OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Hillsboro City Council Meeting and Hillsborough 101 Utilities Overview - August 19, 2025

City Council — Tuesday, August 19, 2025
BodyHillsboro, Oregon
SessionCity Council
DateTuesday, August 19, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:02:12

Transcript — Verbatim
0:06

Being recorded.

0:09

Session.

0:10

And our continuing series of Hillsborough 101.

0:13

Thanks so much for being here.

0:15

And thanks to the staff for being here as well.

0:16

I'll turn it over to Robbie.

0:18

Thank you, Mayor.

0:19

Good evening, everyone.

0:20

As Mayor mentioned, uh, this is uh actually we're winding down the 101s, so we just have one or two more after this.

0:26

This is the last really big one that uh spans the council meeting, right?

0:31

So um there's a lot to it as we talk about all the different city utilities.

0:35

So we have lots of staff presenting tonight.

0:37

We'll see how far we get before the meeting and then how obviously after the meeting we have reserved as well uh to cover the rest.

0:43

So with that, um, I think I'm gonna turn it over to Raheem first.

0:47

Yeah.

0:47

Thanks, Robbie.

0:48

Uh good evening, everybody.

0:50

Um, we have quite a bit of stuff to cover today, um, and we have quite a few presenters.

0:54

One is missing, but she'll be here shortly.

0:57

Um, so I'll get us started.

1:00

Uh so like Robbie mentioned, we're here to uh do one of the one-on-one series on utilities.

1:06

Um, as we go through this, um do you have a quicker I can borrow?

1:12

Yes.

1:15

Um the staff we're presenting will introduce themselves along the way.

1:20

Um but I just want to acknowledge there's a lot of people who help put this stuff together, and there's even more people who do this work, and you obviously won't see them today because they've got other things to do.

1:32

Um, but there's just a whole team who does this work.

1:35

So our agenda is going to start off with a general overview of our city utilities.

1:41

Um, and um just highlight some work we've done over the past few years to better align uh some of our work, and then um we'll go over some utility specific information and then close with an overview of things we've done to continuously improve the way we deliver utilities within our city.

1:59

Um the presentation's split up into these sections.

2:03

So if it's okay, I would just ask if you don't mind holding your question until we get to the end of that section, just in case we've addressed um your question.

2:11

So to kick us off, um, I'll do a quick overview of our utilities, and Michelle, uh, our assistant finance director will also touch on some uh stuff in here too.

2:20

So I'll just keep going.

2:24

So we wanted to make sure that we just kind of set the stage a little bit on the utilities within the city of Hillsborough based on the perspective of a resident within our community.

2:34

So our residents usually get some version of these utilities that you see on the screen.

2:41

The city directly provides water service, sanitary sewer service, surface water management services or stormwater services.

2:49

Um, those two are in conjunction with clean water services.

2:53

And then we have a transportation utility fee that helps with things like our pavement and other things like that.

2:59

Um, in South Hillsborough, we have a community service fee, which um is specifically for South Hillsborough to help pay for some of the capital infrastructure around our parks and some other uh things related to our parks.

3:12

And then we have Highlight, uh, which is available in certain areas within our community that provides broadband and digital voice services.

3:21

Um directly, and Andrew will talk a little bit this uh about this in his portion.

3:26

Uh, we provide solid waste services, so the cash pickup and disposal.

3:30

Um, and uh council got a little bit of an overview, a couple of meetings back when we were doing the rate study.

3:36

And then we have private utilities, but the city does not provide any services uh related to like broadband with the exception of highlight.

3:43

We do provide broadband services, but things like Comcast or Ziply provided through private utility providers.

3:50

Same thing with cable, same thing with electricity, which is provided by PGE, natural gas, um, and telecommunication services.

3:58

We don't provide those.

4:01

Uh next slide.

4:05

So the intent of this slide is to just give you a quick um overview of of how utilities are run and funded, and how do we set rates?

4:17

And when I speak of rates for the purpose of this presentation, um, these are rates specific to the specifically to the utility bill, not things like system development charges or fees or other things, which we won't cover in this presentation.

4:32

This is specifically more focused on what you see on your utility bill.

4:35

Um we'll have conversations about utility uh assistant development charges and some of these other fees at future work sessions.

4:42

Um so generally, um well-run utilities always start with um a clear identification of what their needs are, not just today, but over a certain planning horizon.

4:53

Um, and those are typically identified in master plans.

4:57

And master plans usually have things like um what are the capital needs you have?

5:00

Um, and those are typically identified in master plans, and master plans usually have things like um what are the capital needs you have, so what projects do I need to build to continue to support the existing population who requires the service from that utility, but also like in the future, right?

5:12

So, what do we need 10 years from now?

5:14

Those are usually identified in capital improvement plans, and then those master plans also over uh also go over what do I need on a day-to-day basis from operating the utility.

5:25

So, for example, um, how many people do I need to clean the stormwater system or how many people do I need to service the water lines in the valves?

5:34

Um, and how often do I need to do that?

5:37

Those are usually in asset management plans or operations plans that then feed into like what your master plan chose.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Water And Wastewater Management██████████████████████████26%
Public Safety█████████████████17%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████12%
Procedural███████7%
Land Use Appeals███████7%
Affordable Housing███████7%
Fiscal Sustainability█████5%
Community Engagement████4%
Environmental Protection████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Hillsboro City Council Meeting and Hillsborough 101 Utilities Overview - August 19, 2025

The meeting began with a Hillsborough 101 presentation providing an in-depth overview of city utilities, followed by the formal city council meeting which included a sheriff's office report, public comments, and several action items. The council approved an amended street name change, adopted a fee methodology for natural resource mitigation, approved a community development code amendment, and selected a developer for the Willow Creek affordable housing project.

Hillsborough 101: City Utilities Overview

  • Staff presented an overview of city utilities including water, sanitary sewer, stormwater, transportation utility fee, solid waste, and broadband services. The presentation covered rate structures, master planning processes, utility assistance programs, and recent efforts to align utility management.
  • Assistant Finance Director Michelle Waring explained typical residential utility bills (approx. $142.19 per month excluding South Hillsboro community service fee) and compared rates across agencies. The city's bill relief program served 897 unique customers in FY 2425 with $188,000 in foregone revenue, up from 595 customers and $112,000 in FY 2324.
  • Andrew Bartlett described the solid waste franchise system, annual rate review process (8–12% return on revenue target), and the reduced rate program (75% discount for income-qualified customers, currently ~3% participation).
  • Water Director Nikki Iverson discussed the Joint Water Commission, Barney Reservoir, water system assets (428 miles of pipe, 27,000 meters), and upcoming water supply projects.
  • Storm and Sanitary Sewer Division Manager Alison Briggsing detailed stormwater and sewer infrastructure, including maintenance intervals, master plan projects, and partnership with Clean Water Services.
  • Transportation Assistant Director Tina Bailey provided an overview of transportation assets (8,000 street lights maintained by city), 82% sidewalk coverage, and pavement condition index (PCI) of 85, noting a $3.5 million funding gap for pavement management.

Consent Calendar

  • The consent agenda was approved unanimously after a brief discussion on item 4.4 (citywide janitorial services) regarding Civic Center bathrooms for events.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Trisha Raby spoke in opposition to Project Homeless Connect, detailing harassment of business owners and the closure of two long-time Hillsboro businesses (Class Cuts and Jan's Paperbacks) due to safety concerns from homeless individuals. She urged the council to take action.
  • Four residents (Miranda Mickish, Perry Gleisman, Fred Evanson, Matthew Kirsch) testified in opposition to the street name change for NW 273rd Avenue, citing disruption, lack of community engagement, and the pending disappearance of their neighborhood due to industrial development.

Discussion Items

  • Street Name Change (Item 5.1): Staff proposed renaming NW 273rd Ave to NE 28th Ave, SE Fieldstone Ave to SE 44th Ave, and SE Hazeltine Ave to SE 46th Ave to align with the city grid. After public testimony, council expressed concerns about imposing costs on residents of NW 273rd, many of whom live in unincorporated areas and face relocation. Council rescinded the original motion and passed an amended resolution removing NW 273rd Ave, while approving the other two segments (no homes currently affected).
  • Natural Resource Fee-in-Lieu Methodology (Item 5.2): The finance committee's recommendation to adopt a fee-in-lieu option for significant natural resource mitigation was presented. The fee is set at 125% of the cost to cover program administration. Council questioned the impact on housing costs and usage frequency (1–5 times per year). The resolution passed unanimously.
  • Community Development Code Amendment (Item 7.2): An ordinance updating plan district cross-sections and transportation procedures was adopted without discussion.
  • Willow Creek Affordable Housing (Item 8.1): The council approved the selection of a proposal from Mercy Housing Northwest and IRCO for a 118-unit affordable housing development (117 regulated affordable) near the Willow Creek light rail station. The project includes an early learning center and co-ownership with IRCO. The city will reserve $15.5 million in Metro Bond funds. Concept endorsement passed 5–1 (Councilor Salgado opposed).
  • Sheriff's Office Report: Sheriff Massey and Undersheriff Cook presented on jail capacity (572 beds, currently ~388 available due to repairs), countywide interagency teams (community violence reduction, search and rescue, drone program), and a proposed public safety local option levy on the November ballot (66 cents per $1,000 assessed value, estimated $337 million over 5 years). Council asked about drone privacy policies, jail expansion projections (1,000 beds by 2055), and pretrial release programs.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved (unanimous): Appointments to the Hillsborough 2035 Environmental Stewardship Committee.
  • Approved (unanimous): Consent agenda.
  • Approved (amended, unanimous): Street name change resolution 2894, omitting NW 273rd Ave but approving the two segments without current homes.
  • Approved (unanimous): Resolution 2896 adopting fee-in-lieu methodology for significant natural resource mitigation.
  • Approved (unanimous): Ordinance 6505 for community development code transportation amendments.
  • Approved (5–1, Salgado opposed): Concept endorsement for Willow Creek affordable housing project by Mercy Housing Northwest and IRCO.

Meeting Transcript

Being recorded. Session. And our continuing series of Hillsborough 101. Thanks so much for being here. And thanks to the staff for being here as well. I'll turn it over to Robbie. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, everyone. As Mayor mentioned, uh, this is uh actually we're winding down the 101s, so we just have one or two more after this. This is the last really big one that uh spans the council meeting, right? So um there's a lot to it as we talk about all the different city utilities. So we have lots of staff presenting tonight. We'll see how far we get before the meeting and then how obviously after the meeting we have reserved as well uh to cover the rest. So with that, um, I think I'm gonna turn it over to Raheem first. Yeah. Thanks, Robbie. Uh good evening, everybody. Um, we have quite a bit of stuff to cover today, um, and we have quite a few presenters. One is missing, but she'll be here shortly. Um, so I'll get us started. Uh so like Robbie mentioned, we're here to uh do one of the one-on-one series on utilities. Um, as we go through this, um do you have a quicker I can borrow? Yes. Um the staff we're presenting will introduce themselves along the way. Um but I just want to acknowledge there's a lot of people who help put this stuff together, and there's even more people who do this work, and you obviously won't see them today because they've got other things to do. Um, but there's just a whole team who does this work. So our agenda is going to start off with a general overview of our city utilities. Um, and um just highlight some work we've done over the past few years to better align uh some of our work, and then um we'll go over some utility specific information and then close with an overview of things we've done to continuously improve the way we deliver utilities within our city. Um the presentation's split up into these sections. So if it's okay, I would just ask if you don't mind holding your question until we get to the end of that section, just in case we've addressed um your question. So to kick us off, um, I'll do a quick overview of our utilities, and Michelle, uh, our assistant finance director will also touch on some uh stuff in here too. So I'll just keep going. So we wanted to make sure that we just kind of set the stage a little bit on the utilities within the city of Hillsborough based on the perspective of a resident within our community. So our residents usually get some version of these utilities that you see on the screen. The city directly provides water service, sanitary sewer service, surface water management services or stormwater services. Um, those two are in conjunction with clean water services. And then we have a transportation utility fee that helps with things like our pavement and other things like that. Um, in South Hillsborough, we have a community service fee, which um is specifically for South Hillsborough to help pay for some of the capital infrastructure around our parks and some other uh things related to our parks. And then we have Highlight, uh, which is available in certain areas within our community that provides broadband and digital voice services. Um directly, and Andrew will talk a little bit this uh about this in his portion. Uh, we provide solid waste services, so the cash pickup and disposal. Um, and uh council got a little bit of an overview, a couple of meetings back when we were doing the rate study. And then we have private utilities, but the city does not provide any services uh related to like broadband with the exception of highlight. We do provide broadband services, but things like Comcast or Ziply provided through private utility providers. Same thing with cable, same thing with electricity, which is provided by PGE, natural gas, um, and telecommunication services. We don't provide those. Uh next slide. So the intent of this slide is to just give you a quick um overview of of how utilities are run and funded, and how do we set rates? And when I speak of rates for the purpose of this presentation, um, these are rates specific to the specifically to the utility bill, not things like system development charges or fees or other things, which we won't cover in this presentation. This is specifically more focused on what you see on your utility bill.

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