Okay, great.

Can you guys hear me?

Yeah.

That's World Cup World Cup work session.

No worries.

I like it.

I am great.

Okay, I'm going to call it.

Did I?

I'm sorry.

I just had a question for Council Falcon.

But you're starting to meet, so I can talk to you later.

Okay.

I would like to call to order this work session of the Forest Grove State Council.

No public comment will be taken, and the council will take no formal action.

Our first work session for the night is on transient lodging tax, TLT.

And I'm going to turn it over to our assistant city manager, Kim Ezel.

Thank you, Mayor.

Good evening, Mayor and Council.

Tonight we're going to be talking about the transient lodging tax, similar to how we were talking about the building improvement grant program a couple of months ago.

This is part of just annual reviews of what we're putting some of our dedicated revenue sources towards, and if there's any changes that council would like to see in our programs, it's also an opportunity for staff to bring forward recommendations to the council.

Talk a little bit about the purpose for tonight, Vision 2040 connections, some background information on what TLT is, as well as some legislative changes.

We'll talk about our revenue source as well as the program and expenses, so where the money comes in, where the money goes out, some case studies from some uh neighboring jurisdictions, and we'll have time for discussion.

So purpose of tonight's work session, like I decided uh just described, deliver some background information on the TLT update council and legislative uh changes, review both review uh revenue and expense projections and discuss current programming and possible changes.

TLT connects up with a lot of key Vision 2040 plans, um, specifically around the economy, but as well as community connection.

So we talk a lot about strengthening partnerships with local small businesses, incentive programs to help retain business, encourage and attract more events, increase wayfinding, update the tourism strategic plan, uh, develop mural and public arts and cultural district uh pursue grants to support all of this work, and then with community connection, explore opportunities to create a central community gathering space and develop a festival street or pedestrian mall in downtown Forest Grove.

And you'll notice that a lot of these will be repeated in the next work session around placemaking.

So these conversations are really great to be having at the same night because they dovetail really um nicely into one another.

Uh a little bit of background about TLT.

Um it was established primarily to fund, and this will come up quite a few times during the presentation.

Two things uh tourism promotion and tourism related facilities.

Uh some uh cities had already created uh TLT, but the state of Oregon began regulating TLT in 2003 and established a neat statewide TLT, which is currently one and a half percent, um, and that funds the travel organ.

Washington County established the TLT in 1972, which is currently at 9%.

It funds a variety of uh tourism related facilities, um, as well as an equal portion going or an equal portion going to the general fund, and that is available to Washington County cities through the Explore to Walton Valley grants program uh is also helping to fund um a portion of the Hillsborough Hops uh ballpark expansion.

In local history, uh Forest Grove established a TLT in 2017 on the advice of an ad hoc committee.

It was uh first created at two and a half percent.

Uh between 2017 and 2025, many modifications have been made to the program elements, similar to the conversation we're having this evening.

And then in November 2025, a uh TLT increase from 2.5% to 3.5% was done to help fund Vision 2040 action items related to tourism.

And I would be remiss if I didn't talk about what when we say this percentage, what that is.

So it's when folks pay for a hotel room, they pay an additional tax on top of that.

So right now that total tax for somebody who is coming into a hotel room in Forest Grove is 14%.

That's the state um percentage plus the um county percentage plus the city of Forest Grove percentage.

So you expect to have a little bit 14 and a half, I think, percent on top.

There has been have been a few legislative changes.

So I mentioned that the state uh began regulating TLT.

Part of that regulation was requiring that 70% of collected TLT revenue be used specifically for tourism promotion and tourism related facilities.

Uh, there's been some pushback from some cities that um, especially in the coastal communities that because they have so much tourism, they want to be able to use more of that funding in order to support infrastructure that supports the tourism.

So things like better street maintenance, cleanup, um, law enforcement, those kinds of things.

So in the uh most recent legislative session, it says 60% up there, but that is the typo.

This state amended the law to allow up to 50% of local TLT revenue to be used outside of direct tourism promotion and tourism related facilities.

Next slide.

So now we're going to dig into forest grove specific TLT revenue.

So TLT revenues are collected by Washington County and then distributed to Forest Grove monthly.

Revenue between 2021 to 2025 has been pretty steady, around 140,000, a little lower in 2122 coming out of the pandemic, but then stayed pretty level.

And then we are anticipating higher revenues this year due to that increase in TLT rate.

Right now we're sitting about 100,000 has been collected year to date, that is for eight months out of the year.

We're anticipating four more months of revenue.

And we know from past revenue sources that June is our highest earning TLT month.

So in those remaining four months of the year, we expect to see about 80,000 to 100,000 more come in.

We'll put us at about 180 to 200K for the year, significantly higher than our anticipated 140,000 current revenue source.

A couple of influencers that are going into kind of what drives TLT.

So we do have the McMinimans Grand Lodge continues to establish new events that helps entice visitors to Forest Grove.

And because the TLT is paid out as a percentage of the hotel room rate, the higher a hotel room rate is because of a popularity for events, the more TLT revenue we collect.

The holiday motel is expanding with a grant from the urban renewal agency, adding 16 new rooms that we can collect the TLT on on a nightly basis.

And then some just statewide numbers and countywide numbers.

Post-pandemic visitor expenditures and visitor numbers within the state of Oregon have not reached, and then Washington County have not reached pre-pandemic levels.

We are seeing year over year increases in both spending as well as more visitors coming to town, but we aren't seeing what we saw in like 2018.

A news article that came out actually just this morning is from downtown Portland venues are reporting that their numbers are still down by over 18% from what they were in 2018-2019.

We're seeing that also across Washington County and through the rest of the state.

So when we talk about TLT revenues going up, it's really because of that increase in that TLT percentage, not because there's more revenue coming into the state or more tourism dollars, which I think changes some of the architecture of this conversation.

We're not trying to necessarily like get a bigger bite out of a growing pie, but trying to maintain our bite and maybe take a little bit larger bite out of what is a pretty constrained pie right now.

So we talked about where our money comes from.

Here's what we've been spending it on.

TLT goes into five specific programs, and then we'll go into each of these in detail.

Public art program, capital grant program, tourism marketing program, the advanced sponsorship program, and then as well as we take a small 20% or so of the total TLT revenues right now, and we move that into the general fund to help fund the economic development coordinator position.

Next slide.

The public art program, this is about 11,000 annually.

It's to help help it is budgeted for the public arts commission funding.

So they fund installation and mural artworks throughout the city, administered by the public arts commission.

They've spent about $6,000 of their budget so far this year, and then they also have 11,000 for the second year in the biennium.

Next slide.

And we uh staff doesn't have any recommended changes to the public arts program.

Uh we also have what is the capital grant program.

Purpose of this was to help provide some financial assistance for groups that are bringing in tourists for capital-related expenses.

Uh so things that uh the city has helped pay for before last year, the AT Smith House asked for funding for a portable ADA restroom.

The chamber asked for uh cornroast supplies.

We've also done tents, speakers, those kinds of things.

Um the program did not have a single application this fiscal year.

Last year it had two applications, the year before that it had four applications.

And so, in conversation and talking about some of the elements of this program, it's a pretty low dollar amount.

Folks can only receive 2,500.

So when you're looking at making a capital investment, you're basically buying durable supplies more than anything else.

And so that and those durable supplies can also be purchased through the event sponsorship program without needing to make that two different um applications or and so what we're finding is that, and then folks have already done this grant, received the monies, bought the durable supplies that they needed, and so they're no longer finding that they need more funding for the durable supplies, and because in the application they have to say exactly what they're due to the lack of interest in this program, and it has always been marketed and supported at the same time as the event sponsorship program, which we only see becoming more popular.

And because in the application they have to say exactly what they're um due to the lack of interest in this program, and it has always been um marketed and supported at the same time as the event sponsorship program, which we only see becoming more popular.

Uh we would like to consider sunsetting the capital grant program and instead rolling this funding source into the event or rolling the about 11,000 annually into the event sponsorship program instead.

Uh, this will also have the added benefit of less administer uh administration burden on the city staff.

We'll be promoting just one program, and we can also expand that program to also include things like capital supplies, which like I said are already things that are being supported through that program.

Go ahead, counselor Shivel.

By by setting sunsetting and rolling when the eligible expenses roll into that.

Yes.

So in the under the tourism sponsorship program, um, there is no eligible expenses.

It's you're putting on an event, you ask the city to sponsor the event, council makes that decision, and then the it is at the discretion of the person who is throwing or the organization that is throwing the event on how they choose to spend those dollars, which is different than the capital grant program, which has a more narrow focus.

So it says offer more discretion to the folks who are asking for the for the dollars in order to promote events in town.

Thank you for the question.

Kim, can I ask a quick question?

Do you want feedback?

How do you want to organize this work session?

Do you want feedback on this consideration?

Do we want to talk about I almost think we talk about these things as we go through?

Uh so we can make a decision and then is that okay?

Absolutely.

So let's talk about the capital grant program and then the council consideration that it doesn't seem to be like an oversubscribed program, and that you get um right you get the supplies you need.

So is there any feeling about sunsetting this program and rolling it into the sponsorship?

I see a head nod from people.

I agree.

I think we're still are someone can still get those things they need, and it gives you know a more streamlined and puts the money where people want it to.

Okay, great.

Okay, so we're gonna sunset that.

Great.

And this uh we'll get into some of the case studies, what other communities are doing as well.

But what you'll see in those um slides is that folks are really concentrating their resources on one or two things in order to get the most bang out of their book.

Um, even looking at 180 to 200k in revenue, it's still not a large bucket.

So being able to focus those dollars can be sorry, I didn't include that before.

Um looking at the tourism sponsorship program, 45,000 annually.

This is a program that sponsors local events.

Um, pretty much what it says on the on the title.

Uh, it is an incredibly popular program.

Uh we have generally been sub fully subscribed with folks coming for money, even past would be um run out at the end of the fiscal year.

So uh next slide.

There's some program requirements.

Events must be open uh to the general public, although they can be ticketed.

Uh expected attendees, uh, you need to expect that attendees will likely travel from outside Forest Grove to attend the event.

Again, this is because of the programs tied to the TLT and trying to increase tourism and forest grove.

Uh, we expect attendees will stay overnight in Forest Grove to receive the funding.

The event must produce marketing materials that highlight the city sponsorship, and the city uh may have a booth space at the event if it is that kind of event that has.

Uh so as I said, this program has been uh growing in popularity because in 2023, 2024, 20,000, up to 32 and a half, and now 35,000.

We do cap organizations at 12,000 per year.

This is where I like to go into a piece of feedback we've received from some community groups that are looking at doing event series.

And so this idea of being capped at 12,000 for the organization can prevent them from being able to really prevent them from having as much funding as they would like to have in order to do an event series.

So things like an artist series, um, downtown association has mentioned trying to do like some sort of movie series, perhaps in the downtown place making conversation, as well as places like the farmers market.

So for council consideration tonight, we like to, and this is still kind of a little fuzzy how exactly we would work it out, but I think it's going to be a an alternative subset within this program where folks can apply for series programming or series funding where they can receive up to $3,000 for an event, uh, up to $20,000 per year, and with having the series defined by being at least three of the same day of week, same time of day, same event type, same branding, same target audience and same location.

So that would be the council consideration is to create this kind of subset that allows for um event series to receive more funding of the understanding that they're bringing in more tourists and creating that kind of cycle throughout the down.

Counselor Gus then has a question.

Go ahead, Counselor Sure.

So I had a question about that I and I I don't see a list of them.

So Kim if we could get a list of all of those criteria that that you just mentioned and maybe it's on a different slide.

But I think you mentioned it would need to be in the same place.

If it's an event series and uh for instance one of um one of the nonprofits maybe the chamber is going to have um movie nights but they're having it in different areas of the city um for that um equity of location for people and kind of pull um pull from different areas to force grove to make it more um uh easier to to drive to easier to participate in but then also there's the an artist series where that may be a series that's maybe once a month or you know once a week or whatever but because it's art it's moving and so the series itself is moving.

So those are just things to think about too when we're putting kind of those criteria um I love the event series um idea because I mean we've talked about it obviously but I think it it's it's going to help us push more into um not just event series but um the the multiple day which I guess would be an event series but multiple day events like some of our bigger cities have to increase those overnight stays even more so I like this but I would like a little bit more clarification on series movement.

Thank you counselor appreciate that and this would be something that would come back to council in the form of a resolution uh council has previously adopted the program and so what the consideration would be to have to to your point um that an event series could be always the same time of day or it could be a huge variety or same time a week but that we want to have some criteria about what how you define an event series.

So it would be maybe a list of six or seven criteria and if you meet at least three or four of them then that would it qualify you.

So one of those could be location but recognizing that not all events would be at the same counselor shimmel.

So going forward this program will now include the capital funds.

It will also include the capital funds yes so it would increase its total budget to about 5500 program.

And could you speak of eligibility by athletic teams that are hosting tournaments.

Yes I did look and see if um tournaments and based on if you can go back to the previous slide as long as the event is open to the general public um it would qualify um as an event that could be sponsored are you done you have a yeah bring your microphone closer though yeah I need clarification because those are typically team based invitational not general public I believe as long as the general public could be an audience member and an observer then it would be a general public event and some of my initial thoughts I think this is a good idea um and I just think that I would assume we need to put more money into this portion of it in order to to meet the needs and I think you know would the $20,000 cap be for the entire year like whether you do a single event and the series or just for the series um I think it is really important because we have really good volunteer groups who are trying to put on individual or you know multiple events but I also think like what about the groups that maybe have one event we want to protect their ability to get sponsorship.

But then also I'm like these are all these things in my head right as we unpack it but then you know what if you have a nonprofit that has this really great series event and then they're like also want to do another big event like that's important too.

So then maybe we you know what I mean like how are we going to balance out allowing everyone to use it I mean the end goal is tourism right is to bring people downtown community connection um so these are just some of the things I'm just grappling with in my brain.

I I don't have an answer to any of it because I just think it's a complex but some of my thoughts.

I I hear you and the need to balance between new events established events and event series and I think that's something that we can do especially again as we talk about that we budgeted for 140,000 in revenue this year and we're likely to receive 180 to 200.

So it leaves us with another 40 to 5000 that we can start trying to figure out how do we want to divide this up amongst our existing programs.

Yeah I definitely think this program needs more funding in order for it to be successful.

Sure, Mayor, what you were what you were talking about, it was it was in my my mind as well, as far as that's a a lot, um, a lot of events and a lot of groups to kind of spread that around to and um counselor Schimmel, the the teams aspect of it, ball teams and tournaments that's an important aspect to think about also, and I think this is a huge opportunity because let me back up a bit for a moment.

So as we are walking through these discussions, perhaps we do have a um a separate category that is specific to school teams or not school teams, but um events like um tournaments sort of events, but also it's a great opportunity to pair up those tournament events with the corn roast, with another event that maybe wants to happen along um along with that tournament, right?

Is there is there more um value added to partnerships because we're going to use that tournament and this other event and we're going to pair the two of them together?

So I think there's ways in the future with this money to get a little bit more creative, but it it would be it might be more creativity at the organizational organization level where two organizations will get together and come up with a plan and then come up with some really awesome um strategy for a weekend of events because of tournaments and other events that are bringing to town.

If that makes sense.

Counselor, oh sorry, counselor Guston, are you finished with your comment?

Counselor Council President Valenzuela has her hand raised.

Okay, go ahead, council president.

Okay, there it is.

So it first of all, I do uh agree in terms of the space that we should not use that as a criteria, even though you have the same space.

Um I think that's it's important.

But I have a question.

So to raise right now it's 12,000, right?

Yes.

So we raise this to 20,000.

Will that be a specifically for the event series or for the one event?

For the event series.

And so right now, a single event can be funded up to five thousand dollars.

Yeah, okay.

For the event series, what I would suggest is that we lower that amount per event.

So it's something closer to like three thousand dollars at most per event.

And so if you did three events, you could have it up to nine thousand dollars, but if you did 10, let's say, then you would be max at the 20,000.

Okay.

I understand.

Okay.

Counselor Falconer.

I can't hear counselor Falconer.

I don't know if the mic's on or you're not talking yet.

Thank you.

Um, I was just saying, you know, to build on your uh Counselor Gustison, you you mentioned the idea of sort of of coordinated events and um I don't know if your thought was to prioritize those or to give those extra weight when we're considering these grants, but I guess I would just say I think sometimes that works really well together, other times I think it can actually create conflicts, and I've seen that happen um, you know, both ways.

Um, you know, conflicts with you know if things are close together in the same proximity, there's going to be conflicts with with parking access, you know, to events that are at the same time and kind of close proximity to each other.

Also, as a small town who counts on a lot of the same volunteers to throw these events on.

Um, I know right now, currently this weekend, we have two events happening at the same time, and volunteers are being asked to do both, and they can't do both, and so there's shortages of volunteers to work both of these events.

So just you know, I would I guess I don't know that I would support, you know, as saying like we would prioritize those.

I can see where sometimes those things work do work really well together, other times not so much.

Thank you, counselor.

And then just to respond to that real quick.

Sure.

Um, I I totally agree with you, um, counselor.

I I wasn't, I mean, the the whole, you know, width of a decision that we make based on that, that wasn't um that wasn't part of my what I was thinking.

really well together other times not so much thank you counselor and then just to respond to that real quick sure um i i totally agree with you um counselor i i wasn't i mean the the whole you know width of a decision that we make based on that that wasn't um that wasn't part of my what i was thinking um so that was a really good point but it was more just about an opportunity for organizations to collaborate to to bring in um intentionally as two organizations bring them in but you have an absolute you know valid point i mean i i know as well as the rest of you how difficult it is to find volunteers and not burn them out any additional feedback i think well i'm gonna ask staff do you have enough i mean i think do you have enough things to chew on to think so to bring it back i mean it is really a complex i think it's a great idea and i think that you know the other thing i want to say about most great ideas is that when you have a great idea and you're trying to you know give it a little facelift or put it into action you're really not gonna know like what you know what's working and like what are some tweaks to make until you do it right until we like actually put it so I think it's really good to have this initial conversation we have foundation of having a similar program and I do think we can build something that addresses these these things but also I think it's okay too if we do it for six months and then we're like hey wait we this was an unforeseen thing that didn't really work out and then we just come back and and fix it.

This is definitely a involving and iterating program um and we'll continue to bring updates into what we've been finding that's successful and what isn't and we can continue to to sunset and make facelift as we go.

Yeah cool thanks thanks May Mayor oh sorry Counselor Shimmel I didn't see your hand I'm sorry was not trying to ignore you're okay um well just relate related to this program in particular and and the criteria maybe for the next meeting is how do we measure support retain small local businesses what what what does that look like in a competitive application to accomplish that something we started discussing a little bit today and I think it might be a um it's related to this conversation but I think also sits a little outside of it and something that we need to look at some of our business license data sets um to be able to really start digging in as well as some conversations with the chamber but understand that there is a desire to look at a lot of our 2040 items and assign them some key KPIs and so we'll be working on that.

All right looking at the last piece of the program uh this is the tourism marketing program it is a contract for 44 to 4500 annually uh the purpose is to market forest grove as a destination largely through digital marketing is how the contract is currently positioned uh contract was recently awarded to the Forest Grove Cornelius Chamber of Commerce um and it is a two-year contract with an option to renew for a third year uh there is no uh specific council consideration written here although we are because we do believe that we're gonna receive more funding one possibility is that we can split some of that additional funding between the tourism sponsorship program and this tourism marketing program in order to expand from just digital marketing into some print marketing and promotion as well I have a question about the I think the tourism marketing program is you know really important um I like what are our metrics on um the marketing we're getting that we're we're receiving from this and like how are we I mean are we hitting our mark and you know we've discussed this in our council objectives and goals and kind of our budget process of I mean I really appreciate our partnership with the chamber I think they do a whole lot but is that their skill set to market our tourism and is it working and is there an opportunity to work with maybe the university or a different group to like I mean I understand you want to keep it local because we know our community but is this an is this an avenue or an opportunity for you know like I someone who's like marketing like actually has a degree in marketing.

I mean and I don't know I'm like making an assumption here and I don't want it to sound like I don't value the chambers uh contributions I'm just wondering if this is meeting our mark with creating tourism and if people think you know and I guess it's like how is it related to bringing people into force grove and what key events are they you know what is their I guess just to start with like what is their calendar of digital marketing that they use to what events are they marketing and what are their metrics and how are they engaging and what is the story and and honestly it's probably like not necessarily as a policymaker is like my job so like I don't want to be a micromanager but I'm just wondering how we are knowing that we're meeting the mark of this like as a policymaker that's our job is to like make sure that this funding like we're getting that out of it.

So like I don't want to be a micromanager, but I'm just wondering how we are knowing that we're meeting the mark of this, like as a policymaker, that's our job is to like make sure that this funding, like we're getting that out of it.

So yeah, absolutely.

And there's a couple of key places.

So one, it's TLT dollars.

Um, if you see the TLT dollar mark going up by more than three percent, then you are getting your money's worth out of the TLT dollars.

And we clearly aren't seeing that right now because tourism one is depressed, and two, we still are kind of at the beginning of this program and growing it.

And I do want to talk a little bit about the marketing contract with um the chamber.

It was publicly competed.

Um, they were the only um RFP applicant that we received.

Um, and we do have built into the contract some KPIs because it is based around digital marketing almost entirely, all the KPIs that are written to the contract are things about digital reach.

So digital brand awareness, page views, length of time on page, looking at our tourism website.

And we're the contract just went into effect less than a month ago, and we're actively working with the chamber to your point.

It's our job to get into the weeds, and so we're actively working on getting into the weeds with the chamber about what those exact KPIs are and what that reporting schedule looks like, so that we can come back with some more detailed numbers um when we're reviewing this program again, either mid-year or next year.

Great, thank you.

Counselor Gusison.

Um, just talking about the chamber having the tourism um contract.

There's as you probably all know, there's different ways that we could be doing this.

Um in many different cities in Oregon.

Just based off of the main street network.

Um sometimes the chamber runs that that tourism um services with tourism marketing services, the program, the whole some of it it's street program, some of it is a completely different organization, separate from both of those two.

And sometimes you hire uh, you know, an outside organization.

Um discussions with others, having the chamber do it is is helpful.

Um, or really any organization within your city is going to be more valuable because just what you said, they they know your city.

And they may not like at this moment, right?

When you're giving a new task to somebody or a new project or a new program or a new contract, um they can bring on somebody to do that.

That doesn't mean you know the chamber, the um rotary club, the downtown association, none of them may have a marketing expert on their staff at the time, but that's part of this, right?

Is when you're giving a contract to somebody, um, I wouldn't think of it as can they do it.

I would think of it as what do they do with it once they have it, right?

What value do they bring?

So I'm very confident with the chamber saying um using their tools and continuing on with um tourism marketing for us, even in a in a greater scope, um, while marketing um excuse me, while partnering with the other organizations so that it maybe becomes more than just digital, right?

It's a more holistic tourism market for Force Grove.

Um, but I I think having it sitting where it is right now is um a good place to be and just kind of build on it.

And that means increasing what kind of a KPIs that we want, um, changing things around, making adjustments as time goes, but really maybe focusing on um again um partnering with other organizations for feedback on tourism progress that they came through through the city.

But I like it where it's out.

Thank you.

Any additional comments?

No, okay.

Um, next slide.

This is a summary of our program expenses for both FY25, 26, 26, 27, and then the biannual total close to 300,000.

And again, we are expecting that those numbers will be uh a little higher than uh programmed or to the increase in TLT.

And then next slide, just some additional information about what we're seeing other jurisdictions do.

So I mentioned at the beginning uh that there's tourism-related facilities and tourism uh promotion focused, and so some cities have to decided one or the other is where they decide to put all of their investment.

So in the case of both Beaverton and Hillsborough, they have decided that tourism-related facilities is where they invest their TLT for Beaverton.

It is uh the Patricia Reese Center for the Arts in Hillsborough, it's the Wingspan Conference Center and the ballpark.

Uh for McMinnville and Wilsonville, they tend to focus all of their funding into the tourism promotion focus with Minville puts almost all of their TLT dollars into visit Minville, their nonprofit DMO.

McMinnville puts almost all of their TLT dollars into visit Minville, their nonprofit DMO.

Uh Wilsonville, it's the Explorer Wilsonville destination marketing and as well as a small community tourism matching grant program.

Next slide.

Sherwood does a mixed investment.

They have both a public art fund as well as invest in the Sherwood Art Center.

So that 50-50 across both.

And then Tiger has done um something a little different than every other city.

They have a smaller TLT and they are banking their TLT um for some sort of future tourism-related facility.

And they've talked about some sort of sports-related facility in the past.

Can I ask a follow-up question on the budget uh matrix and then this?

And you know, we have our new finance director, Kathy here.

Straight out to Kathy, so maybe she can answer this.

But as a policy, um you know, moving forward, is it better?

Would it be easier for staff and a better policy to have percentage for each group, like the percentage of the TLT instead of the dollar amount?

Well, in our budget document, it needs to be a dollar amount.

Um, but for from policy, it could be either a percent a percentage would be just as effective, and then staff can make that translation.

I'm just wondering because I don't know.

Just curious.

Go ahead.

So for the last three years, I've been in council um communities been saying they want a sports complex.

We never looked in how tigers doing theirs that put like a take some of the funds and put it towards looking into a capital improvement that would cover a facility.

Um, because that has been echoed for years about some sort of um ballpark, any sort of facility like that kind of thing.

That's okay.

I I guess the only thing I would add about some of those is like if you look at the Hillsborough Hops ballpark or the wingspan, the TLT was a portion of the funding, but a lot of the funding for might have come from the stage.

You might have had other general funds that were apportioned to it.

So just to kind of in all those cases, the TLT was not a hundred percent of the funding, but it was a part of the funding and it was strategically set aside for those facilities for a future day, or it finance some kind of revenue bond.

So yeah, I think what I heard from Counselor Marshall, and correct me if I'm mistaken, but is there is is an idea of in addition to the buckets we have right now for TLT.

It's should we have a bucket for savings or for future tourism-related facilities?

Um because that is the has been echoed for years about the need for some sort of sports facility and people who have kids or who play sports know that you go, you spend money.

It is like a huge economic driver to have that.

So, or maybe not huge, but it is one of the drivers.

Okay, Jesse and then Brian.

If I could just add one more thing, when the TLT was first established at the city, there was a percentage of revenues that were set aside for the capital account.

Um, and that's principally what has made up the undesignated reserves that are currently in the TLT.

I don't remember what the it's 180,000 that are currently kind of in the savings account of the TLT, so to speak.

And that and that was um for some kind of future thing, but really didn't know what the future thing was, so to speak.

So if the council from a policy perspective wants to set a certain aside of the TLT funds aside for some type of to be determined infrastructure project, whether it's a tourism facility, whether it's a sports facility, whether it's some kind of facility.

You can certainly do that.

Yeah.

Um, and there's already some funds that were there.

Part of that calculus I would also think would involve what a revenue bond might look like because a lot of those are funded, whether it's the ballpark, whether it's a wingspan.

Um, I think the county did a 20-year revenue bond on the wingspan facility with two TLT monies, so they kind of front funded a part of it, but then they took out a revenue bond for and they just pledge a certain amount of TLT revenues every year toward that until the bond is paid off.

So there's a number of different kind of financing options as well.

Okay.

Counselor Schimmel.

Yeah, this context question are these percentages for operating expenses for those facilities versus the capital, because I mean you're talking about tens of millions versus tens of thousands for operating.

It's my understanding that I it looks like there was an example that was for operating, but it's my understanding the other ones for were for capital expenses.

I think it could be either or right.

Beaverton pays for both operating and capital cost for the Patricia Research Center.

And and given we're gonna hear from Ann later about all the vast projects.

Some of those parks will be destination parks.

Would that be uh an eligible expense for something that we're already near committed to?

It they could be an eligible expense.

I I will also still caution that we are talking about a smaller dollar pool, and so wanting to make sure that we're not splitting it.

Um this is a policy decision.

So excuse me if I'm um getting out over my skis, but wanting to make sure we're not putting so little amount into each bucket that we're not able to make an impact.

So I would encourage making a fewer buckets, but more meaningful impact, whatever those buckets might be.

It's something that we talked about, and there was nothing that we immediately identified, although it is something that we continue to keep an eye on, and we would bring forward to council if there was ever a need to divert some TLT dollars in order to make sure that we have the adequate infrastructure for the tourism that we're council president Valenzuela and thank you, Councillor.

Um that counselor Marshall mentioned.

I remember since um Peter Truex was the mayor.

People in the community asking for a community center with the sports, you know, a courts, basketball courts, and that sort of thing.

And uh I would totally support uh putting a little bit, you know, into uh into savings um for that.

The city of Cornelius uh they're using the former Cornelius Elementary School to build the community center with uh people bill courts and basketball courts and you know, I think we could um we could aim to have something similar for our community.

Thank you, counselor Gustin.

I also agree with uh counselor marshall and council president Balancewela that it's it's been a conversation since I've been on council as well, and um has often been brought up this year, and and people are calling it um when they speak with me anyway, a community center or recreation center, but really it's that all-encompassing sports fields, basketball courts, whatever, um, but also to include a new uh a new swim center.

Um people are mad about our our pool being closed, right?

And we do know that it's under um renovation, it's been under renovation often.

So that is the top of his minds.

Um so I I'm I'm full on for funding a recreation center, and I would love to start focusing on this.

I don't know that this um TLT funds is where we should be doing um doing that collection of funds.

And Kim, you kind of laid that out with having too many buckets.

I still hope that that um we can have that conversation for maybe one of the goals in the future because I think it's it's sorely needed in the community, especially when we have um so many more new community members arriveing.

Um seems like every year.

That's all thank you.

Um so I we're running short on time because we have another we have two more work sessions.

So for where we are, did you do staff have enough from us to I do?

I really appreciate the robust conversation around this topic, and I think we can come back to council with some proposals.

Um I like the idea of doing it by percentage based, and we can talk about some values and really dial in where we want to spend our TLT dollars in the coming years.

Okay, great.

Thank you.

Okay, so I'm gonna adjourn this work session and we're gonna go straight into downtown placemaking.

I mean, I'm gonna hand it back over to our well, should I give it to Chessie?

I'll give Kim a break, or which I don't know.

Sure.

I'm sure you're gonna take over all right.

So um uh next slide, please, Mariah.

So tonight we're gonna this is the second of two work sessions that we've had on placemaking.

Um, and uh I'll go through some of the background, the recap um at the stakeholder feedback.

I'm gonna turn it over to Kim and she can cover that.

Um, and then we can have a conversation about um place making options and some potential funding opportunities.

So with that, next slide.

Uh again, 2040 recap.

I know we're we're running short on time, so I won't go into each of these, but um, there's a lot of conversation uh about placemaking tourism, community connection uh within 2040, it's under the goal area of both the economy, community growth, and community connection.

It's under the goal area of both the economy, community growth, and community connection.

So, next slide.

Purpose of tonight's work session was there was a consensus at the April 13th work session on parking to have a focused work session on this, and then on May 12th, we followed up.

We discussed some attributes of placemaking and options for placemaking in the downtown.

I think there were 10 options that we covered.

Um, and it got um, I I think kind of narrowed down to approximately seven.

The purpose of tonight is to reach consensus on the downtown placemaking options, and these options will be used to guide staff in the administration of event permits, recognizing that different events sometimes have different requirements.

Um, we're also looking for a consensus on or that will guide staff on temporary street closures, traffic impact plans, and planning for future improvements that'll help guide capital improvements in potential areas.

So during the April 13th work session, the council reached consensus on prioritizing parking code enforcement that has already started, installing new consistent and recognizable wayfinding science to all parking lots.

I just noticed the new sign on one of the parking lots as I drove in.

So thank you to Greg and his team for expediting that.

Uh retaining existing parking hourly limits.

We covered the hour limits for certain uh parking lots, and there was a consensus to just kind of stay where we're at.

Prioritizing resources and improvements for the central city lot or lot two.

That is the one that is behind a lot of the main street businesses and uh just north of the existing um uh the name escapes me, the urban renewal agency property for the um boutique hotel, potential boutique hotel.

Installing and piloting a fast stop 15 minute parking stall on Main Street.

Uh that's going to be part of our overall striping and adding uh 16 stalls.

That contract is uh going out soon, so we should be seeing that work and that 15 minute parking stall on Main Street relatively soon.

Next slide, please.

So a little bit more on recapping for Maine and 21st.

It's um uh the T intersection.

Uh this is an area that is often closed right now.

It's busier during the evening than during the day.

It's busier on weekends than on weekdays.

This is regarding parking for college, it's busier in the day than during the evening, and it's not busy at all during the weekends.

The central lot is busy during all the weekdays, and then it really frees up, indicating that it's used mostly for employee parking.

Um, it's got about 50 to 80 percent of occupancy during the weekends, so it does get used uh quite quite frequently on the weekends, all other city lots.

There is quite a bit of capacity at all of the city lots, um, especially on the weekends and during the evenings.

Um, and generally speaking, the study concluded that there's localized congestion, uh, but there's generally speaking, uh, an ample parking supply.

Next slide.

Uh common uh so the locations that we went over last time, um, there's all 10 of them.

We looked at the URA properties, we looked at various uh other properties, uh especially some street combinations.

So um there were no other potential locations identified.

So next slide.

Um, some of the top attributes, and there was quite a lengthy and and good discussion about what kind of attributes.

Uh safety really rose kind of to the top away from traffic and hazards, it needs to have good signage, needs to have a traffic impact plan, walkable infrastructure.

Um, there was location close to businesses, ADA accessible, less displacement of existing uses, near utilities, good infrastructure, kind of stretches downtown, if you will, whether it's north, south, maybe east or west, business impact, it's got to have a positive uh economic impact.

Um, so if you're closing roads, you want to be bringing customers in, you want to reduce negative impacts.

Uh the parking impact, it was um based on the number of closed parking stalls, impacts of the closure, and the associated impact on adjacent parking, the history and longevity, um, you know, how did it work in the past?

What's the community familiarity?

Um, is it uh interim or long-term usage?

Is it sustainable?

Um, can we improve on it?

Can we expand upon it?

So, kind of these future uh conversations about how does it not only has it worked in the past, but how will it work in the future?

Um, it needs to strengthen partnership.

So, with our community partners with the community, it needs to be value added.

Um, outside investment, um, can it can it uh meet some grant criteria to attract some outside investment and then you know, generally speaking, the environment.

How does the sun affect it, rain, tree exposure, is it paved, is it hilly, is it flat, those types of things.

So, next slide.

I'm gonna turn it over to Kim for our community outreach.

Thank you.

Uh so since we had our last work session, we had an opportunity to meet with several community groups.

Uh, we met with Adelante at the end of May.

We hosted a downtown placemaking forum with downtown businesses.

Um we hosted that in partnership with the downtown association at the beginning of June.

And then we've also had the opportunity to meet with the Forest Grove Cornelius Chamber of Commerce about the placemaking options.

Uh, we are still looking to schedule a meeting with Pacific as well to round out our stakeholder uh community.

Next slide.

Community outreach was very interesting.

So while the conversation at council focused on attributes, but also had a lot of conversation around location.

Uh, generally the conversation with community centered upon process, the ultimate vision and future of events in downtown, um, more so than the location.

Uh stakeholders' priority attributes where they want we wanted to talk about kind of expandability, so being able to grow events, um, visibility from major cross streets, pedestrian safety, uh, and minimizing business impacts, which aligned very closely with what council also identified as attributes that they're interested in.

Uh, some other feedback is local businesses were eager to engage with the city.

We had nearly 30 people at the business forum, which was a fantastic turnout, and it was a really active conversation for that hour that we spent together.

Uh, community members did express serious concerns about permanent street closures and were reassured when we talked about this being uh conversation about temporary street closures specifically for events.

Uh, and some uh folks also stressed the importance of having the appropriate infrastructure for events in downtown.

So uh restrooms came up, pedestrian safety signals, those types of things.

So since our last conversation, we have limited our place making options from 10 to 7, and this is an updated map.

Uh, you'll also note that number seven, which had a different number on the previous map, is that central lot, and we've expanded it to include that entire alley for council direct.

Uh and so, as with that, we also added an asterisk with the number of businesses that are um on seven.

While there is only one, no businesses that are fronting onto that alley, there are many businesses that back up to that alley and will certainly be affected by the picture.

I'm gonna temporary one.

Oh, to counselor Gus and Razor.

Counselor Gus.

No, that's okay.

I'll wait till I'll wait till you're down it.

Okay.

Uh next slide.

So we went back through the SNAW seven options uh with the council directed attributes.

Um, there's not many uh changes, but did want to note that we did add safety information for each of the the locations.

So for number one, uh, we do have that all-stop intersection now at the top of the segment and signalized intersection at the bottom for pedestrian safety and can close independently.

Uh, we also want to talk a little bit about the history and longevity.

This is historically and frequently used and could strengthen partnerships with nonprofits.

Uh next slide.

Looking at number two, it is also in between all stop intersections of 25 miles per hour and can close independently.

Um we and this is part of the reasons for having that conversation with Pacific, is that because it leads directly onto Pacific's campus through that um entryway, there is an opportunity for a stronger partnership there.

And next slide.

Number three, um, all stop intersection to the east, um, but would require barricades to the west for pedestrian safety if it's not expanded to A Street, can be closed independently, but wanted to call out the safety concern about needing to divert cars down the alleyway.

Um, uh what would otherwise be number seven if you close free independent?

And then it well is located also near downtown businesses, and there are partnerships available there.

Uh, next slide, option four.

This one also has two um way stop intersection to the west, um, but would also require barricades to the east.

It has possibly the most necessary um closure related pedestrian safety changes and would also require cars to be diverted down that alleyway.

Um was closed independently.

Uh it has not been used very often.

It is at the far end of where it would be considered that kind of pathway onto Pacific.

So if we were stretching it all the way from two, three and four, you could make the argument that it could also add to that um partnership with Pacific.

Next slide.

Option number five on college way.

Um it is a one-way uh and it can close independently, but you would need to have barricade closures for pedestrian safety.

And it especially when partnered with two and six strengthens that partnership with Pacific, and we need a partnership with Pacific in order to facilitate closing that um those parking stalls as well as access to the dorms and other um parking lots that are associated with the university.

And next slide.

Option six, also a continuation of number five.

It's that one way of 25 miles per hour and can also close independently, though it would require barricades.

And looking at two, five and six together, it also promotes that partnership specifically.

And finally, uh option number seven, safety, it is sheltered if no cars are allowed to park in there, although I do know that there was concerns before in our last work session about folks who have dedicated parking stalls that are off of that lot.

Um so we would need to close that off or find some other pedestrian safe way in order for folks to access those vehicles.

Um and does not require any formal road closures, although it would close that the alley from uh and because it is on the back side of many downtown businesses and nonprofits, it doesn't have quite the same effect, but could also be used in partnership and strengthen partnerships with the downtown businesses depending on the kind of event that was hosted in that space.

Next slide.

So with this, the question for council before you this evening, and happy to answer any more questions about those locations is with the updated information.

Are there any modifications to what we uh received as the May 12th council direction, which is to prioritize a combination of 21st between Maine and College, Collegeway North and Collegeway South for downtown placemaking, but leave the option open as well for event types that make sense for that central city lot, including the alley closure.

Okay, I'm gonna counselor Gustin had her hand raised from earlier, so we'll start with her.

Okay.

Um so this isn't really an answer to your question, Kim, but I did want to kind of start out with something.

I know that there's been a lot of work put in on this project, this discussion about placemaking, but as I've had some more time to think about it, and we've been looking through those locations and trying to determine what we want so where we want those locations to be.

Um, I think that we might want to consider switching the order in which we are having these conversations because right now we're trying to prioritize, identify and prioritize the locations, but we haven't really listed out what it is that we're trying to achieve in further detail.

What are the uses going to be in you know, complete uses?

Um so for instance, what do we want the festival street to entail?

We can't find a house that we want to purchase to live in until we know as a family what it is we need for that house.

And then we can go look for houses, and we can look for housing designs and costs and all of that.

So I think that I think that unfortunately I didn't realize this ahead of time, but I think we're kind of putting the cart before the horse a little bit, although all of this information is valuable and will be valuable no matter what, because we need to have all of the information about flow and uh what it looks like to us now, what safety risks are in one area versus another.

But I think we really do need to take a step back and look at what we want this what are we trying to fill that festival stream with?

Because we can't build it until we know what we're going to need to build, right?

Um, so that's kind of that's kind of what where I'm at.

It's gonna be really hard to decide to narrow down any of these locations if if we have the information about what we're trying to achieve.

That's it.

Thank you.

Any other comments or questions?

Yeah, go ahead, council present.

Yes, so for what I understand, we're trying to find a place to hold um events, a place that the community uh feels familiarized with and they feel comfortable, it has to be in the heart of the city, has to be a safe place.

And but I do understand that it's for us to hold you know special events, whether it's an arts and crafts festival, um whatever it may be.

Um so I think that that's what as I understand it.

Am I correct that that's what it's for?

I think that yeah, I I would agree with what you're saying, Council President Valence Will, it's for the events we currently already have, and then any that we can anticipate having.

And I think that some of the the attribute, I think you know, staff went over the attributes that council's looking for and stake or you know, can business owners and our partners are looking for um so uh go ahead, counselor Gusin.

Um so uh go ahead, counselor Gusin.

Sure, just to to broaden it out a little bit placemaking in general when we're talking about a festival street or a festival location, because I know not a street anymore when we're talking about um like the woodfold property that we just purchased, but the when we're talking about a location for placemaking, we have to decide is this just going to be for events.

That that's one question.

Um, is it going to be for pedestrians to walk around it?

Are we going to have public art there?

Is it going to be just a general gathering space, for instance, having things for interactive things for people to do?

So it's not just being used during festival during a festival, but it can be used as a place for people to sit.

Because when we're talking about a festival street or placemaking and what the value that placemaking, which is um strategy, placemaking, um we want people to come downtown all the time, and we want them to gather there.

And we want them to have decide to have yoga, right?

I want them to have yoga in this festival area, because I want it to be for people to hang out because then they're going to go to our shops and they're going to buy food and they're going to shop trinkets.

So it could be for art walks, community tables, student activities, night markets.

It's it shouldn't just be for festivals or events in my opinion, because now you're kind of shortchanging us a little bit because we could have uh uses for that area to really optimize that space.

So I I would if it was me, and it is me.

I'm I'm hoping that this is more of a location where people were community members or tourists, they can hang out.

So there's things to do there that are fun all the time.

And then also use it for events.

That's what I think.

Otherwise, I think if it's just for events and we're trying to do all of this only for events, it is a store money, in my opinion.

Okay, counselor Falconer.

I guess the way I was thinking about this is that this isn't the one bite of this apple, and this is more of an iterative process that this conversation, I mean, because it, you know, when I think about placemaking, you know, I agree with you, Counselor Gustavson, that um there's a whole there's a lot more opportunity for a lot bigger things down the road.

We've got all these opportunity sites that the URA is invested in.

Um, you know, I'll say again, my dream is to have a public market with mixed income housing on top at site at at site B.

Um, that's my personal dream.

That would be an incredible place for a plaza where you could do the sorts of things, you know, some of the additional activities that Councilor Gussen's talking about.

For now, I think what the work that we've done is is really solid on sort of like how how do we want to proceed right now with the assets we currently have.

And I think that this approach makes a lot of sense for all the reasons that we've already gone over, you know, in the previous work sessions and today.

Um, so I don't really have any concerns with moving forward with what we're doing now with that in mind.

I want to bring up and others can you know, feel free to comment on that on that part of it.

I also think that there's a gap in our conversation about um most of this conversation has sort of centered around vehicle access, parking, how people are getting here.

And I think that there's a real opportunity for this community to start really thinking about how is the city encouraging and supporting alternative transportation to these events, because we wouldn't need to talk so much about you know temporary or permanent closures of parking if more people felt safe and supported to ride their bikes and park their bikes here.

And I can tell you from personal experience that when you invest in those opportunities, when you make those investments in making it safer and more welcoming for people of all ages, you get it.

You get people getting out of their cars and biking to these events.

We took the city of Milwaukee, we made investments in making it safe.

We called it a safe program, literally safe access for everyone, SAFE, and we now have a overwhelming now, like when you go there, like what you see from 10 years ago was like no bikes parking anywhere downtown for the farmers market and first Fridays and all the events to now you can almost hardly find another place to park your bike.

So if you invest, they will come.

If you build it, they will come.

So I would like to uh, you know, for us to think about this long-term, you know the strategies, you know, Counselor Govson's talking about, but also, you know, how are we helping and supporting people to really, you know, think about placemaking a little bit differently than what it currently looks like today to make those things really successful to really activate not just you know when an event is in one place and activate those adjacent businesses, but really really like pump some light into you know making these places more walkable, more bike friendly, because that's when you get a really attractive and interactive space for making and opportunities then kind of build on themselves.

Thank you, Counselor Schimmel.

Yeah, I didn't concur with that.

And it it sounds like uh Councilor Falconer was merging some of the vision that the partners were asking for with this these options.

I think these are the logical options, and if we just really lean into our partners to help help with the vision and it may be that expandability, maybe all of this is sort of a yes, and you know, where depending on the you know, the concourse may want Pacific, the market may want to stay on Maine.

So just the expandability of putting the infrastructure where it's needed for that or activity.

Uh I have like one or two things, like I'm gonna realize a couple of things.

I'm gonna try to go in order.

Uh, one thing I want to say is that this placemaking discussion again is you know, one part of a larger effort, right?

And I just want to ask that we don't it's it's not in the past, I think five years ago, maybe even four years ago, we referred to it as a festival street.

And if we could not, I don't know if we should be doing that because there's already been some preconceived, like we had some plans and then maybe closing the street and affecting businesses.

And so I don't want to confuse our business community, our community members and ourselves by referring to this placemaking as a festival street, because we as far as I'm hearing, like that's not exactly what we're doing.

Um, and so I don't really want that to be confused.

Uh I really liked what Counselor Falconer said about encouraging biking and walking.

I know that just earlier this last maybe it was in May, I went to see a concert at Etchfield and ate dinner downtown and walked.

And I was very annoyed that there, like as a walker, I was being told to walk further in the parking area than the cars.

And I was like, Because, you know, when we when we set something up, and I think that for me, that was I just really appreciate you saying that because what you said is true.

Like we do live in a very walkable and bikeable community.

Um to encourage that and to build the infrastructure to to encourage that is better for our climate, it's better for people's health, it's better for all these things.

And then I just want to respond a little bit to Counselor Schimmel.

Like, I'm not in favor of letting I think that goes against the placemaking is to say, like, hey, we're gonna use this one area for this.

Um, and then you know, allowed this other nonprofit to use this area, and then maybe do that because that defeats the purpose of us really being able to provide the infrastructure and the support networks we need to to have it be successful.

So my understanding of the placemaking conversation is to prioritize what the area is going to be, and then work with our partners to make sure it works for the majority of the community, including them and the people who patronize it.

Um, so those are my comments.

And but and uh in response to the question, like, you know, that's this is what I'm I'm in support of this.

I think honestly, that central city lot with the alley is like so brave and like so good.

I think that it's a little bit of, you know, we'd have to do a little bit more work in it first, like getting people on board.

But I think like going back to what Counselor Gussen said, like what you know, for Richard Mayor Richard Kidd said about having a plaza, like having a spot.

I don't know, I think it could be brave, and I think we're gonna end up once you build a few really success successful areas, it will expand to other placemaking opportunities.

Um with that, I'm gonna call on Counselor Gutson.

Excuse me, just one other follow-up.

I I understand all of your perspectives and I appreciate them.

And and I don't necessarily disagree with any of them.

Um but with and I think maybe part of it is I'm not understanding the scope of this.

Um is there something that we have that's telling us are we are we selecting the spot first and then we're going to move to this other step.

I don't have a view of how we're getting to our our goal here to done.

And I don't even have anything in front of me that says this is this is what done looks like.

This is this is all the things we need to achieve with this.

Truly, I still believe is is we're doing it backwards.

But counselor um Falconer, I love I love your idea because I I have thought of that as well, having that housing above and and all of that in that I think it was site B you mentioned.

So I agree with that, but I also would would lean towards.

Sorry, I'm gonna back up again.

It takes cities a long time to do things by the very nature of government, and we know that.

So with a grand design dream, like we should have, right?

Um what council Falconer said.

Um that's the goal, right?

To have something grandiose and we can be proud of, and it brings people in.

But we don't, in my opinion, need to take a whole bunch of steps to get there.

Um and maybe we should start much smaller.

Um I would propose, um, and my choice will be unless I change my mind between knowing and then um based on new information, is the space between Maine College on 21st.

We use that.

It's a small area, which will make it more affordable to fund.

There is low impact.

There are opportunities to address um slow rise and their business there and park with them.

There are opportunities that we just have not discussed yet.

I think starting small like that in that area is going to be a great first start for placemaking for for step one, the city of First Group.

And I I would encourage us to start there.

I would also encourage, I know, and Kim, I still appreciate you reaching out to our partner on the downtown association to bring the businesses and the property owners together to have that conversation.

But I would also really encourage that conversation to happen downtown association.

Okay, also bring in some placemaking experts from OMS and kind of help out discussions, including coming to council and all of us to um but anyway, long-winded.

I still kind of sticking with the whole let's simplify it.

Not really sure of the like project plan here.

I'm a little bit confused as why we're why we need to jump in at this point.

But like I said, I do agree with safety, the walkability, the biking as all infrastructure, and I get it, and I love it.

I think there's a huge piece that we also need to.

Thank you.

Okay, so um I'm hearing from two of us, maybe three.

I don't know if I missed Councilor Shimmel, but there was I know for sure, two or uh in support of the prioritization combination recommended on this slide.

Counselor Gusten would like to focus on just placemaking location two.

Um support as well.

Any counselor martinez, counselor marshall.

Counselor Schimmel was are you in support?

Yeah, I'm good with the first bullet, okay.

Um just jumping in real quick.

I am I would be supportive to discuss the central city lot.

I would that one I would I would I think that there's opportunity there as well.

I'm not really sure I understand how one location is gonna be better for partnerships than others because I don't have that definition and my apologies.

I didn't read the last minutes, but um central lottion as well.

Um, but it would be a I believe a bigger, much bigger lift.

Okay, thank you.

Sorry, Counselor Martinez.

Um yeah, the first bullet point is this is what we'd say.

Yeah.

And Counselor Marshall's nodding his head, yes.

I would go with what Counselor Gupsiton said in regards to um the first bullet.

Um, but I would work in stages like like kind of how she's mentioning, go with the that first part between Maine and college, and then kind of work with college um college way to see about expanding, but focused primarily on that first section between 21st and college and then expand out for bigger events.

Councilor Falconer.

I guess I'm I thought that was the that is our intent.

That is the intention.

Okay.

Okay, we're good.

So I'm gonna adjourn this.

I'm sorry.

No good.

Real quick question.

Were we just giving you sort of like thumbs up on only the because I'm looking at this and there's more than bullets with were we gonna get to the other like the recap locations?

I feel like it reads a little different.

The recap locations.

So we didn't want after the the locations discussion, the intent was that we went from 10 down to seven.

Right, right, right.

And now and now we were talking specifically about the what we had heard was that these four were still the priority.

And so this conversation was are these four still the top priority, or are any of the other three still on board if you had more information?

What I'm hearing, and I'm welcome to be corrected, is that these are still the priority.

None of the new information has changed that, and this is how we want to move forward.

Correct.

So I'm talking these both of these.

I'm saying.

Yeah, and I'm saying for both of those two as well.

I've just hearing that one bullet.

I know, and that's what I've heard for.

Are we okay?

So is the consensus that we can still, these are the priorities.

Okay.

I'm having consensus.

Counselor Govson.

I would just like to know what the next step is on this.

Yeah, so the purpose of this was to really codify or get some council guidance on where we want to see our event programs going in our downtown events.

So now our next steps is to go back and look at all of our event ordinances and permits and codes as well as our traffic uh safety plans and start to create kind of a program around if you are doing an event in downtown, this is how you do it here safely, and here's what how much space you can have, and here's all of the things.

So creating kind of a packet, it should actually make it easier for folks who are throwing events.

So right now you have to come to us with a traffic safety plan.

If we have kind of these pre-made templates, now we can give you the traffic safety plan and also increases pedestrian safety by being able to do that in a uniform kind of way.

So with that being so this isn't about changing what's there now, it's just about having a kind of some a nice process flow for people to follow to obtain um their permits and kind of have guidance on where events should be.

This isn't actually a we are going to make changes to a street, we're going to even out the sidewalks.

That's not what this is.

I should clarify when we talk about next steps.

The next step is about clarifying the event process.

And then as Council Falconer had mentioned, this is really an iterative process, and then starting to, and this is the next couple of slides, about some funding opportunities, and then starting to chase funding in order to make infrastructure improvements as we go along.

Okay.

Okay, thanks.

So with this going forward, will that be the main area for events?

You can't use Maine, you can't use the spots.

Let's say we do agree that it's going to be 21st college, um, like five or two, five, and six.

Would you be able to still close down Maine and the further part of 21st Avenue, or is this where you're gonna hold events now?

The opportunity or the decision we leave would be that 95 plus percent of events would be in the in these specific locations, and that if there was a very good reason, and I can't come up with one at the top of my head right now, but there may still be a reason why you would want to close Main.

Okay.

And 11 minutes, 10 and a half.

So I'm gonna adjourn this work session on downtown placemaking, and we're gonna switch quickly over to discuss the police facility bond ballot language.

Yes.

Okay, I'm gonna just hand it back over to our assistant St.

Mandar.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, so I will move pretty quickly through the background.

We've been talking about the police facility bond in several work sessions over the last several months.

Um this moves along with the community uh growth goal of build a new police facility.

The purpose of our discussion tonight is to come to consensus on the ballot language and provide direction to staff so that we can come to council with the resolution to put the ballot on uh to put the language on the ballot um for approval on July 13th, our next council meeting.

Um so next slide.

Here is some background.

Uh we've been discussing and working on the police facility um since 2015, 2016, um, and then since January, we've had um nearly monthly uh program reviews as we've been approaching um the ballot measure.

Next slide.

Looking at our ballot timeline, uh we do have the final day for ballot title submittal is August 14th.

So that does mean that our next council meeting on July 13th, we are going to need to make sure we have that ballot language approved, or there would need to be a special meeting of council called in order to meet that August deadline in order to have the uh bond on the ballot in November.

Next slide.

Uh just for everyone's awareness, this is the form that we fill out uh in order to put a ballot measure uh on the on the ballot.

Um there is some very specific uh requirements around it.

So the caption is 10 words, the question is 20, the summary is 175, and the explanatory statement is 500.

Uh what you'll see presented to council this evening is a uh repeat of the same language that was used in May 2025.

Uh we've reviewed all of that language against uh our new polling data as well as all the information that we've had from Tinken around our communication strategy, actually aligns very closely with what we are seeing from Petinkin.

And most of the changes that we are making in our strategy has to do with our communication activities as well as mailers and those types of things in order to um earn a new result from the community.

Um but this language is uh nearly identical to what you um saw and approved for May 2025.

So the uh first piece of it and mayor, I'll ask you how you'd like to go through these pieces.

We're gonna be talking about title question, um, summary and explanatory statement.

And if we should pause it each one.

Let's pause it each time.

If that's yeah.

So beginning with the uh ballot caption, this is a 10-word max, uh, and it is general obligation bonds to replace the current police facility.

Okay, thumbs up if we're okay with this.

Okay, I'm seeing consensus.

Uh moving on to the ballot question.

This is a 20-word max.

Uh, we use all 20 words in the proposal.

Um, shall Forest Grove issue general obligation bonds not to exceed 29 and a half million in principal amount for a new police facility.

Okay, thumbs up or down consensus on this as well.

Um moving on into the ballot summary.

Would council like me to read this?

No.

Okay.

Um, so this is a ballot summary, it is 175 words, and we are using exactly 175 words in this description.

So when we read this, going over our packet, were there was there any concerns, anything that you think needed to be edit, edited.

Is that even a word?

Edited as we're okay.

It's it feels weird to say it.

I'm like, I am a teacher, I promise.

Um yeah, I was I was good with it.

Thumbs thumbs up consensus.

And moving on to the ballot explanatory statement.

This is the place where we have the most words to play with, and this is 500 words, and we'll do welcome any proposals.

Any suggestions?

Seeing none.

Okay, consensus for this.

Yes.

Um, I think it's two more slides.

One more.

The next one.

Uh, so do you want to just provide a little communications update?

We have launched that we are going after the bond.

Uh, the press release announcing the November bond measure was published um Wednesday, June 10th.

Uh, we've already had um some news articles from News in the Time or News in the Grove announcing the bond ballot measure, and it's been active on our social media.

Uh the farmers market activated last week uh with a bond focused booth and tours will be going through the summer and early fall.

Uh national night out uh as we receive council direction is planned as a single community gathering on Tuesday, August 4th.

No market calendars, and we'll have more details as we approach the event.

Uh station tours and other community engagement events are ongoing, and another save the date is barbecue with the blue on July 18th.

And it should be a really fun time.

I have one.

Thank you for all your work on this.

This looks really good.

The one area I think that we have room to grow on that I heard from a community member just today is like explaining to the community that we're not going to.

So what I heard today on a phone conversation was you didn't make any changes.

You went for it, you know, last May, it failed, and you're asking for the same amount.

So really explaining that we did pair down some of the things and the cost staying the same is because the cost increased, not because we are just packaging the same.

Thank you for that feedback and I think something else that's worth noting is that um our proposed levy rate is actually lower now than it was last May it was like 70 something cents and now it's in the 60s uh due to uh a lower well yeah so that'd be another area that's good for that's good for me to know too great okay any questions about this communication can you send a calendar invite to the council members about the barbecue with the blue and the national night out please we'll do perfect okay any other comments for Kim before I adjourn this work session well thank you to you and to Stephanie and Joyce and the whole comms team for this the the team is doing amazing work.

Okay great okay we will reconvene I'm gonna get take an eight minute we'll reconvene at 705 we're gonna get a little bio break um thank you