Bend City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting – June 21, 2023
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Bend City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting – June 21, 2023
The Bend City Council held a work session beginning at 5:00 p.m. followed by a regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. on June 21, 2023. The work session included discussions on managing the Brooks Promenade (alley), a parking system update, and the Crosstown Bikeways (Key Routes) project to deliver one north-south and one east-west low-stress bike route within two years. The regular meeting included a consent agenda (with one item pulled), a series of budget resolutions, a public hearing to declare three city-owned properties surplus for affordable housing, second readings of multiple ordinances, and council actions. A major topic in public comment was the city's announced cleanup of the Hunnell Road camping area scheduled for July 17, 2023. The council also addressed safety concerns following a fatal e-bike collision over the prior weekend.
Consent Calendar
- Routine Approvals (Items A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R): The council approved the consent agenda, which included approval of minutes, the OLCC report, software license renewal (Hexagon Infor, up to $143,418.26), IT hardware/software purchases (CompuNet, up to $727,000; CDW Government, up to $743,300; Chariot Group, up to $251,100; LTT Partners for security cameras, up to $165,000), a mobile outreach contract with REACH Out NP (up to $100,000), a design-build amendment for the Juniper Ridge Public Works Campus (zero cost), the Roosevelt Water Main Phase III project (up to $1,173,856), a Clean Water State Revolving Fund loan agreement, benefit plans renewals, worker's compensation insurance renewal ($1,494,021.14), property and liability insurance renewals, a right-of-way dedication on NE Franklin Avenue, certified election results, and a contract for the Southeast Area Plan Pump Station (Brown and Caldwell, up to $360,443). All approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Hunnell Road Cleanup (Multiple speakers): More than a dozen residents and advocates provided emotional testimony opposing the city's planned cleanup of the Hunnell Road encampment on July 17, 2023. Speakers described the area as a supportive community and argued that the city had not provided adequate shelter alternatives. Several noted that many residents are seniors or have disabilities and would be left homeless. Eric Gardy cited a study showing displacement increases overdose mortality by 151% and reduces life expectancy. Chuck Hemingway, a service provider, requested a new health and safety assessment, calling the October 2022 assessment inaccurate and outdated.
- Surplus Properties for Affordable Housing (Multiple speakers): Several residents spoke against the proposed sale of three city-owned parcels (Bear Creek, Franklin/Larch, and Emkay) for affordable housing. Concerns included traffic, loss of green space, and impacts on neighborhood character. Jeremy Bada and Jeff Hasegawa urged rejection of the sales. Tamara Houston proposed using the Bear Creek parcel for a community library instead.
- Other Public Comments: David Green (Bend Bikes) expressed support for the Crosstown Bikeways project, stressing the need for all-ages-and-abilities infrastructure. Robert Luecke and Kathleen Moore raised safety concerns on Purcell Boulevard and Chamberlain Street, respectively. Katie Catherine and Matthias Pearl called on the council to take a stronger public stand against Nazi and white supremacist threats. Several people commented on the Hunnell Road closure as noted above.
Discussion Items
- Brooks Promenade (Work Session): Staff presented a stakeholder-engagement process to manage the alley (Brooks Street). After reviewing five options, staff recommended a north-end automatic gate, improved signage, a loading zone, in-ground lights, and bollards to slow traffic and prevent wrong-way driving. Council directed staff to proceed with the recommendation, to collect data, and to return in a year with an update. Councilor Broadman noted the solution may not fully address unauthorized vehicle entry but was a good step. Councilor Méndez supported trying different signage first.
- Parking Update (Work Session): Toby (parking staff) presented the need to modernize the parking code, streamline parking districts, and prepare for citywide parking challenges. Council gave direction to use the Community Building Subcommittee to work through details before bringing any code changes to the full council. No formal vote.
- Crosstown Bikeways / Key Routes (Work Session): Ryan Oster and Kevin Howard presented proposed east-west and north-south low-stress bike routes. For the east-west route, council directed staff to use Franklin Avenue rather than Hawthorne, and to incorporate the Larkspur Trail. For the north-south route, council supported using the Larkspur Trail and engaging the Nottingham neighborhood to formalize a canal trail connection. The goal is to deliver both routes within the 2023-2025 biennium using existing and bond-funded projects.
- EDCO Contract (Item K pulled from Consent): The council discussed and then approved a $364,800 contract with Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) for 2023-2025 economic development services. Staff clarified that EDCO focuses on traded-sector businesses (e.g., Lonza, Les Schwab). Councilor Riley asked for more background information, but the contract passed unanimously.
- Budget Resolutions (Items 6.1-6.4): After a public hearing, the council approved a series of budget adjustments, the 2023-2025 biennial budget, state shared revenue resolutions, the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) totaling $537 million over five years, the levy of city property taxes, an intent-to-reimburse resolution, the staffing schedule (997.62 FTE), updated fiscal policies, and updated investment policies. The solid waste collection rate increase (12%) was also approved. Councilor Riley added an amendment to the fee resolution (Item 6.3) directing staff to return with an updated fee schedule, implementation plan, and timeline by the second meeting in November 2023.
- Surplus Property for Affordable Housing (Item 7): The council adopted a resolution declaring three city-owned parcels (Bear Creek, Franklin/Larch, and Emkay) surplus for affordable housing. The properties will go through an RFP process reviewed by the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC), with final council approval for sale. Lynn and Matt presented the sites, and council affirmed that deed restrictions (typically 30-60 years) will ensure permanent affordability. The motion passed unanimously.
- Second Readings of Ordinances (Items 9-14): All second readings passed on roll-call votes: Timber Yards Master Planned Development (9-0), vacation of SW 17th Street right-of-way (unanimous), Simpson Avenue partition for affordable housing (unanimous), Affordable Housing Fee amendment (unanimous), Fee Setting and Cost Recovery amendment (unanimous), and Sewer Rates amendment (unanimous).
- Council Actions and Reports: Councilor Riley moved to direct staff to bring back a resolution to condemn private access easements on Bachelor View Road if necessary; approved unanimously. Council approved appointments to the Tree Regulation Update Advisory Committee (TRUAC) and reappointments to the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) and the County Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Councilor Campbell announced a "Summer of Safety" initiative coordinated with COACT and Commute Options. Councilor Perkins announced a planned e-bike safety roundtable with state legislators by end of July. The City Manager reported significant improvements in building permit turnaround times.
Key Outcomes
- Consent Agenda Approved (Item K pulled and then approved).
- Brooks Promenade Direction: Staff to implement north-end gate and safety improvements, collect data, and report back in one year.
- Parking Code Modernization: Approved in concept; to be developed by Community Building Subcommittee.
- Crosstown Bikeways Direction: East-west route via Franklin Avenue; north-south route via Larkspur Trail and Nottingham neighborhood canal trail.
- EDCO Contract Approved ($364,800 for 2023-2025).
- Budget and Fee Resolutions Approved (including 12% solid waste rate increase; fee resolution amended to require updated schedule by November 2023).
- Surplus Properties Declared (Bear Creek, Franklin/Larch, Emkay) for affordable housing; RFP process to follow.
- All Second Readings Passed (Timber Yards, 17th St ROW vacation, Simpson partition, Affordable Housing Fee, Fee Setting, Sewer Rates).
- Condemnation Resolution Authorized for Bachelor View Road easements if necessary.
- Appointments Made: TRUAC committee members, AHAC reappointment (Joanna Gardner), and Bend representative to County Bike/Ped Committee (David Roth).
- Hunnell Road Cleanup Announced for July 17, 2023, with city pledging to connect residents with services.
- E-bike Safety Roundtable Planned for late July, led by Councilor Perkins and Representative Levy.
Meeting Transcript
All right. We can go ahead and get started with our city council work session. And first Ben and Toby. Great. And I think Eric was going to teed us up for a minor. Yes. So normally management of our rights of way is something that you as council delegate to me in terms of management. So we have to close rights of way for detours or we permit special events, uh parades, etc. Um, this is a unique situation when we're talking about the management of um this space, uh Brooks Alley or Promenade that uh has been known as. I think the intent here is before I we would make any decisions from an administrative perspective and how we would manage this, we want to get some stakeholder feedback. And um so we've done that over the last couple of months, and so today tonight is really about sharing uh options that were presented to that group, um, hearing uh preferred option and getting your direction uh before we would make any kind of administrative decisions on how we would manage this right of way. Um so I'm really looking for some general direction from you all tonight. Um and uh those options would include move forward as per as recommended, view maybe one of the other recommendations that was presented as something you would want to consider, or no recommend or no change at all. I I would like to know where council um is with uh regard to this process in the summer and the things that we've learned throughout the process in terms of what next steps might look like. And Eric, sorry before you start, can you clarify this? This did get presented to one of our subcommittees earlier this year, it did. It's actually been in front of the um stewardship subcommittee uh a few times. Yeah, and then we'll then we'll kind of go into more of a lot of things. Um and yeah, no intro necessary, though. Thanks Eric. Uh so uh this conversation, and this is I think the third or fourth time I've been involved in a conversation around how do we change or look at the management of uh Brooks Alley uh since I joined the city in 2016. But this conversation really started at a stewardship subcommittee meeting on April 14th of this year. We were talking more broadly, and counselors uh Riley and Perkins were there, I believe, along with Councillor Mendez. Uh talking more broadly about um potential tourism investment on the Mirapan Plaza area. Uh that's really probably a 2025 or 2026 time frame for us to make any investment there uh in terms of actually breaking ground and building a new project. The feedback from the councilors on the subcommittee uh were was excuse me, um do something sooner than that. At least look at what we can do around managing wrongway traffic and other issues that council had heard about over the prior years around um management of the uh Brooks Promenade. So with that, Toby and I started in earnest uh the last week in April, I think, by sending an email out to uh the stakeholders along the alley around hey, we want to have some conversations around what we're gonna do on Brooks Promenade or Brooks Alley or Brooke Street. A lot of names for the the area. I'll call it the alley in this case because that seems to be the colloquialism uh most folks are going with. Uh but yeah, so I sent an email out end of uh end of April. Um some of those stakeholders that received it are behind behind me tonight. I think uh many of them sent you emails as well. Uh and that really started our discussions around, okay, what can we do here? Because it seemed like there was a lot of friction around full closure of the alley. And also there were folks on the complete opposite side of the issue saying, um, keep it open, do nothing. So May 4th, we had our first stakeholder session. We were in this room. Uh Mayor Keebler and uh Mayor Pro Tem Perkins, you were there as well. A little oh and councillor Campbell. A little tense. Uh I think as anyone that was there would attest to uh and really talked a lot about um, you know what works in the alley, what doesn't. And really talked a lot about what works in the alley, what doesn't. It was kind of a brainstorm session. We then jumped into the meeting on May 11th. That was the intent there, and Toby did a great job of leading these meetings was to have a second brainstorm session, and the that one didn't go as well. So we ended up pivoting and really talking about okay, what does this group, this stakeholder group, uh businesses and building owners along the alley need or want from the city to kind of move forward in making decisions. And their feedback was we really want to see what options you think you can execute on managing the alley going forward. That led us to our final stakeholder session on June 8th. Really a discussion of five options, winnowed those down into one staff staff recommendation that Toby will share shortly.
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