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Record of Proceedings

Bend City Council Meeting: September 20, 2023 – Legislative Update, Tree Code, Caraway Master Plan, and Utility Assistance

City Council — Wednesday, September 20, 2023
BodyBend, Oregon
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, September 20, 2023
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Office variances, uh a hefty land supply conversation, which we'll get into uh some more.

0:06

There was a pretty significant conversation, but a little amorphous on the infrastructure needs.

0:13

We spent a lot of time, the city of Bend in particular, working with some of our community partners and our delegation around transportation priorities.

0:20

Uh we spent a lot of time with the chamber, a lot of time with Central Oregon Land Watch working in Salem collaboratively around the need for infrastructure to make land ready.

0:29

We're talking, you know, in addition to the potential of new land on the urban periphery, want to make absolutely sure that we are getting the resources we need to utilize the land we have that's already inside the UGB in our central areas and and otherwise.

0:42

So there is an emerging theme that I think is catching fire to a degree, and that which I expect to be uh a heavy priority going forward.

0:52

And of course, um, case in point on that is the collective work that our uh entire delegation, the city and our community partners put in and getting five million on the Hawthorn overcrossing.

1:03

I think uh we've seen a lot of success.

1:06

Um we've got support from the federal government, we've got support from the state legislature, and that project looks to be in pretty pretty good shape.

1:13

So a huge thank you to uh our delegation for the help on that one.

1:18

Uh another big topic that uh I again didn't pass, but continue to be a uh continue to expect it will be a core priority for the short session is uh a House Bill, House Bill 2980.

1:33

Some of us are familiar with the number by this point, which basically proposes a revolving loan fund.

1:38

It would be if it were to pass, it would be seeded with a significant amount of state general fund.

1:43

That general fund would then be managed for a local opt-in program.

1:48

If the city wants to participate, it can opt in.

1:51

A developer would make a proposal to come forward and say, hey, I'm having trouble getting this middle income housing development pencil.

1:57

If I had access to some of these revolving loan funders, uh revolving loan dollars, I could provide uh on site infrastructure, potentially even contribute to public infrastructure, SDC offsets, uh construction gap financing, a whole variety of things that could help make a lot of really critical uh projects pencil that are sort of in this no man's land if it's not a full market rate project, but it's not uh a big A affordable housing project.

2:26

And there's a lot of interest in this, but there's a lot of money that it would take for it to work.

2:30

So we spent a lot of time uh supporting that project as well and are involved in the effort to try to advance that in the short session as well.

2:41

So one other topic um, in light of the fact that the mayor already mentioned uh House Bill 2705, which was our middle income tax exemption, it passed in an omnibus tax expenditure bill.

2:56

It didn't pass this 2705, but it passed with the language we wanted and the language we expected.

3:02

Um we put out a really big push for uh shelter funding, uh, one that fell short.

3:09

We did get some funding collectively from the legislature, really the the larger cities, the you know, Portland and then what we've come to call the mid-sized cities.

3:18

There's technically seven of us, but there's a few more that have shelter facilities.

3:23

We're in a pretty precarious situation where the funding of a lot of the facilities that are already on the ground, sometimes by local dollars.

3:31

This is not a thing that cities have have typically done.

3:33

It's typically been a county public health priority.

3:36

Cities um to represent the needs of their own communities have stepped up, sometimes utilizing state dollars, sometimes utilizing local dollars.

3:43

It's not sustainable.

3:45

The funding is not there yet from the state, so this is going to be a huge push of ours, and I would think probably all of the mid-sized cities for the short session.

3:54

So, what you're hearing from me is a lot of things that we spent a lot of time on, some of which passed, some of which are ongoing in it.

4:02

So, you know, you could say what well, what is it accomplished?

4:05

Uh, I think we're gonna find out in the short session what this big investment of ours in these topics is going to accomplish, and we're gonna stay the course.

4:12

So I'm gonna leave my my introduction at that, and I think what we'd like to do here is um I'll introduce uh the two of you and then um Mayor Pro Tem.

4:23

You can handle the letter afterwards.

4:26

So, Senator Canut, let's start with you, and again, it's the floor is yours.

4:32

Great.

4:33

Uh thank you, Eric, and uh thank you mayor and counselors, and of course, city staff.

4:41

We should not leave you out.

4:42

Um it's a pleasure to be with you this evening, and it was great to have uh the involvement of your team in the legislature in 2023.

5:03

And I would encourage even more in the future.

5:08

So my goals really for the 2024 session are to uh focus on the things that Oregonians were sold annual sessions for, which are emergencies, budget, and technical fixes.

5:24

The declared emergency that we have today is housing and homelessness.

5:28

And so that fits right in with what actually needs to be done.

5:34

So one of the unfinished pieces of business, Eric mentioned was uh 3414, Hospital 3414, and also infrastructure.

5:47

Because as you all know, uh you can make all the plans in the world, but if you don't have the money for infrastructure, it will move slower.

5:55

And so uh we would love to uh help cities out and get uh some sort of a revolving fund to help with infrastructure needs because uh we uh definitely need to up production of housing, and the governor has set a very aggressive goal at 36,000 units, and uh I think we're you know 20,000, 22,000 uh on an annual basis uh in the past, and so uh that's a significant jump, and in order to meet that uh you have to do things that you haven't done before.

6:31

And so um uh much was accomplished on homelessness.

6:36

Uh we kind of called it housing 1.0, and then we tried to do housing 2.0 and didn't quite get there on everything.

6:43

Uh we also did um some semiconductor uh work trying to uh bring some federal dollars into the state on that.

6:51

I think we'll ultimately be successful, and um that was uh good bipartisan approach.

6:57

The other thing that uh I would like to see in the 2024 session is uh addressing measure 110 and uh the issues that um you all have to deal with um with that.

7:11

So um I think we all know that in talking with our excellent uh law enforcement uh uh folks that uh addiction is a huge part of the homelessness issue, and um measure 110 um, I think needs to be uh monified, and so uh we will uh be bringing forward opportunities to do that to I think get us back on track.

7:40

Oregonians I think have changed their minds significantly about um measure 110, and so uh I think a lot of people believed in uh uh trying to get people treatment and creating uh more funding for treatment, uh, which I wholeheartedly agree with.

8:01

Uh it appears as though that uh writing tickets to people and asking them to call a phone number has not worked in terms of people getting treatment.

8:10

So uh and law enforcement, you know, to some degree I think has uh been frustrated and maybe given up on writing people tickets because it hasn't worked very well.

8:20

Um and this is a statewide issue, it's not just the Portland issue or Bend issue or uh I've been to a lot of cities over the last couple of years uh and towns in in Oregon, and um it is uh universal.

8:35

So I think those are uh the big issues that uh I would like to see addressed in the 2024 session.

8:43

And uh, you know, hopefully it will be uh productive and bipartisan, and uh I've got a couple of pretty good seat mates that have uh worked well on a lot of issues, and I appreciate uh the good representative uh working on a couple of bills right at the end.

9:04

We uh worked on a uh funding for um child advocacy centers, and um I know our uh advocacy center here uh would benefit from that, and uh also um the good representative uh Shepherd in a bill through that uh I've been working on um quite a long time to uh change the stat uh the statute limitations on rate and uh we moved it years ago, we moved it from six years to 12 years, and um in this last effort we moved it to uh 20.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Land Use Planning█████████████████17%
Procedural████████████████16%
Tree Preservation█████████████13%
Homelessness███████████11%
Childcare Services███████7%
Housing Development██████6%
Infrastructure█████5%
Affordable Housing█████5%
Public Engagement███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Bend City Council Meeting: September 20, 2023

The Bend City Council held a work session at 5:00 p.m. and a regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. on September 20, 2023. The agenda included a legislative update with state representatives, a check-in on the Tree Regulation Update Advisory Committee (TRUAC), an executive session on real property negotiations, and a full regular meeting with public hearings, consent agenda items, and multiple votes on development, housing, and city services.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved minutes from August 9, 2023 (Transportation Fee Roundtable #1), September 6, 2023 (work session), and September 6, 2023 (regular session).
  • Accepted the OLCC (Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission) report.
  • Authorized the purchase of twenty-three police vehicles from Kendall Dealership Holdings for an estimated $1,133,000.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Carl Schumacher told a story about a mugging downtown, implicitly questioning who is a better human being (no clear position on agenda items).
  • Alice Staley urged the city to create temporary large camps (100+ people) for the unsheltered on the Stevens Road tract, citing the severity of the homelessness crisis.
  • Nicole Moore Perulo (via Zoom) expressed concern about environmental damage from houseless camps on public lands (Phil's Trail, China Hat, etc.) and advocated for temporary use of the Stevens Road tract for camping.
  • Doreen Type (via Zoom) opposed FAA funding for the Bend Municipal Airport, citing lack of community engagement and noise/pollution impacts.
  • Freddie Finney (via Zoom), a youth organizer, called on the council to take action to electrify the city within 60 days to meet climate goals, referencing the global climate strike and a letter signed by 20+ local businesses.
  • Marcus Hirschfield (via Zoom) advocated for expanding the climate advisory board to include more marginalized voices.
  • Leslie Cano (in person) reported receiving a threatening note from a supposed "Bend licensing committee" targeting apartment residents; Chief Cranks confirmed the note is fraudulent and not affiliated with the city.
  • Jenny Lingard (in person) supported temporarily using the Stevens Road tract for large homeless camps to provide centralized services.
  • Karen Johnson (in person) urged the council to ask the tree committee (TRUAC) to modify the Bend Code to allow more room for trees while achieving density.
  • Dan Pebbles (in person) requested city services for his property (One World Center) to enable a large childcare facility, citing the childcare desert.

Discussion Items

Legislative Update (Work Session)

  • Eric King (City Manager) summarized the city's legislative priorities: transportation infrastructure funding (e.g., $5 million for Hawthorn overcrossing), House Bill 2980 (revolving loan fund for middle-income housing), shelter funding, and the middle-income tax exemption (HB 2705).
  • Senator Daniel Canut (via Zoom) outlined his 2024 session priorities: housing and homelessness, infrastructure revolving funds, modifying Measure 110 (addiction services), and updating e-bike statutes.
  • Representative Jason Krupp (in person) praised Bend staff for their work on housing bills and emphasized the need for operational shelter funding, infrastructure support, and addressing addiction/behavioral health. He also noted ongoing work on childcare and workforce development.
  • Representutive Emerson Levy (letter read aloud) focused on community safety (school panic alarms), e-bike safety regulations, and continuing work on housing supply and wildfire insurance.

Tree Regulation Update Advisory Committee (TRUAC) Check-in (Work Session)

  • Pauline (staff) presented TRUAC's progress, including defining significant trees (20 inches or greater DBH for preservation), mapping all trees at 6 inches DBH, and discussing alternatives (on-site replacement or in-lieu fees).
  • Committee members Jeff Harris (Solar Homes, chair) and Christy (Central Oregon Land Watch, vice chair) requested council direction on whether to allow preservation of trees smaller than 20 inches (6-20 inches) for flexibility.
  • Councilors supported the flexibility concept, emphasizing the need to balance housing production with tree preservation. Councilor Riley advocated for a "floor" (minimum preservation) while ensuring clear and objective standards.

Caraway Master Planned Development (Items 6 & 7)

  • Staff (Karen, Russ) and applicant team (Joey Shear, planner; Corey Bittner, Polish Homes) presented the 150-acre master plan and annexation of 153.56 acres in the North Triangle UGB expansion area. The plan includes 593 units (minimum 401), 77 deed-restricted affordable units (planned 92), a 5.3-acre park, 3 miles of trails, and realignment of Hunnel Road.
  • Planning Commission (via Margo Clinton) recommended approval with an amendment to allow all uses permitted in the underlying zones (RS, RM) rather than a restricted list, to retain future flexibility.
  • Council discussion: Councilor Méndez questioned the restricted use table and the location of affordable housing near busy roads; applicant argued it provides clarity for developers. Councilor Kebler (Mayor) noted that restricted uses persisted from previous master plans but preferred the planning commission's recommendation for flexibility. Councilor Riley raised concerns about safe school routes for children.
  • Vote: Approved the first reading of the ordinance for the master plan (as amended by planning commission) and the first reading of the annexation ordinance, both unanimously.

BendTel Franchise (Item 8)

  • Robin Jones staff presented a non-exclusive franchise agreement for BendTel, a local telecom provider. Initial term 5 years, renewable for 5 more, with a 7% franchise fee. Approved unanimously.

Utility Assistance Programs (Item 9)

  • Dana Wilson (business manager) presented a resolution to discontinue the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Discount and the $150 One-time Credit, replacing them with a Low-Income Assistance Program (50% discount on base fees for water, sewer, stormwater for households at or below 60% AMI) and a Crisis Voucher Program (administered by Neighbor Impact). Approved unanimously.

Childcare Grant (Item 10)

  • Catherine Brown (COCC Small Business Development Center) detailed a grant agreement to use $100,000 for childcare expansion: $28,000 for permitting fees for new startups, $50,000 for sustainability grants to existing centers, $2,000 for low-income home-based providers, and $15,000 for program management. Approved unanimously.

Lighthouse Navigation Center Alterations (Item 11)

  • Garrett Kay (facilities) presented a $2.64 million construction contract for renovations to the Lighthouse Navigation Center (shelter). Scope includes new roof, HVAC, showers, laundry, commercial kitchen shell, restrooms, and safety upgrades. Funding from state, federal, and local sources. Approved unanimously.

Public Works Campus (Items 12 & 13)

  • Joe Wells (facilities architect) presented GMP #2 amendment ($27.98 million) for the Public Works Campus (headquarters, warm vehicle storage, site work, utilities) and an amendment to the Otak construction management contract ($1.94 million). Total project estimated at $130 million. Approved unanimously.

Stevens Road Tract UGB (Item 14)

  • Second reading of an ordinance to include the Stevens Road Tract within the Bend Urban Growth Boundary. Approved unanimously on roll call vote.

Building Code Amendment (Item 15)

  • Second reading of an ordinance amending BMC Chapter 9.10 to add protection of pedestrians. Approved unanimously on roll call vote.

Key Outcomes

  • Legislative Update: Council heard from state legislators and city staff on 2024 session priorities; shelter funding, infrastructure, and housing remain key focuses.
  • TRUAC: Council directed the committee to continue exploring preservation of trees smaller than 20 inches for flexibility, with a focus on balanced options and clear and objective standards.
  • Caraway Master Plan & Annexation: First readings approved, adopting the planning commission's recommended unrestricted use table.
  • BendTel Franchise: New franchise agreement approved.
  • Utility Assistance: New low-income and crisis voucher programs adopted; old programs discontinued.
  • Childcare Grant: $100,000 grant to COCC authorized.
  • Lighthouse Navigation Center: $2.64 million construction contract authorized.
  • Public Works Campus: GMP #2 ($27.98 million) and Otak amendment ($1.94 million) authorized.
  • Stevens Road Tract UGB: Ordinance adopted on second reading.
  • Pedestrian Protection: Building code amendment adopted.
  • Greeley Avenue Purchase: Council approved purchase of 133 NE Greeley Ave for $880,000, with a lease-back to the current occupant for up to two years at $42,000/year.
  • Council Compensation Committee: Appointed members as recommended.

Meeting Transcript

Office variances, uh a hefty land supply conversation, which we'll get into uh some more. There was a pretty significant conversation, but a little amorphous on the infrastructure needs. We spent a lot of time, the city of Bend in particular, working with some of our community partners and our delegation around transportation priorities. Uh we spent a lot of time with the chamber, a lot of time with Central Oregon Land Watch working in Salem collaboratively around the need for infrastructure to make land ready. We're talking, you know, in addition to the potential of new land on the urban periphery, want to make absolutely sure that we are getting the resources we need to utilize the land we have that's already inside the UGB in our central areas and and otherwise. So there is an emerging theme that I think is catching fire to a degree, and that which I expect to be uh a heavy priority going forward. And of course, um, case in point on that is the collective work that our uh entire delegation, the city and our community partners put in and getting five million on the Hawthorn overcrossing. I think uh we've seen a lot of success. Um we've got support from the federal government, we've got support from the state legislature, and that project looks to be in pretty pretty good shape. So a huge thank you to uh our delegation for the help on that one. Uh another big topic that uh I again didn't pass, but continue to be a uh continue to expect it will be a core priority for the short session is uh a House Bill, House Bill 2980. Some of us are familiar with the number by this point, which basically proposes a revolving loan fund. It would be if it were to pass, it would be seeded with a significant amount of state general fund. That general fund would then be managed for a local opt-in program. If the city wants to participate, it can opt in. A developer would make a proposal to come forward and say, hey, I'm having trouble getting this middle income housing development pencil. If I had access to some of these revolving loan funders, uh revolving loan dollars, I could provide uh on site infrastructure, potentially even contribute to public infrastructure, SDC offsets, uh construction gap financing, a whole variety of things that could help make a lot of really critical uh projects pencil that are sort of in this no man's land if it's not a full market rate project, but it's not uh a big A affordable housing project. And there's a lot of interest in this, but there's a lot of money that it would take for it to work. So we spent a lot of time uh supporting that project as well and are involved in the effort to try to advance that in the short session as well. So one other topic um, in light of the fact that the mayor already mentioned uh House Bill 2705, which was our middle income tax exemption, it passed in an omnibus tax expenditure bill. It didn't pass this 2705, but it passed with the language we wanted and the language we expected. Um we put out a really big push for uh shelter funding, uh, one that fell short. We did get some funding collectively from the legislature, really the the larger cities, the you know, Portland and then what we've come to call the mid-sized cities. There's technically seven of us, but there's a few more that have shelter facilities. We're in a pretty precarious situation where the funding of a lot of the facilities that are already on the ground, sometimes by local dollars. This is not a thing that cities have have typically done. It's typically been a county public health priority. Cities um to represent the needs of their own communities have stepped up, sometimes utilizing state dollars, sometimes utilizing local dollars. It's not sustainable. The funding is not there yet from the state, so this is going to be a huge push of ours, and I would think probably all of the mid-sized cities for the short session. So, what you're hearing from me is a lot of things that we spent a lot of time on, some of which passed, some of which are ongoing in it. So, you know, you could say what well, what is it accomplished? Uh, I think we're gonna find out in the short session what this big investment of ours in these topics is going to accomplish, and we're gonna stay the course. So I'm gonna leave my my introduction at that, and I think what we'd like to do here is um I'll introduce uh the two of you and then um Mayor Pro Tem. You can handle the letter afterwards. So, Senator Canut, let's start with you, and again, it's the floor is yours. Great. Uh thank you, Eric, and uh thank you mayor and counselors, and of course, city staff. We should not leave you out. Um it's a pleasure to be with you this evening, and it was great to have uh the involvement of your team in the legislature in 2023. And I would encourage even more in the future. So my goals really for the 2024 session are to uh focus on the things that Oregonians were sold annual sessions for, which are emergencies, budget, and technical fixes. The declared emergency that we have today is housing and homelessness. And so that fits right in with what actually needs to be done. So one of the unfinished pieces of business, Eric mentioned was uh 3414, Hospital 3414, and also infrastructure. Because as you all know, uh you can make all the plans in the world, but if you don't have the money for infrastructure, it will move slower. And so uh we would love to uh help cities out and get uh some sort of a revolving fund to help with infrastructure needs because uh we uh definitely need to up production of housing, and the governor has set a very aggressive goal at 36,000 units, and uh I think we're you know 20,000, 22,000 uh on an annual basis uh in the past, and so uh that's a significant jump, and in order to meet that uh you have to do things that you haven't done before. And so um uh much was accomplished on homelessness. Uh we kind of called it housing 1.0, and then we tried to do housing 2.0 and didn't quite get there on everything. Uh we also did um some semiconductor uh work trying to uh bring some federal dollars into the state on that.

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