Bend City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting – October 2, 2024
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Bend City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting – October 2, 2024
The Bend City Council met in a hybrid format on October 2, 2024, beginning with a work session at 5:30 p.m. and a regular meeting at 7:00 p.m. in Council Chambers at City Hall. The meeting included updates on the municipal court, equity programs, and a public hearing on amendments to the camping code, among other items. Key decisions included a first reading of an ordinance amending the camping code, authorization for a best-value procurement method for the Olney Pedestrian and Bike Improvement Project, adoption of a resolution declaring intent for fossil fuel-free city buildings, and approval of a five-year contract with Axon Enterprise for police technology.
Consent Calendar
- Approved minutes from September 18, 2024, City Council meeting.
- Accepted the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) report.
- Accepted the monthly financial report for August 2024.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Hoon Tran (reading a letter from Embrace Bend) urged council to approach community events with active listening and avoid using platforms for self-promotion.
- Teresa DeShaw, a Bend resident who bikes, thanked the council for bike infrastructure improvements but requested a fully funded bus system running every 15 minutes to support car-free lifestyles.
- Kai Collingwood, a local student, expressed concern about school lessons that he felt were inappropriate, saying they guilt-trip students and push a certain viewpoint.
- Jonathan Curtis criticized the city's focus on bike lanes, arguing it discriminates against drivers and downtown businesses. He noted 22,000–27,000 vehicles per day on Greenwood Avenue vs. 200 bikes and claimed a proposed bike lane on Minnesota Avenue would harm businesses.
- Brennan Breen (Energize Bend Coalition) commended the city for the fossil fuel-free resolution and urged council to approve it, citing the worst fire season on record and the need for bold climate leadership.
- Christy Kimball (Energize Bend Coalition) expressed strong support for the fossil fuel-free resolution, highlighting reduced emissions, cost savings, and improved air quality.
- Justin Gottlieb (public comment on camping code) shared his personal story of using a car to escape homelessness, arguing that the proposed 24-hour limit would be harmful and that vehicles are often the best option for those with damaged credit.
- Foster Fell (public comment on camping code) thanked the Human Rights and Equity Commission for their recommendations and urged the council to preserve dignity for unhoused people, suggesting expanded ADA accommodations for economic need.
- Chuck Hibbingway (Homeward Network) argued that aligning the vehicle and tent camping codes to 24 hours is harmful and proposed instead aligning the tent code to 72 hours, as recommended by the Human Rights and Equity Commission.
Discussion Items
Work Session (5:30 p.m.)
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Schedule Requests – A-Frame Signs
- Councilor Perkins requested a future work session to expand the use of sandwich boards (A-frame signs) to all business districts, citing benefits for businesses with dark windows or limited visibility. Councilor Campbell supported the idea but noted enforcement issues downtown. City Manager Eric King suggested a code change rather than a temporary suspension of enforcement. The request was generally supported and will be scheduled for spring 2025.
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Annual Municipal Court Update from Judge Angela Ruocco
- Judge Ruocco reported on the court's progress over the past year, emphasizing accountability, public safety, access to justice, transparency, innovation, and integrity. Key statistics: nearly 5,000 violations, 90 trials, a 50% conviction rate. She highlighted the revamped Bend-specific traffic safety school, which includes scenarios like snowy roads and roundabouts. The language docket has grown from 2–3 cases per month to 30+ per month, improving compliance. She also introduced a virtual docket for remote appearances. Council members expressed appreciation for her work.
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Equity Program Update
- Equity and Inclusion Director Andres Portela, along with staff, presented on the department's work, including the equity framework, language access policy, and the City of Bend Accessibility Advisory Committee (COBAC). Key points: The language access policy was approved in April 2024; a needs assessment confirmed linguistic diversity (75% of limited-English-proficiency residents speak Spanish). The ADA self-evaluation and transition plan are upcoming. The department also manages the Human Rights and Equity Commission (HREC) and a hate speech/discrimination coalition. Council members praised the team's progress and expressed interest in future budget and resource discussions.
Regular Meeting (7:00 p.m.)
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Good of the Order
- Recognized the winner of the One Water Student Video Competition: Sage Goldstein and her sister Skye. Their 30-second video on water conservation will air on TV and at the Bend Film Festival.
- Proclaimed October 2024 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Donna Britt from Saving Grace spoke about the organization's services and called for community support.
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Public Hearing and First Reading – Camping Code Amendment (Ordinance amending BMC Chapter 4.20)
- Staff presented proposed changes to align vehicle and tent camping rules, including a 24-hour limit (previously 72 hours for vehicles), a 1,500-foot movement requirement for vehicles, a definition of vehicle camping, and a ban on camping on block faces with residential dwellings. Public comment included opposition from advocates who argued the changes are too restrictive and urged alignment at 72 hours instead. Council deliberation included amendments: adding a sentence on the 2024 point-in-time count (unsheltered homelessness decreased from 73% to 55%), expanding the residential dwelling restriction to both sides of the street, and directing staff to return with a one-year review. Councilor Campbell moved to defer to May 2025 and to add extension cords to the definition, but both motions lacked a second. The main motion passed 6–1, with Councilor Campbell opposed.
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Public Hearing – Olney Pedestrian and Bike Improvement Project Procurement
- Staff requested authorization to use the best-value (RFP) procurement method for the Olney Avenue project, which includes bike lanes, pedestrian improvements, and water/sewer work. The project is expected to begin construction in early 2025. No public comment was offered. The motion passed unanimously.
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Resolution – Fossil Fuel-Free City Buildings
- Staff presented a resolution directing the city to exclude fossil fuels in new or substantially altered city buildings, with exemptions for cost, technology, and emergency backup. The resolution also requires 1.5% green energy technology spending and retrofit evaluations for existing buildings. Council members expressed support, noting the city's new public utility campus already meets the standards. The resolution passed unanimously.
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Contract – Axon Officer Safety Plan
- Police Chief Mike Krance requested authorization for a five-year, $2,555,786.51 contract with Axon Enterprise for Taser hardware, virtual reality, digital video recorder playback, and investigation software. The bundled plan will consolidate multiple existing contracts and save $12,000 per year. The motion passed unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- Camping Code Amendment: Passed first reading (6–1, Councilor Campbell opposed). The amended ordinance includes: 24-hour limit for both tents and vehicles, 1,500-foot movement requirement for vehicles, a definition of vehicle camping, no camping on block faces with residential dwellings (applied to both sides of the street), and a one-year review. A finding was added noting that 55% of homeless individuals in Bend are unsheltered, a decrease from 2023.
- Olney Project Procurement: Authorized best-value RFP method (unanimous).
- Fossil Fuel-Free Resolution: Adopted (unanimous).
- Axon Contract: Approved five-year contract (unanimous).
- Future Work: Council will hold a work session on A-frame sign policy in spring 2025. The Environment and Climate Committee will continue electrification policy discussions, with a recommendation expected by late 2024. The Human Rights and Equity Commission will be asked to help promote safe parking programs.
Meeting Transcript
So let's go ahead and let me know when we're rolling. Yeah, we're good. Okay, so we'll start with our Ben City Council work session, call that to order. We start with schedule requests. This is the first meeting of the month. So Council Perkins had a scheduling request. Yeah, it was uh looking for some council direction um on the code for businesses who would like to use sandwich boards to market. Right now it's only the downtown district that can use them. And I think we'd be seeking an administrative policy to expand it to all business districts. Um this is brought up by some businesses that could really benefit from sandwich boards and particularly those that are energy efficient buildings and have dark windows and can't and don't benefit from people being able to do window shopping. Um and so we're just hoping to see if we could move forward on a policy um to get uh to change our policy on sandwich boards. Yeah, and I'll time in I've I heard from a business owner off of Century where the business is sort of back in the area back here, you can't see it immediately from the street, but having that sandwich board on the street is very helpful to get customers into our business. So the last thing that you said again, the last sentence. I just couldn't. I don't remember what I said about about the windows. Is that oh that some of the businesses that that uh we spoke in with it they have their like energy efficient building so the windows are darker so people can't see into them as easily um when they're walking by and so they could benefit from having like a sandwich board thing, you know, hey, this is here. So the request would be for a work session at some point in the future on this. Yeah, just in terms of timeline, I think we could we've talked internally about when we could incorporate a policy change. Um, that are very housing focused right now that we're working through and also just complying with state regulations. Um 1537 around housing production. So this will this could fall sort of surely thereafter, sort of thinking spring of next year. But in the meantime, depending on if council wants to move forward, I guess my suggestion would be that we uh suspend code enforcement. Um that happens. Just for the sandwich. With also the condition that they're not blocking accessible, they're not calling accessibility issues. Could I um the I in support? Thank you for bringing this up. Uh the um then Central District Business Association interested in the same thing. I used to have a business downtown, and I happen to know, I believe that the code for downtown isn't actually literally sandwich board. It's a square number of uh feet. Um I came through downtown today, and there's one business that has not one that two, but three tables worth of merch. So maybe we want to send the word downtown. No, you can't have you know all of this. Uh I'm I'm afraid it's gonna be downtown. But look, downtown they're doing this do you see what I'm saying? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's my only concern is just make sure that people, including the ones who already have this, you know, understand what the rules are and are following them. Sure. If that makes sense. So yeah, great. No, thank you. In support. There is a code change required. Yeah, we don't want to have policy backing. We can do a you know, temporary suspension of enforcement, but that's not really something I want to keep doing for that much for a long period of time. So I think the better thing to do would be to actually express your policy intent and change the code. So just with the sign code, we just it's a process. And there's some other potential changes that uh we have a kind of a running list of things just to make the code more efficient, too, that we could potentially group with. Okay, okay. And I don't want to bad mouth anyone.
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