Forest Grove City Council Work Session: Parks Fee Study, Urban Reserves, Street Light Fee - September 22, 2025
Forest Grove City Council Work Session: Parks Fee Study, Urban Reserves, Street Light Fee - September 22, 2025
This work session of the Forest Grove City Council on September 22, 2025, covered three topics: a parks and recreation assessment and fee study, an introduction to the David Hill Urban Reserve Planning Area, and a discussion on using the street light fee for downtown decorative lighting. No public comment was taken and no formal action was voted on; however, council provided consensus direction on several items.
Parks and Recreation Assessment and Fee Study
- Staff (City Manager Jesse, Parks and Recreation Director Ann Lane) presented budget context: the parks and recreation operating budget is 75.5% funded by the general fund and 24.5% by fees. Of fees collected, 75% come from aquatics, 17% from recreation, and 8% from parks. Rental fees account for 2.6% of the total department budget.
- Council had requested a nonprofit rentals category with 0-25% cost recovery. Staff provided per-hour operating costs: athletic field $48.23, pool lap lane $12.43, entire pool $381.19, picnic shelter $7.58. Calculations showed potential impacts on local nonprofits based on usage hours from fiscal year 2023-24.
- Nonprofits such as Santos Soccer, Forest Grove Swim Club, Forest Grove School District (adaptive PE) and others were shown with their current fees and projected costs at various recovery rates.
- Council members expressed diverse views. Mayor advocated for 10-20% cost recovery for in-district nonprofits and 80-100% for out-of-district, plus reciprocal use agreements with Pacific University and the school district. Councilor Falkner noted a letter from Scott Crowell proposing a preferred community partner program. Councilor Schimmel questioned the financial imperative and suggested starting at 0%. Councilor Marshall estimated that a 10% fee could add $125 per kid per year. Councilor Martinez leaned toward 0-10%.
- After debate, consensus emerged to work toward a 0-10% cost recovery range for nonprofit rentals (not final), while also exploring a reoccurring/partner agreement program and reciprocal use agreements with major institutions.
Urban Reserve Planning Area (David Hill URPA)
- Senior Planner Dan Reardon introduced the David Hill Urban Reserve Planning Area, part of Council’s 2025 goal to initiate a policy discussion on urban reserve growth. The area is about 320 developable acres north of Forest Grove, with significant constraints (topography, natural features).
- Slide deck covered definitions, history (Great Communities process, PSU concept plan), and challenges such as high density assumptions (30 units/acre) and utility feasibility.
- Due to time constraints (15 minutes allocated), the presentation was cut short. Council will continue the discussion at a future work session. No direction was given.
Street Light Fee
- City Manager Jesse Vandersannen presented the street light fee history: established in 2013 at $1.50 per month per account, currently funding 2,236 street lights. LED conversion saved ~$62,500/year; those savings have now paid off the loan and created a surplus.
- Proposed use of surplus for downtown decorative street lights (tree lights on 21st and Main, part of the Glow Up project) and holiday lights. Annual costs estimated at $1,500 for tree lights and $5,000 for holiday lights. A capital reserve for future street light replacement was also discussed.
- Council reached consensus:
- Purchase and maintain street tree lights and decorative lights within the CDBG enhanced streetscape area.
- Use street light fee revenues to fund these services, and adopt a resolution clarifying that the fee may be used for such lighting.
- Develop a usage policy and guidelines (uniform warm white lights, no blinking, turn-off times).
- Issue an RFQ for a contractor to handle both tree lights and holiday lights, rather than relying on Light and Power or volunteers.
- Staff to bring back information on taking over street tree maintenance in that area to ensure consistent care.
Key Outcomes
- Parks and Recreation Fee Study: Council directed staff to work on a 0-10% cost recovery range for nonprofit rentals (not final), develop a preferred community partner program (including reciprocal use agreements with Pacific University and Forest Grove School District), and prepare updated fee proposals for future council action.
- Urban Reserve Planning Area: Discussion to continue at a subsequent work session; no decisions made.
- Street Light Fee: Council consensus to move forward with downtown decorative lights using existing fee revenues, adopt a resolution clarifying allowable uses, create usage guidelines, and issue an RFQ for a contractor. Staff will also explore city assumption of tree maintenance in the enhanced streetscape area.
Meeting Transcript
Bill, can you hear me? Yes. Okay, cool. I would like to call to order this work session of the Forest Grove City Council. The topic is parks and recreation assessment and fee study. Just a friendly reminder that no public comment will be taken, and the council will take no formal action. I'm going to turn it over to our city manager first and then over to our parks and director. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor, members of the council. We have 45 minutes tonight on this before we move on to the next work session. But I just wanted to provide some kind of broader opening statements regarding this assessment and fee study. So that's kind of one part of it. It covers some fees, but not all fees. And that's kind of layered on top of this fee proposal that Ann had 110% look at and propose. And so I I think I just kind of going over this when staff has met internally. And so I would just encourage that if at any point you have any kind of question about what's being done now, what this may look like if this if this program is or policy is adopted, whether in full or in part, uh to please ask so that we can kind of talk through it and provide as as good a scenario as we can or as good of information as we can. So anyways, with that, um I'd like to turn it over to uh Ann Lane, Director of Parks and Recreation. Thank you, Jesse. Thank you, Council. Um, I'm gonna do my best not to lecture at you tonight, but um, like Jesse said, this is complex, and I just really want to make sure that I hit everything correctly. So bear with us here. This uh this presentation tonight in work session is a continuation from the last time we met on September 8th. So we are making good progress. Um, and I I'm certain that if if we stick with it and work together, we're we're gonna get there. Um, so thank you for your dedication on this, and uh we'll just we'll keep it going. Uh at the last work session, council directed staff to bring back further details on the concept of adding a nonprofit rentals category to the continuum with a cost recovery range of zero to twenty-five percent. Uh council also directed staff to provide calculations of the potential financial impacts to the nonprofits as it would relate to a zero to twenty-five percent cost recovery rate. In addition to the new category, there was expressed interest to explore various other pricing methods as they relate to facility use. These methods include, but may not be limited to reciprocal use agreements, individual agreements, and reoccurring use agreements. Utilizing a rate model provides staff with direction and a consistent approach to administering fees for services. As parks and recreation continues to evolve and respond to community interests, having a rate model established provides a solid foundation for that evolution evolution to occur. Um, the rate model is not intended to generate additional revenue. But before we get much further this evening, I'd like to take a little side step to share some budget background and data that I'm I'm hoping will help with the discussion. All the data shown in tonight's presentation was taken from fiscal year 2023-24. The parks and recreation operating budget is largely supported by the general fund, as shown here in orange at a rate of 75.5%. As required by City Code 3401, the department collects fees for services. That amount is shown here in blue at a rate of 24.5%. Sure. Brian, could you back up one slide? So as Ann mentioned, we so the existing rates and fees that we charge essentially at the pool or of any of the services that we provide comprise about almost 25% of the overall revenue that Anne collects. Just to kind of benchmark that, so to speak. So if you and that would compare to some of our self-sustaining funds, like the building department, for example, that's 100% funded by rates and fees. If you look at our water fund, that's 100% funded by the water, by our water rates and fees. If you look at light and power, same thing. So those, I'm just kind of offering this kind of um, I'm not sure what to call it, but a range, if you will, of some of our funds are 100% funded by rates and fees, others are 100% supported by the general fund. And this in this case, parks is 25% rates and fees, 75% general fund. Shown here is a breakdown of how each division within parks and recreation uh collected uh in fees for services. Uh 75% was in the aquatics division, 17% was in the recreation division, and 8% was in the parks division. Of the fees collected for parks and recreation services, 10.4% was from facility rentals, and 89.6% was from other services like classes and programs. Rental fees collected by parks and recreation are for either pool facility use or park facility use.
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