So we're gonna get started.

I'd like to call to order this meeting of the community enhancement program grant presentations.

And to begin with, I'm gonna have our communication team give a little staff briefing about how we are going to proceed tonight.

Hello, Joyce.

Thank you, everyone.

For those of you that don't know me, I'm Joyce Phillips.

I'm the communications and program assistant here for the city of Force Grove.

Thank you for joining us uh this afternoon for our community enhancement program grant meeting.

We will award four grants for 20,000.

And we are excited this year that we had 16 applications.

All pertinent information was provided in the staff report, which I included in the packet that's on your desk in front of you.

Each applicant will have four minutes to present and one minute for questions.

Also, please write your name at the top of the score sheet, as Mariah will be collecting them at the end of the meeting.

Yes.

I have a question.

Uh Joyce, do all the applicants meet the criteria?

Yes.

They do.

It's none are for profit, and then are they all nonprofit.

Okay.

Great.

Thank you.

Any further questions for Joyce?

Okay.

Seeing none.

Well then I will hand it back.

Okay.

Um Maria, will you take should we take role in a little bit?

How should we do role?

Let's take role.

Committee member Gustafson.

Did you say me?

Yeah.

Sorry.

Yes.

Committee member Valence Isla.

Committee member Nunes?

Here.

Committee member Shimmel.

Here.

Co chair Wendell.

Co chair me.

Sorry, I was reading something.

Here.

My bad.

Uh committee member Falconer.

Committee member.

Uh Salgato.

Algato.

Um committee member Marshall.

Here.

Okay, so we're gonna get started.

Uh I'm gonna call I'm just gonna ask the committee.

Um would you how would you would you like to rotate asking questions?

Would you like me to ask all the questions so you can listen and score?

Have me ask all of them.

I see that from the side.

Do any of you want to ask questions?

No.

I have a question.

Okay, okay.

Um, I know many of us have overlapping roles with the nonprofits, the schools, universities, and I always recuse myself when it has anything to do with finance regarding the city club, downtown association, or the alliance.

So I'll be recusing myself from this entire thing.

I just want to make sure that we all understand that this happens and it it kind of looks like it's happening today.

So I didn't know, Mayor, if you already had like a plan knowing this, or well, usually we'll just ask for recusal.

So you're gonna recuse yourself from the prop the whole process.

Is there anyone else that would like to recuse themselves or say a potential conflict?

Okay.

Do you think so?

In the past, when because so you are a pro professor at Pacific, and this is an application for a long house with their native or their indigenous student group.

So if you don't think your position as a prof professor is a conflict that you think you can still be unbiased, and there's no potential gain, then you don't have to recuse yourself.

You can say, like, hey, I want for the record to say this.

That's my understanding, Jesse.

Is that accurate or not accurate?

Yeah, there's there's two types of conflicts a perceived conflict and then an actual conflict.

An actual conflict is if you stand to receive any financial gain.

Point of clarification, is it perceived and actual or potential and actual.

Um that I'm not sure of.

Um sorry if I don't I don't have the answer to that one.

Uh, but an actual is generally and the Oregon Government Ethics Commission is the ultimate arbiter of whether or not it's a conflict, and if so, what type of conflict?

Or potential would be um excuse me, a perceived conflict would be uh one in which you would not have a potential financial gain or an actual financial gain or the prevention of a financial detriment.

An actual conflict would be is if you stand to by the virtue of your position, uh gain financial remuneration, in this case, if it would be financial remuneration from the grant.

Uh and if so, then that that uh again, the Oregon Government Ethics Commission is a final arbiter, but generally speaking, that's been interpreted as an actual conflict.

That clear it up.

I do understand this really closer to Counselor Falkner, did you want to state what you were?

Well, I just wondered if we might treat this similar to the way we would a land use hearing, um, where I think you know, we could we could ask the count the committee um if there were any objections to someone to and and we could have a conversation about it.

Yeah, is there any way in which the committee would like to move forward?

So we can either disclose potential conflicts and then state if we're gonna recuse or not recuse, or we could say does anyone on the committee have concerns?

Sir I would like to know if we counselor Gason.

Um I don't have any concerns with any of you at all.

Um, because there is so much overlap here.

And for you to be completely honest and biased, I have to trust everybody, right?

That's how we work.

Um for you to be objective.

And at the same time, with every instance, I have been asked, is this a conflict and asked to recuse?

And I do during financial decisions, even though it is not a conflict of interest.

My concern with others is throughout my conversations with the ethics department.

If you work for that organization or are paid in any capacity to that organization, that is a potential impact to your income because you are connected to that organization.

When they do well because of money, you do well because of money.

Take this, you know, for whatever you feel.

This is just what I have read, and I am still making the choice to recuse myself as I have with every other time when there was money involved.

Okay, thank you.

Well, I would just add a clarification that nonprofits of size that are of significant size have multiple independent contracts that pay for their particular department, so it's it's not as a simple matter as described.

For example, I I do work for a centro, but it's under a federal contract.

It has no relationship with any other department or fund within that organization.

So I'm acknowledging my my affiliation, but also that it's it's a part of an independent federal contract, not the central general fund.

Okay.

Anyone else?

Yeah.

I mean, I don't see the forest grove school district on there, so I don't think okay.

Perfect.

So let's get started.

Um I will are we good with me asking all three questions?

I don't see one Carlos.

I was gonna switch off with Councillor Gonzalez, but he's not gonna be simpler.

It's just simpler.

Okay, so can I please have the Force Grove Youth and Senior Bowling presentation, please.

And then are we gonna set I think a four-minute yeah?

Perfect.

Good evening.

Thank you for coming today.

Thanks for applying.

Thank you for having me.

Uh my name's Alan Clark.

I am the president of Forest Grove Youth Bowling.

Uh, I appreciate the committee having me and uh listening to what we have to say.

So our goal at Forest Grove Youth Bowling is to expand our existing program to have more significant reach.

We currently have a bowling program in our community for our youth.

And our community is underserved for both youth and seniors.

We feel as though we can expand and create a greater reach and more impact within the community.

Bowling is a healthy impact, low impact full body workout.

It improves your physical fitness, mental well-being, and it enhances your cardiovascular health, builds muscle strength and improves balance, flexibility, and hand-eye coordination.

The social aspect is also great because it has mental health benefits, it reduces stress, and it encourages social interactions.

Bowling is more than just a pastime.

It's a way to bring people together in our community.

We have seniors in our community seeking connection and youth in our community looking for positive activities.

A community bowling program can bring it all together in one friendly, accessible location.

Too many in our community face isolation and the lack or the lack of affordable inclusive recreation.

Seniors often struggle to stay active and socially engaged.

Youth need safe, structured places to build confidence and learn teamwork.

The community often struggles to bond as one.

Bowling can offer all three, regardless of your age, ability, or income.

Our vision provides for free or low-cost bowling for seniors and youth.

We desire to offer mentorships and intergenerational activities, youth learning from seniors, seniors engaging with youth, seniors and youth alike, creating new bonds and friendships.

It will all encourage more social interactions outside of polling and just help our community.

For a lot of families, families, whether we're talking about youth or seniors, money is a barrier to entry.

Also, a lot of senior citizens, transportation is an issue.

With this support, we hope to be able to provide transportation for regular bowling events and be able to partner with another nonprofit similar to ride connection to be able to offer that on a regular basis.

We also hope with both groups that we can get trained coaches who are trained and certified to come and teach bowling, help with the social interaction.

Um those coaches put a lot of time and effort into their training, so it's very hard to get them to commit without obviously you know, in kind respects and paying for their time as well.

You know, our community is underserved and lacks the structure for both of these groups during the fall, winter, and spring when it's colder, darker, and wetter outside, and this would be the imperfect way to engage with them.

Your support will help us offset the cost of transportation, pay trained and certified coaches, and pay for the cost of the activity itself.

I hope you'll join us in making every frame a step forward towards community connection.

Great.

Thank you.

There's a minute left.

Does anyone have a follow-up question?

I don't think I have to ask these score.

I have been do you guys want me to ask my staff.

I think I'm a little confused about the process.

If we wouldn't, if you don't mind, I don't want to take up the minute of a time though.

I have pause.

So my understanding is this was the this is a goal of the awards.

And so as we're listening to the presentation, we score.

And I'm I was I didn't realize that you were intending to ask those questions of each of us.

No, I'm not going to.

Or of the body or of the No, I'm okay.

No, that's what I was like wondering if you guys wanted me to follow up with any of these questions on there.

But I think we're good.

Sorry, sir.

No worries.

Any questions from the committee?

How many people will this help?

Um, you know this well.

It's hard to quantify until we start promoting it, but um I can definitely see this, you know, engaging.

We so we run a kids bowl-free program during the summer, which typically every summer engages about 350 youth in the community.

Um, so I could very easily see 350 youth being easily a targeted, but I think it would grow because during the summer a lot of activities are outside activities.

And during the winter, a lot of families will be looking for other activities as well.

Which still doesn't even account for you know a senior getting seniors involved as well.

Okay, council president Valenzuela.

How do you think our outreach would be multifaceted?

You know, we would use social media.

That's a lot of places.

Obviously, I assumably a lot of senior citizens don't use social media, but um, you know, we have relationships with a lot of other businesses and uh organizations in the community to advertise at places like the senior center or up and down Main Street.

A lot of those businesses let us put flyers out for our youth programs and things like that, which draw in a lot of people as well.

School district as well, yes.

The school district would also be a great place to organize that as well.

Yes.

Great.

Thank you so much.

Our next presenter is the Force Grove Swim Club.

Hi there.

My name's Stephanie Mongar, and I am part of the Forest Grove Swim Club as well as an assistant coach for the Forest Grove High School Swim team.

And I have worked for 15 years teaching swim lessons and being a lifeguard at the Forest Grove Aquatic Center.

My name is Zoe, and I am one of the members of the Forest Grove Um Committee.

I'm also a member from the Grove Swim Committee.

My name is Caitlin.

Um, we are proposing to replace our current lane lines at the poll.

It's a strategic decision aimed at enhancing the aesthetic appeal and safety of our facility.

New lane lines will not only provide a refreshed and modern look.

It also improves the overall experience for our swimmers and visitors at the Forest Grove Aquatic Center.

Upgrading these fixtures demonstrates our commitment to maintaining a high standard of quality and safety, ensuring an optimal environment for training and recreation.

These funds would purchase new lane lines, which is a valuable opportunity for our team to address the current infrastructure without incurring additional financial strain.

Our team during COVID really took a hit and we lost a lot of swimmers, and we have worked really hard to regain our um attendance and team.

We now have swimmers from Hillsborough, Yam Hill, and banks joining our team.

And so we want to keep that going.

So we need to provide equipment that is safe.

These lane lines benefit all the teams, the swim club, the high school, and Pacific University all use these lane lines, as well as the Forest Grove Aquatic Center programming during adult and senior lap swim, um, the aquatic center classes and swim lessons.

We also have many pool events that happen throughout the year, as well as three swim teams host all of their swim meets there and the dragon dash, which is a community event that has happened for two years now.

Um this promotes the sustainability of our team as we continue to have lane lines that are more than 15 years old since before I started working there.

They are cracked, have jagged edges and fraying cables, and maintenance has to keep coming and fixing them because they're unsafe for people to touch.

Um it is a huge strain on all of the businesses to provide these as they cost about $5,000.

Um by not having to purchase lane lines ourselves.

We can continue continue to provide equitable access by offering scholarships to families in need through our programs.

Um we gave a survey at our last swim meet to families that attended 60% of the 25-26 pentathlon meet attendees have never been to one of our meets before.

And 93% that they eat locally in Forest Grove Pizza Smicha, Telvet Coffee, and we estimate they bring about $2,000 worth of revenue to a Forest Grove through our swim meets.

Um we want to promote community growth that strengthens the relationship between the swim club and the aquatic center and fosters a sense of belonging and shared purpose.

This promotes community and health and fitness.

Events like our Dragon Dash mini triathlon brings uh individuals together through diverse ages and abilities and highlights inclusivity and community spirit.

Overall, this project embodies the values of sustainability, safety, connectivity, economic vitality, community development, health activity, and inclusiveness.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much.

Any questions?

Councilor Schimmel.

Is the swim club own these lane lines or do the city?

Um it would technically be the swim club would be in charge of maintaining them and keeping track of them, but we do we've always shared lane lines, so it it they would be the set used for all of the programs.

Does that make sense?

I'm not sure.

Who owns the current swim lane lines?

Oh, I can tell you that answer.

Currently, it we each started by buying two, so Pacific bought two, um, the aquatic center bought two, and then the dragons bought two.

Um, so they're all different kinds, different, and so they've just been there forever.

Yeah, I guess the general question is whose responsibility are those lane lines.

We can discuss that in discussion.

I'd have to refer to director and lane and get back to you on that.

Okay.

Great.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Um, the wireless mics, if you could just flip those on.

They're not currently on.

Yeah.

The red light means they're on, correct?

Okay.

Parents mic.

This one.

Yeah.

The wireless.

Should we flip on one cars?

He's coming on okay.

Okay, sorry.

Please go ahead.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Bailey Matlock, and I'm the grants manager at Adelante Mujeres.

Hi everyone.

Um, my name is Gabby Grussi.

I'm a grants officer at Adelante Mueres.

And I am here to talk about our proposal for the um Forest Grove Farmers Market Waste Center.

Some of you may know we're just up the street on Maine.

Um, our building has those beautiful butterflies in the front, which represent our community, the wonderful immigrant Latina community.

And we've been serving this community since 2002.

And we want to talk about our Forest Grove Farmers Market Um Center.

Excuse me.

Forest Grove Farmers Market Waste Center.

This waste center serves as a self-service waste management station.

It is equipped with recycling bins and informational brochures for our community if they're interested in learning about environmental awareness.

And our proposals that we want to really enhance and develop the waste center so that it's an integral part of the farmers market and also serves as a community space for education in terms of waste management and reducing waste from reaching our landfills.

We um at this time currently in the given market season are seeing about 90,000 visitors, and we fully expect that number to grow, specifically because we are seeing funding cuts to food access programs such as SNAP and Adelante provides food access programming in uh one example are fresh food vouchers where our community can come shop at the farmers market at a reduced price.

So we fully expect this number of visitors to grow and we understand that with this growth comes more generated market waste, and we want to start tackling that waste now before it becomes a larger issue in the future for our community and the environment.

Um market days, we're already seeing a vast amount of waste.

And so we propose that if our staff receives professional development opportunities like receiving a master recycler certification, um they would be able to educate the community and become experts in this area as well.

Uh we would like to collaborate with uh local environmental, culturally responsive educators to come teach workshops on market days that really bring in our community to learn more about environmental awareness.

We also want to be really intentional about the way we advertise and promote the waste center so that it is an integral part and not an overlooked aspect of the market.

And eventually we would like to be able to evaluate the changes that we've made so that we can continue improving and developing the waste center.

Um ultimately why we want to do this, as I mentioned, is we want to tackle this issue now.

We want it to become a sustainable practice of our community, not just during market days, but to carry on to our personal lives.

We view this project as supporting not just um the environment but the forest growth community.

If we collectively come together to start protecting the environment and our effect on climate, then we see that as a plus as supporting our community who may not always have access to this type of education.

We are really interested in just enhancing and developing this waste center, so everyone is welcome to come and learn.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any questions?

I don't see any questions.

Okay, thank you, ladies.

Thank you.

Pacific University.

Good evening.

Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity for us to share about a project that is very dear to Pacific University and we believe also to Forest Grove.

Um, my name is Erica Andrew.

I'm the Associate Director of Development for Grants.

I'm joined this evening by my colleague Nicole Rubido, who is the University Registrar and also the faculty advisor to our Indigenous Student Alliance.

Together, we're really honored to share the vision of Pacific's Longhouse Project, a community gathering space inspired by indigenous longhouse design.

So the vision that we have for the longhouse will be a space for storytelling, for cultural exchange, for ceremony, and intercultural learning, a place that strengthens community connections and acknowledges the indigenous peoples of this region.

This project grows from a shared vision for belonging and inclusion that resonates throughout Forest Grove.

When the Indigenous Student Alliance formed at Pacific in 2022, the students came forward with a goal, two goals were the main things that they listed.

The first is to hold a powwow.

I am very happy to say that we have had a Power every Pow-ow every year for the past two years.

Over the past two years, we have spoken with and made uh partnerships and collaborations with not only the tribal partners in the area.

Um we have shown the students, faculty, and community leaders that the second goal the students want, the longhouse is an actual need that will serve everyone in the community as well as the broader tribal communities and the indigenous people who are um in this region.

Through listening sessions and open dialogue, we've asked what belonging and representation looks like to these communities.

The answer has been clear.

More than construction of a building, this project is about relationship and representation, learning and sharing community and heritage.

It's a space where students who, if they are indigenous, do not feel invisible, and we're talking about the broad range of indigenous people who live in this area.

It's a space where we can share and honor the voices and traditions that shape our community and create a space where everyone feels seen and welcome, not only feels they are, and this is what we long to do with Indigenous Student Alliance is bring everyone into this space.

So we've shared with you the conceptual drawings that were developed by Akana, uh, an Indigenous-owned architectural firm.

Those are compute uh completed with donor and university funding.

A grant from the Forest Grove Community Enhancement Program would support the creation of detailed construction documents.

It would take this project from concept to build ready.

It would also be a really strong demonstration of local commitment to this project that helps us to attract future funding from other uh organizations such as the Spirit Mountain Community Fund from the Roundhouse Foundation, from um from Murdoch and Meyer Memorial Trust, uh, for example.

This is an ambitious project.

We anticipate the total cost of building this longhouse will be about 2.2 million dollars.

20,000 from this committee is a drop in the bucket in the total project, but it is an extraordinarily important symbolic gesture that this community stands behind the need for indigenous representation and community gathering space.

When completed, the longhouse will stand as a symbol of belonging, cultural revitalization, community partnership, as we've talked about.

It's going to be a space where all of the community members in Forest Grove, the Pacific, students, faculty, alumni, of which are there many, and all of our regional partners can gather for cultural events, workshops, and shared celebrations, which we currently invite all citizens uh to join with us at Pacific.

We invite the elderly, we invite the local school districts to come and learn from us right now.

This will serve as a intentional place to do all that in.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you.

Any questions from the committee?

And I just want to welcome uh co-chair, Councillor Gonzalez.

He apologized for being a little bit late.

We just had some miscommunication about the time.

Sorry about that.

Okay, Councillor Schimmel.

I'd be curious if you can describe the relationship between our regular land acknowledgements and this long house.

How much time do we have?

Um you're talking about the land acknowledgement that the city of Forest Grove offers.

We consider land acknowledgments not just something that's written down somewhere that people can look at or that you uh verbalize wrote at meetings.

Land acknowledgement is actually action, and this longhouse is how Pacific University is taking that action.

Thank you very much, ladies.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Good evening, Rachel.

Can you hear me?

Yes, okay.

Sorry about that.

Um I'm here on behalf of the Family Peace Center of Washington County, which will open in January of 2026.

Most of you know us as the Family Justice Center, but we will be making that change over.

And we are applying to the City of Hillsborough grant program for the support of our expansion and outreach into Forest Grove for the Family Peace Center.

Um we applied for this grant in connection to improving community safety and connection.

Uh you have all heard me say this a few times, but unfortunately the reality in Oregon is that domestic and sexual violence are higher than the national average, domestic violence at 42%, sexual violence at 54%, and we are expanding to include a host of services for children that are impacted by child abuse, um, of which in Washington County there were 8,900 cases in 2023 alone.

So the Family Peace Center of Washington County is going to be a groundbreaking center that will ultimately end up being the first in the nation to provide all of the services that our community is coming together in order to offer holistically under one much larger roof than we have now.

Um and that will include 22 agencies, including CARES Northwest, Providence Forensic Clinic for adult forensic medical examinations, our friends at Adelante Mujeres who will be opening a therapeutic preschool along with their programming, DVRC, the district attorney, and many more.

This will create a center that will offer services for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and now child abuse, and all of the healing programs that go along with not just the intervention of that violence, but the healing from it and the prevention of it into future generations.

We hope that the Family Peace Center will be one that breaks the cycle of violence permanently.

So funds from this grant would support service navigation for individuals coming to the Family Peace Center and supporting those coming from uh the city of Forest Grove.

And in particular, we are um asking for the support of uh peer outreach for the city and also outreach materials.

It's a goal of ours to always make sure that no matter where the Family Peace Center is located, that um all of our communities can have access to us along with particular our more rural communities, and so we estimate that the number of services uh the number of people coming from Forest Grove will be between 180 and 200, although it's hard to anticipate because many of these services haven't been in Washington County before.

So all of CARES Northwest Child Abuse Cases will run through Washington County, same with Providence, and so we think that that's about what we will serve, but they very well could be more.

And also um overall, roughly the cost of providing services per survivor is about 141 dollars.

So at that number of individuals served, um, that's between 25 and 28,000 for those services.

So it fits nicely within this requested grant amount.

Um I will yield the rest of the time for any questions you may have.

Questions?

I have one question.

Um how many other municipalities contribute financially to the family peace center?

That's a great question.

All cities in Washington County contribute.

Except ours, except yours.

Okay.

Counselor Feltner.

I have a question about um I it wasn't really clear to me, and so I'm hoping you can maybe give me a direct answer if if possible.

Um the grant request is for I I heard outreach to uh rural communities, and I guess my question is is this a request for outreach materials to Forest Grove?

Yes, I'm sorry if I made that unclear.

Yes, it would be um outreach to the city of Forest Grove and residents within it, so specific materials, and then also um having folks that could come out here and do that outreach, but then also staffing for the navigation services at the Family Peace Center.

Okay, so this is the money would be specifically geared toward only Forest Grove outreach.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

So we're out of time.

Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Oh, thank you.

Anyway, do I wait?

No, you can start whenever you'd like.

So we me and my husband started 10 years ago in our garage to help people.

We moved to um Forest Grove right before um COVID, and then the food banks, everything shut down.

So then we started a food bank.

Um, we still have a food bank.

We help other four, we feed a lot of people, and then the clothes bank, we did that.

But my passion has been this that I wanted to do.

I don't want to just help people give them things.

I want them to get a hand up.

So what I why I want money is so that way we can teach them how to sew.

I want our homeless people or whoever wants to to come in and make um blankets so we can give it to the senior citizen people, you know, at the nursing home.

I also want um to teach them how to make laundry soap.

They're gonna make it, but we'll supply it so that way they can have something to do.

I also want to have gardens.

It doesn't matter where a person lives, it doesn't matter if they're homeless, if they live in a nursing home or whatever, we can teach them how to garden so they can take it with them.

If they're homeless, I want to put because we're now white by Scotty's.

Anyway, I want to get boxes put up so that way we could have a garden there for our homeless people, and they will work because they already are working in our backyard and stuff like that.

Because I believe if you give them a man of fish, they eat for a day, but if you teach them how to fish, they know how to fish.

And I think what's missing, in my opinion, and I only speak for myself, is communication and family and just feeling needed, the loneliness from all ages from teenagers to seniors to homeless.

So if we had programs at Gigi's house where everyone can come in and learn from each other and encourage each other, because it does work.

We have a guy who works at GG's house who is homeless who comes every single day.

We feed over 500 people a month in lunches, he packs it.

What did he used to do?

He's not good stuff.

There was a woman that was homeless, she used to fly a sign all the time.

I said, Why are you doing that?

Ask them for money, make do something.

So she made wreaths, she got off the streets, she's still doing crafts.

So I believe if we invest in people, that's our foundation.

And our foundation is everywhere.

And I don't know if you all know this, but we're growing.

There's people coming from all over.

And I if we can just get them and let them know that we're here for them and they matter, no matter if they're in a nursing home, in a school, don't have a house, that we're there for them.

That's all I have to say.

I don't know if I made it clear, but she wrote the grant.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Counselor Martinez.

Um, so how do you advertise for your services?

You know what's amazing is we don't have to.

It's word of mouth.

But we would we put it on there.

We would be on um Facebook and then um put ads out there, paperwork out there, however, that in the newspaper, we would do that um with the schools.

So that way there's a program for the kids to come in and get them off their phones and their games and where they can do something.

I have a pretty good connection with a lot of the schools that I would give it to the schools, and then they can send it home in a newsletter.

So what kind of programs are you doing currently for those that are houseless or in need?

What don't we do?

I don't know if it's a program, whatever we find, because we don't get grants.

So none of our staff is paid.

We're all volunteers, but we have a lot of wonderful donors.

So we have paid for funerals.

It depends on whatever the need is.

The police department has called us because they needed something cleaned up, so we do that.

You know, um, we want to teach them how to do job resumes, how to go and get a job.

We will sit down with them and teach them how to do that.

We're also opening up a part of our store where it's gonna be like a secondhand kind of cheaper than goodwill and give job training skills.

That's in the future if we get a grant or don't.

That's what we're doing.

Did that answer your question?

Yes, thank you.

Yeah, I just and how many people are you currently serving?

Lots.

It depends on the month.

We give SAC lunches to over 500 a month.

The schools, it depends on who it is when a counselor will come in and they need something.

Hundreds, if not thousands, sometimes it depends on the month.

Depends on the nursing home.

It changes, everything changes to the need.

And how many volunteers do you have for Kim?

Every single day, around seven.

It depends on when they can come in.

Most of them are homeless people or struggling with something.

But I have seen how light turns around for people if you give them something to do.

So they can mop, they can take out our garbage and my time's up.

Anything else?

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Saint Vincent DePaul.

Nana Cardu.

Oops, I skipped somebody.

I'm sorry.

Counselor Shimmel corrected me.

I need help all the time.

Um Food Ways by Nana Carduon.

And I apologize.

Hi there, thank you.

My name is Scott Ray.

I'm with uh Food Ways at Nana Carduon, and I'm here on behalf of Charlene Murdoch who could not make it.

She's um studying wheat uh in France.

Um yeah, so uh we would like to ask for a solar for the outdoor classroom at Foodways.

The solar for the outdoor classroom project at Foodways at Nana Cartoon will transform our outdoor classroom into a visible model of sustainability by pairing solar power with rainwater catchment and UV purification.

The system will provide clean renewable energy, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and create a self-sufficient off-grid classroom that benefits the whole community.

Uh and I'd like to read something from the uh administrator of applied experiential learning at Pacific University, uh Stephanie Stoker.

Um it is my pleasure to write this letter on behalf of Who Ways Nana Cartoon as they pursue a community enhancement project grant from Metro.

Who is at Nana Cartoon is well positioned to effectively utilize this funding, and I strongly support their application.

Pacific University has a long partnership with Nana Carduon.

We work together for many years, particularly by connecting college students to their operation for experiential learning opportunities, such as internships, practic practicum experiences, and class field trips.

In addition, I've worked directly with Nana Cartoon executive director Charlene Murdoch on a number of local committees and advisory groups related to food systems.

She also recently served as an instructor for Pacific class called Food for Thought and Action.

Nana Carduon consistently provides high quality educational, memorable and expertly facilitated activities for guests at the site.

Outstanding supervision for students' efforts and well-reasoned and informed perspectives and committees and the like.

Then returned to this community as a graduate student to continue her work around local sustainable agriculture under Charlene's mentorship.

As an administrator of applied and experiential learning, I really couldn't ask for a better outcome of our partnership.

But I'd also like to add that uh in 2023, Foodways applied for uh and received a CEP grant that uh helped us build the outdoor event structure that we'd like to put the solar panels on.

Um, and we thank you for that because since then thousands of Forest Grove students and Pacific University students have visited Nana Cardoon and have expressed to us their joy in working on the farm and learning about land stewardship.

Thanks to the Twalton Valley Soil and Water Conservation Grant awarded in 2024, 2025 and into 2027.

We get to continue this work with students of all ages moving forward.

Each class will include 30 students, our faculty and outdoor educators and curriculum leads, which averages out to 2,000 plus students that are uh inspired each year.

Uh the solar for the outdoor classroom, which is what we're calling this project, if awarded will make for a self-sufficient outdoor classroom, enhancing our water purification dishwashing station and more cooking power through the solar system.

We hope you can see in these pictures, which you should have a handout for.

Um, that Foodways at Nana Cartoon allows every student to learn the art of farm to table, the art of building soil, conserving water, and gathering at the table in community to share with one another on what it's like to grow your own food and share it with one another.

Thank you strongly for considering uh Foodways at Nana Cardu's Solar for the Outdoor Classroom project uh for this year's CEP Metro Grant.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any questions?

I have a I have a yeah, go ahead.

Oh, I just uh this is kind of it doesn't really base any decision necessarily.

What time of year does the um outdoor classroom run?

Is it year-round?

It's pretty much year-round.

Yeah, I mean, in the the darkest winter months, there's a little lull, but other than that, we're always doing something with the land.

Go ahead.

Councilor Gonzalez.

Hi, thank you so much for presenting.

Um I'm looking at the uh budget narrative uh section and um on contract labor, supplies, capital.

Um I feel like I'm seeing a bit of overlap in the description of what is covered in each section.

Yeah.

Um can you talk to me a little bit more about why you categorize things in that way?

I believe it's just because due to the amount of in kind that we are uh putting up.

So there's 30, about 32% of in kind.

So there's just a lot of overlap.

The contractor is donating some uh equipment, and um Charlene is puts in countless hours essentially towards the organization of the project.

Okay.

I hope that answers your question.

Uh a little bit.

I I'm looking at the the non-inkind.

There's three specific sections, uh, contract labor, materials, materials and supply, and then capital each have their own breakdown.

Right.

And I'm trying to understand some of them feel like there's an overlap as to what we're paying for or what you're requesting for.

I just I want to understand it a little bit more.

Yeah, we did reach out to the contractor about that and um tried to sort of have them help us understand how they understand capital.

Um but basically um I think we just sort of did the best we could to fill in the spreadsheet the way it was worked out.

Um, but it does make sense, it just might need some comprehensive uh you know looking over.

But essentially it's because we're working so closely with the contractor uh that they are um providing their own in-kind as well as our in-kind as well as donated materials.

So I I've I we'd have to kind of dig into the numbers there, but yeah, you're good.

Thank you.

It was the uh the description in the section that had me asking more questions, but it makes sense.

Yeah, it was a tough way to put it into the spreadsheet.

Thank you though.

That's fine.

I'm good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up is St.

Vincent DePaul.

Good evening.

My name is Nina Kaufman, and this is David Wirtz.

Um, we're members of the Society of St.

Vincent Paul or SBDP.

We are a worldwide Catholic lay organization with local councils and conferences.

The city or the Forest Grove Conference started in 1985.

Um our primary focus is making sure there's food in our family in our pantry to give people in the community who can benefit from receiving assistance.

Our organization is run by volunteers.

During the past fiscal year, we kept 40 volunteers busy for over 3,500 hours.

Around 2018, we started providing utility assistance to force growth families who were at risk of having their water and electricity shut off.

In most instances, the reason was because people had an unexpected job loss, unexpected medical emergency, or an unexpected death.

In 2025, the annual number of families assisted increased from 15 families to 36 families, it included 99.

The cost increase was from increase from 6,000 to $15,600.

And based on the trend of the last six months, we expect this need to continue to increase.

If we are fortunate enough to receive the enhancement, the community enhancement grant, we will use the funds to continue providing utility assistance to low-income families in Force Growth.

When clients request utility support, uh we work with the city and they help us determine what the need is.

On an average, 40% comes from individuals in our local community, and the remaining mix comes from the community groups and grants.

However, in 2026, recognizing that some large individual donations may not recur, our budget has decreased by 25,000.

In 2025, our expenses totaled 87,000.

56% went for food, 23% for rent, and 18% for utilities.

Wrapping it up, SBDP has been serving the Forest Grove community for 40 years.

Our volunteers, including some clients, all bring different gifts to our outreach program, including picking up food, answering phones, and organizing food pickup, sorting and stocking shelves, packing boxes, and listening to clients when they come to pick up food or call for utility support.

We do share in the city's values of helping people feel secure and supported where health is nurtured and where neighbors truly know and care for each other.

You know, tonight you have so many wonderful organizations here, and we just appreciate the opportunity to present our application to you.

Thank you.

Any questions?

I don't think oh sorry.

I'll ask a question.

Thank you so much for uh coming to present today.

Um and looking at your budget, um, is it fair to assume that uh every dollar awarded to you will go directly to community assistance or is there any funding that goes to pay for lights or operations of the facilities?

Um you last year I think our operation we have to pay for our own telephone.

Um we pay for office supplies and stuff.

Is that what you're asking?

Yeah, for our clients.

Oh, from the grant.

Yeah, no, yeah, sorry.

In the budget you submitted.

Um I don't see like um a delineation of where the money would go.

So I was wondering if it's like it would be to continue our utilities.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

So it's all going directly to assistance programs.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Okay.

Friends of historic forest growth.

Good evening.

My name is Evelyn Orr, and I'm a member of the Friends of Historic Forest Grove.

And uh thank you for the opportunity to share about a project that's close to my heart.

Trails Tales, people of our past, a new program of Friends of Historic Forest Grove.

What is it?

It's Trails Tales is a mobile educational and family centered program that blends heritage, imagination, and sustainability through walking trails at the historic AT Smith House, parks, downtown spaces, and community sites, family will encounter enchanted miniature displays, tiny pioneer cabins, atfalate inspired shelters, woodland habitats, and story scenes that celebrate local history and nature.

And you'll see some of that over here.

We had our work first workshops, and you'll even see a longhouse that you've heard about.

Each trail invites visitors to explore, learn and play with interpretive signs and QR codes linking to stories and local heritage.

It's part art, part history, part play, and community-driven.

At a time when schools and nonprofits are losing enrichment funding, especially for arts and creative play.

Trails Tales fills that gap.

We bring free or low-cost programming to schools, libraries, and parks and recreation, ensuring that every child and family has access to wonder creativity and heritage learning.

It's not just about looking at history, it's about touching it, building it, and seeing it, seeing yourself in it.

So how does this benefit the community?

One, education and equity, curriculum-aligned programs offered in schools and public spaces.

Two, creative participation, workshops use recycled and natural materials and engaging all ages.

Three, heritage and identity themes highlight pioneer stories and atfalati history to celebrate our roots.

And four, community pride.

Displays and competitions can be hosted at historic A.T.

Smith House, Downtown Forest Grove, Pacific University, Grand Lodge, City Parks, all kinds of different venues.

Tourism and economy, these events drive visitors to Forest Grove, supporting small businesses and adding cultural vibrancy.

Year-round engagement, winter workshops lead into the spring trail launches and creating ongoing momentum.

And how does it align with Metro CEP and Forest Grove's 2040 vision?

Revitalize downtown and public spaces with vibrant rotating displays, support small businesses and local artisans through partnerships, strengthen education and workforce development with youth leadership and opportunities, promote equity and sustainability through creative reuse and access for all, and build a lasting cultural tradition that blends history with imagination.

We are requesting this grant for coordination and instructors, durable mobile displays, workshop supplies and materials, transportation, outreach and insurance.

Every dollar ties directly to community benefit.

Beyond the grant, Trails Tales will sustain itself through booth rentals, merchandise, plants, mini gardens, and DIY kits sold at the events, creating a self-supporting growing program for years to come.

Trails Tales is more than a minute than miniature gardens.

It's about protecting youth opportunities, strengthening cultural identity, and bringing people together through shared creativity.

It directly advances Forest Grove's 2040 vision and meets Metro's enhancements goals by turning imagination into a community tradition.

Thank you for your consideration.

This opportunity to bring Trails Tales to life where heritage and wonder grow side by side.

Great.

Thank you, Evelyn.

Any questions?

I don't see any.

Thank you.

Well, I have one question I'll ask.

Have you reached out to schools to see like what is there a plan for I have reached out to the school that's out.

I forgot the new do the new high school name.

The Tuality.

I've reached out to them and I've talked to the director there and a teacher there, and they're very excited about that because you know it's not just what the vision is that it's not just for a year.

It's it's it will be ongoing and it wouldn't just be pioneers and and people of our past.

I'm looking at this as you know, uh different cultures, um, fairy gardens, uh, nature, um, you know, the kind of thing that excites kids and that kids can get involved in and learn through play and learn through craft.

Great.

Thank you.

They were excited about it.

So then they asked, you know, how we can get their teachers involved.

Great.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Adventures without limits.

Evelyn, are those your glasses?

Hi.

Good evening.

My name is Annika Morkowski, and I'm a program coordinator with Adventures Without Limits.

When I first moved to Forest Grove as a student at Pacific University, I was delighted with how many beautiful natural spaces were close by.

I was lucky to complete a minor in outdoor recreation at Pacific.

I took classes where I got to kayak and backpack and meet other students who enjoyed those activities as well.

Through these classes, I was introduced to Adventures Without Limits and became an intern with them back in 2017.

And that was my first outdoor job.

For those who don't know, Adventures Out Limits is a local Forest Grove nonprofit whose mission is to reduce barriers to outdoor recreation for all.

We provide day and multi-day programming, rafting, kayaking, snowshoes, snowshoeing, camping to folks regardless of ability levels, socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, or age.

We offer community trips that anyone can sign up for, and we develop partnerships with organizations to run programs for their members as well.

Adventure Without Limits has 30 years of experience providing inclusive outdoor adventures to Oregonians.

Many people face barriers to enjoying outdoor spaces, even ones close to home.

Barriers include transportation, access to gear, appropriate clothing for the environment, and knowledge about where to go.

For folks with disabilities, there are even more barriers.

Is there accessible trails?

What are the bathrooms like?

Is there ADA parking?

And lots more.

These barriers aren't just reducing access to outdoor spaces, it reduces access to the positive impacts one gains when spending time outside.

Spending time outside has positive impacts on physical and mental health.

Spending time outside with your community increases feelings of connection and belonging.

With this project, Adventure Without Limits wants to continue breaking down barriers to accessing outdoor spaces for residents of Forest Grove.

So all positive impacts of outdoor activities can be experienced by more residents.

Our project school is to expand the current offerings of the Forest Grove Parks and Recreation Activity Guide.

With this grant, we can buy fifty can provide 15 programs throughout 2026, which adds activity opportunities for 180 more forest grove residents.

These activities may include birding hikes, fall foliage kayaking, summer stargazing, winter wonderland snowshoeing.

Our programs would be accessible and inclusive to provide outdoor recreation and access to natural spaces to as many folks as possible.

AWL will provide transportation gear and trained guides to facilitate these activities.

What is unique about partnering with Adventure Without Limits for the activity guide?

It's the accessibility lens.

Many municipalities offer adaptive activities separately from their general activities.

In Forest Grove, they could be one and the same.

These programs would be open to more residents, be folks with disabilities, families, individuals.

And we continue to show how much Forest Grove values inclusivity and accessibility.

These values have always been one of my favorite parts of Forest Grove from the accessible playground at Anna and Abbey's Yard to many organizations located in Forest Grove that support folks with disabilities.

The companion program in CBAP, for example.

This program would be another way to provide inclusive opportunities for all fourth grove residents.

With your support support, Adventure Without Limits, we use their adaptive and accessible recreation background to increase the Forest Grove Parks and Recreation Activities Guide.

Expanding the Forest Groves activity guide will help boost local activity options for residents, create space for community building, and help residents connect with nature.

With this grant, we can get more Forest Grove residents outdoors this next year.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

I have are there any questions?

Okay, I have one question and then we'll go to co-chair.

How um I understand Adventures Without Limits, it's a great program.

I'm just wondering with this money, how would you would you hold some spaces for people of differing abilities, or like how do we make sure it's like a unified activity?

That's a great question.

Um, one of our um thoughts is currently to have some programming that's specifically for certain populations, so having ones that are tailored towards youth and families or ones that are tailored towards seniors, um, or even like ones specifically for Spanish speakers to try to get more diverse populations out in these programs is one of those ways that that can you did Yeah, I did have a quick question.

Thank you.

Um so I read in your uh proposal you mentioned that um programming would be low cost.

So I'm assuming there might be a small fee or something like that that people pay to participate.

Um, what is the fee?

Um, and then also um kind of how does that income play into your project budget and how you use it to make the programming possible.

So the registration fee would vary depending on the trip type, just because different trips are gonna cost different, like a kayaking trip versus a hiking trip or just different costs.

Um we don't have a specific amount that we would charge.

We'd want to like collaborate with the parks and rec department to see what feels good on both sides to make sure that it isn't a barrier.

Um, I also know that the parks and rec department has the fund for all for their programs, which can help reduce that barrier, even if it's a small cost, like you register for a hike and it's $10, and that's a cost barrier for someone.

Hopefully, that fund for all fund can also be another way to make sure this is as accessible as possible.

I think you had two parts of that question.

Did I answer?

Yeah, that was perfect.

Thank you so much.

Okay.

Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you all.

Next up, Centro Cultural.

Good evening.

Good afternoon.

Mayor Wenzel, members of the council, members of the committee.

My name is Mariana Enriquez.

I serve as the director of development for Central Cuad of Washington County.

And it is an honor to be here today to share a little bit about the Forest Grove Senior Community Center and our hopes for the impact of the community enhancement program grant.

For more than 50 years, Centro has been a trusted anchor of community partnerships in Forest Grove and Cornelius and Hillsboro.

The partnership between Centro and the City of Forest Grove at the Forest Grove Senior Community Center builds on this legacy of trust and commitment to collective prosperity through service to the elders in our community.

The Forest Grove Senior Community Center exemplifies the power of collaboration that ensures access, dignity, and connection for our seniors.

At the Forest Grove Senior Community Center, community members benefit from food access services, health services, community services, resources, workshops, and various recreation opportunities in a shared community space that they can call their own.

These funds will be partially implemented for facilities and operations to help ensure that the doors can stay open and seniors in our community can continue to access the services that we provide.

This means everything from keeping the lights and the heats on to keeping the facility staffed and ensuring the operations can continue.

These funds will also support a green island rehabilitation that will include drought-resistant native and pollinator plants because the bees and the hummingbirds are our neighbors too.

And together, these investments will help make the Forest Grove Senior Community Center a vibrant, inclusive, and environmentally responsible hub for community life.

300 seniors benefit from the Forest Grove Senior Community Center today.

Our community is richly diverse.

Many are Latino, many are bilingual, many live on fixed income and face challenges with more people, mobility and food access and housing.

Through partnerships with organizations like ride connection and meals on wheels, and through our own bilingual staff, we ensure that every person who walks through our doors feels seen, feels welcomed, feels supported.

Our commitment to the Forest Grove Senior Community Center is long term.

With your support and the support of others, we hope that the Forest Grove Senior Community Center will remain a place of life, of laughter, of connection for many, many years to come.

On behalf of Central Cultural, I would like to thank each and every one of you for considering this proposal.

Together, we can keep the center thriving inside and out and hope that every senior, every family, every visitor feels that the Forest Grove Senior Community Center was made for them.

I will yield the rest of my time.

Thank you.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Okay, go ahead, Council.

How many seniors are you currently serving?

Currently we serve about 300 seniors.

You're the Forest Grove Senior Community Center, but we hope to expand those numbers with more outreach and being able to sustain the services we provide and hopefully scale them and provide additional services in the future.

Thank you.

Okay.

I think I think we're good.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Just as a quick note to the council, it looks like the printer stapled the next two applications together, so you may need to split those up.

Okay.

Thank you, Mariah.

Next up, we have Westuality Habitat for Humanity.

Good evening.

It's good to be here.

Hi.

I'm Steve Mann.

I'm the uh relationship manager at West Quality Habitat for Humanity.

And you may know us more for our building and repairing services in the city.

But as we looked at this particular grant, uh it seemed like we we wanted to look for a particular population within our city.

And as we thought about who was nearest to us, we realized not only is our Forest Grove Restore really in the center of uh a number of densely populated centers in the city.

Um of those, of course, being the Rose Grove Mobile Park.

And as uh we as an organization have been working more with manufactured homes.

Um we realized after just a little bit of research that that mobile home park being a city within a city has a particular vulnerability to some disasters that may happen.

Um so disaster preparation, not really a sexy project.

Um, and I'm not an alarmist really by any sense, but then again, my home is actually fastened to a foundation, as I believe probably all of you are here.

Uh, but there are again, those approximately a thousand residents in in Rosegrove Mobile Park.

Um they don't even have the option of anchoring their home to a foundation because it's just not there, it's not available, it's not required.

And this is by no means uh any attempt to you know um dig up any dirt on on the management of that place at all, but it's it's a nearby neighbor to us, and we thought this is a population that we can um we can have an effect on.

Again, um, in an earthquake, which everybody agrees eventually is going to be here.

It's going to happen sometime.

Um so we in our viewpoint, the rove the Rose Grove Park is is a probably one of the most vulnerable populations in our city for dealing with what would happen uh in the event of an earthquake.

So I don't want to repeat too many of the things you already see before you that are already in the application, but um as you may also well know the uh the emergency operation plan is currently being rewritten and worked on.

Um, and so we would like to work closely with other other city agencies and the fire department particular particularly in what they see would be uh the most valuable use of resources that perhaps could be uh stored stockpiled right there in this highly densely packed area of our city.

Of course, they have five parts of their emergency operation plan, prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.

So the mitigation we would we would like to um use some of these CEP funds for some bilingual education at the Rose Grove Mobile Home Park, uh teaching residents how to assess potential hazards in their own homes and also how to assembly assemble their own disaster kit supplies, and then the response portion of the emergency plan.

Um activities necessary to save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic human needs after an incident has occurred.

So that's where we would partner with the fire department and um really lean upon their areas of expertise and have a storage supply of necessary um necessary disaster supplies are right there, right next door.

We've got a large lot behind the store.

There's no overhead power lines, there's no trees that can fall upon it.

And so we thought this would be an excellent way to fulfill that one part of the uh the 2040 vision plan on safety.

Um says we aspire to be a community where everyone feels secure, supported, and prepared, where public safety is a shared priority, health is nurtured, and we stand resilient in the face of emergencies, united in our care from one another.

And we think this project would fulfill that.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I have a couple questions.

Then I'll go okay.

Um, so my first question is is there some like do you have a neighbor, like a friend that lives in Rose Grove or the property manager that's willing to work with you with education in their um community?

They have like a community room, community thing with we do have a good relationship with the park since we we do a lot of repairs, um, and they're right next door to us.

So I I did go over and talk to the management about this proposal, and uh they they were willing to work with us and seemed excited to have something like this nearby.

I have one quick another question.

So then in the budget says disaster response supplies as recommended by Force Grow Fire.

Would you within that outreach and education be like giving some supplies to residents of Rose Grove?

We think that the education is how we would work with that.

Um trying to distribute, you know, um even basic emergency supply kits to what 332 spaces might take a lot of of the funds.

And so we would we would be educating what what are some first steps, some basic steps for each resident to be able to start putting together their own.

Okay, sorry.

Thank you.

Are we out of time?

We're out of time.

Okay, right.

Thank you.

And then next up is American Legion Washington Post 2.

Hello, gentlemen.

Good evening, committee members.

As most of you know, I'm Dale Thaler, and I'm the commander of the American Legion Post 2 here in Forest Grove.

Post two is one of consortium of local nonprofits, organizations, and individuals who meet regularly under the umbrella of the Forest Grove Veterans Action Network.

The primary goals of the Veterans Action Network are twofold.

Our primary is to establish a proper location for veterans, their troubled family members, and any curious, concerned, or grateful residents to visit, meet, gather, or attend a tranquil, serene, respectful yet educational homage to the sacrifice and struggle of those who chose service to our nation through the armed forces.

Where to go to access and obtain those entitlements.

The successful creation of the first gives us a tremendous opportunity to fulfill the second.

This does not fulfill our vision of a proper salute or tribute to the ramifications veterans and their family members encounter during their time in service and the aftermath that follows our military life.

Over 300,000 have died from the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam.

More than 60,000 are affected from the toxicity of burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And our veteran suicide rate would empty an average organ classroom in less than a day and a half.

There are many veteran memorials listed for the state of Oregon.

We do not profess to add another slab of granite of local men and women who lost their lives in this country or that war.

Our vision is not a memorial, but a tribute to those who can still walk and breathe following their service to our nation.

Can still feel the agony of wounds incurred, both physical and mental, and continue to suffer the thoughts, visions, and hauntings of what their country asks them to endure, many of which are unfathomable to the common citizen.

It will show that their sacrifice with this result in torment and anguish has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated.

It will have displays and QR codes and inform and educate both those in need and the curious seeking information.

What that tribute will look like would look like, or where it will be, I'm not sure.

Much of that depends on long-term city parks planning, land use, environmental concerns, and of course funding.

That's why we're here tonight.

If selected for this grant, the bulk of funds will go toward acquiring a basic concept for a city of Forest Grove Veterans Tribute Park.

The primary location being the eastern triangular portion of Lincoln Park that runs along Sunset Drive.

There are already street cutouts for a parking area.

During a part of the year, the main area of Lincoln Park with its amenities is not accessible by foot from this area due to standing water.

Our group is prepared to work with the city to plan, develop and construct a year-round foot access that would connect all of Lincoln Park.

Minor front funding for this grant is expected to go toward this endeavor, but most of the manpower and material acquisitions are to be through donation and sweat equity.

Our dream of a Veterans Tribute Park is a long-term project that will require far more funding than this grant.

But we must begin somewhere.

This is the first step that will allow us to go forward with a solid concept we can use to apply for federal and state funding, corporate donations, and a concrete plan forward.

As I look at the 15 other applicants for these grants, I do not envy the task before you.

Whatever your decision is tonight, the veteran community is here to support the greater community, however, we can.

Thank you, Dale.

Questions?

Councilor Schimmel, and then I have one.

Could you describe your conversations and support from our parks and director regarding their location?

Um, we have met with um with uh your county your parks director, and um we are aware that they are beginning a major um plan for the future.

Um, hopefully, uh, if we can get a concept going, then they will be able to better incorporate that into their master plan.

And Anne did tell us she has to speak about I got I'm gonna try to respect time, but to follow up, Counselor Schimmel's question is your project, is this grant in this project contingent or on the location?

Like if does it have to be that location in order for this project to be successful?

Because I feel I'm I mean, I'm just gonna be really honest.

Like, we don't know we can say that.

Right?

And so I'm I'm wondering if your conception plan that you need money to pay for can be used at a different location.

That location is is an ideal location, however, it is not our only option.

Great.

Thank you very much.

We need to have a design.

Right.

Okay.

Thank you, gentlemen.

Thank you.

Meals on wheels.

Good evening.

Thank you for coming.

Thank you.

Thank you for having me.

Hello.

My name is B.

Davis, pronouncation her.

I am the grants manager.

We're the grants manager at Mills on Wheels people.

Um, speak slow, so the mission of Meals on Wheels is to enrich the lives of seniors and assist them in maintaining independence by providing nutritious food, human connection, and social support.

We also use our expertise and capacity to serve other nutritionally at risk populations.

We've been serving Portland Metro since 1970.

In addition to the traditional home meal delivery, congregated dining and social programs, which people are typically aware of when they think of Meals on Wheels people.

We do so much more.

Um we have a Meals for Kids program that's been in existence for more than 10 years.

Um with that, we provide culturally responsive food boxes and raw foods to families with children, primarily BIPOC families in Portland.

And then we also have a medically tailored program medically tailored meals program that we provide for patients of all ages who have been released from the hospital.

And then all of the meals that we provide to all of our participants are also medically tailored.

Through the Forest Grove Senior and Community Center, we serve older adults and caregivers.

Many of the seniors we serve are low-income, often homebound as well if they do not come to congregate.

Our mission is about more than food.

We offer wellness activities, social enrichment, empowerment, empowering participants to stay active, connected, and engaging.

Social isolization is the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

So it is a very important thing that to address, and that is why it's so intertwined into our mission.

The volunteers that we uh have, they play a vital role in daily operations as well as addressing those social isolation pieces, such as delivering their meals.

Um, oftentimes, if you sub in on a route, people are like, where's so-and-so?

Why are they okay?

What are they doing?

You don't know, and I just say they're in Disneyland.

That's probably the answer.

I have no idea.

Um, but the volunteers along with our partners are vital in the delivery of meals, group act leading group activities.

Many of our volunteers um visit all the centers around the Portland Metro to play music, do um will do lead dance classes, line dancing has been a big thing as of late.

Um, and then they also help uh with the technology classes as well, helping people stay digitally connected as well because phones can be scary if you don't know what you're doing.

So in Forest Grove specifically, um, about 62% of our participants are female, which is much higher than the national average and the average of our organization.

Um this demographic, it's it's noteworthy as though um women often did historically earn less than men, so this is a intend to live longer, um, so they often require extended um support.

19% of our congregate diners, so folks that go into the center to have to share a meal identify as BIPOC.

Um, and this just once again highlights the need for the service and addressing those systematic inequalities that we that we try to address.

Um, our programs and our services are available to all older adults who are 60 years or older, and we have yet to institute a wait list for anyone seeking our support.

We do not ask for money to enroll if participant can, if participants can and would like to participate uh to contribute as the grants person, I must say, we will gladly accept your contribution, but it is not a requirement.

Um with this funding, we'll be able to continue to provide much needed and expected nutritional and social support to Forest Grove residents.

Oh, that was pretty solid.

Thank you.

Nicely done.

Any questions?

So it's a there's a um if I'm following there's the nutritional services and then the social.

So, how many people participate in both?

Do most people like do both?

Yes, it's because if you're doing home delivery, you're gonna have a volunteer.

We don't just like leave the meal at the door doorstep, we make sure someone's home, someone is able to come and get it.

So that's a little check-in, not official, but it is a bit of a check-in.

And then congregate dining, we have the on-site enrichment activities.

We there's always something going on, and so they basically go hand in hand.

Cool.

Thank you.

Yeah, counselor.

Is there a risk of an operation shortfall this coming year?

Particularly, namely in Forest Grove.

No, um, as of now, we we are very stable.

We don't expect to close any more centers.

We have, even though we have um closed some centers, we are still serving those residents.

In Forest Grove, that's not an issue, but if you you know it's close enough that you may know about uh surrounding areas, um we are still serving the same number of folks.

Just in a different, just different manner.

Real quick, uh, thank you.

Uh where are the meals prepared?

I didn't see that in the application.

Um at Central Kitchen, so that's our site in Southwest Portland, and then they are delivered to um to different centers and then distributed that way.

Thank you.

Great, thank you so much.

Next up, the Forest Grove Elks Lodge.

Thank you.

Hello.

Alice officially passed the baton to you, ladies.

Okay, hello, I am Heather, and this is Danielle.

We are also here with some of our volunteers and supporters.

We are now the face of Forest Grove backpack program as we use this year for a smooth transition from the Oaks Lodge running it to our own nonprofit.

This program was started by Alice in 2014.

She ran it through the end of last school year.

She has done an amazing job, but it is time for her to focus on the health of her family and herself.

She has left some large shoes to fill.

What is the Forest Grove backpack program?

And what do we do?

We assemble backpacks filled with food and snacks to students who suffer from food insecurities on the weekends.

Our volunteers put in numerous hours to keep this program running.

During a normal school week on Monday and Tuesday, we gather donations, do grocery shopping and stock our shelves, and then pack up or pick up empty bags from schools.

On Wednesdays, we fill backpacks and deliver them to each school so the counselors can distribute them before the end of the week.

Our school district is fortunate to provide free breakfast and lunch during the school week to all students, regardless of their family's income.

Now, as wonderful as that sounds, we have many students who may not have enough food to get through the weekend and so and in some cases may not have any food at all.

That is where our program steps in and provides a backpack each week with nutritional food items to create balanced meals and snacks over the weekend when they are most vulnerable.

No child should go to bed hungry or worry where their next meal will come from.

Last school year, this program provided 4,694 weekend food bags.

Those bags reached as many as 89 students.

189, thank you.

12 of them were McKinney Vento or houseless, and 54 students identified as Hispanics.

154.

We ended last school year providing 158 backpacks every week.

Our desire is to help all of the children within our school district who need it.

However, this year's beginning budget has fallen short of allowing that.

Due to the limited budget, we have had to temporarily limit our program to only 100 students, including students with specific nutritional requirements.

Our goal is to not turn any students away who may need help.

We have spoken to school counselors who have already had to turn children away because we just don't have the means to provide for them.

This was a very difficult decision that we've had to make.

Last year, we had a community member suggest that we make an Amazon wish list for items that we regularly use.

We've received so much support from our community.

This this school year alone, we have received 2,018.72 cents worth of items from that wish list.

We have also received 205 through the VIN through Venmo and numerous other food donations, all from everyday community members.

We also have received or recently received a generous food donation from Gigi's house.

Last year we received donations from local churches and businesses, including TTM Technologies.

We intend to continue working with those who have donated in the past, but also intend to create relationships with more businesses and supporters.

We are in the process of filing for our own 501c3, and we believe that so many new doors will open to help this program once this is completed.

As we stated before, we've had to temporarily limit our help to 100 students.

The cost per month for 100 students on a normal nutritional diet is approximately $3,700.

If our funding budget expanded, we would be able to help.

We would be able to open registration to help more students in need.

We are hopeful to gain the support of the city council in approving our grant application.

It will make a difference in so many local children's lives.

Thank you.

Any questions?

Councilor Schimmel.

Just an acknowledgement.

Thank you both for standing in on this program.

And I notice Alice is in the room, and I just want to recognize her for standing up this program and serving so many vulnerable children for so many years.

Thank you.

Thank you, Counselor Schimmel.

Yes.

Any other questions?

Thank you, ladies.

Good job, Heather.

Thank you.

Okay.

City Club of Forest Grove.

Good evening, Mayors and Council.

Um, I'm gonna talk to you about the City Club of Forest Grove, which has just started their DBA of Downtown Association of Forest Grove.

So forgive me if I pop back and forth, but if I say association, this is what I'm talking about.

Um, the downtown association is the contracted main street program provider for the um city of Forest Grove.

And one of the things that we hear often are that there's not a lot to do downtown.

Different shops.

We have beautiful buildings.

I think that the community is looking more for how can we invest as a whole?

And that includes getting our community to come out to our downtown area.

The Main Street program, which is the program we administer, is a partnership program and does not compete with the city, although there's some similarities on what each organization does.

This program is an enhancement to the organizations already within our city.

For instance, Adelante Mujeta's Pacific, the city, everybody has their specialty.

And you get all of those groups together and they work on this program as the infrastructure for downtown revitalization.

Does this program work?

I know that there's been people that have asked that question.

Many of them have never heard of the Main Street program.

So just to give you a little bit of information on what we have been researching, and a lot of it I found out just last week I was at a conference.

But for instance, grants pass turn vacant buildings into very successful wine bars and restaurants.

McMinnville has a Main Street program they've had for a while, and the revitalization downtown is very impressive.

Dallas gained national recognition by putting their historic district on the map and the revitalization awards and their recognition for different cities.

This brings them that national recognition so people can see this city's doing great.

And so it really does help those tourists come into your city.

Within within Oregon, the Main Street programs have generated more than 256 million in private investments, launched over 755 new businesses, and their average return of investment is $18 for every one dollar invested.

Will it work in Force Grove?

Just a explanation of a couple of the wins or a little handful of the wins.

Forest Grove had the highest participation seen during their Main Street assessment, which happens for every Main Street program that begins.

Our Oregon Main Street group praised our ability as an organization to engage action from so many diverse people in our community.

The number of people we had, they said exceeded the other cities and the inclusion of their community members to really give their their input of what they're looking down for in the downtown.

We also do feasibility studies, such as our Oktoberfest.

We changed how we coordinated the event to see if it helped out the downtown shops during events to have everything moving down the center.

I don't know if you guys were there last year.

We take pride in continuing to grow our inclusivity during our events.

We make sure to do particularly strong outreach to underserved by having people that are bilingual working at our merchant booths.

People who have loss of sight, people have uh developmentally disabled.

We found a place for them during our events so that they can feel like they belong because they do belong.

We have partnerships including Pacific University, GAN Printing, and McMenemans, and businesses currently reach out to us to discuss placemaking events and searches for storefronts.

Making this really quick to the end here.

One of the big wins that we had recently was to negotiate a discount for all of our businesses in the downtown area, and that is an actually an uh overachievement of uh Main Street program that's only a year, year and a half in, is to be able to negotiate prices for an entire downtown district and all of their organizations.

Do you have any questions?

Sorry that went over.

Any questions?

Can you clarify the discount?

What was that for specifically?

Sure.

Um the the discount that we just received was 25% off of um services from uh Oregon Sanitary.

Can't remember what the company's name was.

It's fairly new.

It's basically a port a potty company that does various sanitation.

So that's the first one.

We're working on a couple others though, including internet services.

Any other questions?

Okay, thank you.

Okay, I want to do a check with the committee right now.

We have 17 minutes until this meeting's supposed to end.

And I'm wondering.

You know, I want to I'm just gonna be blunt and throw it out there.

I'm wondering if we can engage in a 15 minute conversation, uh discussing some things and then maybe bring back our top each committee member brings back our top six to or you know, to our work session.

We have a half an hour follow-up CEP meeting where we award the four.

I personally I don't want to feel a rush to award four grants tonight in 15 minutes, is what I'm getting to.

So I'm wondering if we can discuss, ask questions, and then kind of process and come back to a follow-up CEP meeting.

That would take about a half an hour.

How does the committee feel about that?

Are you okay with that?

You're really busy.

I would be open to it.

Yeah.

Okay.

Yeah, happy to support if everyone else feels the time is helpful.

Yeah, we can always do it virtual too, if that's easier.

Yeah, great.

Of course.

Okay, so let's discuss any questions, comments.

Go ahead.

Uh yeah, but before we get started on that, I apologize so much for being late.

I want to make sure I say hi, introduce myself to everyone's Juan Carlos, mere Metro Counselor.

Very proud to have the opportunity to co-chair this committee uh with the mayor and with the uh with the city council.

Um I apologize for missing the July 14th meeting as well, which is where we designed the the CP criteria and all of those things.

Um I was on paternity leave as I just became a dad, so that's pretty awesome.

Um, and I also want to take some time to just uh declare uh potential conflict of interest as well.

Transparency is a core value for me as an elected official, as I know uh uh it is for everyone on this council.

Um one of the applicants is uh my employer um outside of Metro, and that's Centro Cultural.

And I want to share that uh I did not work on this grant.

Um I do not work in the division in the division that would receive this grant if awarded and receive no financial gain uh whatsoever from this uh proposal.

So want to be very transparent about that and um back to you, Mayor.

Thank you.

Okay, great.

Um thank you.

And I also want to give a shout out to Councilor Gonzalez, he's also a forest group high school graduate, so he's he's local homegrown um serving our region.

So thank you.

Of course.

Uh I think if there are any questions, comments from the committee.

I guess I would start having Councilor Marshall, do you have a question or comment?

No, sorry.

Oh, okay.

Um, I'm just wondering, I thought counselor, there's a few applicants that I don't I mean, I don't know.

Like, so the swim, the force growth swim club.

I thought Councillor Schumel brought up a good question about is that a maintenance item and should that be funded from the city?

I mean, you didn't say this, but can I just summarize it?

Well, before you do.

Yeah, you should summarize it.

You mean the the one thing I'm really cautious about suggesting that is when I used to be out in the crowd listening to the debate and and question and sometimes disqualifying an applicant, and that's in no way I'm a super fan of the swim club.

Those lanes need to be replaced.

And I want to much frankly, much rather the city replace them or take responsibility so that it's not the obligation of the club.

And and they're also requesting 4800.

Yeah, I mean it's not.

Yeah, it's 4800, not 20,000.

Yeah.

And we we have four 20,000 grants.

Okay.

So counselor Falkner.

I just I realize I didn't, I meant to disclose a potential conflict earlier.

My husband coaches football at Pacific University.

Um, but similar to others, um, he receives no benefit.

We receive no benefit.

He obviously does not have any affiliation with the uh the student uh club who's organizing the longhouse.

Yeah, uh, do we want to unpack the swim club thing any more than no uh what do you mean?

I will not unpack, but like in the past, and I don't want to like misspeak or misrepresent, but you know, there's a point.

I'm like showing my age of being on this council that you know CEP funds were like using for parks like the signs at parks, right?

And we decided that that was actually a cost that this like that's something the city should be that's a maintenance or operational cost, and so therefore the city should be paying for it, and it should not be part of the budget.

So I'm just curious of some clarity on the lanes.

Like, I mean, I'm gonna be completely transparent.

I am not a swimmer.

I just went and watched my first water polo match, and I was like, holy moly, these people are crazy athletes.

But needless to say, like I don't know what's part of like if that's an accessory to play a certain sport that would only be there because we had a swim club or a swim team, or if that is part of what every pool aquatic center has.

You see what I'm saying?

I don't know that.

Yeah, and I wish Director Lane was here to answer the question.

Um I the only thing I think I would add is that if the city has previously funded, whether it's an asset or a program or an operation, then it's not eligible for CEP funds.

If the city has not previously funded it, then it is eligible for CEP funds.

I don't know in this particular case what the city has or has not funded.

Um I recall according to the presenter, the city has bought two.

The club is bought too, and I think Pacific University is bought too.

So it seems like it's been a shared resource.

Um, but I would have to check with Director Lane about specifically who was buying the lanes and and who is not.

Okay, maybe we'll have more clarity at the next meeting.

Thanks, Jesse.

Um, I was just sharing with the mayor.

I think that in the interest of time, um, and recognizing that there are so many incredible applicants.

You know, we all did have our scorecard that we were filling out as we did this.

Um we have uh uh eighty thousand dollars uh to allocate, and I think that between now and the next work sessions that's scheduled is perhaps what we can do uh is go by each member of the committee and read out our our top six ranked um applications, and then we kind of use that as a basis to winnow down the conversation uh for the future.

So everyone has an opportunity to vocalize their ranking sheet.

Okay.

Would that would folks be comfortable with doing that?

Sure.

I'm good with that.

Like, should we should we start down the line and work with this one?

Yeah, let's start with Councillor Marshall.

Thanks, Councillor Marshall.

Um I'm gonna go with Family Peace Center, Gigi's House, St.

Vincent DePaul's, Adventures Without Limits, American Legion, and Forest Grove Elves.

Okay.

And mine uh Councilor Martinez, Gigi's House, St.

Vincent DePaul, Friends of Forest Grove, Um, West Tuality, Habitat, American Legion, and the Elks.

Okay, thank you.

Um Pacific University, Family Peace Center, San Vincent de Paul, American Legion, Meals on Wheels, and Floor Scroll Belks.

I have Pacific University, Family Peace Center, Central, West Wality Habitat, American Legion, Four Scrow Belks.

Wait, can you go a little slower?

Sorry.

Pacific University, Family Peace, okay, Central.

I'm wondering if it missed Habitat.

Okay, American Legion Elks.

Got it.

Thank you.

Yeah, if we miss it, thankfully meetings recorded.

So we can always go back.

Yeah, gosh.

Uh thanks again to everyone that uh applied.

Uh my top six, this is very hard, but my top six are uh the Lante Mujeres, uh Family Peace Center, uh St.

Vincent DePaul, Adventures Without Limits, Centro Cultural, and the Forest Grove Elks.

Okay, I agree.

This is like my least favorite thing to do.

Lots, everyone here is called, and I really like how all of you like some of you work together with each other.

I just there's lots of things.

Okay, but um, I'm gonna go with Adelante, Pacific University, Family Peace Center, St.

Vincent Stepal, American Legion, and Elks.

Okay.

Are you ready for me?

Yeah.

My six are Pacific University, Family Peace Center, Food Waste by Nana Cartoon, Centro Cultural, Meals on Wheels, and Forest Grove Elk Sludge.

All right.

This was incredibly difficult.

Um right.

So Adelante Mujeres, uh Pacific University, GG's house, American Legion, Washington Post 2, Forest Grove, Elsk Lodge.

And then I have a tie here, Centro Cultural and both have the same.

What do I do?

Yeah, if I have two.

Sorry, you have to we're all in the same tail.

Right.

We'll send through.

Sorry, Council President.

Okay, and then Council got to send recuse yourself in the process.

I think we've had more money.

Okay, so Mariah, were you keeping track of our no?

I mean, I could count them, but I think the only one I missed um was uh community member Marshall, uh Family Peace Center, Gigi's house, same vengeance that Vincent Default, and what was the one after that?

Adventures Without Limits, American Legion and Elks.

I think I have everyone else's.

Do you think you have what you have everyone else's?

So can you count them really quickly?

For our top if there's like clear top four.

I think Elks is a clear top four, family peace center.

But I have a lot of checks on a lot of writing on my notes on that.

No, I'm no, I'm kind of confused like a little bit of a we might have a decision before if we can.

She can tell you we might have efficient grant making bus though.

I rather one of them making them think that more money.

Wait for you, Dale.

We're done.

Mr.

Feek's not used to sharing his seat with anyone else.

What's up, Councilor Martinez?

My one question I have is I know um priors we've had discussion, and sometimes those places have changed.

Yeah, we'll see if there's like if there's a tie or do you have discussion?

Do you have a discussion right now that you want to so I only my concerns are some of the um applicants, their costs are pretty high.

It's gonna take from the the amount that would really go out to um the community.

Which one's uh that was um let's see.

So the especially the family peace center, 14,000, uh centro, twelve thousand dollars, meals on wheels, twelve thousand dollars, and um contract and salaries, um, adventure without limits, 109, um senior bowling, it's 8,000.

Um, those are people to help teach them, but then I mean maybe some of those others are as long as they aren't administrative.

I would that's my concern.

Yeah, I think yeah, I've gonna I stopped talking because I think for like me, the family peace center, I think a lot of their money goes right back out into the public, and furthermore, it's like brutal for me for the last so many years to be literally the only municipality in Washington County that doesn't give some sort of funding towards the family peace center.

Um, and they're opening a new building soon, they're expanding, and um our residents do get services from family peace center.

So for me, like I have to trust partners, I think a little bit.

So even if someone if like if it goes to help an administrative position and that administrator then helps five people that then help ten people that then help 20 people, I have to trust that they are using it the most efficient way possible.

I think that's just my take on that.

Yeah.

That's also your your third uh criteria measures is your assessment of their ability and stewardship.

Right.

That's my take on I thought the past committee did a great job on the indicator.

So if we're if we're honoring those three, then number three is where we assess their stewardship.

Yeah.

I appreciate that.

So Jesse, Mariah, what's going on over there?

Do you want the top or just the order?

We want the top, is there a clear top four?

May I say something?

Of course.

I do may say something.

You know, my uh concern uh when doing all this is that you know, benefits are being cut.

And uh I just want to make sure that all the organizations that provide meals and that you know essential, essential uh things like uh meals uh for kids and um everyone um to be able to get funds.

You know, there are other things like um recreation and yes, they are essential, but because of the times that we're going through right now, I think that food is one of the priorities that we need to consider.

But the other thing as well is that I think that a veterans memorial, it's long overdoing our town.

You know, I I go to Hillsborough and I see what they have in Cornelius.

And it's not a huge thing, you know, but it was it's a dignified place, and I really think it's long time overdoing this town.

I agree, and I I feel the same way with the law the you know, the longhouse, like with indigenous.

I mean, that's and and you even think too, like when you create spaces um and gathering spaces, like that's part of our 2040 plan, and it also is like the the lasting impacts, right?

Because it's also economic development.

There's you know, it's bringing people together.

It's anyway.

So I think I understand what you're saying too, because we are looking at a time period where federal programs are gonna be cut, uh nonprofits that get provide essential services like food are gonna be hit.

So I that's I mean, that's why there's 10 of us, and we just try to like balance it, right?

I mean, I think that's what I did with my top four is a balance of like trying to fill those things, like look at all I don't know.

Would always be great to have more money for all these great causes for sure.

Okay, what's going on?

So I would just caveat this with these are preliminary results, but after Mariah and I kind of tallied up the totals, I'm gonna list the organization, and then how many um uh essentially votes that they had or mentions that they had.

Forest Grove Elks with nine.

Excuse me.

Yes, with nine.

Um, and then we had two in the next position.

Um which was uh hold on, sorry, I gotta go to my notes.

American Legion with seven and the Family Peace Center with seven.

The next one was also a tie with five.

And that was Pacific University and St.

Vincent DePaul.

Yeah.

Okay.

So really quickly, can we can you give me some guidance?

Like it's 702 right now.

Can we finish up this discussion in the next 10 minutes and then start our meeting late, or is that a no-go?

Yeah, if you if the committee would like to finish it up, you certainly can.

Yeah.

I mean, we might be great.

It would be great to have.

I mean, I'm curious to hear how folks think.

But I heard the top five come from Jesse, not can you please repeat the top five?

Yeah, so uh tied with nine votes, no, one person with nine votes or one group is the Forest Grove Elks Lodge with the backpack program, then Tide, so that would be one grant, and then Tide would be seven, would be Family Peace Center and American Legion Washington Post two, which would be like second and third, and then we only have one more grant, which would be fourth.

And so I was thinking the top five would be fine.

Because then top the tight for five is Pacific University and St.

Vincent De Paul.

So I was thinking like we would just maybe vote between those two.

To get our fourth.

How does the committee feel about that?

We feels pretty rough.

It feels really rough.

Do we want to have discussion before we vote on it?

I think it comes down to go ahead.

Yeah, maybe I mean I think folks should have an opportunity to like maybe make yeah, their lead explain their their regional.

I mean, I'm I'm definitely torn on a lot of these because some of them do.

I mean, the food, especially the food-based programs.

Um, but like you, I was trying to balance, you know, sort of impact in terms of you know, societal impact, what the needs are, but all and also um it's important that this that this money be used to demonstrate as well.

And so I was looking for projects and and things that really demonstrate to the community with a with a direct connection and more threads than just one.

And so that's why you know it's that's why for me, you know, the long house comes out on top because it it addresses the obviously some real historical wrongs that are very long overdue.

Um it also creates, like you said, a community space that that benefits a lot.

It speaks to so many elements of our 2040 plan.

Um I just wanted to, I was looking for a demonstration, you know, projects that have sort of um place, and and that's that's why for me longs.

Anyone else want to share their rationale between go ahead?

I can I mean I feel like I'm talking a lot here, so uh so apologies.

And thank you for listening.

Um I'll offer um uh a bit of a of a of a counter perspective to um Council Falconer here.

I mean they're all great projects again.

This is hard.

I think when I look at the the general scope of the projects, the the Pacific University project is a 2.2 million dollar capital project, which is just a major undertaking.

They have multiple phases, they're entering phase two.

I mean, this $20,000 with relation to a $2.2 million project versus St.

Vincent DePaul, which is resources that will immediately go to families right now that are struggling.

Um again, I feel like I'm splitting hairs here.

I'm looking for a reason to vote for one.

Um, and if I find one, that is where I think I would I would find the reason to say Pacific University has an incredible project.

I think it would be historic for Oregon.

Um but when I look at the full scope and where this grant can make an impact, I that's where I'm seeing the the kind of the uh the proportionality.

Yeah, go ahead, Counselor Martinez.

So I don't have anything to go with that, but my thought is that um because I know I was trying to count and I missed some, and maybe if we all clearly mark ours and turn them in so that they can make sure that they have a an accurate would that help?

Well, do are you feel like you have yours?

Are we in agreement with the top three?

And then are we in agreement with like between to do a data check count or what's accurate like captured?

Yeah, that was my thought.

Are you okay okay?

Because they commented that it was a preliminary count that they had.

Yeah.

So I think it thank you, Counselor Martinez.

So it was preliminary, but I think I'm also hearing from the staff that you feel like you heard everyone's top six accurately.

Would you would you confirm that that's correct?

Yeah, I think if there's any um if there's anything I'm missing, it's any ones that were left that have just one vote.

So I think I I'm confident about our top numbers, and I've just double checked them as well.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think it'd be excellent to walk out of the meeting today with our with a with the organizations knowing they're what they're going home with some funding.

Um that to me feels like a priority.

Um to the mayor's point, we have three clear grants that have received seven or more votes, and so we have a fourth grant slot that is a tie, and we essentially need to vote for a tiebreaker.

Yeah, that's essentially the dynamic.

Yeah, and there is there any other are there any other comments before we vote for that tiebreaker?

Yeah, okay.

I just had a quick question for the same business default.

Um are there any requirements for our people for the people to get assistance?

Like, is there something that will disqualify them from getting that assistance?

Like, I want to go where that money's going to.

Can we ask the applicant question?

Yeah if it's not otherwise stated in the application absolutely okay can do that's mine coming up I just want to know if there's something that disqualifies the family from getting any assistance.

They have to force grove city of we have to pay their utility and water electricity water.

I know can you speak into the microphone so it's on the request sorry we record it for the thank you they have to live in the city and receive city of forest grove utilities it's the only utilities we help with and uh they can't have received utilities from or any assistance from us for electric or water in the past year.

Any immigration status like no discrimination we're whoever calls us thank you okay great thank you so both of these were in my top six right so I think a lot of us were playing the same way and I think that I think what both of you said is true but I think if we're looking for immediate like I don't know but anyways I'm ready probably to vote but Councilor Shimmel.

Well just the uh I'll maybe counter to my Steam Metro Council please yeah this is great discussion yeah well I've been affiliated with the state visit program and and believe whole hardly in ensuring like utility systems and there are there are other other sources that I would like to see how we can help shore up the the opportunity with the Pacific University despite the perceived poultry amount I would liken it to say the the uh the the um I'm sorry the transit rapid transit project where the city is providing a poultry amount to a 300 million dollar project and you needed our our support in order to demonstrate the the value that we're we're all in on this um and I think given that every council meeting we we relay uh a land acknowledgement to me that's not enough that we we have to demonstrate that we're willing to put some some skin in the game so that that's that's the counter that balance great rebuttal it is now welcome welcome to welcomed with that was good thank you anyone else because I'm now confused is there another one that we can is another five that we can do no unfortunately no I wish I wish okay I think we're just gonna have to vote um so we'll just go down the line and say the one we're voting for and then Jesse and Mariah will you keep tally track okay so we'll start on this time sorry council president what are we voting on between what between yeah St.

Vincent DePaul or Pacific University I'll start St.

Vincent DePaul okay Vincent Paul St.

Vincent DePaul Pacific St.

Vincent DePaul so hard I know it's really hard it is really hard can I pass I'm gonna take the chicken way out Pacific can I pass no I'll come back okay I'll say Pacific it's I know the money will go somewhere good okay okay all right same being sent what did you vote for same being sent okay so Vincent for counselor Valenzuela is that everyone no didn't vote or here you do you guys have she's recused herself okay so that was it yeah I recused because this I'm the city club I'm a city club board member so I know it's not required but I do when there's money involved it's five to four St.

Vincent I just counted it right I mean to break it like not try to take your jobs away okay so St.

Vincent is the committee I mean it's a vote St.

Vincent default with yeah five votes so our four grants award winners are Family Peace Center St.

Vincent DePaul, American Legion, Washington Post, 2, and the Forest Grove Elks Lodge with their backpack program.

Okay.

Congratulations.

Thank you to everyone that applied.

Thank you to everyone that applied.

We're gonna take a five minute recess and then reconvene for a city council meeting.