The Bend City Council met on April 16, 2025, for a quarterly update (3:00 p.m.), a work session (5:00 p.m.), and a regular session (7:00 p.m.) to discuss and act on a range of policy, land use, and administrative items. Key topics included updates to the Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP), electrification policy, performance metrics for FY 2025-27, legislative priorities, fleet electrification, construction season impacts, transportation fee rate structure, two quasi-judicial development code amendments, and appointments. The meeting featured extensive public comment on climate action and public safety.
Eric King and Stephanie Jesse presented draft metrics. Key targets include: permitting 3,889 housing units (1,800 deed-restricted affordable), reducing permit review times by 20% (from 282 days), reducing per capita GHG emissions by 20%, increasing water conservation, expanding safe parking to 51 spaces, and developing an economic prosperity index. Council supported the aggressive housing goal but wanted to revisit specific metrics (e.g., increasing safe parking transitions, including equity metrics, and a 20% reduction in permit review times).
Eric Karger (lobbyist) reported on the state legislative session, transportation package (straw man proposal), and infrastructure funding ask for SE Bend ($30 million for ~6,000 homes). Council agreed to continue discussions on transit funding and asked Councilor Riley to coordinate with COIC.
Fleet Director Rick presented lifecycle costs for EVs vs. hybrids vs. ICE vehicles. For non-police light-duty, EVs show a 10-year ROI of $705,000 despite higher upfront costs. For police vehicles, full electrification requires $200,000 in infrastructure. Council supported an electric-first policy (with hybrid fallback and ICE requiring council approval) and directed staff to bring a resolution in June.
Ryan Oster and Renee Mitchell presented a multi-year capital project map. Key projects: Wall/Only intersection reopens late May; 2nd Street improvements; Butler Market Wells roundabout (late 2025-2026); Franklin Avenue reconstruction (Sept 2025-2027); Galveston safety improvements. Communications plans include a public dashboard, business toolkits, and weekly road reports.
Sarah Hudson presented rate structure options based on residential/non-residential cost allocation. Council narrowed from three options to a middle ground reflecting the actual split (approximately 56% residential, 44% non-residential). This will be published for comment, with adoption on May 7, 2025. The fee funds street preservation, safety, and sidewalk programs.
Unanimously approved (Councilor Platt recused) to redesignate 1.11 acres from Public/Community Use to Multi-Unit Residential, enabling Habitat for Humanity to build 18 affordable homes (up to 120% AMI) for eight school district employees. No public testimony received.
After extensive discussion and a request from Bend Parks and Recreation District (BPRD) for a continuance, council voted to continue the hearing to July 16, 2025, to allow further negotiations regarding access easements to BPRD's maintenance facility. The amendment includes changes to building height (up to 85 feet), manufacturing uses (up to 25,000 sq ft without retail), landscape standards, and street realignment. Council emphasized the need for the two public agencies to resolve the access issue.
First reading of an ordinance amending Bend Municipal Code Chapter 7.60 to establish a permanent bike share program. Approved unanimously. The program will be managed via an informal RFP for a single operator with 100-500 devices, digital compliance monitoring, and a three-year license term.
Resolution adopting the 2025 Community Climate Action Plan Update, directing staff to create a Climate Action Partner Grant Program and authorizing minor amendments. Approved unanimously.
Council appointed Erin Zemper as Municipal Court Judge for a two-year term, directing staff to negotiate a contract with an hourly wage structure, semi-annual reports, and clarified scope of responsibility. Unanimously approved.
All right. So we are in call to order the first part of our meeting today, which is our council quarterly update from staff. And I'll turn over to Eric and Stephanie. Yes. Um so today we are going to spend the bulk of our time focused on the environment and climate goal. We try to theme each of these quarterly updates to one of the five soon to be six goal areas. Um so today it is going to be you're gonna hear an update on the community climate action plan. Uh the electrification policy, which is an embedded is part of that plan. Uh so we're gonna talk kind of bigger picture and then we'll go a little deeper into the electrification policy work that we have been doing uh with both the environment and climate committee as well as some of our other committees. Uh then we'll turn it over to our folks in water services to talk about our water conservation efforts and kind of an update there. And then Stephanie, myself, and Jesse Russell will be talking about the performance metrics that I sent to you yesterday in the next goal period, 2526. So just a reminder, we're still in the 2325 goal period. That's what's driving a lot of our updates here, those items related to that work plan. Um, but we'll kind of end with a look towards the next two years. So before we start, just so we don't have to interrupt later, Councillor Norris just wants to put something on the record. Sure, and we'll get after the presentation. Yeah, I would just like to declare a potential um uh conflict on any sort of discussion that relates to an impact fee um electrification. Um it still allows me to um to participate in the dialogue. Um so I just wanted to put that out there before I get started. Thank you. Okay. So just really I wanna turn most of the time over to Cassie to talk about the community climate action plan and other items, but just a few highlights since the last time that we had a quarterly update. So we for we we did not have a January quarterly update because we sort of repurpose that for all of the inputs related to the 25-27 council goal process. So this is just a a uh some of the big ticket items over the last couple of months. Of course, we have that advisory board's body summit. That was a key input into council goals, but also an opportunity to kind of put us on a different path and coordinate on a couple of topics I think we're planning on for this next school period. We had the one-time urban growth boundary expansion in December, uh the site specific tax increment financing uh application process. We're in the middle of that, but that that kicked off early in February. Uh this temporary safe state area up at Juniper Ridge. That was last fall. That the companion piece of that was the house assessment services grant that we use the unspent or de-scoped uh American Rescue Plan Act funds, and we're able to put that out into the community to help uh with case management services for the TSSA. We're gonna hear an a more extensive update on that at our joint meeting with Deschutes County on April 28th. I know several of you that are planning on a tour of that too, which is great. Um the electrification work group, that was uh kind of as an uh an outcome from when we uh heard the ECC recommendation on electrification policy, uh was this uh working with affordable housing band economic development advisory board um and ECCE, so we have that meeting in February. You're gonna hear more about that through Cassie in a bit. And of course, we did a really comprehensive uh modernization effort of our parking code. What's coming up next over the next couple of months before we get to the July quarterly update is a couple of joint meetings. So we just solidified our joint meeting with uh tribal council next win a week from today here in council chambers. We have uh the joint meeting with the Schutz County on Monday, April 28th, where in addition to the TSSA we'll be talking about um the uh solid waste franchise agreements, um the uh some downtown campus planning that the county is doing, and there's one other item that I'm blanking on. I'll I'll share that later. Uh the outpack project update, that's our water filtration facility. We're gonna actually be diving into that at the next council work session on May 7th. Um, the scoping of the housing work group and then bond financing, that's on May 21st. Uh, we'll have continued conversations around transportation standards scoping. Um, kind of related to that is the Franklin Avenue project is coming before you for options in June. And then the budget work plan and adoption, all that's gonna happen. Uh we'll have a work session leading up to that on June 4th of some of the fee changes, and then the entire package gets put together and voted on both budget work plan, all that uh on June 20th or June 18th. And then housing code package that's actually coming June 4th, and that is for junior ADUs, some setback uh just making housing easier. It's all part of our continued effort to fine-tune our development code uh to get more housing on the ground. So you'll see that in June.