Bend City Council Regular Meeting and Work Session - August 6, 2025
Bend City Council Regular Meeting and Work Session - August 6, 2025
The Bend City Council met on August 6, 2025, for a work session at 5:00 PM followed by a regular business session at 6:00 PM. The work session focused on an update for the Bend Bikeway project. The regular session included a continued quasi-judicial hearing, multiple public hearings, approvals of contracts, collective bargaining agreements, and a discussion on the city's sponsorship policy. The Bend Urban Renewal Agency (BURA) also met to adopt a new affordable housing loan assistance program.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the consent agenda unanimously, which included:
- OLCC Report
- Quarterly Investment Report
- Authorizing the purchase of twenty police vehicles from Kendall Dealership Holdings for $1,074,207.14
- Authorizing the purchase of a Leeboy 8608 Paver from Pape Machinery, Inc. for $293,726.37
Public Comments & Testimony
- Visitor's Section (General):
- Jen (HREC Commissioner): Expressed gratitude for the city's equity commitments but stated that the city missed two critical opportunities to engage the Human Rights and Equity Commission (HREC) regarding the Juneteenth funding controversy. She requested a meeting to discuss the issue.
- Agatha Ventura (HREC Chair): Voiced confusion about HREC's role in the Juneteenth decision-making process and requested an emergency meeting to address the matter, emphasizing that the situation directly relates to the commission's purpose.
- George Herman (resident, 21297 Bear Creek Road): Opposed the expansion of Bear Creek Road, arguing that wider roads lead to induced demand and increased congestion, and expressed concerns about property values, privacy, pollution, and wildlife habitat.
Discussion Items
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Work Session: Bend Bikeway Update (5:00 PM):
- Ryan Ostrom (Engineering Director) presented an update on the Bend Bikeway project, which aims to build a connected north-south and east-west key route by the end of 2026. The project has a total budget of approximately $13.7 million, including $1.3 million from the accessibility fund, $2.3 million from the general obligation bond, and $1.5 million in grants (STBG, arts, safe routes to school). Design features include diagonal diverters, modal filters, enhanced crossings with infrared sensors, and protected intersections. Council discussed synergy with other projects and the need for education on new infrastructure. No decisions were made; further contract approvals will come before council.
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Continued Quasi-Judicial Hearing – OSU-Cascades Overlay Zone (Item 5):
- Councilor Mendez recused himself due to employment at OSU-Cascades. The hearing was continued from a previous meeting to allow negotiations between OSU-Cascades and the Bend Park and Recreation District (BPRD) regarding an easement. BPRD requested an extension of the written record to August 20, but OSU-Cascades opposed due to an August 28 RFP deadline for developers. Council set a new timeline: oral testimony closed, written record open until August 13, responses due August 19, and deliberation scheduled for August 20. The applicant waived the right to final written argument.
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Public Hearing – Right-of-Way Vacation, NE Andesite Street (Item 6):
- A 0.53-acre unimproved right-of-way was vacated to realign the intersection with NE Talus Place. Staff noted no public utilities were affected and the vacation is in the public interest. The ordinance passed unanimously.
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Public Hearing – Legalization of Bear Creek Road (Item 7):
- The city moved to legalize portions of Bear Creek Road between Craven Road and the eastern Urban Growth Boundary that were never formally dedicated. No structures were found within the legalized areas. The order was adopted unanimously.
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Affordable Housing Fund Recommendations (Item 8):
- Staff presented recommendations from the Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) for $5.5 million in funding: $2.25 million to United Housing Partners/Latino Community Association (Bella Pines, 102 units), $1.75 million from PRO Housing and $1 million from AHF to Housing Works (85 SWC, 59 units), and $500,000 to Vital Housing (Cedar West, 121 units preserved). Councilor Franzosa proposed an alternative to redirect funds to a homeownership project, citing the city's prior investment in rental housing. Councilor Platt noted that since 2023, 76% of housing funds had gone to homeownership. After debate, the AHAC recommendation was approved unanimously.
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Butler Market Road Roundabout Contract (Item 9):
- Authorized a $9,572,528 contract with K&E Excavating, Inc. for construction of the Butler Market Road and Wells Acres Road roundabout and key route improvements. The project includes raised bike lanes, a shared-use path, and a roundabout with bicycle accommodations. Construction is expected to start in late August/early September 2025 and finish by October 2026. The council also authorized up to $500,000 in change orders. A brief discussion on procurement practices followed, with Councilor Platt requesting a continued role for the public contracts subcommittee.
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Airport Taxilane Rehabilitation (Items 10, 11, 12):
- Authorized:
- Application for a $1,741,523 FAA construction grant (city share ~$25,000).
- A $200,367 contract with Century West Engineering for construction management.
- A $1,612,815.50 contract with JAL Construction Inc. for construction.
- The project will rehabilitate pavement on the west side of the airport in three phases, with minimal disruption to tenants. All three motions passed unanimously.
- Authorized:
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Collective Bargaining Agreements (Items 13, 14, 15):
- Approved three-year agreements (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2028) with the City of Bend Employees Association, Bend Fire Association, and Bend Police Association. Key terms include: cost-of-living adjustments (CPI-based for COBEA and Police, fixed 2% then 1% for Fire), 90/10 health insurance cost share, a new 1.5% deferred compensation match, and a $2/hour language proficiency premium. All three motions passed unanimously.
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City Manager's Report:
- Announced a new meeting schedule starting September: work sessions on second and fourth Wednesdays (4-6 PM), business meetings on first and third Wednesdays (6 PM). Agendas will be posted earlier (Monday, over a week before). Also reported completion of paving projects and upcoming chip sealing (Aug 18-25).
Key Outcomes
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Votes:
- Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
- OSU-Cascades Overlay Zone: Extended written record timeline; deliberation set for August 20.
- NE Andesite Street right-of-way vacation: Ordinance passed unanimously (first reading).
- Bear Creek Road legalization: Order adopted unanimously.
- Affordable Housing Fund allocations: Approved unanimously (5-0).
- Butler Market Road roundabout contract: Approved unanimously.
- Airport taxilane rehabilitation grants and contracts: All three motions approved unanimously.
- Collective bargaining agreements: All three approved unanimously.
- BURA Affordable Housing Loan Assistance Program: Adopted with amendment (motion by Mayor Kebler, second by Councilor Franzosa; all ayes).
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Referrals and Next Steps:
- Staff will communicate the OSU hearing timeline to BPRD.
- The city will continue outreach on the Bend Bikeway and other projects.
- The public contracts subcommittee may meet in September to discuss procurement policies.
- The HOME Committee will consider revolving loan fund concepts.
- The Juneteenth funding issue will be discussed further with HREC.
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BURA Action:
- Adopted the Affordable Housing Assistance Loan Program, establishing guidelines for loans using tax increment revenues in urban renewal areas. The program replaces the Murphy Crossing policy and allows flexible terms, including a 1% origination fee, 10-year max loan term, and 20-year deed restriction. Councilor Riley's amendment clarified that the agency retains discretion to adjust affordability levels based on housing needs.
Meeting Transcript
There we go. Ariel, can you hear us? All right, can you give a thumbs up? You can hear us. Councilor Mendez, can you hear us? Public meetings. Okay, there. Councilor Mendes, can you hear us now? Okay, great. Yes, thank you. All right. Are we on uh the webinar? We're streaming. Okay, great. All right, we will begin our Ben City Council of Work Session. We have one item tonight, which is just an update on the Ben Bikeway. Perfect. Uh thank you. Uh Council Ryan Ostrom, the director of our engineering department. Uh I want to recognize Kevin Howard first, who's the project manager on this. He's unable to be here tonight. Um so I'm hitting for him. And basically this evening is uh an update uh of the work we've done roughly over the last year to get us to where we are now. And uh what I think is some exciting advancements in our uh bike system. Uh I did have a a little bit of time right before this to take a quick walk in between meetings, and it was nice on a day that wasn't even that sunny, walking around Drake Park and down Galveston. We actually have a pretty good system. Like we actually have a really good system in the city of Bend already. Um, and this I think is going to be build upon that. This is gonna really offer some other alternatives and really focus on those parts of the system that might be lacking and are people a little more uncomfortable on. Uh but once we get those connections made, uh I think we're gonna have a great system here in Bend. So uh no decisions being asked of council tonight. This is just an update. There will be, and I'll show a schedule here in a moment, some council touch points for some contract approvals. Uh, but just stepping into the background a little bit. I'm gonna start at the thirty thousand foot level, uh, drill down into some specifics on what we're doing in some key intersections, and then we're gonna take a virtual walk, uh, east-west and north-south on the corridors that were identified um as outlined here on the big picture. So uh the goal here is to hit council's target of building one connected north-south and east-west key route. Um, and to mark that with wayfinding. Uh so again this evening I'll just be filling you in on some of the planning and design efforts and what we can expect uh in the construction side rolling into later this year and into 2026. So uh starting again at a high level before we get too deep, just wanted to throw the budget slide on here so everybody understands uh where we're coming from and how this uh bit of a Frankenstein of a project was pulled together. Uh, there's multiple funding buckets. The accessibility fund, uh, we've pulled one point three million out of that fund. And this is really to focus in on areas of the system that we're traversing over where we have non-compliant ADA ramps and some other things that are really going to help us fix some of those items. The general obligation bond is pitching in 2.3 million. And then the bulk of the money is coming out of our transportation construction fund. I'm happy to report, and you'll see it in the asterisk down below on the budget side. Roughly a million and a half dollars that really made this kind of tip over the scales and allow us to do this the way we've designed it. So that's an STBG grant, an arts grant, and a safe routes to school grant. The key with those though is each of those was applied to a specific area. So that funding has to be used. It can't just be wherever we want in the system.
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