Cornelius City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting - September 2, 2025
Cornelius City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting - September 2, 2025
The Cornelius City Council held a work session at 6:00 p.m. on the Right-of-Way License Program, followed by a regular session at 7:00 p.m. Key topics included transitioning from franchise agreements to a license system, updates on the former gas station cleanup (S-to-B property), the low-income utility billing relief program, and ratification of a new firefighters union contract.
Consent Calendar
- Consent agenda – adopted unanimously (motion by Councilor Gordinas, second by Councilor Vaughn).
Public Comments & Testimony
- Christopher Barrera (2160 S. Alpine St.) – Appealed for help with a neighbor who has parked one of eight cars in front of his home for 30 consecutive days in retaliation after he asked to share street parking. He noted his spouse is a Marine Corps veteran who must park far away while carrying their four-month-old daughter. He requested reallocation of mailboxes that block parking and designation of a handicap or veteran-only spot in front of his home. He stated he would otherwise have to sell his home.
- Mariella Garfias (same address) – Explained she grew up in that home (35+ years) and now her family is the third generation. She described neighbors who allow dogs to run off-leash, speed on the block, and have taken over street parking with disregard for other families. She expressed sadness that the neighborhood has become unsafe and that she may have to sell her home.
- Patty (214 S. Alpine St.) – Stated she is a direct neighbor of the household causing issues. She reported ongoing harassment for three years, including dogs in her yard, a broken fence, six cameras facing her home, and a recent incident where a neighbor’s child pointed an object that looked like a gun at her home and mimicked shooting. She said police have not taken action despite multiple calls, and she fears for her children’s safety.
Council members (Mayor Delano, Councilor Gordinas, Councilor Colgan) expressed concern, thanked the speakers, and committed to working with staff to explore options such as mediation, enforcement, and potential code adjustments.
Discussion Items
- Right-of-Way License Program (Work Session) – City Manager Peter Brandon and consultant Reba Crocker (via Zoom) presented a plan to replace existing franchise agreements (many expired) with a uniform license system for utilities in the right-of-way (telecom, cable, electricity, gas, water, sewer, stormwater, garbage). The new code would set fees via resolution, allow easier amendment, and be managed by a consultant. Expected to increase revenue by capturing entities not currently paying (e.g., sub-lessees, pass-through utilities). Councilor Colgan questioned whether fees would be passed to residents, noting that utilities can pass costs to customers. Mayor Delano noted that some contracts are expired and fees may be unpaid. Councilor Gordinas and others requested concrete revenue projections. Councilor Vaughn asked about the current status of payments under expired contracts. Reba Crocker stated that even expired contracts require payment if service continues. Discussion also covered backhaul data services and transmission lines. Council generally supported further analysis and development of the ordinance, with a draft expected by end of 2025.
- S-to-B Property Update (Former Gas Station Cleanup) – Jeff Schatz (DEQ Project Manager) and Kara Master (DEQ Brownfields Coordinator) presented results of Phase II environmental site assessment (funded by EPA). Key findings: gasoline hydrocarbons in soil and groundwater in the western portion of the site, and high levels of petroleum in soil gas (650,000 µg/m³, 15x the commercial standard). Arsenic was detected in two samples near a former railroad spur. Planned work for October 2025 includes decommissioning five underground storage tanks (two removed, three abandoned in place), additional sampling, and excavation of contaminated soil if feasible. The work is funded by DEQ’s State Response Grant. City Manager Brandon also summarized a market study for redevelopment of the site (along with Western States fire apparatus building and Grande Foods building), which indicated strong retail demand, cautious signal for market-rate multifamily, strong demand for affordable multifamily, challenging office market, and not yet feasible hospitality. Council expressed excitement about progress and discussed potential educational opportunities for local students.
- Low-Income Utility Billing Relief Program Update – Assistant City Manager Ellie Jones reported on the program adopted October 7, 2024. In 11 months, 34 accounts have received assistance (57 bills paid), totaling $8,300 of the allocated $44,000 in ARPA funds. 22 accounts received the maximum $300 within 12 months. Staff provides direct one-on-one contact with customers facing shutoff. Councilor Gordinas expressed concern that funds may not be fully used by the December 2026 deadline and suggested increasing the number of times a customer can receive assistance per year (currently two). Council consensus supported exploring modifications to ensure full fund utilization. Councilor Vaughn asked if the program could be expanded to help with other utilities like power bills; staff said they would look into it.
- Proclamation: Hispanic Heritage Month, September 2025 – Councilor Lopez read the proclamation in Spanish; Mayor Delano read the English version. The month is observed Sept. 15–Oct. 15.
Key Outcomes
- Resolution 2025-43 (IAFF Collective Bargaining Agreement) – Ratified the 2025-2028 agreement with International Association of Firefighters Local 1660. Key terms: 3% wage increase retroactive to July 1, 2025; 4% increases on July 1, 2026 and July 1, 2027; step scale reduced from eight to seven; new 3% incentive for EMT intermediate/advanced certification; comp time option; Juneteenth added as holiday; uniform provisions for 40-hour vs. 53-hour work week employees. Motion by Councilor Gordinas, second by Councilor Colgan. Passed unanimously (5-0). Councilor Colgan expressed concern that wage increases outpace property tax revenue growth.
- Resolution 2025-44 (IGA Amendment with Washington County for Police Services) – Approved a 6.2% increase in the cost of police services, raising the total contract to just under $3.3 million (from $2.9 million two years ago). Motion by Councilor Colgan, second by Councilor Lopez. Passed unanimously (5-0). Councilor Colgan noted that such increases may eventually force service reductions.
- Next steps – Staff will explore increasing the number of utility relief assistance periods per year and report back. The right-of-way license ordinance and fee resolution will be drafted and brought back for consideration by end of 2025. Tank decommissioning at the S-to-B property is scheduled for October 2025 with a contractor selected soon.
Meeting Transcript
I have Wordley Live Translation. Our first up this evening is our work session at 6 p.m. Right of way license program. And our staff presentation is Peter Brandon, City Manager. Peter. Thank you, Mayor and City Council. Nice to see you all. I'll start by acknowledging and introducing Reba Crocker with Right of Way Consultants who's joining us online via Zoom. And Reba has deep experience in this realm and is helping us with this program. And what we're going to do is I'm just going to walk through it, feel the questions that I can, and then Reba will chime in as needed with the expert perspective. We have hi Reba. We oh and the other thing, Reba, the sound in the council chamber is pretty loud, so when you talk, you can talk pretty softly. One of our tech particularities. They include telecommunications, cable, electricity, natural gas, cellular, water, sewer and stormwater and garbage services. The city holds a contract with each entity to allow for and compensate for use of the right-of-way because there is a cost for occupying it. Many of those contracts are expired. Each contract requires separate negotiation and management, and the fees can vary. So it's essentially a separate contract with any entity in the right-of-way, and that obviously is pretty complex and pretty high administrative burden. And for any of those private utilities, there could be a number of providers even just within telecommunications, for example. And there are additionally, a franchise individually negotiated and agreed for a longer term, which they typically are, usually 10-15 years. They hold both parties to requirements that can become a barrier with changes in technology or changes to the law. And for us with limited staff, it's also challenging to actively manage all those contracts. And in reality, compliance is largely up to the franchisee, which is not ideal. And we do have some entities that are that not up to date on fees, just as one example. So in recent years, some Oregon cities have transitioned to a license format, a much simpler format, which provides for lower administrative burden to manage it, the same terms for any licensee, regardless of who they are. More easily amendable terms when changes are needed. Those terms are typically not written into code. They're just part of that license. Sometimes changes in the law, whether state or federal, do require changes, and it's a lot more burdensome to make them. It provides for greater consistency and clarity for both the terms and the cost across the different companies, and that really benefits both both the licensee and the city. And it provides for fairer and more just compensation to the city for the use of the right-of-way, and we can elaborate on that. One example that Reba provided is that sometimes an entity, for example, PGE will sub-lease space on their poll, and that sub-lessee won't be brigand terms, and so they'll be essentially using the right of way without having to pay for it. It also provides for a stronger legal defensibility. So in order to develop the program, we would amend the Cornelius Municipal Code to include the terms and the process for the license for this program. And Reba has implemented this for a number of cities and actually even authored the model code for the for Oregon cities for the League of Oregon Cities, and she has extensive experience in all of this as I meant as I mentioned. The fees for use of the right-of-way by licensees would be set via resolution so they can be more easily amended as we do for other fees. And we also plan to retain a consultant, um, probably Reba when we're done making the change to actively manage the program so that we can get our arms around the current occupants of the right-of-way and make sure that they're complying with everything that they're signed up for, especially the the fees that they owe. And we're we're very confident that this will result in some increased revenue to the city, which currently is essentially lost revenue. And again, the scope of the utilities to be included in this program are uh electricity, natural gas, water sewer, and storm, stormwater, telecommunications, communications, video, wireless, and cellular services. Uh and some entities that deliver services through the city without delivering to customers in the city may also qualify. That's something else we're going to explore. An example of that might be uh a uh utility uh transmission line that comes through Cornelius. So what are called over-the-top services such as Netflix and Hulu and satellite services such as Direct TV will not be covered since the city doesn't have legal authority to do so. Um the cost for consultant services to implement this, build it and implement it is uh we are confident also based on the experience of other cities, far less than the newly realized revenue that we'll see from this active management. And as we develop the implementing ordinance, it'll be important for our consultant to work directly with the current franchisees to transition them over, and uh Reba also has a lot of experience with this and relationships with these companies, many of them. And we will uh also consult our city attorney. We do have access to an expert in this field. Um her name is Nancy Warner, and I've worked with her for years, and she's really known nationally as an expert in this law. We just want to make sure that everything that we uh recommend to you to approve complies with our existing code and other law, and so we'll be doing that as well. So the next steps are we're already well down the path of completing a draft fee resolution and ordinance to implement, and we'll have our city attorney review both of these before we bring it back, and then Reba will consult with the franchisees to present the new program, the fees and the new code, and then actively manage the licensees going forward.
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