Bend City Council Business Meeting – September 3, 2025
Bend City Council Business Meeting – September 3, 2025
The Bend City Council met on September 3, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. in City Council Chambers. All seven councilors were present. The meeting included three proclamations, public comment (none), approval of a consent agenda with one item discussed, a presentation and discussion on the Human Rights and Equity Commission (HREC) Workplan, and a second reading and adoption of an ordinance amending the OSU-Cascades Overlay Zone. The City Manager also provided updates on transportation projects and upcoming meetings.
Consent Calendar
- Authorize a contract with Temp-Rite Mechanical LLC to replace HVAC equipment in nine Bend Fire & Rescue buildings and the Police Department building in an amount not to exceed $799,356. After discussion, the council approved the contract (motion by Councilor Platt, second by Councilor Méndez; all in favor). The item was pulled from the consent agenda for discussion. Councilor Franzosa inquired about the feasibility of electrification; staff explained that a one-to-one replacement was chosen due to the high cost of retrofitting for electric heat pumps.
- Authorize the purchase of one mechanical street sweeper from Western Systems Refuse & Recycling Solutions, not to exceed $384,989.80 plus freight charges. Approved without discussion.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public spoke.
Discussion Items
- Good of the Order – Proclamations
- Medal of Honor Highway: Lt. Col. Dick Tobias (retired U.S. Army) presented on the National Medal of Honor Highway, which began in Bend and honors Medal of Honor recipients. He highlighted that 106 signs have been placed across 12 states and that President Biden signed the act into law on December 17, 2024. He requested that the council designate Councilor Platt to help organize a dedication ceremony in Bend during June 4–14, 2026, as part of the 250th anniversary of the United States. The council took a photo with the presenter.
- Welcoming Week Proclamation (September 12–21, 2025): Councilor Riley read the proclamation, which was also read in Spanish by Sonia Capesa. Community members (Sonia Capesa, Priscilla Cayetano, and Agatha Ventura) spoke in support, emphasizing the need for concrete resources for immigrants and refugees in the current climate. The council unanimously approved the proclamation.
- Constitution Week Proclamation (September 17–23, 2025): Mayor Kebler read the proclamation. A representative from the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution detailed three community events. The council unanimously approved.
- Council Action and Reports
- Councilors provided updates on committee meetings, including the Housing Options Made for Everyone (HOME) committee, the Lighthouse Navigation Center, the Invest Bend economic development strategy, the Human Rights and Equity Commission, the coordinated homeless response office, and the core area advisory board. Mayor Kebler reported on legislative transportation funding, the Barry Washington Memorial dedication (expected soon), and the district mapping advisory committee for Deschutes County.
- Human Rights and Equity Commission (HREC) Workplan
- Equity and Inclusion Director Andres Portela, Chair Agatha Ventura, and Commissioner Jen Covitz presented the 2025–2026 workplan, emphasizing four focus areas: advisory, engagement, education/awareness, and policy advocacy. They introduced the AIM Equity Tool (Assumptions, Identify, Measure) to embed equity in city policy. Council feedback included: focus on three priority areas (wildfire resilience, water rate modernization, transportation, growth plan, and HOME recommendations), cross-collaboration with other advisory boards, and consideration of ordinance changes to better align HREC’s structure with its work. The council directed staff to refine the workplan and bring it back for final approval; no vote was taken on the workplan itself.
- Second Reading – OSU-Cascades Overlay Zone Amendments
- Councilor Méndez recused himself due to a conflict of interest. The ordinance amends Bend Development Code Chapter 2.7 to modify boundaries of campus subdistricts, allow increased building height and manufacturing uses without retail, adjust landscape standards, realign Innovation Way, and clarify street sections. The motion for adoption passed 6–0 (roll call vote: Councilors Franzosa, Riley, Perkins, Norris, Platt, and Mayor Kebler all voted yes).
- City Manager’s Report
- City Manager Eric King reported on road projects: Franklin Avenue eastbound closed from 4th to 8th Street for four months; Butler Market Road westbound closed from 8th to Brinson starting September 15 for a roundabout; Bear Creek/Pettigrew roundabout on schedule to reopen by end of October; Skyline Ranch roundabout three legs opened, fourth leg to open soon. He also previewed upcoming work sessions: September 10 (transportation funding, BPRD fee exemption, parking districts), September 17 (TSSA discussion, joint meeting with county agenda), and September 24 (midtown crossings). The joint meeting with Deschutes County on September 29 will cover the TSSA, growth plan sequential review, landfill siting, and waste haul franchise agreements.
Key Outcomes
- Approved consent agenda (items A and B) with item A discussed and approved separately.
- Approved three proclamations (Welcoming Week, Constitution Week, and Medal of Honor Highway recognition).
- Adopted Ordinance amending the OSU-Cascades Overlay Zone (6-0).
- Directed staff to refine the HREC Workplan based on council feedback and bring it back for final approval.
- Noted next steps: City Council will attend Welcoming Week events, a work session on transportation funding is scheduled for September 10, and a joint meeting with the county is set for September 29.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. We are gonna get started with our Ben City Council of Business meeting. This is the first meeting of our new schedule that we just put a press release out about today. Um so we're starting our meeting at six p.m. and it's just the business meeting tonight. Um we'll start with uh roll call down on your end, customer. Gina Franzosa, she her. Mike Riley, he him, Melanie Keebler, she her. Megan Perkins, she her, Hegan Norris, she her. Steve Platt, he him. All right, we are all here. So we have a few items that are good in the order tonight. We're gonna start with um an item on the middle of honor highway, and Council Platt's gonna introduce that. Thanks very much, Mayor. Um, it's my honor to introduce uh Lieutenant Colonel Dick Tobias, and he's uh retired from the United States Army, uh, which is I must he will tell me is the oldest service uh and the service from whence my service uh was born. Uh and so I honor you, sir, and you're gonna tell us a little bit about the Memorial Honor Highway, a Medal of Honor Highway that you've done a great deal of work on. Thank you, sir take it over to you. I should call you counselor and colonel both, right? Thank you, sir. We're both supersonic pilots. Yes, sir. So the first slide, please. So what we want to talk about is uh councillor Platt said is the National Medal of Honor Highway, which is uh the first highway named by veterans by Congress and a president. This had never been done before. It happens to be the longest highway in the United States, so uh when you think about it, it all started uh eight years ago in Bend. So Bend is the hot seat of the National Medal of Honor Highway, even though uh given that we had one medal of honor recipient living here from World War II, Bob Maxwell. So Bob was a direct next slide, please. So Ben was uh Bob was a uh director of my Ben Heroes Foundation, and those of you who met him was like knew him as the kindest human being in terms of humility, respect, and patriotism. He never went beyond the seventh grade. He jumped on a hand grenade in World War II and saved his buddies. And when I met him, he said, I I really have nothing to do, but I'd like to help. So we did lots of things, and one of the things was a medal of honor highway. So this whole story is about keeping a promise to somebody. You promise somebody you're gonna do something and you've got to do it. So the Medal of Honor is the is the highest award for valor that the military presents. It's usually presented by a president. Bob's case that was presented by a two-star general in Denver after the war. So Bob was an inspiration. He was a blessing to this community. You you the city council did a couple of things for Bob. We we get a proclamation naming Ben as a Medal of Honor city. I'd have a resolution from the legislature doing the same thing. And you declared 21 years ago, you declared Bob Maxwell Day. And you know, you've been so easy to work with when it comes to things like that, because they're profound and they're noble and they mean something to this community. Um Bob lived in Bend for about 50 years, and this highway passes through Bend, and it intersects with the World War II highway on 97, so up by target is where the two come together, and then they branch over uh part again at on uh Greenwood. So Bend has the distinction of being the only in the United States, the only Medal of Honor city, the only Purple Heart City, Bob and I are Purple Heart. Um the only flag city, the only Blue Star Gold Star family city in the United States, and no other city probably can match that. There are only three flag cities in the United States, red ones, Redmond is one of them, and it's a place in Ohio. So what we did, this is a three-phase program. It started with the Oregon Medal of Honor Highway, and then I got it through all the way across the United States on Highway 20 to Boston, where I was born 90 years ago.
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