from 2:30 to 6.30.

Uh so you could become a friends of the Beaverton City Library member, or you can show teacher ID for entry on that date.

And on Thursday, September 25th through September 27th, which is a Saturday, sale hours are 10 a.m.

to 5.30 p.m.

And then on Sunday, September 28th, from 12 to 5.30 is the bag sale.

So bring your own bag, or you can use one of ours if you forgot and fill up for 10 bucks.

So we hope to see you then.

Um how old do you have to be to have a library card?

You could be any age.

That's true.

You don't need to confirm with the library director.

Okay.

Also, I have my five dollar bag of books still sitting in my office from the last time, but I highly suggest that everyone goes and fills a bag of books.

They'll come around eventually.

Okay, Council President, consent, please.

I move to approve the consent agenda.

Second.

It's been moved by Council President and seconded by Councillor Hussen.

And we have comments on the agenda by Counselor Teter, please.

Got a quick comment regarding the Clean Water Services IGA.

I asked the city manager to provide us with some annual updates regarding the two unresolved issues.

Those are the clean water services, city billing negotiations, and the transfer of assets associated with annexation.

So I just wanted some updates to make sure we're progressing towards uh next around our next IGA having those included.

Are you gonna let us sit here with Wilde abandoned?

Are you gonna tell us what she said?

She said yes.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Any other discussion on tonight's motion?

Seeing none, will the recorder call the roll?

Councilor Duggar.

Yes.

Counselor Hartmeyer Prigg?

Yes.

Counselor Hassan.

Yes.

Counselor Kimmy?

Yes.

Counselor Teeter?

Yes.

Counselor Tivnon?

Yes.

Mayor Beatty.

Yes.

Seven, yes, zero no.

Thank you.

All right.

We have our first presentation of the evening.

Agenda Bill 25155.

And I see Chris Azukian, the executive director of the PRCA.

I don't see any posse with you tonight, so I think it's just you.

Good evening, uh City Councillors.

It's a pleasure to be with you.

Um like the mayor said, this is uh Chris Azukian here, director of the for those of you who don't know the uh the nonprofit BSD.

There you go.

That works.

Thank you.

For those of you who don't know uh who are watching, our nonprofit is uh the operator and manager of the RESER under long-term agreement with the city of Beaverton.

Um thank you again for this opportunity.

Tonight I'll give you an update on fiscal year 25 that uh finished June 30th uh of 2025, so last year.

And the structure of this presentation is 10 fun facts, 10 takeaways, 10 points that I'd like to leave you with today.

Uh it is not about all the programs.

I could spend half an hour just talking about all the wonderful programs and the artists there.

You see some uh pictures here of our upcoming season with some incredible artists coming to the RESER.

Next slide, please.

So let's start with visitors.

Um one of the most important metrics.

Um last year we had 59,000 visitors visits uh at the RECER.

And since opening in 2022, just over three and a half years ago.

In March of 2022, we've had 160,000 uh visits to the RESER.

This far exceeded our expectations many years ago.

Our expectations at this point were about 30 to 40,000 uh visits.

So you can see that people have really embraced the center.

Um people are coming from as far as Seattle, Corvallis, Eugene, and of course, all over the metro area, as far as even Gresham coming out to events.

Next slide, please.

Then I want to give you an idea of activations and usage.

How busy is it at the center?

Um, so you can see fiscal year 24 in this chart here, and then fiscal year 25 in the pink and the variants.

Uh you as far as usage days, we're at 246 usage days.

Attendees, like I mentioned, about 59,000, 194 public events, and 347 activations.

Um those activations are things like uh any public event, of course, private event, as well as uh technical rehearsals and such to activate the space.

We are on a very good track here.

It is a busy performing arts center by all standards.

So this is a very good sign, even between fiscal year 24-25.

We saw saw a slight dip in usage days.

That was because of the skylight repair that happened uh at the beginning of last summer, and also uh we actually didn't lose that many days because of the uh repair in the gallery and the uh to the ceiling.

So even with that, we increased attendees by 23% year over year.

So that is huge.

Um, of course, there's downtime for maintenance and other kinds of prep, and also to give staff a break from once in a while.

So it is not active seven days a week, it averages about five days a week on average.

Uh so this includes, like I said, performances, rehearsals, classes, gallery talks, receptions, fundraisers, business gatherings, you name it.

And it also includes 15 free events that were presented by uh the RESER and also other partners who had you who have used the center that are completely free, in addition to the gallery being free and accessible uh to the public.

Uh next slide.

I want to give you an idea of selected list of renters.

Who is using the RESER?

Uh there are many, many organizations using the RESER, but this actually gives you a sense of some uh arts users as well as non-arts users.

So you uh many of you have been there for events and you know uh some of these organizations, but it's a really wide range from ballet folklorico, which is a uh school here in Beaverton, to um community action, Congressman Bonamici, of course, city events, which are on here because those were quite obvious.

I didn't I didn't list it.

Um, and things like um Columbia Sportswear's North America sales meeting with people from all over the region, uh United States, of course, North America coming to the RESER for two days, and they're actually coming back as well.

Uh next slide, um, more uh users there, including uh commercial promoters of arts events uh as well as uh organizations like Sport Oregon, FAME, and uh other uh schools uh uh in the area as well.

Next slide.

Um the majority, about 80% of our users are actually nonprofit organizations.

So since opening in 2022, uh we have served uh the RESER has specifically been utilized by 142 nonprofit organizations, and for ticketed events by these organizations, we've driven two million dollars of revenue for those organizations.

Uh and this is not counting revenue from fundraisers uh money that they've raised, just the tickets alone.

That's a huge number.

Uh and uh, you know, as you think of the RESER, also think of it as an incubator for nonprofits as well, uh, because we not only provide heavily subsidized low rates for nonprofits, but we uh also provide professional staff from everything from technical staff on stage to our rentals department that helps support the events to front of house uh ushers and such to also marketing uh for many of these organizations.

It is the first time they're using a professional arts center like this, and um we really pride ourselves on and uh holding their hands through the process to make their events a success.

Next slide.

And here are some testimonials from members of the community, including a press quote as well.

Uh, you notice uh here there's a point about the variety of performances and price points to meet the interest and accessibility of all members.

That makes me really proud.

Uh the research is the best thing to happen on the West Side in a long time.

The RESER is a long-awaited welcome addition to our uh Beaverton community, and Willamette Week actually used the words uh world class to describe the REACER and uh attracting high caliber talent.

So that is uh that really makes us proud.

This is just an example of the many, many comments we hear.

I'm very often in the lobby around performances, and I can't tell you how many people come up to me and say how happy they are that the city's invested in the RECER, the RECER exists, and it really impacts people's lives.

Next.

And everything we do at the REASER supports the uh Beaverton's brand as a welcoming city, as a livable city, as an international city.

We really hang our hat on if you've got recognize our presentations in our RESER present series and in the gallery.

We really hang our hat on being international and eclectic.

And these are words that I have used in the past, and now press is now coming back to us uh talking about how uh we are international and eclectic.

And quite often what we hear is Beaverton is doing it right in many ways, but especially with the RECER and in the arts.

Uh it's a shining example of how to how to make a public private partnership for the greater good.

And of course, we always hear I'd rather attend events here.

I don't want to go anywhere else, even though I always say, well, you should support all the venues and all the metro region.

People say it is so convenient convenient and it's so easy to come to the RECER.

They they want to come more.

Next slide, please.

And the RECER, we're a business, right?

We're currently a 4.3 million dollar business and we drive revenue.

There's an economic impact.

According to the Arts for Economic Prosperity Study by Americans for the Arts using their calculator, we have a 23.4 million dollar annual impact in spending by the organization and its audiences.

So people attending, not only buying tickets, but also spending money around the RECERT and in the community because of performances.

We have not yet done an official impact study in uh yet, but uh informally, as I talk to businesses in the area, especially the local restaurants, uh the number quoted is around 20 to 30 percent of increased revenue uh when we are active for those restaurants.

Next slide.

A few accomplishments that are unique to last year.

Of course, we expanded activations like I spoke about and increased attendance.

Uh we provided professional planning for those events and all of the organizations that use the REACER.

Uh we doubled the number of classes we offer.

Um so we have a class series called Arts for Healing, Musical Passport, and we piloted Arts for Healing for Kids for the first time last year in schools, and we're looking to expand that as well in partnership.

For the first time since opening, prior to opening, we had a uh abridged strategic plan, kind of an operational roadmap.

We adopted our first ever strategic plan that carried us carries us through 2028.

We're constantly trying to find ways to build capacity, including reviewing internal processes and restructure and the structure, and we're uh doing some board secession planning.

Um Pat Reese was just named our chair emerita, she's rotating off as chair, still staying on the board, and Kate It's Petros, who we some of you know as a former city employee many years ago, uh, is our current board chair as well, and we're looking to expand the board.

Next slide.

Number eight, operating income overview.

So this slide uh drives the point home in a couple of ways that the City of Beaverton TLT support is crucial to who we are.

Uh we would be a very, very different organization without it, in order to make these programs and this impact that I just spoke about.

Uh last year, you can see here the City of Beaverton lodging tax comprised 37% of our uh budget.

Uh the other uh 27% comes from fundraising that we do, uh donors at all levels, uh, and that's 2600 donors plus last year uh giving to the RECER.

And then the other 36% comes through earned revenue, ticket sales, rental fees, and other sources as well, like concessions and art art gallery sales and such.

Um this City of Beaverton support is really a jumping off point for us.

You can see for every dollar invested by the city, it's almost triple that we use to make an impact to build the budget and to serve the community.

Next slide, please.

So a few things around financial health and investments.

So in the first four years, uh I'm happy to say that we've avoided deficits, uh, which is uh uncommon in the arts organization landscape, thanks to all of our support, the city of Beaverton and also all of our funders and supporters.

We grew an operating cash reserve in order to weather future downturns and emergencies, and we reinvested uh $600,000 plus in in of operating revenues back into the building and amenities.

So these are things you can see some examples there, like adding stage moving lights, uh audio upgrades, upgrades to the lab, addressing some deferred maintenance over the first few years, expand expanding communication systems and video system upgrades.

All of these things have a direct impact on uh what's available at the RECERT, and they're available to all of the users of the RECER, the community uh users.

So we're always looking at making the building better every year.

By the way, this is a separate than where we have uh a mechanism we have a called a facility improvement fund, where a portion of every ticket goes into the fund as well as the city donates to the fund as well, matches it for future upgrades, you know, should there be a root major upgrade necessary to the roof and such.

We have not tapped into that account yet.

Continuing with financials next slide, please.

I wanted to spend uh a couple of minutes talking about financial investments, but also financial risk.

And this may not be known to people, but in order to activate the RECE, we carry some amount of financial risk.

That that season that you saw on that first slide that we're about to start, um we we invest in those artists, and whether or not people show up, we have to pay those artists.

So, for example, last year we invested $752,000 in the RECER present series, and we brought in $620,000 in ticket sales, because as you can imagine in a 550 seat theater, uh you can only drive so much revenue.

And so we cover the gap through fundraising.

And so the other point here is that because uh there's this fair amount of risk, we budget conservatively.

So, for example, if there was a 10% fluctuation, a relatively minor fluctuation in ticket sales, that's $62,000 and more loss.

This is last year.

So we're all we're still discovering what people will come out to see.

We're still testing different things, and um overall, we're we're not only presenting things that are commercially successful and popular, but we're investing in our public policy and community goals to um be bold in our programming, and we're not always sure that it's gonna sell, right?

So, but we would believe in programming that is international in scope and also champions voices that may not uh be commercial successes.

These are not all the greatest hits.

These are uh programs and presentations that we feel that people need to see, and there is inherently some risk in that.

But the risk is paying off because people are noticing.

And finally, my last slide is looking to the future.

So in our new strategic plan, uh we have a very simple uh strategic vision, which is uh we envision a future where the RECER will become indispensable to the community one day.

Not just a nice to have, but a need to have, a place where people might not attend every year, but they know, and it's the pride of Beaverton.

It's almost uh I liken it to a sports team where people feel like I don't always go, but I know they're here, and they do good for me and my family.

That's the overarching vision many years from now.

We're on that road, but what I love about this vision also is it's is outward facing.

We we serve this strategic vision every day when we do our work.

How can we make ourselves indispensable to our community?

And there's five key areas with strategic directions.

You have a copy of the strategic plan, but to brief briefly mention the areas we're focused on, uh infrastructure and building capacity, artistic programming and a variety of offerings, uh, revenue generation, always finding new ways to bring in revenue, uh, arch education, uh partnering with schools and uh uh creating a community of lifelong learners, and uh community engagement and access working with partners to make the research accessible for everybody.

Uh last slide, please.

And um, so I just want to say a big thank you to the partnership.

It's working very well.

It is a model partnership that took many, many years to set up, and uh we're on the right path to continue to take care of this beautiful asset that we have together called the Patricia Research Center for the Arts.

Thank you.

Thank you, Chris, for this presentation.

Um I will tell you that I was thinking after last month I met with you and the board chair and the assistant and Pat Reese for lunch.

Um I left that lunch thinking that this is probably some of the most meaningful board position I've had as the mayor, and I serve on a lot of boards.

Um, and I've had a lot of opportunity to give input into nonprofits and for profits in this role in building and construction.

And I say that because I think you would agree, although you don't have to publicly, I was probably your hardest city counselor to deal with.

I think I pushed you the hardest in the model.

I wanted to be operational.

I remember sitting on the diocese.

What happens if people don't check into hotel rooms and you guys were like, oh, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

I mean, that was like a that's not exactly what he said.

He said something very polite and kind because that's how he is.

But the idea that TLT would go away was so crazy when we were building this, and no one believed it, but through your leadership and the fortification, like we have really withstood what is the absolute worst thing that could happen to a center that is reliant on tourists.

Um I I would say as the person that was the largest naysayer, and that was a direct quote from Pat Reese, um, that we have come full circle.

And this this uh performing arts center is the jewel of Beaverton, and I think we have such an opportunity.

And I will just tell you as the mayor, that is very um hard when city funds are involved.

If we are always the whole funder, it means that there's not as much community buy-in and value.

So when you present the financials that we are a third, that just speaks such volumes of the work that you're doing there that other people believe in the building, and you have this you know, we're investing in artists that wouldn't normally get a platform, we have nonprofits in the building.

You could turn the dial and make more money in that building if we forced you to do it.

But I think you heard the heart of the council, the programming reflects all the values that we have, and just thank you.

And I will tell you at the end that I do have this uh gift for you because everywhere I go, people want like dignitary gifts.

And every state representator says, I want something about Beaver 10 to hang in the Capitol.

So I commissioned these posters with my favorite Beaverton sign.

And if you're familiar, it's the brown one.

And we put the reserve right in the middle.

And so these are framed.

I do have one for you at the end as well to take back.

But this is when people say, What is Beaverton?

This is what Beaverton means to me.

So thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Beatty.

Counselor Hussen.

Yeah, thank you, Chris, for coming.

We're always supposed to keep our comments short.

So I just I want to say, like, as you were talking about your programming and the work that you do and the work that you've done, like I do see that like desire for inclusivity.

Like I've gone to some of the events, free, not free, and it's just it's such a delight.

And I want to commend the work that I've seen you all do around just inclusion and some of these free events.

Because I do think when when I joined, it was like, is everyone gonna have access to this like really nice building and what does that look like?

And even though there was a volunteer who didn't love my daughter laying on the floor in the middle, I was able to share with you that maybe we should talk with our volunteers and how they talk to some of our kids.

So I really appreciate the level of inclusiveness that you've strived to have in that center, and I see that in the events and the event planning.

So thank you for the presentation.

Thank you, Councillor Hosen.

And just as a side note for the council, I'm having Repo Graphic run thank you cards for you guys to have a stack of these to use uh for yourself as well to hand out to other people.

And if you'd like a poster, because Ashley stole one out of my office when she was up there visiting last week.

Um, happy to give you one as well.

Okay, second presentation of the evening.

Um, and sorry, I don't have a gift for you, but the straight street maintenance fee is oh, I'm sorry, no, it is the um the IT strategic plan.

Yeah, no, it's it's cool you could do that.

And I'll send this to you in an AI form, and then you could have it too.

Right.

Good evening, mayor and counselors.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak here today.

I'm Travis Lucky, the city's chief information officer and the director of the information technology and services department, uh, which is abbreviated ITS.

So I'll be referring to ITS throughout this presentation.

I'm here to share an overview of the city's 2025 to 2028 IT strategic plan.

This plan is a result of months of collaboration across departments and reflects a shared vision for how technology can support and strengthen city services.

The plan was finalized and formally approved at the end of last year by the city's IT steering committee.

I'll talk more about that group later.

The plan is designed to align with the city's goals, guide decision making, and ensure we're delivering secure, reliable, and effective IT solutions that serve both staff and our community.

And as it happens, today is National IT Professionals Day, a perfect opportunity to recognize the exceptional work of our ITS team.

These are the folks behind the scenes who make the magic happen from maintaining our infrastructure to launching new services that keep pace with Beaverton's ever changing needs.

So as we get started, I'd like to give a heartfelt thank you to the city's IT professionals for their dedication, their teamwork, and for their truly exceptional service.

Let's begin by reviewing the purpose of creating our IT strategic plan.

Number one, establish a clear and actionable roadmap.

The plan outlines where we're going and how we'll get there.

It provides structure and direction for IT investments and initiatives.

Number two, align and integrate with the city's goals and priorities.

Technology should support the broader mission of the city.

This plan ensures that IT efforts are coordinated with council's priorities and the needs of departments.

Number three, maximize value for city employees and the community.

We're focused on delivering services that are efficient, effective, and meaningful, whether that's internal tools for staff or digital services for the public.

Number four, promote customer service and continuous improvement.

ITS is committed to being responsive, helpful, and always looking for ways to improve.

The plan reinforces that mindset across all service areas.

Number five, guide decision making, prioritization, and resourcing.

With limited resources, we need to be strategic.

The plan helps us make more informed choices about where to focus time, funding, and staff capacity.

And number six, provide transparency in IT services and operations.

We want to be clear about what we do, how we do it, and why.

The plan helps build trust by making our goals and progress visible to stakeholders.

Next, we'll look at the current state of the IT organization.

Before we look ahead, it's important to understand where we are today.

Context about staffing, systems, and services helps ensure that our goals are realistic, our priorities are informed, and our resources are aligned with actual needs.

ITS has 33 team members in five divisions administration, enterprise applications, GIS services, that stands for geographic information systems, IT operations, and web services.

One of our key strengths is the Beaverton IT Steering Committee, or BITS Committee, which plays a central role in IT governance.

It includes representatives from every city department, which ensures that our strategy reflects a broad range of perspectives and that IT decisions are made with citywide collaboration and alignment.

The city has approximately 1,200 PCs and laptops, 500 mobile devices, and 85 servers.

ITS supports approximately 200 off-the-shelf applications and another 125 custom in-house applications and services.

The ITS budget for the current fiscal year is 12.8 million.

I won't go through each one today, but I included them to show the breadth of our team's work.

From cybersecurity and GIS to application development and customer support, there's always a lot of interesting work happening across the team.

This exercise helped us take stock of what's working well, where we have gaps, and what trends or risks we need to be mindful of moving forward.

It also gave us a chance to reflect on how ITS is perceived and to identify areas where we can build momentum or where we need to course correct.

Starting at the top left, under strengths, we identified timeliness of support, customer service, communication, having an engaged IT steering committee, that's the BITS Committee.

And we also noted that ITS is valued by IT or by city leadership.

Under weaknesses, that included a shortage of analysts with expertise in specialized business applications, a large number having a large number of custom in-house applications, and the administrative overhead related to that, lack of a formalized IT project management office and project governance standards, and number four, historical underinvestment in IT systems and services.

Lack of a formalized IT project management office and project governance standards.

And number four, historical underinvestment in IT systems and services.

Under opportunities, we identified artificial intelligence services, collaboration with peer jurisdictions, the opportunity to develop a cloud smart strategy, which I'll talk more about soon, and modernization with citywide perspective.

And under threats, the group identified changing regular a changing regulatory landscape, expanding state reporting requirements, rapidly evolving cyber threats and integration challenges with new off-the-shelf solutions.

At the heart of our IT strategic plan is our mission, why we exist and what we're here to do.

I believe it's important to be clear about our purpose, especially in a field as broad and fast moving as IT.

So our mission statement is to be a customer centric and collaborative technology organization that enables the city of Beaverton to achieve its goals by delivering secure, reliable, and effective IT solutions.

Now let's look at the top four objectives that are the foundation of our strategic plan.

These were the result of all sorts of analysis, research, discussion, and collaboration.

Each one is designed to address current needs, anticipate future challenges, and ensure that technology continues to be a strong enabler of city services.

Number one, strengthen cybersecurity and data privacy measures.

This objective led us to identify nine specific initiatives, such as voluntary third party security audits, developing a cybersecurity roadmap, and training staff on how to effectively manage their data.

Number two, advanced digital equity and accessibility.

Here we identified four initiatives, such as implementing free public Wi-Fi on the bookmobile and making a specialized AI writing and grammar tool available for staff who could use a hand with professional writing and grant and grammar in the English language.

Number three, improve staff productivity citywide through effective use of IT services.

This one led to seven initiatives, such as establishing an AI policy and providing AI training, leading quarterly citywide IT learning sessions, and refreshing ITS processes and metrics.

And number four, modernize and consolidate IT systems and processes.

Here we identified eight initiatives, such as developing a modernization plan for our in-house software, launching a project to transition finance and HR into a new cloud platform, and relocating the city's data center, which houses our 85 servers and other IT equipment.

All right, let's talk about AI, which, as you probably noticed, is kind of a big deal right now.

It's everywhere from how we write emails to how we manage city services.

And while it can feel a little futuristic, our AI strategy is very grounded.

The overarching goal is to be a leader in responsible AI technology adoption.

To do that, we to achieve that goal, we use AI services to drive efficiency while helping fulfill the city's mission and the city council's goals and priorities.

Meanwhile, we proactively manage risks associated with AI services in areas such as security, privacy, and accuracy.

We established a comprehensive AI policy and published citywide training resources in 2024.

And the city currently uses AI for diverse purposes such as content creation, automation, security, and the cute little chat bot on our website.

I would also like to add that we carried out a four-month pilot evaluation of Microsoft's co-pilot AI earlier this year with participants from various city departments.

At the end of the pilot, participants reported that it saved them an average of 97 minutes per week, which is approximately a 4% boost in productivity.

That's a significant increase.

We've now made Copilot Chat broadly available to provide these benefits to staff across the city.

I should also note that our Microsoft Services Agreement ensures that data staff enter into Copilot is kept private and secure.

Now let's look at our cloud smart strategy, which is all about being intentional and strategic in how we use cloud technologies.

The goal is to reduce the overall cost of IT investments while improving agility, scalability, reliability, security, and maintainability.

Whole portfolio of ilities there.

Generally speaking, the less we run in-house, the less time we have to spend on maintenance, like upgrading hardware or installing software patches.

This gets our folks out of the engine room and allows them to spend more time delivering valuable new capabilities and insights to city staff.

Looking next at our guiding principles, first we prioritize the use of third-party solutions instead of building custom solutions from scratch.

This helps us move faster, reduce overhead, and take advantage of best practices.

Second, when we do implement new systems, we focus on configuring them to meet our needs rather than heavily customizing them.

That means adapting our processes where it makes sense so we can stay nimble and avoid locking ourselves into expensive or hard to maintain custom solutions.

This approach helps us deliver better services faster and ensures we're investing in technology that can grow and evolve with the city.

This slide highlights some of the great progress we've already made in pursuit of our strategic objectives.

Let's see, starting from the top, we established an IT project management office.

If you'll remember, that was found as one of our weaknesses in the SWOT analysis.

We've addressed that.

We've increased investments in cybersecurity.

We've launched a cloud IT services management platform, moving out of a custom in-house solution.

We've piloted and launched Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot Chat AI, which I spoke about earlier.

We created an AI center of excellence and a digital accessibility hub on our intranet site for staff.

Both of those are one-stop shops for information and support to help employees make the most of those technologies.

We've led citywide trainings in cybersecurity and accessibility.

And we've completed major upgrades to enterprise platforms.

The biggest upgrades included systems used by public works, courts, the city attorney's office, community development, and our largest GIS mapping and data analysis platform.

Some of those systems had fallen several versions behind, so we've also improved processes to ensure we keep platforms up to date moving forward.

There have also been major architectural upgrades on our in-house applications to improve performance now and to help prepare for future transitions into third-party systems.

Looking ahead, there's a lot to be excited about.

This slide highlights some big initiatives that are underway or coming up soon.

These projects reflect the priorities outlined in the strategic plan and show how we're continuing to move the work forward, both behind the scenes and in ways that directly impact the community.

Top of the list is implementing free public Wi-Fi on the bookmobile.

Working to comply with new federal digital accessibility requirements by April of 2026.

Transitioning the data center from Griffith Park to the public safety center, hiring a vendor to coordinate requirements gathering for the finance and HR modernization project, modernizing the portfolio of in-house applications, and using the new service management platform to streamline customer service functions citywide.

So we're currently implementing that new service management platform, which we already launched for IT for our IT service desk.

We're now launching it for human resources, and we have several more teams lined up after them.

It's a great system that automates workflows, provides transparency into the status of requests, allows customer feedback, and tracks metrics to help teams improve.

Although this survey predates the IT strategic plan, they are linked.

The plan details how we'll meet the city's needs, and the survey measures our performance in doing that.

There are a couple of things worth noting here.

The first two categories tend to score a bit lower because they cover a wide range of services, from devices and peripherals to software and online systems.

As we discussed earlier, we have a large portfolio of custom in-house applications, many of which are pretty old.

Modernization is a priority, but that will take years.

Overall, these numbers are great.

I'm encouraged by the upward trend, but we also know that satisfaction will never hit 100%.

If we did, I would seriously question the numbers.

Our goal is to level off above certain thresholds.

For the first two categories where we have less immediate control, we aim for 80% satisfaction.

For the other three, where performance is more directly tied to our team's work, we target 90%.

As you can see from the graph, we are achieving these goals.

I'm incredibly proud of the ITS team, not just for these strong results, but for their commitment to listening, learning, and delivering consistently great service.

In the city of Beaverton, technology truly runs on teamwork.

Thank you all for your time today and for your continued support of the city's technology efforts.

I also want to give a big shout out to the IT Strategic Planning Committee, the BITS Committee, and all the city staff who contributed their time, ideas, and feedback to help shape that plan.

And of course, a huge shout out to the ITS team.

As I said at the start of tonight's presentation, they're the ones who make the magic happen.

Strategic planning isn't always glamorous, but it's essential.

And I'm grateful to work with people who bring both thoughtfulness and heart to the process.

This concludes my presentation this evening.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.

Awesome.

Thank you, Travis.

I I will say, as a geriatric millennial who's very tech dependent but not tech savvy.

I know when my office calls down to have someone come up and fix my stuff, they probably feel like who drew the short straw and has to go deal with the mayor today.

Um but I will just say the word that stuck out to me in your presentation that I feel that you need a lot of kudos for is the customer service aspect.

I think there's only one other employee that I can see in the audience that's worked at City Hall longer than me, and I will tell you that is not always been the case.

And so to really see the change of culture that you've created around customer service and seeing yourself as this vital part of the team that makes the rest of the city work.

I see it, I see it in your staff, I see it in the way that they come and talk to us, um, the openness for AI and the other things.

So I'm just really um thankful to have you leading this department at the city.

I do understand the in-house stuff that we have is complicated, and I want to strategically think about how we can bring in revenue to the city to be a more tech and data driven city because people expect that from government, but they just don't want to pay for it, which is challenging.

And even the council the time says, you know, we want to make data-driven decisions, and it's really hard when we don't invest in the technology that drives the data that we need.

So I'm hopeful that we can continue this conversation with AI, that it becomes a more regular part of our work here, and that we can look for other ways and opportunities for investments to make sure that we are a city that's leading in technology.

So thank you.

Councilor President.

Oh, sorry.

Counselor Hussen.

I have just two questions.

In terms of like security, I was we're having this conversation about like data protection and privacy and like how are we vetting our systems?

Like, is there a process that you're using as you vet for software that we use?

Because I just think that's like on everyone's mind, and I know this is a presentation, but I think it would help for people to hear that from you.

Yeah, absolutely.

Thank you.

Thank you for the question.

Uh we do vet vendors for all of our uh technology software and services uh that we uh whether AI or more uh services outside of that category.

Uh we look for compliance with standards, uh we look at their privacy policy, uh, we look in the agreements, their end user license agreements for terms that are uh giving that will give us confidence that our privacy will be protected.

Is there a world, and I this might be an attorney question, but like uh Scott and I have been speaking a lot about data privacy and like how are we ensuring that that when we have vendors that are that are looking at our data that they are truly aren't selling it or they truly aren't sharing it, are there like models or policies out there that are helping protect institutions from this kind of thing, to your knowledge?

Uh there are there are standards and certifications that some of our providers, especially those where we would uh tend to be hosting more sensitive data that provide third part third-party attestation to the security controls, the security environment, uh, and uh the adherence by whatever that vendor is to those standards and they submit uh for regular uh re-audit and assessment to uh reattest to that compliance.

Okay, and I just for everyone's context, like I think everyone's in this like you're taking my photo, whereas this right, like we're just in a really different world, and so like making sure that we have systems in place and talking about what's in our contracts to protect us to make sure that we're not sharing data.

And is there a way to say like if you share our data, this happens, right?

And so just having that conversation.

I'm assuming this presentation is the strategic plan.

Is that correct?

No, this isn't thank thank you for that clarifying question.

This is an overview of the strategic plan.

The strategic plan is a 37-page Word document.

And it will we can find it on the City of Beaverton website someday, so it is not published publicly.

Okay.

Uh we could get you a copy, absolutely.

Sure.

I well, when you had said transparency, I was just looking for it.

So I I'd love to take a peek.

So thank you so much.

Appreciate it.

Thank you for the questions.

Yeah, uh, thanks, Travis, for essentially to you and your team for a thankless job, right?

Like, like I'm gonna publicly say that, right?

Like uh it's easy to complain when things go wrong, but often uh it seems much harder to say thank you for all the uptime and for all the things that go right.

So please extend my thanks.

Uh kind of an ask um for not necessarily for right now or for uh or for follow-up, but I I I think I think it would be really helpful to me as you come back before us to really enunciate particularly things um, you know.

I look at we we look out at that eight council pillars, right?

And I think about um, you know, I look at look at them right now, and I think IT and particularly AI, right?

Like that's really kind of noisy in the community's noise in the world right now.

It's a very big topic.

I've gotten questions about it, right?

Like, and I think about its potential impact on some of our community members, right?

I'm just looking at inclusive community, right?

Uh I know in my former day job we're using AI to do things like lingu live language translation, and and it was expanding the amount of languages that we could service massively, right?

Going from two to three to 70 with uh just a simple capability.

Not saying we need to do that, not interested.

That's that's a decision for operation staff, but like those sort of impact things as they relate to IT, particularly uh in relation to those eight council priors.

If you uh if you could just kind of enunciate the next time, I think I think that would be really helpful to me because I kind of want to share your story and the story of the team to our community members.

Um, and this was kind of the framework that we do that.

So just sort of a future ask.

Because I I get really nerdy with you.

I get really excited about this work, and I'm I'm just really proud of the team and I want to tell that story, especially as we kind of enhance our capabilities for the public-facing stuff.

Thank you for the feedback.

And I'm regretting not including a slide that shows that.

Good news is when you receive the 37-page word document, it's in there as a table that aligns every strategic initiative with city and council priorities.

Awesome.

Thank you so much.

Yep.

Finally.

Thank you.

Uh thank you for your presentation.

I hope you guys celebrated with some balloons and you know, cakes for your IT professional day.

You know, their own pocket, you know.

Charge me, charge to me.

I don't know.

Um I did buy cookies today.

Oh, wonderful.

Yeah.

Next time let me know.

I can buy a juice or something.

Oh, one quick question.

The data center transfer to uh uh I guess public safety.

Last time I went through the I guess our group of Griffith building with the IT.

Um, I mentioned something about have you considered using the cloud?

And one of the feedback was they were hesitant because of maintenance issue that they they cannot uh if there's something goes down, they cannot immediately uh tackle the issue and fix it.

Uh what are your thoughts on that and then uh cost effectiveness of maybe moving to cloud on that data?

Thank you for the question.

Our cloud smart strategy has changed that historical perspective that you just cited.

Okay.

And so now for every project or initiative we do, we're going to look to cloud services first.

If there is not uh an available cloud service that will meet our needs, second choice is something we can buy off the shelf and then install and host internally.

Third choice behind that will be build something on our own.

And so, as a part of that data center migration, we are also working to reduce our footprint of servers.

Uh many of the existing in-house servers, uh, there is not their serving needs that are intrinsically um suited for physical service.

Uh however, for instance, we have a file server that has thousands and thousands of files, many, many, many gigabytes going back many years, uh, and that server uh or our file servers have been in place for decades.

Uh, we are working to move department by department data into the Microsoft 365 cloud, Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft SharePoint, online cloud resources to reduce that administrative overhead and get our team increasingly out of the engine room.

But these processes take time.

But these processes take time, so a good percentage of the servers we have in Griffith will be moving.

Um but we are definitely asking ourselves that question every step of the way.

Also, I'll just note that I know that you're also balancing a present public presentation like this with security and why we would not post our strategic plan online so that way um enemies could possibly get it.

But I do think counselor Hassan's point of how uh data is safeguarded is something we should be posting.

So I I think uh a good breakdown between what we need to let the public know that we're safeguarding their information with the very real security risks that exist when our IT plans are out in the public sphere.

So uh the council, of course, has a great degree of security clearance to see the plan, but it's something we would not be posting.

So thank you for joining us this evening and happy IT day.

And counselor Kimmy is gonna bring some juice by nearly all right, we'll look forward to that.

Thank you all very much.

I appreciate the opportunity to be here.

All right, cool.

All right, we are on to our public hearing.

The next item on the agenda is a public hearing on ordinance number 4872.

An ordinance amending Beaverton Code section 2.06.415 and 2.06.435 relating to the voter pamphlet statement.

Anyone wishing to speak at this hearing should follow the instructions included on tonight's agenda.

For those attending in person, please complete a yellow visitor card found on the table near the door in the back of the council chambers and give the card to the city recorder sitting to the end of the dais to the right of me.

Each members of the public will have two minutes to speak.

When you speak, please give your name, city of residence for the record, and council members may ask you questions as well as of the city attorney or staff.

So if you come and talk to us, know that we could ask questions back.

Thank you.

Is there any staff presentation this evening?

Yes, Mayor, there's a let's go.

I'll be on.

Can you hear me now?

Big just kidding.

Um that would allow for the digital publication of the voters' pamphlet.

So currently the code language prescribes that the voters' pamphlet must be mailed to each household in the city where there's at least one registered voter that resides in the household, but this does not allow for digital publication.

So trans transitioning to the digital would save operational costs.

We estimate about $20,000 annually.

This was actually put into the budget on this assumption.

And so, should council agree to modernize the language.

Um, I have a proposed implementation that I'm looking for feedback on this evening.

Uh one would be to mail voters' pamphlet postcards to residents with a QR code.

We would also provide a limited number of printed copies of the voter pamphlet for residents at public facilities throughout the city, uh, including but not limited to City Hall, Main Library, Marshall Branch, and applicable teach PRD facilities such as LC STER.

We would provide website online accessibility, implement a social media awareness campaign, and then of course use other communication methods such as your city.

Alternatively, um, we could do it differently for the 26 uh election year, and staff can continue with the past practice and mail the voters' pamphlet while making it digitally accessible as well.

Um so I would like feedback this evening from council on the implementation, and of course, before you is to decide whether you want to modernize uh the code language.

Uh, just a note that if you chose not to um continue with the digital process, then we would not receive a savings of 20,000.

And so this could be this pie could be carved up any which way.

The council prefers we could delay um the implementation of the digital and transition slowly.

But again, I just would like the council's feedback with with that implementation process.

So that concludes my remarks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I will just tell you from my own personal perspective.

I think this year should be an and year that we do it digitally and mail, and then in the future, I would like us to uh send postcards or another way.

And as probably one of 200 people in the city that read voter pamphlet statements, I very much enjoy them, but I understand the cost.

Anyone else?

Any more?

Any questions of staff?

No.

Okay.

Um I will now open the public hearing.

Is there anyone here to speak on tonight's resolution?

Adam Mayor, there is no one in person or online.

All right.

Well, I will now close the public hearing.

What is the pleasure of the council?

Okay.

I'll make the motion.

Uh I move that the council adopt an ordinance amending Beaverton Code Section 2.06.415 and 2.06.435 relating to the voters pamphlet.

Second.

It's been moved by the council president and seconded by counselor Hassan.

And it looks like we have some people coming in on the topic.

Counselor Hussen.

Hartmeyer Prigg.

Oh, sorry, this moves so fast.

Council Hartmeyer Prigg.

Thank you.

I will be voting in support of this motion tonight.

I'm I do have a point of clarification on how to give feedback to the question.

Do we do we handle the motion and then we discuss?

We can give it now.

Or I give it with my give it.

I would give it now.

Okay.

Um I am fully in support of us going digital.

As someone who is alone on a ballot, I know it costs the city a lot of money to run that election to print about to print a voter pamphlet.

Uh I would love to see uh how we can collaborate with county elections.

Uh the candidates are already going to be putting into that.

Um so I would like us to capitalize on community resource here and maybe see what we can do.

Um, since that will be printed, work with the county on theirs and having our digitally published version is satisfactory to me.

Um I mean, I I actually I want to support that.

I at first the sort of gen Y millennial and me was like, oh my god, we can't.

And then I remembered that we have county voter pamphlet statements.

So in case you're wondering, the county sent out voter pamphlet statements also, and so what happens for Beaverton City is that city council and the city of Beaverton also puts out their own voter pamphlet statement.

And so I think that sort of reality that every home is actually getting a voter's pamphlet statement, and I'm getting a head nod to that.

Uh gave me a little bit more confidence in feeling comfortable to go digital.

Uh I support QR codes.

My parents can't do that.

Um, but that's just the people that I hang out with.

So um I'm not sure that like a QR code is the way to go.

I would like to ensure though that we are putting this in places.

So I want to see it at LC STER.

Um, I want to see it at the libraries.

Obviously, it's important to partner with them on how many copies and where, but anywhere that's in the Beaverton City limits, I think absolutely should have some level of printed copies so people can access this uh it with their hands should they want to, those 200 people.

Thanks.

Well, and I do think it's uh a good reminder that nobody else besides City can put into our voter pamphlet statement, so it's not one that other partners rely on, but getting out and seeing it is important.

Counselor Duggar.

Oh good God, I am really messing this up today.

I didn't have any copy.

Counselor Teter.

Thanks, Mayor.

You guys just manage yourselves from now on.

Yes, okay, sounds good.

You don't want that.

Uh I support this motion.

I I do think it's important to clarify that the motion on the floor and the change in our code is just requiring digital.

We still have the option to do printed as the city manager said.

Uh so I don't want people to be afraid that we would never do any form of printed.

Um I appreciate the mayor's comments just before uh the motion was made.

I think I agree with that perspective with our city elections coming up this next year and with potential levy on the ballot.

I think we've got some crucial crucial information that we want to get out to voters, and I would hate to see a reduction in some voter turnout and at a time when the city may really, really need it.

Uh I would be open to going with some sort of postcard.

Um postcard with some information about future elections.

Um I wouldn't be ready to do that yet, just because of our our levy conversations and upcoming elections.

Um having some printed pamphlets available at City Hall or the library or some other uh very public locations.

I was just trying not to name the levy as a reason I thought we should do both, but thanks.

Counselor T or Counselor Duggar.

Um yeah, I'm definitely gonna be supporting this.

Uh it makes a lot of sense.

I actually agree strongly with Councilor Hartmeyer Prigg and Huston that the fully digital.

Um the only exception in my mind is when we run special elections and the county is not doing a digital version.

I think uh I I could support a printed version then.

Uh but in general, uh we also create a lot of waste.

Like this is this is a lot of trees and a lot of paper and a lot of things like that, and a lot of cost.

So it is a cost issue, but it's also a uh we're we're do duplicating as counselor Huston pointed out, uh the county's work.

Uh and and I can even say the standards are different, right?

Like the city one was is much longer.

Uh so from an elected person, not that anyone cares, but it makes it complicated because then you have to come up with two different formats for us, you know.

And so I think anytime we can simplify that, uh, it makes a lot of sense.

So I I fully intend to support this.

Strongly encourages.

I actually would not go as far as sending QR codes.

Um personally.

Uh I just don't know that maybe that makes me a boomer.

I don't know.

I don't know what the what the uh what the the appropriate term is, but like I just don't uh they're confusing to me.

And um, you know, I think we can use our city newsletter appropriately, uh, particularly if there's one that comes out.

Um around that time of the elections, I think we can because people do read that.

I hear a lot of our constituents, and we could even include a paragraph describing what's going on or an article.

Um, but it just seems like if we send another one, I think we we we get a lot of mail already, and and we run into this whole like we're desensitizing people unless we only send important things.

So um that would be my two cents.

I do think when you watch your comments back on recording, you're you are gonna be like, oh my god, I'm a boomer.

I'm confused by the format.

I can't do two different things at once.

Um and just uh as a reminder, because it it's hard to know all the election laws, but if we run a special election, the county is required, we pay them, they will send they their their uh they send out a printed one.

They don't only ever it's part of their their strategy.

So if we end up in that situation of having to do a special election, that's why there's a fee involved.

It's to cover the mail and all that stuff.

So we we have that this language would give us the ability to do both, but we would never be in a position that if we don't do it, no one's gonna get it because we are not, we don't we facilitate elections, but we they handle elections.

It's just an important piece.

Counselor Tibnon, welcome to the conversation.

Thank you.

Um I'm going to support this tonight, but I'm heavily weighting that by saying that if not for the budget issues we've been having, I I wouldn't be doing this.

And also the fact that the county is going to be printing this.

So we know that there's there's uh some redundancy that already exists.

But that being said, you have to pay for both as a candidate.

And some chose only, I think, to be in one or the other.

It's not when you're running for a seat on the city council.

Um it's not one check that you send out, you have to opt in to both of the voters' pamphlets.

And um I'm uh sorry, I'm not feeling very well tonight, so I'm gonna try and sort my thoughts here.

But we talk a lot about engagement and outreach and making sure that people know about things and how important that is to us that we're creating as much accessibility in getting the word out to people.

And we talk about how to leverage things like bills and um uh flyers and and other things that we do disseminate out into the community.

And to me, there's nothing more bedrock than the people that are running for these seats.

So it I I am concerned about us um not getting it quite right out of the gate with with accessibility to the voters' pamphlet and making sure that people can find it and even know where to look.

And I'd say QR codes, yes, for those who know how to use them, great.

But also um, how else are we going to be broadcasting where to access the pamphlet?

And the the other part of it is um yes to the library, yes to uh assisted living centers to city hall itself and any other publicly owned building, I think we need to have them accessible there as well.

I'd even go so far to as to say if there was a way for people to opt in to say please mail me one, um, that we entertained the idea of that as well.

But um I I will support it tonight, but it's with some concerns.

Well, I I just need to point out that counselor Tibon's husband works for the big mail carrier and she's trying to solidify his job to make sure that uh all the mail pieces get hand walked out.

So just slightly kidding.

Counselor Kimmy.

Um yeah, I'll be fully supporting this.

Uh I'm actually excited about going digital because uh we had every time there's an election, I I get a phone call.

Like what is this about?

Then I have to like sit down and translate.

So if you go fully digital, we don't have to worry about translation, language access, we still have a lot of issues that way.

We still have a lot of issues that way.

So if it's just printed English, and you need a translator or somebody to help to translate and then give them information.

But you can't with IAI and whatever Google translator, you can just put it and translate and fully understand it.

So I'm excited about it.

So I'll be full, I'll be supporting this.

Counselor Teter.

I'm glad we can make your life easier.

I hate going twice, but I want to jump in.

Um Counselor Councillor Duggar reminded me uh about the your city publication we send out.

And I mentioned this, the city manager before too.

Like that is a prime opportunity for us to get it out into voter hands without printing a full new document.

So yes to that, like front page or front and last page, like vote for the levy, or like here's who's running for your local office too.

I think that just people will read that.

They get a lot of election postcards.

I've sent them.

Many of them are thrown away, but uh the your city people are excited about that.

So I would be very excited about that uh in the future.

I'm still not sure about this upcoming election if I want to change or not.

Well, as a reminder that we cannot use city resources to talk about campaigns.

Once the council refers it to the ballot, it is our responsibility.

So anything that happens in any kind of referral we do.

Once we refer it to the ballot, city can answer facts and say factual things, but it cannot be used as a campaign tool.

So keep that in mind as the city manager will come back with the plan for us.

But I think we could stick stuff into the MyCity newsletter, but we shouldn't be thinking about the your city as a campaign tool that we can turn on and turn off to get what we want out of uh a voting outcome.

So um it's challenging, but um that's kind of the dance between the elected role and the staff role, and having served on the council when we did the um bond for the police station twice.

Um staff is very factual in what they say, like here's the money, here's the thing, but they can't be persuasive, and if we do persuasive things, it has to be done a different way.

So we could pay to enter the city voter pamphlet statement, but we can't just co-opt it for our own use.

With that, will the recorder call the role?

Counselor Duggar?

Yes.

Counselor Hartmayer Prigg?

Yes.

Counselor Hassan?

Yes.

Counselor Kimmy?

Yes.

Counselor Teter?

Yes.

Counselor Tivnon?

Yes.

Mayor Beatty.

Yes.

Seven, yes, 0 no.

All right.

The next item on the agenda is the first reading of an ordinance.

On October 7th, 2025, during a regularly scheduled city council meeting, a public hearing will be held regarding an ordinance abending Beaverton Code BC section 4.04.060, 4.06.1 or 010 and 4.06.020 and repealing Beaverton Code 4.04.065 and 4.06.030 relating to the sewer and storm water drainage utility charges.

And with that, we are moving on to our first work session of the evening.

Agenda Bill 25159 parking permit work plan.

Uh hello, good evening, Mayor and City Council.

Uh, I'm joined by CDD director Andy Varner and uh Molly Rivet Rabinefits, the parking manager, and we are here to chat about downtown parking permits and have a work session on them.

And I'm Casey Graziano, the parking operations manager.

Thank you.

Um tonight we have questions for the city council, uh, parking permit program history and updates, parking permit fee study findings, and price considerations and potential program adjustments, and then an opportunity for a QA.

So the questions for council tonight are uh what parking permit fee and schedule would city council like to implement in 2026, and what programmatic adjustments would city council like to see moving forward, if any.

Um so the parking permit program was created by ordinance 3971 uh in 1997.

Um current permit prices were established in the 1997 ordinance, and few substantial updates have happened until 2022.

Um that being said, we have had some permit area expansions since then uh done by traffic commission and then approved by city council.

But in 2022, with the beginning of the pilot program, the parking compliance pilot program, we transitioned the permits to license plate-based permits, online applications, issuance, and renewals.

The total permit issuance was capped at 175 along with a waiting list as needed.

And we recently adjusted residential permits from an annual renewal to a quarterly renewal to help keep the permit supply refreshed.

So this is some graphics on how many permits we've issued and how many of them have been employee versus residential.

And in 2023, we issued 305 permits.

2024 we issued 271, and then so far to date we've issued 175.

So staff surveyed our peers or other Oregon cities in Southwest uh Washington municipalities, and we found that most cities charge for something, the lowest being $0 per month, median 4250, highest $50 per month, with a total average of 4908 per month.

And that's for residential employee parking varies.

Some of them are off-street, some of them are on street.

Um the lowest was $10 per month, median was $30, the highest was $125, but that was off-street, and then the average is $52.82.

Oh, and I should note the figures don't include the city of Portland.

Uh we surveyed them, but they were not considered as part of this fee.

Um in downtown Beaverton, um, we also surveyed residential parking.

Um the lowest was $90 per month, the median was $125, the highest was $160 per month with an average of 12625.

And in our parking structures, one of them is owned by Bureau, the other is owned by a private developer.

Um the lowest was $80 per month, and that's general use across the board.

Um there are some uh reduced rate programs that you have to qualify based on your income, but then the highest was 100 per month.

So based on all that information, um, we have some pricing options for the council to consider.

Option one is no change.

We keep it where it is, which is zero dollars for residence, ten dollars per month for employee, and then the reduced rate isn't applicable here.

Um option two, an at cost rate.

So that's our bare bones cost, uh, which would be sixteen dollars across the board.

So for residents, employees, and a reduced rate if you qualified.

Option three would bring everything up to um what we would consider market rate, which would be $86.

That includes fees that we would pass along with the reduced rate at our bare minimum cost.

And option four is our um recommended rate, which is $86 for residential, 16 for employee, and then 16 for reduced rate.

The reasoning between for uh keeping employees at $16 per month is that we're not really adding services right now to employee permits, um, and we really want residents to consider the best parking for them, given that residential rates are still higher than um what we could be implementing in the future.

So uh if we went with the $86 fee, we have two ramp up options for our residents or employees, depending on um what way the council would like to go.

It could be monthly, it increases monthly, um, and then quarterly would be it would increase at the start of each quarter.

Um so we do three increases with the final increase in July of 2026.

And um, as part of our conversation tonight, um, we would like to know any future programmatic considerations.

So that could be adjustments and expansions of the on-and-off-street parking permit program, um, additions to Beaverton City Code and policies to address misuse of an on-street parking permit, um, add new parking permit policies like issuance caps per residence, um, address or business, or include off-street parking declarations, um, implement permits and fees for temporary right-of-way use like moving pods and dumpsters, and then or create um designated permit zones.

So for this area where City Hall is Central Beaverton, Broadway, and then Old Town with specific policies and pricing for each zone.

And I uh we are ready for questions.

Counselor Hartmeyer Prague.

Thank you for being with us this evening.

Um a couple questions just to clarify and really understand the the market rate um prices, these are what our fellow cities charge, but it's compared against what like private parking costs.

Yeah, it's a combination of what our fellow cities cost and what is in downtown Beaverton, what's available in downtown Beaverton?

So it's the average of of everything.

So if like one of the multifamily buildings charged a uh parking, like a monthly parking permit, that's part of the consideration.

It is.

Okay.

Um I guess uh generally I think of our fees as being cost recovery.

And so I'm curious with cost recovery being option two, and it's fairly low.

What would the rest of the fee go towards that's above cost recovery?

Yeah, that would uh initially go to just covering our operational expenses of the parking enforcement that is currently happening.

Um there's really no further discussion outside of that right now.

No, sorry about that.

Um we also have costs around the software that we use to run the permit program.

And so our initial the the $16 a month is really covering city cost, staff cost, but it's not expanding out to some of the other costs that um we incur.

Uh so it's trying to balance that and keep the rate low given how low it has always been.

Um of the options then has the calculation been done to determine those other costs, like what would get us the closest to beyond staff time cost recovery, right?

The cost of running the program of having the parking enforcement and the software and whatnot.

Yeah, so um I I've there may be um a bit of confusion.

So the the at cost rate includes basically the the previous calculation that City Code prescribed, which was it can't exceed our cost to it's uh administer and enforce a program.

So what I did is I took you know how much staff time it takes for me, how much you know parking, how much in downtown is permit parking, and how much our vendors' time is spent doing that in that cost, and that's what came to the $16 plus the the basic platform fees.

So there's a dollar fifty permit fee for each permit that we issue that is currently being um covered by the city if that is included in that $16 fee.

There's a you know an annual license fee for our enforcement software that permits cover, and since 10% of our parking in downtown is permitted parking, I took 10% of that fee and included that into this.

So there is some maybe not above what you know.

I'm sure I could find other fees, but that was the advice of the city attorney at the time.

Okay, thank you.

Yeah, I think um, sorry, I want to look at your questions again.

Thank you.

Okay.

So I I think in this case I'm I'm really leaning towards cost recovery amounts.

However, our next work session has to do with street maintenance.

And I also consider like, is there potential in if I'm being if I'm out of if I'm out of order out of turn, you correct me.

But I just think that like it sessions, so okay.

So I I just think that there's opportunity there, like if we if we want to charge a parking permit fee above the basic cost recovery.

I mean, there's also wear and tear on our streets, right?

There's other things that go into it.

And so I would be interested, like I would be open to one of the higher pricing options, so long as like that was part of the consideration.

And do we, you know, have that as maybe part of the larger street conversation as well.

Is this another option there for consideration?

So um, yeah, so I guess I'm not giving you a specific which one I want, but to go above cost recovery, I would need to see that like what are the costs that we're putting that that funding towards and programmatic adjustments.

I I think it's been a really nice adjustment.

I think we've really eased our community into enforcement, right?

And really helped people get used to the fact that those signs mean something now.

We've lots of parking options, right?

So I don't have any other programmatic adjustments I'd like to see.

Uh thank you, Counselor Hartmeyer Prigg.

I I was struggling, and I'm gonna just continue on the counselor's kind of line of questioning, like $16 an hour isn't truly cost recovery or $16 per permit is not cost recovery.

And so we either need different language or I'm I'm unsure why the city attorney's office recommended that.

And I don't know if you guys want to chime in, but this does not cover the cost of what it takes the city to do this program in the right-of-way.

So therefore, ever all the other residents of Beaverton are gonna pick up the additional cost so other people can park on the streets.

So I was not the individual who gave the advice, but I do understand the basis behind it, which is in the Beaverton code, and it's what is defined in the Beaverton code right now is what we can consider as a cost.

So that was the limiting factor.

And so part of this going forward, and staff can correct me if if I if I'm getting this wrong, is that we'll need a code change to allow implementation of one of these higher fee levels.

And so that's why you're seeing I think the restriction and the the classification at that $16 because of what the Beaverton code will allow us to consider at this moment.

Well, this seems this is confusing to me because we just passed a bunch of fees at a much higher rate that included more than what this is included.

And so the business fees that we just passed, are they not subject to the same Beaverton code and cost recovery?

If I if I may, so we have to sorry, I I am asking the city attorney.

Thank you.

So what fees specifically, because this code provision is specific to parking.

Okay, that's what I was getting at.

It's specific to parking, not so it doesn't cover all of the other fees that were in the master fee schedule if that was your okay.

So I think for me, I would rather see a code adjustment before a fee implementation.

It makes zero sense to me that we're saying sixteen dollars and I understand why you're doing it.

I understand within the code, and now I better understand from the city attorney that it has its own code that's separate from the other fees we just implemented.

But I think we need a total code revision to include fees because we cannot charge downtown Beaverton business owners a high fee because they have a parklet in a parking space and then only charge these people sixteen dollars because it is a separate code.

Do you see how challenging this is for an elected official?

Yes.

And so as it relates to the specific parking code, that was amended um on August 26th, and so we're just waiting for it to take effect.

So I think to me they're out of order, and like you're not like you're out of order for talking, but I think the way the presentation is coming to us feels out of order that we need a code revision first.

But let me let my colleagues uh jump in.

Sorry, just to clarify, Mayor, it the it it it was adopted.

We're just waiting for the 30 days for it to go into a but the code that we I understand, but like this is coming to us asking for uh us to give you direction on a fee that's gonna change it with code language changing in 30 days.

Sixteen doll not be cost recovery once the code changes.

Yeah, correct?

Yeah, the code change was to give the the staff license to explore these options to bring to council.

So we're kind of doing in in that sequence, it's just it hasn't gone into effect yet because it was just adopted last month.

Yeah, and so my direction is I'd rather see a code revision that allows us to do cost recovery equal to what we just passed in fees to business owners for parklets.

We're using private right-away for parking, and we're wielding two different logical strings on what we're charging.

That is too challenging for me to give you direction on.

Yeah, that's great feedback, and we'll also have changes for recommended changes for that later this year too.

So that's in the words as well.

Yeah, because we we do recognize the the symmetry of charging for right-away.

Yeah, so and my last thought is we cannot have a fee lower than what the multifamily buildings are charging that are already are not filled.

This is gonna disincentivize people parking in the parking that was created for where they live, and it's gonna put them in our business district, which is what we do not want.

So I think before I could give you any more direction on fees, we need some tweaks to the language.

Uh counselor teeter.

Okay, thank you all for coming.

I have been really excited about this.

I think it's been something we've needed for many, many years.

Um specifically the piece that the mayor just mentioned about uh apartments that are in downtown with their own private lots that have always charged or for at least for many, many years, much, much more than we have for our parking, which has been free for residents.

And so we've had parking conversations in downtown ever since I first started working in it in downtown in 2018, where there was the frustration that there were people who were parked on the street for weeks at a time and customers who are wanting to come couldn't find uh easily accessible parking.

So when we compare like market rate for parking, I'm not concerned about what other jurisdictions charge for their on-street parking, because they don't have our specific apartments that are competing for the spaces.

I want people who are living in downtown if they've got their own parking, whether it's a parking uh parking garage to their own apartment building or their driveway or their own private garage, like they need to be parking on their own on their own property.

Like they need to be parking on their own on their own property.

And so I'm not concerned about the the at cost language that we're getting hung up on here because I think we're charging for proposing to charge less than we should be anyways.

Um we should be up towards 125 or so, whatever the average was for private lots in downtown.

Uh potentially even higher.

Um if council wants to go with a lower rate, uh, I would want to see the permit locations change because we can't be giving up the most valuable spots on first or second street uh for very, very, very cheap parking when maybe they should be further down towards fourth or fifth.

And so our current parking district stops at I think third.

Um and then for that for that matter, it should also extend up to Westgate to capture more Beaverton Central.

So I'd be interested in expanding the boundary.

Um especially if there are reduced rates or or lower rates.

Um I do have one question.

Uh about our wait list.

How long is our wait list right now?

I was anticipating that, so I just looked.

Um so currently we have uh four on the wait list.

Um everyone has to renew starting tomorrow.

So that wheel list will will clear itself.

Okay.

Okay, thanks.

Um, the mayor also mentioned open air beaverton.

I wasn't gonna touch on it, but I I will a little bit.

The annual permit fees for open air beaverton permit holders is around 2,000, if I'm not mistaken.

Uh so they would be paying more partially because they're using spaces, but also because they've built something that requires inspections.

But I think we have to also face the reality that somebody else would be using.

I'm not competing, uh residents would be parking in spaces and using those spaces.

It's use of public right-of-way, like it should be charged somewhat comparatively.

Just we're not having to issue them a permit and do inspections on the car.

So um the rate should be higher just to account for the use of the public right away that's very valuable for for us in downtown.

I think that's all I've got.

Thanks.

Counselor Huston.

Yes.

Um, I went ahead and looked for that August 26th that you're mentioning in case anybody wants to see it's agenda bill 25138.

This is a little bit silly, but it will really help me.

Can you pull up that map that's part of the agenda bill?

Or can somebody it's part of the and just like level set us, like I have it, but I'd really like people to see it if it's possible.

Um, page eight, like just show it you, like I said, exhibit two in this agenda bill.

So is this is it the yet like what yes that parking map that Council Rossan is showing us is actually codified in code.

Okay.

So that is the permit map that was established in, I want to say 2002 is the latest rendition, but please don't hold me to that date.

Okay.

Um and that map is referenced in code, and so that is the permit locations currently.

As Counselor Teter just mentioned, he's he would like the idea of a a look at or revision of those locations.

Um we are also interested in looking at that from a staff perspective because when it was codified in 2002 or 1997, obviously downtown Beaverton has changed substantially, and we'd like to be able to best accommodate the entire community.

Okay.

And then Connor, I think you were talking about how you were doing the cost analysis when Counselor Hartmeyer prick was asking.

And like this, I apologize.

This is the only way I know how to ask the question.

Like you were using your time, like as a sta is that would that be appropriate when you were doing those calculations?

Like the cost of your time.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

Okay.

I just I I bring that up because I feel like costs are going up, but you know, just want to put it in.

Yeah, it was it was I it was the cost of it, was my hourly cost, yeah.

For my salary.

Yes.

Um I I know that there are a lot of different perspectives, but I will share mine.

Um I am supportive of the option for mixed rate.

Um, my ask would be that we are to some of my colleagues' points, really checking in with you know, lots, others, because what we don't want to do is create this like competition of like premium parking, and I'm gonna park here and I'm gonna park there.

I'm gonna, you know, those kinds of scenarios and situations.

So I just want to make sure they're um that we're not creating more problems.

Uh I do believe that um it's important that we are looking to move more toward market rate for parking.

Um I also think Central Beaverton is a great place to bike to.

So if it wasn't dark outside, I'd love to bike here, but I'm not gonna bike in the dark tonight.

So that's kind of where I'm at the second question.

Programmatic adjustments.

I think I'm okay.

I like the idea that Counselor Teeter brought up of expanding so that we can see more.

Um I do agree I can't it might have been the mayor, just this idea of like instead of comparing cities, comparing areas and neighborhoods, because I think that's gonna help us level set like what we should and shouldn't we, what we should and shouldn't be doing as we're pricing this.

One last question.

Timeline of something like this, realistically.

So we um per our terms and conditions with permit holders.

So well, let me back up.

So first um we would have to amend the master fee schedule to then implement the fee.

Um and alongside that, we have to give notice to our permit holders per our terms and conditions.

So um when that happens in December, we would start that process giving notice to our um permit holders starting December 1st so that we're ready and we're staying true to our policies and ready January 1st.

It's it's a relatively simple adjustment on the back end of our software to implement these these things.

So sorry to add to that.

That would be specific to implementing costs without any additional programmatic changes.

Making programmatic changes around new locations, expanding the boundaries, that would take more time.

Um and so we'd probably be looking at months to a year would probably be conservative estimate just because there would be it's it's in code, so there would be code changes required, there would be data collection, which we're doing through our compliance program, things along those lines to and then in this process that we're talking about, which could be months or uh up to a year.

Are we building an opportunity for fee?

Like wouldn't there be a public hearing about that?

Okay, okay.

I I feel satisfied.

Thank you.

This is uh direction meant to frame what comes back to us.

You count Duggar.

Just J Doug.

Is that who you called them?

Just point J Doug.

No, that's we don't do that.

Uh thanks for being here.

Um couple of things.

Um I actually answered one of my questions via Google, which was $1997 to to today's $10 is $20 today.

So it's basically double, right?

So like we're already undercharging, I think.

I am I'll be honest, I'm really concerned about employer parking.

And in like it's hard to separate a cost without a zone, because to me, the whole point of market rate parking is to flip those spots, create create customer turnover, right?

Um so like to me.

The first street area makes a lot of sense to turn those spots over.

Those businesses really need that parking and they need it to turn.

But they also need employees, and so like to me, if if if if programmatically, if we could create zones for the employees on third or fourth, or the you know, if if if we can encourage plate employees to park in the farmers market lot or something like that, uh I would feel a lot more comfortable um raising that market rate.

Um so I think zones are really important.

I also uh when I think about residential, and and I think this is gonna be a theme for me tonight for the other discussion as well.

We already have uh for the utility uh street utility fee.

Again, don't want to be out of order, but we have a program to allow for us to identify low-income individuals and help them.

And I but I am concerned about I don't think we have a parking permit program for low-income individuals.

And we but we already have that information, right?

Like if they qualify for reduced uh sewers, water charges.

Is there a programmatic change that we could throw in for reduced on-street parking for residents of downtown?

That would be my only ask.

Yes, and we actually do.

Okay.

Um so we we have one.

I I'm gonna specify we have one for the Bureau Garage, using actually the same model that the utility uses.

Um so in Casey's uh map of that, thank you.

Um he's identified the reduced rate using those same qualifying factors.

So that's um when we propose a reduced rate, why he said it's not applicable now, residential permits are free.

Correct.

Um and so we don't that program is not currently implemented, but we we want to implement it as part of the change if that's you know council's direction.

Okay, yeah, that will be a very important programmatic change for me.

Um and then of course communicating, like we have to control the message on any of this.

Because if all of a sudden your business used to get used to getting $16 a month parking uh excuse me, parking permits for your employees and a jumps to $80.

That meant if we don't control that message and communicate that that is gonna be a nightmare.

So I think we need to engage with our business too, and I would love to see that come back to us, like almost like a a um you know, maybe a question and comment period, like with them to understand what their thoughts are.

Now obviously they're gonna say zero, right?

But but that's not a realistic option, right?

We have to we can't have Beaverton residents that don't live in downtown subsidizing this via stuff, but so I think uh an important conversation setting, you know, we'll will be really important with that.

But um, I am concerned about turning those spots over.

So yeah, and as uh thank you.

Um and as part of uh lead up to this meeting, I emailed everyone and I reached out to businesses and one business, um, which was Tantan.

Um I went out and had a conversation with them, and um there they there was testimony or or written comment.

Um that it so in short, I I I hear you, and I think that's also very important, and it was done on a smaller scale for this work session.

We could get you the written comment, it didn't make it into the packet, but we do have it, and we can make all see that.

And one final programmatic adjustment.

Um I think it's a programmatic adjustment.

We have a lot of private lots in downtown, and um finding out what it would take to make potentially make some of that parking available to employees, or you know, as a city benefit, right?

Like if you're if we charge a certain amount, but like hey, you know, private lot owner will we can you know maybe work some kind of deal.

I think that might be more digestible for those business owners too, if we could get particularly in the evening, right?

Like parking is a problem in the evening.

I live in downtown myself, right?

So I I think if we think about it through the lens of not just creating a fee, but how can we use that free to make positive changes for those employers?

I think the noise will be a little bit less.

And I think that like I'd love to see some options brought to the table on yes, we're gonna we're gonna recommend this rate, but also these four lots have agreed if we pay their liability insurance or something like that, then they would allow you know the permitted employees to park there or something like that in the evening.

I think would be a really something it would make it a lot easier to communicate that to those employers downtown.

Thank you.

Counselor Tivnan.

Uh a quick question in terms of the market rate comps.

Um I saw it does not include the city of Portland, but can you give a little bit more background on where you gathered the data?

Um so surveyed um City of Bend, Eugene, um Vancouver, Washington, um Gresham, Oregon City, um and Hillsboro, and I'm I'm missing some.

Corvallis, Tiger.

Yep.

Um I think previously we had looked even as far as like Forest Grove and a couple of other of sort of our Washington County and Multnomah County, Clackmas County areas.

Um we've we've looked at a number of cities and it ranges.

Eugene has like a hundred different permit options because of the university.

Um Portland is we it really skewed the data as soon as you put the Portland numbers in there, and um their needs are very different from ours, so it didn't seem appropriate to include those.

Yeah, I I would like to see that similar to when we were doing other comps for other types of fee adjustments that we've been looking at in the past just on a simple table.

And now I'm gonna immediately contradict myself and say, I I'm really hesitant to base our decisions on what other cities are doing around the cost of parking.

And the reason why is because this typically seems to be something that is a fee generator, or they're trying to um change behavior and figure out the math that's going to do that, and it's almost this weird alchemy that goes into it, and then maybe pull comps and look at those as well.

So I I think it's an imperfect science to figure out what we're gonna charge based on what others charge in this case.

I don't think it's apples to apples with say looking at at um the housing market and the comps out there in terms of what market rate is.

Um it it just seems to be a little bit there's too much um of the political mix in with this issue.

Um so but I still would like to see it at the same time.

I think it would help.

But my inclination here is I I am I I'm not feeling raising uh zero to 86 a month for our residents when our residents are getting hit over the head with cost increases across the board, and to not have a really good argument right now for why 86, other than this is the median of what others are doing out there, doesn't it?

That's that argument doesn't make sense to me.

If I know that we've got a lot of different pressures on specific areas of our town where we've got competing needs um from the employees to the residents to the the people that are going to enjoy the area, and we're trying to figure out how how to make that all work, but until we have uh I think a broader conversation, I don't want to arbitrarily raise these rates.

So I'm personally in favor of going with the cost recovery, and to the mayor's point, getting really clear on exactly what that number is to do that.

That I feel is defensible at this point, but to the the larger issue of what we want to charge to try and influence behavior, um I just I I am I'm not in favor, especially knowing we're gonna be asking our residents to be forking over uh more.

And and this just to me, this isn't this is not an area where I'm die hard on we we've got to get it in in from this particular area, especially if we're going to start entertaining this idea of expanding it out and into other areas, and what are the parameters, what are the considerations that go into selecting who else is gonna have to start paying um to park.

So it it just feels cart before the horse to me to set a number, uh a higher number, um, and have it solely based just on market rate.

Um when we don't I I just don't have a good sense of exactly what that all entails in this case.

So for me personally, I'm I'm for option two, um, but option two that's more informed with what the true cost recovery looks like for it.

Um if I may provide a point of clarification, so we brought in the average of the other Oregon cities and what's currently available in downtown Beaverton.

So that includes that 86 dollars includes the um what's available in downtown Beaverton right now, and it just brought it.

We just brought in our our peers as well into that number.

If we just did uh just the average of what is currently downtown, it would be um to Mayor Beatty's point much higher, and it'd be 125 dollars a month if we based our permit on the average cost of you know off-street residential parking in terms of for the private side for the private side.

Okay, counselor Hartmeyer Prague.

Oh, sorry, Counselor Kimmy Wrong button.

Sorry.

Um because I live used to live and work, now I work in downtown Beaverton for the last 25 years.

I'm sorry, 22.

Um, there are many things that come into play.

Um low-income housing, multi-units, small businesses, we're all fighting for parking.

I personally have my own parking, so I don't have to deal with that.

But and then because of your we want to incentivize uh small businesses to open up restaurants and other patron um usage.

Um we allow people to build the structures and the parking spaces and of course dining commons.

So we don't want to kill the vibe and building businesses at the same time, and then um we have a residence uh who's been living there forever, uh, and then we just removed parking requirements for new builders, right?

There's so many things come into play, so it's not simply simple decision for me.

Um but then I do believe in cost of recovery also.

So um uh and that's all I can put input on it, because if this comes to public hearing and further discussion, I'm I'm gonna be asking a lot more information about that.

So we have to work diligently, but also really um delicately uh to balance uh the business low-income housing, multi-units plus um also luxury or higher upper end apartment users.

Um so uh that's my comment and input for today.

Okay, make and I have it a jumping in twice.

Okay, it's a next session.

Thanks.

Um just in considering who gets permits, um, depending on well, no matter the rate we set.

I think if somebody has access to their own parking, they need to be using it.

And so if we're deciding if we've got a wait list and we've got to prioritize people who actually get a permit, uh, because like those should be people who have that higher need, whether they're lower income or they've got uh no parking in front of their business or in front of their apartment.

But if somebody's got a private lot that's built by their developer or their own garage, um I wouldn't want to subsidize them to park in the right-of-way when they should just be using what their apartment or or home or business provides.

Um so that could be some helpful information information for us to have in the future.

Um I think that'll be my last comment.

Thank you.

Uh thank you for joining us this evening.

I will end with um I think that first conversation that um Kevin and I had when he first moved here and took over the executive director role of downtown BDA before he was a city counselor was about parking and the need to be creative and think outside the box because when we look at downtown, there is an awful lot of parking, and there's a lot of private lots.

And the parking program that the city runs is astronomically expensive when we're looking at the general fund cuts and deficit that we're in.

And I don't think the parking program is meeting the intention of what we wanted it to do, which is move circulation, move cars, and support our downtown businesses.

And I really have struggled with parking from the initial inception of this program because it has gotten so big and the goals don't seem to align with where the council's at every time we come, it is a lot of questions.

And I think we need to like step back and ask what we're trying to accomplish with the program, because that is what I feel like needs to be at the center of what the council needs to give direction in.

It's also really hard to give direction on information when it's not complete, and that's not an error on your part, but this count this meet this feels out of order when we're trying to do other things.

Um I am gonna host a downtown Beaverton parking um round table because I hear from this is the number one topic I'm hearing from businesses, and I can already see my social media people commenting and watching, and what we're saying and doing is not lining up.

So I'm gonna host a uh round table in downtown Beaverton to hear directly from business owners about the need of parking and where we're at, and I'm gonna invite you guys to come along because the other critique I continue to hear is they don't see city staff, they only see them online and they don't feel hurt.

So we need to give them a venue, we need the council to give input and policy direction, and then we need to regroup on this conversation and come back.

And it can't be months or years, but the council's job is to provide policy direction.

The goals of the program should be approved by us, and then we should have measurable marking things as we move forward.

Um so with that, thank you for joining us this evening, and I'm sure we will have many more conversations on parking in the future.

Thank you.

All right, we have another work session, and then we'll take a short break and move into executive session.

Street maintenance fees.

I think this is the first is this the first time you've presented to the city council?

Yes.

For Brant?

Yeah, okay.

You look you look new.

Take a breath.

We're not we're not uh we're not super challenging.

Um I know it's intimidating.

You're your f like first day at the big table talking to the elected officials.

We tend to look at these work sessions as like collaborative with staff.

So as much as one could relax when you're presenting to your boss's boss's boss.

Um welcome, thank you for joining us this evening.

Hey, don't worry, Brant's gonna be carrying us tonight, no issues.

Uh, thank you for having us tonight.

We've been looking forward to this for a long time.

I'm Tim El C on the Beaverton Public Works Director, and I'd like to introduce you to Brant Holiday.

Brant has been working for the city for a little over 10 years or almost 10 years.

Almost 10 years.

And uh he works over at Ops.

He was originally hired as a temporary worker for us and was hired full-time into the street maintenance crew, became a technician, moved to an operator on the paver back when we still did paving, and then was promoted into the project manager to position, which is position that he's in now.

And in that position, he maintains all of the maintenance contracts for the City of Beaverton Street Division, and that includes the IMS contract where they rated our roads this year, and he'll be talking about the results of that rating when he comes through.

So we're very happy to have him here.

Brant is one of the up-and-coming leaders in the street division in public works, and I'm sure you'll see him more in the future.

So thank you for having us.

So we're running two different computers right now.

So tonight, our job is to do our best to provide you with enough information to allow you to make an informed decision on whether or not Beaverton is going to institute a street maintenance fee, and if so, what additional funding we will target and what you can expect for the future conditions of the additional using the additional funding.

To do that, we're going to spend some time to define the problem, discuss the reasons we're here, illustrate how that translates to the condition of the street network now and in the future, and present some possible ways forward.

So as we get the presentation tonight, I would appreciate it if you could keep these three questions in mind, and of course, any other questions that you have, and that is which, if any funding scenario, are you supportive or of advancing for a street maintenance fee?

Would you like to see scenarios that include sidewalks?

And just to be clear, the scenarios that we're presenting you tonight are for the structural section of the roadway and do not include any additional sidewalks or sidewalk infill or any of that.

And then finally, is there any more information you need to make this decision?

So our reality is that rising construction costs coupled with mostly stagnant res revenues have created the perfect storm and given us a current fiscal reality that we can no longer sustain even basic roadway maintenance needs with historic funding sources.

According to Federal Highway Administration's National Highway Construction Cost Index, highway construction costs have increased 70% since 2020, while our revenues have increased 7%.

Those are start numbers.

This year we had to cancel a major grind and inlay project schedule for Hall Boulevard that we've been setting money aside for three years due to the lack of revenue and rising expenses, and we've not been able to do an overlay on a collector or arterial for the past eight years.

So to really understand what our situation is, we first have to talk about what is the street fund.

And it it funds a lot, a vast amount, and it includes the traffic calming program, all the traffic signals, all the street lights, the signing and striping program, the active transportation projects, the ADA transition plan, landscaping and the rights of ways, urban forestry, bridge maintenance, and of course, street maintenance and overlays.

And we do all of that with 34 full-time employees, which is pretty remarkable that so few people can do so much on 230 miles of road.

So where do we get our revenue?

As you know, property taxes don't pay for the street fund.

The bulk of our revenue comes from gas taxes and vehicle registration fees.

We also receive a right-of-way fee allocation from the general fund to pay for the street lights, and we receive small amounts from county one percent one cent tax and miscellaneous revenue sources.

All together, this adds up to just over 12 million dollars to maintain our street network.

With that 12 million dollars after we pay our employees, set aside for capital purchases, including vehicles, pay our share for internal services, and pay for the street lighting, that leaves 1.55 million dollars for materials and services spread over the remaining five programs in the department.

I'm focusing on the materials and services budget because that is the budget where we purchase what everything that we need that isn't capital.

In other words, if we need a desk chair, if we need to purchase herbicides, if we need professional services, if we need to pay a dump fee, if we need to buy asphalt, if we need to pay for someone to slurry seal our roads that comes out of that materials and services budget.

So once the other programs, and when I say the other programs, I mean traffic signals maintenance, striping, landscaping, urban forestry.

Once they get their allocation of materials and services, we have $721,000 in the street maintenance division for materials and services to purchase everything that we need to maintain the 230 miles of streets.

So the question is: what do we need that maintenance and services budget to fund?

To tell that story, I'm gonna need to discuss the cycle of a street.

And before I do that, I don't think you have to know me very well to think to yourself, I bet that's a guy that can appreciate a good graph.

I certainly can.

So as you look at this slide today, um you might have seen something like this before, but let me orient you a little bit.

Both the picture and the graph illustrate the life cycle of a street.

I'm gonna toggle you back and forth as I talk between the pictures, but essentially the far left of the picture is the same as the upper left of the graph.

What those points depict is when a street is constructed, it is hopefully in great shape.

And should I have a PCI or pavement condition index, which is the national standard for rating the condition of roads of about a hundred.

Brent will go into the PCI a little bit more later.

So when the street is constructed and it's constructed well, it'll hold up well for quite a long time.

And if you'll look at the graph with me for a second, what you'll see is that for it will take 75% of the pavement life for the street to degrade 40% in quality.

In other words, using easy math, if the street is designed for a 20-year life with no maintenance, it should have a PCI of around 60 at year 15.

The next five years are not going to be kind to the street, however.

As you will see, the graph gets steeper and the street will go from a fair condition to a very poor condition in a very short period of time.

And the street will at that point need to undergo costly major rehabilitation or reconstruction in order to restore the street to an acceptable condition.

However, I'd like for you to look up, and if you can look up above the word quality in the graph, you'll see a new line with the upticks, and that represents regular and appropriate maintenance techniques being added at the right time.

This indicates that with regular crack ceiling, slurry sealing, the appropriate overlays, and other techniques, the life of the street can be significantly extended for a fraction of the cost of major rehabilitation.

As you can see, spending a dollar on continuing maintenance at the appropriate interval will eliminate or delay spending six to ten dollars for rehabilitation or reconstruction.

With that in mind, Brant will tell you about our street network, what our network, and how our network fits into this life cycle.

Yeah, um, as Tim mentioned, the PCI score is the main figure used to assess a road's overall condition.

Um this score takes into account a road's level of surface distress, roughness, and structural integrity.

Um here's a brief look at a few roadways within our network uh and where they fall within different PCI ranges.

Um, as you'll notice, each PCI range has a correlating set of maintenance techniques that are typically used for a road at this stage in its life cycle.

Um, also to give you all uh some context regarding price points for some of the maintenance techniques I'll discuss.

Um I've calculated an estimated price for what it would take to perform different levels of work on one mile of a standard um local roadway.

So the first PCI uh range I'd like to look at is is the 70 to 85.

Um these are really good roads that are perfect for preventive maintenance.

So for these roads, we're looking at crack sealing and slurry sealing, and like Tim showed, that's what will kind of rejuvenate um a road's life and extend it over a longer period of time.

Um, a slurry seal to maintain a mile of roadway is a is about $53,000 per mile.

Um the next PCI range is 60 to 70.

Um we're looking at more intensive surface maintenance.

So uh thin overlay, some localized patching.

Um, in some of these cases, you can do some localized patching to bring it up to a condition that will allow us to still utilize provided maintenance like a slurry seal, and again, extend the life of the road there.

Umce we drop down into the 50 to 60 range, um, this is where permitted maintenance is kind of out of the equation.

Um, this is where we'll be looking at moderate overlays, two to three inch overlays with more deep patching necessary.

Um, for a two-inch overlay with you know, uh a standard amount of patching necessary.

We're looking at um probably a little over 700,000 to perform that work on a standard one mile road.

Continue.

Um, we'll go to PCI uh 50 or sorry, 40 to 50.

Uh, this is going to require uh more extensive um overlay work.

So this will be probably uh in the four-inch range.

Again, you can see with Center Street here, uh, there are definitely sections of the road that are failing that will need um deep patching and possibly probably base work as part of the rehab and maintenance process.

Um a case like this, where we've got a four-inch overlay and some patching needed, uh, we're looking at just under 1.2 million for a mile of roadway.

Um if we continue to defer maintenance, we're looking at the PCI range for 25 to 40.

Um, this is where we start having to really consider a full road reconstruction.

This if we catch a road in this range, we're gonna we're looking at major reconstruction for the majority of the road, and then salvaging the rest with uh a pretty intense overlay as well.

Um again, if we defer maintenance from there, we're looking at complete road failure.

Um, PCI of zero to twenty-five is gonna, we're looking at a full reconstruct at that point.

Um, to do a full reconstruct, we're looking at three and a half million for one mile of road.

Um so as you can tell, the longer we defer maintenance, the more extensive and expensive the maintenance becomes.

As Tim mentioned, we've used um IMS to help track our street inventory and survey our roads.

We've used them since 2016.

Ums evaluates our roadway network and provides us with the PCI data we use to help direct our maintenance.

To do this, they utilize special equipment such as uh laser distress detection, high resolution cameras, and falling weight deflectometers to compile our roadway's overall condition.

Um IMS performed a full city scan uh this past January, and that data has been used to evaluate the current state of our system as shown here.

Um these graphs show the average PCI for each of our four roadway classifications.

As you can see, our streets are starting to slip towards that steep decline in a road's life cycle that Tim talked about on that last graph that shows that we are past the preventive maintenance period and that preventive maintenance is no longer a viable option, and the budgetary impacts of maintenance of maintaining our system will be much greater if roads continue to slip past that point.

Um another deliverable from IMS from the IMS assessment is future forecasting for our network.

With the data gathered in our recent survey, IMS performed a five-year projection of our system given the current level of funding available for street maintenance.

So as things stand today, we have an overall network PCI of 71 with each classification breakdown seen here.

If we look five years ahead, um our overall network PCI is projected to drop to a 64, with each classification also dropping roughly seven PCI points over that span.

At this point, I'd like us to focus on where this projection leaves our arterial and collector roadways.

Some notable roadways that fall into these classifications are Allen Boulevard, Milliken, uh Heart Road, Hall Boulevard, and Cedar Hills to name a few.

These are vital parts of our network that are already at a point where significant funding is necessary for maintenance.

As Tim mentioned earlier, um our current funding level has restricted our ability to perform any form of large-scale overlay projects on arterial and collector roadways for about eight years.

And we also haven't been able to pave any local roads outside of having them coordinated with a utility project since 2021.

Paving used to be a major technique used in Beaverton, but due to budget constraints, we have we have had to drastically shift our maintenance strategy in an attempt to stay afloat.

We can no longer afford large-scale paving projects.

Paving just one mile of residential roads with a two-inch overlay would be enough to wipe out our entire material and services budget as things currently stand.

Giving our large roadways the attention, the maintenance attention they need is getting less and less attainable.

As you saw earlier, we have a lot of maintenance techniques available to us.

There is a correct tool for every job, but our current budget does not give us access to what's needed.

So here we're sharing a visual of our entire road network and its projection over the next five years, given our current budget.

Um because that's the threshold where preventive maintenance is pretty solidly out of the equation.

Paving and other extensive maintenance is going to be necessary.

And in short, um, these are all roads where we will most likely not be able to maintain because their current needs demand more than what we can provide with our current resources.

But again, um, here are the big tick items.

Um the arterial and collector roads that make up the backbone of our transportation system are the ones that have the grimmest outlook.

Not only are these roads the most expensive to maintain, but they're also the ones that are currently rated among the lowest in our system.

So I hope you'll forgive me for this.

But Beaverton Street Network is at a crossroads.

I've been hanging out with Dan too long.

Uh, we're at a point where if we don't start performing proper maintenance techniques at the right intervals, the cost to bring the street network up to an acceptable condition will increase exponentially.

But we are not alone.

Other cities in the state have struggled with the same financial realities and have approached it in some different ways, but by far the most used local option for supplementing the maintenance budget is some type of a street maintenance or transportation utility fee.

As you can see from the other cities that we're highlighting here, the city of Wilsonville has had a street maintenance fee since 1998.

Tiger has had one since 2004.

Hillsborough has had one since 2008.

Hillsbury is Hillsborough is very close to the size of Beaverton, and it's interesting that with this same dollar figures, they generate the very close to the same amount of revenue.

Hillsboro has brought in about 45 million dollars into their street fund in the last 10 years utilizing their street maintenance fee, and that's 45 million dollars.

Of course, it brings up their pavement condition index and their street network.

So a lot of the cities have attacked this problem many years ago, decades ago.

But you'll notice one notable exception, and that's the city of Bend.

The city of Bend instituted a street maintenance fee or transportation fee in 2024.

But the reason they were able to put that off until then is because the street fund was augmented by the general fund by approximately eight to ten million dollars over several years.

So now that they've instituted transportation utility fee, they're catching up, but they also have gone to the voters for a general obligation bond in the amount of 190 million dollars.

So that's a lot of money that they're generating to maintain their street network.

I also want to say, however, that they're they have a target PCI of their street network of 83, which is a really lofty goal.

Hillsborough has a target PCI of 75.

So that's a very lofty goal.

I want to stop here for just a second, though, and I want to thank the city of Benn.

They've been such a great resource for us because they've recently instituted a transportation utility fee.

We took a team over to Ben with us and to ask about their process, that's what they learned from the process, what they would do differently next time, what they would do more of, what were their challenges, what were their legal obstacles?

And I have to tell you, they took three hours and they brought in the assistant city manager, the department head, the maintenance supervisor, the management analyst, the liaison from finance that supported the department, and the attorney that led the effort so that they could talk to us just to make sure that they were a resource.

But it didn't stop there.

They continue to be a resource for us.

We continue to reach out, and in the future, we have more work that we have to do, and having a partner that is so willing to be there to support us and under who understands this process and understands what we're going to be going through is invaluable to us.

So the next question is if we choose to move forward with a street maintenance fee, how much do we need?

That depends on what this council decides, but we we've put together a few different budgeting scenarios for your consideration tonight.

This is a little hard to understand.

But what you see with these different lines are different funding scenarios, and you see the labels on the bottom.

So the orange line on the bottom is the current budget.

What that shows is that with our current funding, as Rant indicated earlier, our final PCI in five years would aggregate throughout the city would be 64 with a backlog of 10%.

To understand what the backlog is, that is any street that has a PCI of less than 40.

We currently have a backlog of about 2.6.

And so in the next five years without additional funding, it's expected to grow to about 10%.

The next is the green line, and that's we call that the PCI control budget.

That allows our current PCI to drop a little bit at a very low rate, so that within five years, rather than having a PCI of 71, we'll have a PCI of 70, and we'll have a backlog of 6%.

The line above that, the blue line, is the steady state PCI.

So we would target our essentially our current PCI.

And of 72, and in five years, we would have a backlog of 5%.

And then the top line is the target PCI budget.

That is if council chooses to target a PCI, as if like uh Ben and Hillsborough have done, but this would be of 75.

And what that would mean at that funding level, our backlog would stay about the same, and we would be able to improve our street network from a 71 to a 75 in five years.

I do want to say before I move forward, however, that's a question as to how do you know that with this additional funding that we'll be able to hit these PCI targets in five years.

So I I could really geek out on this answer.

I'm sure everybody has figured that out about me now.

But it's we've we spent some time with IMS, and they have developed some software.

Other people have as well, but their software is really elegant.

And the software analyzes the street network conditions and optimizes the money spent on various maintenance techniques from crack ceiling to major rehabilitations to ensure the PCI target is met.

These particular projections were created for our network, taking our seven maintenance zones into account, starting from the lowest aggregate PCI, going to the highest aggregate PCI, and focuses work in those areas annually.

And just to be clear, this is not a worst to first strategy because focusing only on the streets that need major rehabilitation would not provide enough money to prevent streets in an affair condition from deteriorating.

Rather, this balanced approach provides money for all forms of maintenance activities where it will be the most effective, ensuring that we hit those targeted goals.

So I'll remind you one more time of what these three budgets entail.

The PCI control budget allows RPCI to drop to 70 PCI of 70 with a backlog of 8%, that we would need an additional $6.9 million annually for that to happen, and that would be a single family residential monthly rate of $10.93 cents.

The steady state budget, again, your PCI is going to maintain about 72.

Your backlog will go up to five, and the single family resident rate would be 14.21 cents per month.

And then finally the target PCI budget, which would raise our PCI to 75 in five years, and that monthly single family residential rate would be $19.70.

So before I move forward from this, I'd like to discuss the proposed transportation package.

Because as you can see, the transportation package is not included in these revenue projections.

That's due to the fact that the current uncertainty of that package moving forward is such that we felt that this is the more likely reality that we would have to work with.

However, one of the things that I can say in round numbers, if the transportation package passes on the 17th and is able to be quickly enacted in its current form, you would be able to reduce these target single family residential rates by about $3.80 each.

So what that would mean is that the fees would be rather than $10.93, it would be $7.13.

Rather than $14.21, it would be $1041.

And rather than 1970, it would be $1,500, respectively.

I'm sorry to be the bear of bad news, but the Senate announced just two hours ago.

I hate to be the bear of bad news, but the Senate announced two hours ago they're not meeting tomorrow for the transportation package.

They do not have quorum to get in the building.

So it's it's not over per se, but it is not happening tomorrow.

That is unfortunate.

Um I'm not gonna spend a lot of time with these next three slides.

These just break out a little bit more of what it would cost for uh multifamily dwelling unit um uh businesses.

And so in the end, what are our next steps?

Well, if we get the direction tonight to move forward, we've got a lot of work ahead of us.

We're there has to be a new code chapter written.

And um again, I Ben has recently written a code chapter, and they have offered to be a resources to our legal team.

So we do think that we could utilize that.

But also, finance will need to adapt their billing system to be able to collect the new fee.

We'll need to perform outreach on this.

Our expectation would be that we would create a web page that we would develop branding signs, that we would do a uh neighborhood action committee tour, advisory committee tour.

And then, of course, rant will be busy determining the prioritization and expenditures of the new funding.

So I want to bring you back to the policy questions, but before I do, I want to take just a minute to thank all the people that got us here today.

This has been, you know, I've spoken with this council about this for over a year now, and so it's taken a lot of people to get us up in front of you with this information today.

And the the people behind the scenes have just been invaluable and making sure that we have the information that we need to present to you.

So I want to leave you with your council direction questions in front of you, but open it up for questions that you might have for us.

Awesome.

Uh thank you for presenting to us tonight.

I like to think of Ben as our cousin city.

And uh as you know, they share very similar size and um political persuasion.

They also operate under, they have a special district park.

Um, so a lot of similarities to what they do and what we do.

And I um had talked to the mayor a few times about the transportation fee because I know it's a direction we need to go.

Here is kind of like where I am.

Um, I think probably besides you too and Jocelyn Blake, there's no one that talks about more roads in the city more than me.

I talk about our 230 miles all the time.

It's our number one capital investment as a city.

It's the most important thing.

I'm old enough to remember when our PCI was in the 90s.

I'm old enough to remember when our maintenance fee was six and seven million dollars a year, and how we had to divert those funds to backlog purse.

Um I had to make the hard vote and decision to do that, and now we are living in the consequences of measure 5 and 50 and the dwindling funds that we have.

Um I went to the death mat on the last day of session to preserve the 50, 3020 split that cities get from the gas tax, and I would say the mayors did the Lord's work pushing that out to a special session because I know if ODOC got their three cents and we got nothing, we would not be having this conversation a special session.

That is obviously dwindling by the moment.

So what we know about the transportation package is that um it can't be changed because the House is adjourned, so only Senate can up or down vote it.

So we're hoping for an upvote that we continue to move.

The struggle that I'm facing as the mayor is we have this condition with the roads, and we're also trying to figure out how to pay for the employees that do the work.

And as we're hitting running into another $13 million shortfall in our general fund, when I'm thinking about having to go out to our community about an operating levy or a public safety fee, and now a road fee, um, it's a challenging position to be in.

What I would like us to do is do the code work to be ready to do this.

But I do not think at the same time, can we do a street maintenance fee and an operational levy?

Like I think those are two things that are our two values are going to compete directly against each other, and it's gonna be very difficult for uh, you know, and I think about back of the napkin math.

We probably need $20 a month if 10 went to roads, which doesn't get us where we are, and say 10 went to a public safety levy of some sort.

That's 240 dollars a year uh for our families.

That's a hard pill to swallow.

Um I believe more than anyone that our roads need to be maintained because again, it's our number one capital asset.

So I'd like us to move forward with like the code revision changes, what we need to do, and I think we're gonna have to have a conversation about we might not get to 10%.

We're not we might not get that number, but what is somewhere that we can live with that we could pass in a fee because the other major challenge we have with fee is collection.

And if CWS was off our water bill, we probably could pass a fee larger.

But you know, the city of Tiger, they wrap their fee in with their parks, and so a lot of these fees that are wrapped up are are done other ways too, and it's just challenging.

So hard presentation or good presentation, hard topic.

I know the work that's gone into this.

I know it's not if it's when, but how do we sequence an operational levy to protect staff and a capital investment to protect our children?

Future investment in the city that past you people did.

Beaver 10 has been well known, and we use I used to joke all the time, I can tell when I hit Multnomah County because the road changes.

Kind of hard to notice that now.

Um so I think we for me we need to target a lower number and prioritize, which is challenging.

But that's what people do with their budgets every single day.

Uh counselor Hartmeyer, Prig.

Thank you.

As the presentation was going on, I kept thinking of questions, and then you answered them in the presentation.

It's it's extremely fascinating to me.

At our retreat, we each got to give one goal for the the, I think we said two years, I think is what we were, and and my goal was about PCI.

I was channeling you, Tim, to increase it.

Um I am often very, very hesitant about any sort of fee when you do the math.

It it just becomes hard to swallow.

Our roads are how people really experience our city, though, in so many ways.

It's safety, right?

For people, for cars, for all the ways like this is so important to me from a safety perspective.

So when I look at the funding scenarios, I think that the idealist in me wants number four, the target.

I do think it's high, especially given the other considerations Mayor was just talking about.

But last week we were talking about our fiscal sustainability goals, and we to me this is a we must do.

We must implement this type of fee.

And um, so I think I would like maybe for I don't know where the next like fiscal conversation comes, right?

Whereas like what can our community really handle between this and a potential levy?

Um, but I I'm very supportive of implementing a fee like this.

I think we must.

Um I think it's there's been so many amazing things that I get to take credit for as a city counselor because of past city councils making really great um choices and hard choices and investments and whatnot.

And and this is one where it's hard to think about just the cost, right?

The actual cost.

But I I know how impactful this will be.

Uh and even hearing um Tim, the how do you know what to go after?

I was wondering that do you go after the worst street first, but then the other ones continue to do deteriorate.

So just hearing that there's such a robust plan that every cent that goes into this fund will be so well spent and will be well invested in taking care of our community.

So four is my idealist, but the realist in me is like what can we really?

What can our community absorb right now with this and the potential future levy?

Um the idealist in me also wants those sidewalks.

I don't think we can do that with these other factors, right?

I think it's just the the costs just are going to get exorbitant.

So hopefully, economic conditions improve.

Hopefully, our um Senate passes a transportation package.

Hopefully, right, maybe there's other things that like Beaverton's been really scrappy and really effective at getting other money.

Maybe we can find other money in the future for sidewalks that aren't wrapped into this.

That's kind of where I'm at right now.

Is that I think we have to look at roads at PCI and not at sidewalks at this moment.

And I'm sorry to our resident that came and talked to us about Laurelwood.

I know that that's probably devastating if you're watching and you hear that.

Um I think that that's what's really important for us as a council to do is to is make the best choice that we can.

And so I think that that's where I'm absolutely supportive of a fee.

The amount I'm still not for certain on, but I really appreciate having all these options because even getting to 75 gets us into that really healthy, we can just maintain place and and then the math of it makes so much more sense, right?

Where we can get in that cycle of just the slurry seal, the stuff that prolongs the life.

So I think that we have to really work to get to that place because it's it saves us in the long run to put in that investment and getting there.

Thank you.

Counselor Teter.

Thank you both.

This was a very well put together uh presentation.

I am a I'm a visual learner, so I appreciate all the graphs and and examples.

Uh my heart I real quick, I just want to give Cara uh kudos for putting this together for us.

Oh great, thanks, Kara.

You're always good at thinking and thanking your team, Tim.

Um I've got a couple comments.

My heart is very similar with Councillor Hartmeyer Priggs there.

Um first asking about sidewalks.

Uh our comparison cities that you all showed on the chart.

How many of them include sidewalks with their maintenance fees?

I don't know off the top of my head, I can get you that answer.

Okay, that'd be great.

I know Wilsonville has ownership over their full right-of-way, and that's the only one I know.

So they do sidewalks.

I don't know about others.

They seem pretty unique though, from what I've heard.

Oh, is that what it was?

That was a bond, okay.

Okay.

Yeah, there are some that do a lot, but most don't okay, great.

Thanks.

Uh you both also mentioned Bend uh being a good comparison.

The mayor mentioned being similar similar city structure.

Um my understanding is they phased in their transportation fee, or they're in the process of phasing it in over a few different budget cycles.

Is that accurate?

That is, and we're happy to discuss that if you'd like.

They originally passed a transportation fee of five dollars with the understanding that they were gonna phase it in over three different years to go from five to essentially ten a little bit more, and then to essentially fifteen.

They paused on the fifteen because their network was getting um rehabilitated a little bit quicker than they expected it to A.

But B, but they were waiting on the transportation package as well.

They were hoping to see something that could benefit them.

And so I would assume they're gonna go back and reinstitate in reinstitute that third phase, but they haven't yet.

Okay, thank you.

Uh I'm definitely an idealist, so absent any other context.

I'm like, oh, definitely target PCI.

Uh the realist in me does wonder if maybe we pursue a phased-in approach as well where we do express like our goals as a council for where we'd like to be, and we have some sort of plan where it's not just total shock to the community to suddenly have a $20 uh bill on on their utility bills, uh, but instead it's something phased in.

We know like each additional year that we go on, we'd be able to offer something additional to the community.

Like the first year we're just trying to we're just trying to keep going just a little bit longer.

The second year is oh, we start reducing that backlog.

The third year is maybe we add in sidewalks then.

Uh but having some sort of plan would help me feel better about it.

Um I think would help us tell the story of like, hey, we are managing our budget.

We are we do we are following a plan to repair our streets.

It's gonna take a little bit, but hopefully, like Ben, we'll see.

We're fixing streets a little bit faster than we anticipated.

So I would like to see something something like that, I think.

Um I would also like to target like to tie whatever we end up approving to some sort of inflationary index.

Um I think Washington County has the transportation development tax five-year rolling index if we just tie it to something that county already does that.

I think Hillsboro uses the engineering news record construction cost index.

Okay.

Yeah, I would defer to whatever you all feel would be appropriate, but I would like to see it indexed so that we don't have to talk about it all the time once we get it right.

Um we mentioned reduced cost for parking for uh low income people or people who might be eligible for other utility reductions.

Uh that's something I would be interested in in here.

I think Hillsborough offers a discount program for people who are eligible, but I don't know much about it.

Um I'd be interested in learning.

I'm not sure if it's something I would move forward with, but it's something I'd like to learn a little bit more about.

And then uh sidewalks, uh final comment about sidewalks.

So they're currently the responsibility of the property owner to maintain.

You are saying if we end up including sidewalks in this, would every sidewalk repair then be the responsibility of the city and be a complaint driven repair process, or would we keep a sidewalk condition index, or how would that work?

And it would have to be thoughtfully implemented, right?

And that what uh my thought would be that with a sidewalk fee, it would allow us to infill the spaces where sidewalks don't uh uh exist currently, but then those sidewalks would be turned over to the property owner so that the property owner would continue to maintain those over the years.

Got it.

Got it.

Okay.

So that we're not exponentially increasing our maintenance cost in the future.

Okay, got it.

Thank you.

That helps.

Um I appreciate this.

I definitely would want to set a goal of reaching a target PCI budget, uh, but a phased in approach to getting there would be great so that it's not just all at once, but I really appreciate the work that went into this, and I can feel like we're going in a good direction and excited to keep on going with you also.

Thank you.

I'm pretty sure we just flipped the the slide really quickly, but you did have a slide about multifamily and the other feeds.

We are just the one central topic was just multifamily on the first one.

Okay.

Uh Counselor Tipnon.

Thank you.

Um back, I think it was 2015.

I was serving on the City Club Board of Governors when a report was released on the state of the roads in Portland.

And it was somewhere over 200 million dollars a year for a decade to get all of the roads in Portland back up to where they needed to be, which was out of reach.

And it was part of a larger issue of the amount of time that the roads have been allowed to deteriorate without the investment going back in to keep them maintained, and that they basically hit that crossroads that you had mentioned earlier and almost a path of uh no return to get to a place where they could ever have a fully functioning smooth and safe infrastructure within Portland was kind of the findings of the report.

Um to me, did to the deterioration of the roads is exponential in terms of the cost associated with it.

So looking at those costs that you had um you just had up on the screen on the um the different options that we've got, even with option four, it's vastly less in terms of the cost going with that than it would be to continue to let this progress and get worse off into the future.

Um I'm very bullish on us doing what we can to get to the target PCI, or as close as we possibly can to it.

And um I I echo what Counselor Hartmeyer Prigg was saying.

I we have to find a way to make it make sense to to folks and also weigh it with the fact that we have a levy coming up.

I would love to see sidewalks get included, but also recognize that just the roads themselves and taking care of those has to take precedent um simply because uh the the costs associated with that is something that we're we're having a hard time grappling with, and there might be other avenues for finding funding for the sidewalks themselves.

So um I I'm just continuing to be as frank as I can that this is to me is one of the core parts of what we owe our residents as cities is to make sure that these roads are safe and that we continue to maintain them because if we don't the costs that are going to be associated with it for future residents and future councils and future public works departments have to grapple with is is gonna be far beyond what we're dealing with now.

So as close to number four as possible, Councilor Duggar.

Uh everyone, thanks for being here.

Great job on your first presentation.

Looking forward to the next one.

Um before I get to my questions, I do have you said so you said the cost of increased 70% since 2020, but you didn't tell us why.

Can you kind of illustrate a little bit more or provide a little context?

Um a lot of it certainly was due to COVID at the time, but then uh supplying chain um problems and then just um uh personnel cost, trucking cost, and then uh just material cost.

Our material cost went up again another 10% this year.

So there are there any strategies for us to work at least on bending that cost curve down, right?

Because like when I know this can't, this isn't a cost structure alone, right?

Clearly, this is a revenue problem too.

But like it, you know, I've you anecdotally sometimes hear about government procurement limiting the number of companies that can bid on things and things like that.

So I I don't know.

I don't know if that's a thing, but like are you know, are are we artificially causing problems ourselves, or is there any strategy we can do to bend these costs while increasing the revenue?

We can certainly talk about it, but honestly, we're talking about dollar figures where we're not having to go through the more extensive procurement processes.

If we were bidding out for two to three million dollar jobs, then that would come into play.

But it's currently not coming into play.

Yeah, I uh I mean, definitely gonna support you know uh uh a fee, but I I think even if it's not you know not a massive savings, like we that that helps us tell we our job is to tell the story to the community, right?

Like, yes, costs have gone up, but these are the things we're doing to bend that cost curve at least so it's not growing 10%.

Maybe it only grows eight percent this year, and but over the next 10 years, that's a pretty massive gap, like if we're able to close that.

So uh uh let me let me have a whole list of questions I'm gonna try to.

Um we know that most of the damage, and I kind of tried my best to be a little bit of a nerd and read about this.

A lot of damage is caused by heavier things, right?

This is not weight weight uh or user impact direct directed.

So are there any strategies on top of this we can add to capture some of those weight costs, right?

Like a bicycle can ride on the same road for a thousand years and it's not gonna do any damage.

A semi-tractor trailer, on the other hand, fully loaded is going to.

So are there or is there anything we're not thinking about as far as weight?

I don't think so, just because we we are not permitting overweight vehicles.

And so as long as a vehicle is legally uh weighted, then we're not allowed to charge with with any uh funding source that I'm aware of.

And this is practically um.

I'm gonna echo what counselor teeter said.

I am interested in a a dis whatever number we settle on, um, a discount program for lower income folks.

I think that will be really important to me.

Um knowing that we all uh we all invest in this.

This is our biggest asset.

Um I would love to see us include a small percent, a small capped number for sidewalks.

I don't think we'll ever dig our way out of this hole.

But I do think this is an opportunity.

Maybe it's a 25 cents of of the total fee or something like that.

You know, it's not gonna fix everything, but like it will give us a direct, meaningful uh uh way to start closing some of the gaps and start making some of the pro progress because uh the reality is not a lot, but there are gonna be some people that don't have a car in this city, and they need some investment too.

Like they've made a choice to be bike and pedestrian.

Not many, let's let's be honest.

But I do think a little uh uh, you know, some sort of if it's a quarter, I don't care what the number is, like, but but some sort of investment in areas of the city that don't have that, I think would be really meaningful.

Um let me see.

Uh I think if you were to ask me if I were forced to vote right now, I would vote for actually the steady state budget.

But I would ask that we implement it over a few years, you know, starting with maybe like a 10 starting with 11 dollars and then go to 12, 13, and 14, something like that to get people used to the idea.

I don't think uh the numbers are outrageous.

Any of these are considering what our neighbor cities are doing and what they've been able to generate and and and the relative condition of our uh pavement, we have to do something.

This is not a choice of can we ignore it anymore?

We can't.

And in fact, I would argue we should have done this probably five years ago, 10 years ago.

But the we are where we are, we and the best time to do this is today.

Uh so you know, I would like to see um again that low income uh uh a small token amount, uh not token, a meaningful amount um dedicated to sidewalks that will make me feel better about sort of supporting this, and I would like to see us shoot for that set steady state.

I think that makes a lot of sense.

Uh and then you know, depending on what the the legislature does, uh, you know, hopefully we can get a few dollars extra out of that.

And then I would also like us to consider at some point.

I've said this until I'm blue in the face.

I think we need a gas tax, a very small one to go on top of this.

And I know that gas taxes are dwindling.

I know there's complications around getting it voter approved and all this too.

But like a the reality is a lot of people that don't live in Beaverton are using these roads too.

They go to Nike, they go to Intel, they go to all these employers around.

And I don't think we're gonna capture a whole lot from them, but I would like to capture something from them.

Because the reality is, you know, they they are using our roads, and in that can be a separate conversation.

And so I'm just I just want to put that out there that I think that not all the burden should fall on uh completely on Beaverton residents and businesses.

Thank you.

Counselor Hessen.

Hello.

I want to just commend you for making roads seem so sexy.

I didn't think it was possible, and I think that they're really sexy tonight.

Um I I would you know, most of what you've heard is is similar, I feel fairly similarly, but I'll call out a few things that I want to say.

Um obviously I think it's important that we start moving in the direction of developing the fee encode updates, knowing full well that we have all these other conversations, and we don't want to hit people with all the things at one time.

So I I want us to start that, and I want us to be really thoughtful.

Um Counselor Duggar, you just like you brought up that like weight thing, and I was like, how do we make like the heavy trucks pay?

And I know there isn't an answer to that, but it did make me start wanting to be like really thoughtful and strategic.

Like what does that look like?

So we don't have the same heavy trucks because of the diversion.

It's not the same as other cities, like the way that we're it we're so far from the freeway.

There are some, but we like there are freight routes and the freight routes are county roads.

Well, and I and I was gonna say, like, I mean, I guess aside from Murray, like uh it just it was interesting.

I wanted to just like uplift it for a second, because I was like, oh, what does that look like?

I'm not saying that there's an answer, just wanted to uplift it.

Um I do want to see really obviously intentional outreach.

I think you guys will do that, and so I'm not worried about it.

Um, you know, I'm probably more three four, so study state and target PCI.

Um, you know, if you asked me in this moment, I do really want to see sidewalks also prioritize, so I I know that I can't have it all.

Um I do want to I don't know.

We have a testimony, and you know, I don't even know if this is possible.

But they were like, let's name it a transportation safety fee.

Is that a thing?

Like is it is it possible to name this differently?

No.

Oh.

But it has to go.

Okay.

Okay.

The franchise fee.

We have to name where it's going.

So we can't like hide the ball with residents and say one thing and do another.

Okay.

So I just um, you know, Nick, I I read this and I was like, that's like genius, right?

Because I don't want to hear I'm paying for a transportation.

Like, I don't even know what that means.

And so uh just creating more accessibility for people to understand.

I do think that as this gets closer, you know, to us having to make more decision making, it'll be interesting to see how the community starts to talk about it and really wanting to like I just know that I want to keep a close pulse on that.

I'm trying to think if there's anything else I was desperate to add.

I think give me one second.

Oh, yes.

Um I want to be really careful of what we are putting on our small, small businesses.

So I know this is early.

I just I just want to say that out loud.

Um we've talked about parking, right?

And so when I think of like your one business employee or your 10 business employee or your 50 business employees, generally these these folks are especially now, I think just really kind of navigating difficult times, and so I just want to be mindful of like of what that looks like because I think that those folks are really feeling the brunt.

Um, and of course, obviously making sure that there's some sort of set aside for folks who are struggling and and need that low-income support.

That's all.

You made this very sexy, so thank you.

Council president, bring us home.

Okay, I'll take you home.

Um the uh sorry about that.

That was a language translation problem.

Yes, it is.

It is the literal translation.

Um, sorry.

It's too late.

Okay.

I don't want to go after just the property owners, as Council Duggar said, and also business owners.

I think there's going to be some studies or investigation in regards to gas tax, if that's possible.

Uh local.

And also I've been talking about the electrical charging at homes and on the stations where uh I don't know if they require permit to install their own charging station at home.

Anybody?

No?

No?

So I think you you do.

No, right?

So that's what I was saying, where if it's not a permit issuance, it could be like a I don't know how you figure it out, but then they charge maybe portion, just the minimal amount the person is going to road maintenance tax, something like that.

Um can capture that as an as a source of the street street maintenance fund.

Uh so it's it doesn't just fall on the burden to the property owners and business owners.

Because everybody uses the road, no matter what.

So that's what I'm trying to have.

Somewhat of idea of where where could be all the resources and the revenue sources for the street maintenance, because everybody uses the street.

Um when I looked at the graph, the how much they charge in Bend was similar to Hillsboro, but their total income was almost four million dollars or six million dollars more than the Hillsborough.

Can you explain that to me?

Where I believe Hillsboro has more businesses and properties.

Right.

So then why is the band collecting a lot more than Hillsborough?

Yeah, you know, it could be a lot of things.

They they could have more single-family residences versus multifamily residents.

They could have a different business model on what they charge their businesses.

But uh, and you know, I think the population is pretty close.

Right.

But they charge they have four million dollars more collection.

So I was just trying to grasp my head around how is that possible, right?

And and they have more they may have more businesses that they charge, more larger businesses.

Okay, maybe I can look look into that uh before the next uh presentation.

And regards to what counsel Hassan was saying, um when you when you come up with the numbers for employees and businesses, uh, and you had employee one, like a business with one employee was four dollars and seventy some cents and ten employees were forty-seven dollars.

I guess you just multiply by ten.

But somebody who owns the business, a person who's single, one employee, which means yourself, usually works in a big property or the office building.

So the office building pays, let's say property tax or whatever, but they don't pay, they're not gonna be paying the utilities or they pay in a whole because it's not considered employees.

Have you considered that?

Property owners, they don't have employees, but they have hundred people working out of their office spaces.

So how do you capture those?

That was my question.

And then most of the small businesses are not really, they have more than three employees.

You, let's say mom, pop, and a child, that's three, right?

And then if you add maybe one more employee, that's like minimum four and five.

So when you calculate this, somebody who has four or five employees, they're already struggling, should be considered like a one business, right?

They should pay that I don't think they should be paying close to 47, 50 dollars compared to somebody who has 10 employees.

10 employees you're looking at, somebody has a gross revenue of over a million dollars, right?

But small businesses whose gross revenue of 250 to 300,000 already struggling, right?

Uh so I think when you actually implement phase when you're implementing, you need to consider that fact.

Uh so that would be so one of the things that I would say, if you don't mind me answering that, is first of all, the way that uh the consultant um estimated the rates for businesses in Beaverton is an accepted way of doing it.

And oddly enough, it's very close to the way that Bend originally started doing theirs.

The better way to do it is to get the Institute of Transportation Engineers land use codes for the different businesses, and then utilize the square feet or whatever the um defining characteristic is for that particular business, and you get much closer to the the right fee.

One of the things that so neither Ben nor the city of Beaverton um collected that information with business licenses, but it's something that we could do over time, and then we could institute that as we move forward.

And Ben is in the process of doing that.

I think that's something that we would do as well.

Again, well, actually, I was gonna say one of the lessons we learned from them, and it is something that we have learned, but I would say that finance had already identified that as a way that they they felt that we could go.

Okay.

One last thing uh is um I would love to have a phased in also when you're trying to implement it.

And the target, I think depends on how much we're at we're talking about fees all the time these days.

I was walking up from my clinic, I said, Oh, it's time to raise fees, and my employees didn't like that.

Like to hear that because we are raising taxes and fees and adding a little more fees.

So before we have a full before I have a full grass grasp of how much is total, I think that's gonna drive my decision.

Like, so how can we divide that up to street public safety, right?

And other other things that come into play, and how much as a business and homeowners can afford to pay extra on top of it.

Uh so um that would be my input.

Thank you.

Is the other Dr.

Kimmy, your employee in this story?

Okay.

Um right, counsel.

I want you guys to to think about the direction we just gave the staff.

Almost all of you pointed at the direction of 14 to 20 dollars a month.

And I watched how you guys undid yourself over a two dollar a month raise in our water rates.

So I just a lot of times we have a habit of giving direction to staff and then having it come back and then having like 180 reversals on them, and it's a lot of work what we're asking them to do.

So I am just reminding us of the direction we're getting staff right now, and that some of the things that we need is we gotta kind of see the levy conversation, everything in its whole package.

But I know it's we looked at the slides, we saw we know what we have to do, which is why we've given that direction.

I just want you to remember this moment that this is the direction we're giving.

That doesn't mean we're locked into voting for it, but like this is the direction that they're going to do their work on.

So once you hit those doors and you run into his staff and change your mind, I'm gonna replay this council meeting for us.

With that, I'm gonna move us into executive session.

Um the Beaverton City Council is holding an executive session pursuant of ORS 192.6602H to consult with the council concerning the legal rights and duties of a public body with regard to current litigation or litigation likely to be filed.

We will be coming out of executive session with a vote.

So with that, we'll take a five-minute recess why staff overturns or turns the room and is ready.

I think all right, we are out of executive session, and I will entertain a motion.

Uh yes, Mayor, I move to authorize the city attorney to take the steps necessary for the city to join the amicus brief filed by the city of Los Angeles in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Newsom versus Trump, case number two five five five five three.

Second.

It was moved by councilor Hussen and seconded by Councillor Duggar.

Will the recorder please call the oh I'm sorry, is there any discussion on the motion?

Seeing none, will the recorder please call the roll?

Mayor Beatty.

Yes.

Councilor Tivnon.

I'll be abstaining since I wasn't able to participate in the conversation.

Counselor Teeter.

Yes.

Counselor Kimmy?

Yes.

Councilor Hassan?

Yes.

Councilor Hartmeyer Prigg?

Yes.

Counselor Duggar.

Yes.

Uh 6-1 or 601.

All right, friends.

Today was a uh we seem to be having a lot of packed agendas where we have a lot of different opinions on the council and move towards a lot of consensus.

I think the way we've been operating and moving in the last couple meetings has felt really good.

And I think compromise is not a dirty word.

And I think we're moving in in such a really good direction right now.

So thank you for your participation.

Thanks for coming in.

Thanks for uh being okay with the added executive session.

Yeah.

Can we do council new business really quick?

It's quickly.

Yeah, very quick.

Uh I just I did want to let you all know.

Um, I am so sorry.

I don't know if this was shared, but um, last Tuesday we did find out that our family was in Doha where the bombing happened, so it's why I couldn't come.

So uh didn't want to say that out loud, but um I like wore my clothes that I bought from there when I visited two years ago.

So um our family is okay, but it was a really rough day.

So I'm just really am sorry, and I will watch.

Can't wait to watch.

Um, and I uh just wanted you all to do.

So thank you.

All right, anyone else?

All right, with that, we're adjourned.

All right, counselor Cameron.

Recording