Bend City Council Work Session, Urban Renewal Agency, and Regular Meeting – September 18, 2024
STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE
Bend City Council Work Session, Urban Renewal Agency, and Regular Meeting – September 18, 2024
The City Council convened for a work session at 5:00 PM, followed by a brief meeting of the Bend Urban Renewal Agency (BURA), an executive session, and the regular meeting at 7:00 PM. Key topics included conceptual designs for Brooks Street improvements, the Growth Plan communication and governance strategy, adoption of the BURA tax increment assistance policy, surplus property declarations, and several major infrastructure contract amendments. All regular meeting votes were unanimous unless noted.
Proclamations & Good of the Order
- Welcoming Week Proclamation: Councilor Mendez read a proclamation designating September 13–28, 2024, as Welcoming Week, emphasizing inclusion of immigrant and refugee communities. Representatives from Restorative Justice & Equity, OSU-Cascades, and the Latino Community Association accepted and spoke in support.
- Week Without Driving Proclamation: Mayor Pro Tem Perkins proclaimed September 30–October 8, 2024, as Week Without Driving, encouraging awareness of transportation barriers faced by non-drivers. Brian Potwin of Commute Options accepted.
- Public Purchase of Mount Bachelor Update: Dan Cochrane, co-chair of the community initiative, reported that they have filed as a B Corp, formed committees, and launched a website and GoFundMe. He requested a letter of support from the council to assist with lender negotiations. Council expressed support for drafting such a letter.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Joanne Mina (Bend resident) read a poem in Spanish about inequity and shared her support for Welcoming Week.
- Jim Elliot (Bend resident, volunteer with Council on Aging) spoke in support of the Week Without Driving, highlighting the challenges of involuntary non-drivers, especially seniors.
- Jonathan Curtis (Bend resident) expressed frustration over lack of response to his previous data requests regarding bike lane usage, alleged discrimination due to his autism, and opposed the Hawthorne Bridge bike project, claiming it will harm local businesses.
- Doug Dryden (Bend resident, medical provider, daily bike commuter) supported the Week Without Driving and urged earlier citizen engagement in bicycle infrastructure planning, specifically regarding safety on Franklin Street.
- Linda Cook (Bend resident) thanked council for the county-city plan for the Juniper Ridge area ("dirt world") and urged timely implementation to avoid another summer of fires, gunshots, and stray dogs.
- David Green (Bend resident, River West) urged participation in Week Without Driving and stressed the need to reduce vehicle miles traveled to address climate change.
- Alicia Reynolds (manager of Cedar West) thanked council for efforts on Wattway but noted continued vehicle camping and asked for code enforcement.
- Tamara Houston (Bend resident, via phone) spoke on the surplus property items: urged deed restrictions to protect roundabout infrastructure and raised concerns about environmental contaminants near the SE 9th Street parcel.
Brooks Street Improvements – Conceptual Design Update
Staff (John Conan, Ben Hempson, Jason Brew of Walker Macy) presented three options for the Mirror Pond Plaza and north parking lot area, funded by restricted tourism funds. Options included a plaza expansion, parking lot redevelopment, and a "flex plaza" that could serve as both parking and event space. Staff recommended focusing on the north parking lot redevelopment (including restrooms, trash compactor, and a shared-use path connecting Drake Park to Juniper Park) and allocating $500,000 toward the Drake Park Pedestrian Bridge design. Council members expressed support for the recommendation, emphasizing the need for restrooms, improved bike parking, and accessibility on the bridge. No formal vote was taken; direction was given to staff to proceed with the recommended concept and return with refined costs and designs.
Growth Plan Strategy – Communications and Governance
Brian Rankin and Elise Hulscher presented options for allocating resources between community engagement and project guidance. Two resource splits were shown: 75% engagement / 25% guidance, and a variant that included a civic assembly (Healthy Democracy model) costing $200,000–$300,000. Council discussed the value of civic assemblies for key decision points, the use of existing committees (committee of committees), and the need for broad equitable engagement. Councilor Campbell supported a civic assembly, citing its potential to bring diverse voices; others noted resource trade-offs. Staff was directed to explore the civic assembly model further in the request for proposals, and to continue refining the engagement plan. No formal vote.
Bend Urban Renewal Agency (BURA) – Tax Increment Assistance Policy
Jonathan Taylor presented a resolution establishing a tax increment reimbursement program to support affordable housing (at least 15% of units at 90% AMI) and living-wage employment. A key question was whether to retain or remove two additional criteria: energy efficiency standards and supplier diversity. Staff recommended removal to keep the policy focused, but several councilors argued for keeping them as optional "additional criteria" that applicants could choose to meet for extended benefits. After debate, the agency voted unanimously to amend the purpose statement to "while also encouraging other identified council goals" and to retain both criteria as additional options. Motion to adopt the resolution as amended passed unanimously.
Consent Agenda
- Approved minutes of September 4 and September 5 meetings.
- OLCC report.
- Amendment to agreement with Passport Labs for parking management system ($251,150.76, total not to exceed $1,054,641.51). Motion to approve the consent agenda passed unanimously.
Surplus Property Declarations (Items 6 & 7)
- SE 3rd Street & Wilson Avenue (0.75 acres, commercial): Declared surplus for sale by city’s broker with a minimum list price range of $1,000,000–$1,600,000. Proceeds to be returned to the transportation go bond. Motion passed unanimously.
- SE 9th Street (3.4 acres, residential potential): Declared surplus with a minimum list price range of $1,200,000–$1,800,000. Proceeds from this sale to be allocated for housing purposes. Motion passed 6-1 (Councilor Mendez opposed, citing a desire for higher density and open space near the Coiner Trail).
Property Exchange with Taylor Development LLC (Item 8)
Staff (Matt Stuart) presented a negotiated agreement: the city will sell Lot 5 ($4.5M) and Lot 8 ($3.5M) at Juniper Ridge to TB Bend LLC (Taylor Brooks joint venture) and simultaneously purchase three properties (184 NE Franklin Ave, 615 NE 2nd St, and 637 NE 2nd St) from Taylor Development LLC for $3.5 million (current site of Paulson Flooring, with existing building and lease). The transaction supports the city’s future city hall needs and industrial land development. Motion to authorize the City Manager to execute the agreements passed unanimously.
Infrastructure Contract Amendments (Items 9 & 10)
- Awbrey Butte Distribution Improvements – Phase 3 (GMP #3): Amendment with K&E Excavating for $2,734,100, bringing total contract to $37,693,603.15. Approved unanimously.
- Southeast Area Pump Station (GMP #4): Amendment with Slayden Constructors for $13,324,613, bringing total contract to $24,683,235. Councilor Broadman recused himself due to a potential conflict. Approved unanimously by remaining members.
Intergovernmental Agreement – Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant (Item 11)
Authorized the City Manager to sign an IGA with Deschutes County Rural Fire Protection District #2 for administration of a $? grant from the Oregon State Fire Marshal for fuels mitigation in the Deschutes River Woods area. The city will administer the grant and receive 10% administrative fees. Approved unanimously.
Sewer Code Amendment – Second Reading (Item 12)
Ordinance amending Bend Municipal Code Section 15.10.020 (building sewer connections and responsibilities) was adopted by roll call vote. All councilors voted yes.
Council Action & Reports
- Stewardship Subcommittee: Reported on deflection program implementation and direction of remaining $480,000 in ARPA funds toward the temporary safe stay area plan in partnership with Deschutes County.
- Appointments: Approved removal of Manoj Alapuria from the Human Rights & Equity Commission due to poor attendance and appointed Vanessa Cummington, Linda Heimer, Scott Jones, Eli Lowenstern, and Ruth Renatico to the Commission. Both motions passed unanimously.
- Letters of Support: Mayor signed letters for the Oregon Community Paths grant application and the Railroad Crossing Elimination grant.
City Manager’s Report
- Presented results of council poll for League of Oregon Cities legislative priorities; top priority listed as a 2025 transportation package. Councilors discussed need for more specific safety focus.
- Paving projects nearing completion with striping scheduled for October.
- Upcoming events: Fire Prevention Week open house (Sept 28), Bend Central District fall event (Sept 24), CIP tour for council (Sept 23), watershed hike (Oct 3).
- Recognition: Affordable Housing Manager Rachel Baker received a HUD Region 10 50th Anniversary Award for innovative CDBG program use. Assistant City Manager Sharon was honored for 20 years of service; she is departing to become assistant city manager in Winston-Salem, NC.
Key Outcomes & Votes
- BURA Policy: Adopted as amended (unanimous).
- Surplus Property (SE 3rd/Wilson): Declared surplus (unanimous).
- Surplus Property (SE 9th): Declared surplus (6-1, Mendez opposed).
- Juniper Ridge Exchange: Authorized (unanimous).
- Awbrey Butte GMP #3: Approved (unanimous).
- SE Pump Station GMP #4: Approved (unanimous with Broadman recused).
- Wildfire Grant IGA: Approved (unanimous).
- Sewer Code Amendment: Adopted (unanimous roll call).
- HREC Appointment Changes: Approved (unanimous).
Meeting Transcript
Okay, let's go ahead and start we got it. And City Council work session. We're all here so that Council Perkins should be here shortly. So we're gonna start with our Brick Street Improvement update. All right, thank you. Um John Conan with the City Band project management office and Ben Hampson Economic Development Manager. I'm Jason Brew, I'm sure architect with Walker Macy. And we also have uh Mike Zilas on the phone from Walker Macy. Hi everybody. So I guess to tee things up, we're here to talk about um some planned uh potential investments in the downtown district, really around Mirapond Plaza. Uh we discussed this with council back in March, and we brought on a consultant team to kind of scope out some options. So before Jason and John take you through those options, just wanted to touch on a little background so we're all on the same page. Uh many of you will remember from your time on council or just in the community. We had a portion of our restricted tourism funds, excuse me. Under um essentially contested in court between 2017 and 2022. Uh thirty-five point four percent of the retacks we collect and bend uh on short-term lodging needs to be or is required under state statute to go to tourism promotion or tourism facilities. Uh, we were sidelining a portion of that uh during those years as we went through some legal challenges ultimately in September twenty twenty-two, uh decided not to pursue uh that legal avenue anymore and under at council direction really decided to invest those funds in tourism-related facilities outside of our normal path of using our partners at visit then. Uh so uh as luck would have it, we were having a lot of discussions around downtown uh investment in potentially tourism-related facilities uh during that time, brought a contract back to council, beginning of this year, uh, really employing Walker Macy and some others to help us scope out a little more some of the things we were talking about. Restrooms have come up, plazas and the like. Uh, we'll touch as well on the Drake Park Bridge during this presentation because counselors have expressed interest in that. We'll touch as well on the Drake Park Bridge during this presentation because councillors have expressed interest in that. But really, it was their team that helped us scope this out and really flesh it out into something that hopefully we can get some council direction this evening. So I want to touch on a bigger picture here. So Alison Platt on our economic development team right now is working on a low-car street study, really connecting the Hawthorne Bridge to both Juniper Park and Downtown Bend. This is not that project, really just a small component or potential landing pad, if you will, for some of that work that Allison's work uh pulling together right now that you'll hear about early next year. So, as you're thinking about this proposed investment, consider how it may fit into some feature infrastructure that we'll discuss later on. So the direction we're seeking tonight. Um we are not necessarily looking for council to make a definitive call, but we are hoping to focus our work going forward on ideally one concept out of the ones we'll look at, and with some direction potentially on where some of these other funds should go. I included over there on the right the state statute around what a tourism-related facility is. As you can see, it's not very clear. So, no matter where council ends up, and our philosophy has been we need to have some sort of cornerstone project, a plaza, a public gathering space to look at some of these other amenities that downtown stakeholders have brought to council, like bathrooms, uh, but would really have to walk work through a vetting process with our partners at Visit Bend and the lodging industry, and also potentially get more feedback from downtown stakeholders as we consider placement. And we did do a fair amount of outreach already. I do also want to add one more caveat here. Um, if we are talking about the Mirror Pond Plaza and investment in that area, we have an active lease with the Commons. We can't touch that plaza itself until 2027. So this is the overall space from Franklin up to Newport. Um, what we've really found as we've been looking into this and studying it, it's truly a very special part of downtown, and it is really unique for towns all across the Northwest. Um we've we've worked in a lot of other cities, and this is not something that you find really often. So we're really thrilled to be have an opportunity to work in such a special spot. And one thing that we've kind of been focusing on as we've looked at all these different spaces, you've got the Brooks Alley itself, there's the Mirror Pond Plaza, the North Parking Land North End of Brook Street. Um, is really just the character and how that is a very strong element throughout. And that's something that with this project, we really want to build off of that and try to use that as kind of the rallying point for the project. There are a lot of things that are working, and there's some challenges. Um, accessibility is a big thing across all of these spaces that will either have to be addressed as part of this project or potentially in the future with uh another project that has maybe more non-tourism related applicable funds. Um, in general, Brooks Alley, we're looking at some you know, drainage improvements to make that usable space a little bit better. Um, Mirror Pond has some potential for improving the the events and the casual use there, North Parking lot. Um we'll we'll dig into it in a little bit, and then we're also looking at some uh multimodal opportunities up on Northwest Brooks. And to add to that, we're not gonna focus on on Brooks Alley or Northwest Brooks tonight. We really felt these funds weren't well aligned with the work that needs to be done there. So a lot of great concept work was done by Walker Macy, those are probably better aligned with some of that Drake to Juniper work.
openpublica.com