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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Hillsboro City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting - May 19, 2026

City Council — Tuesday, May 19, 2026

BodyHillsboro, Oregon

SessionCity Council

DateTuesday, May 19, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 2:29:47

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:00

Before we begin tonight's work session, I want to thank everyone for taking their time to attend either in person or virtually today.

0:06

During this work session, I want to remind people there's no public comment.

0:10

It's 7 p.m., however, we will go across the auditorium for our regular council session.

0:15

And at that point, public comment will be taken.

0:18

If you are here in person and would like to speak during the public comments section of the council meeting, please fill out the yellow card.

0:25

I think they're in the back on the table there or give it to our deputy to the reporter over here.

0:31

And when we move over to the auditorium.

0:34

Today's presentation is on the Water Millamat Water Supply Program.

0:37

And I'm going to turn to Acting City Manager Small Brooks, and she can do your questions.

0:43

Thank you.

0:44

And I'm going to hand it right on over to Nikki Iderson, our water department director.

0:50

Hi, good evening.

0:51

I'm Mickey Emerson, Water Director.

0:53

I also serve as the general manager for the Joint Water Commission and the Barney Reserve Reservoir Joint Ownership Commission.

0:59

And we'll be talking a little bit about those partnerships tonight.

1:03

We don't get to usually come and present to you guys very often, so we're excited to be here.

1:13

If you guys wouldn't mind raising your hands.

1:15

So there's a lot of work that's gone into this project, and everyone's very passionate about what we've accomplished over the last 10 years.

1:23

All right, next slide.

1:27

Oh, I have the that's right.

1:30

Not used to that.

1:31

Okay.

1:32

So tonight we built in these formatted slides, and these will be breaks in between the sections.

1:39

And we're asking you to hold your questions until you see this format until we break, and then that'll be a good opportunity to answer any questions you guys may have through each section.

1:48

And we put several of them in here, so hopefully you don't have to wait for too long.

1:54

All right.

1:55

So tonight uh we're going to try to cover about 13, actually more like 15 years of work in about an hour and a half.

2:02

So hopefully we can get that done.

2:04

We're going to briefly go over the Hillsborough's path to Lillamet Water Supply, our investment in the Willamette.

2:09

There were some questions previously at I think our utilities Hillsboro 101 session about uh regulatory permitting environmental benefits.

2:16

So we're going to hit on that and then talk about the current project stat project status, our integration plan and preparations, and then end with community engagement and outreach.

2:29

So every time uh we come talk to you guys, I always like to remind everyone of our mission in the water department.

2:35

Uh our number one mission is protecting public health.

2:38

I think we might be the only department that people actually we produce something people put in their bodies, and so that's very important to us.

2:45

We also plan for the future, not only for growth but for resiliency.

2:49

And our big part of our job is maintaining essential infrastructure so that people have drinking water 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

2:57

Nearly every person that starts in the water department says, I never knew how much women delivering water to people's taps.

3:03

And I think that's one thing we like to call our work is a bit of the unsung heroes behind the scenes to make sure that water's there.

3:09

And lastly, uh fire flow protection is a critical um uh mission for us.

3:16

Uh an example is the fire in downtown Hillsboro.

3:20

Um, we serve we had enough water that we were using that the whole city of Beaverton was using that night to fight that fire downtown.

3:27

And we plan to oversize our lines so if in case things like that happen, or for wildfires that we are ready and available.

3:36

All right, it's cutting off a little, but I can get that information to you guys later.

3:40

Um, so the Hillsborough Utilities Commission was formed by City Charter, and they have oversight over our rates, our system development charges, and they serve as our local contract review board.

3:50

So our contracts and things like that for construction and design go to the utilities commission.

3:55

And we have a utilities commissioner here tonight.

3:57

I promised I wouldn't embarrass it, but Commissioner is here to represent us.

4:01

Uh Gotsi might be joining us as well.

4:04

It's not able to tonight.

4:07

All right.

4:08

Uh I do like to say that it's not a successful day in government if we do not invent a new acronym.

4:14

So there's gonna be many acronyms in here, and I we try very hard to spell those out for you and explain them throughout the presentation.

4:20

So, what is the Willamette Water Supply?

4:22

It's a regional partnership between several local governments where we're designing constructing a new seismically resilient drinking water system.

4:30

So you'll often hear us talk about the Willamette Water Supply program.

4:34

Well, before we uh started on this endeavor, I didn't really know that that was a specific definition.

4:40

So large programs are pretty much when you have a very large project and you have to break it up into smaller projects.

4:47

Generally, they're over a billion dollars, but it could be somewhere in that range, is what they refer to as a program.

4:53

And there are people that that's what they do for their job.

4:55

They go build a program in one place for 10 years and then move another place and build another program.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Water And Wastewater Management████████████████████████████████████36%

Procedural█████████9%

Data Center Regulation█████████9%

Public Engagement████████8%

Environmental Protection███████7%

Historic Preservation███████7%

Economic Development██████6%

Community Engagement█████5%

Personnel Matters███3%

Summary of Proceedings

Hillsboro City Council Work Session and Regular Meeting - May 19, 2026

The meeting began with a work session (before 7:00 PM) on the Willamette Water Supply Program (WWSP), followed by a regular council session at 7:00 PM. The work session provided a detailed overview of the multi-billion-dollar regional water supply project, including history, partnerships, costs, rate impacts, environmental mitigation, and community engagement. The regular session included public comments overwhelmingly focused on data center tax abatements, adoption of several ordinances and resolutions, and council comments.

Consent Calendar

Approved the consent agenda (one item) unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

Sarah Richmond (virtual) requested a pause on the Sky Harbor Hangar project (private jet hub), citing concerns about noise, air pollution, property values, and procedural issues (FAA analysis delay, incorrect multiplier). She asked for an independent environmental assessment and notification of impacted residents.
Madeline Brink read from Wendell Berry's essays, calling for a philosophical shift toward ecological stewardship and opposing data centers; she suggested requiring solar panels, rewilding, and decommissioning clauses.
Simone Campbell criticized data center tax breaks, citing $7.2 billion in exempted property taxes, 50% rate hikes, and grid strain. She demanded a one-year moratorium, release of the city attorney's findings, and noted that House Bill 4084 may prohibit new deals before 2027. She referenced recalls in Festus, Missouri, and a Maine moratorium.
Blaine Ackley expressed unease about data centers, arguing they take land, offer few jobs, and pay little taxes. He questioned the city administrator's authority to sign contracts without council approval and urged council to void those contracts.
Antonia Lopez accused Councillor Case of slander, abuse, and conflict of interest due to his role as campaign manager for a senator championing data center legislation. She demanded that Councillor Case and Mayor Pace recuse themselves from data center decisions.
Jana (last name not given) spoke about school funding losses from enterprise zone tax abatements, estimating $67 million per year in lost property tax revenue statewide, with $900,000 lost locally for Hillsboro School District, leading to 131 positions cut and larger class sizes. She called for firing Economic Development Director Dan Diaz.
Ann Sandra (name unclear from transcript) read climate-themed poetry and quoted David Suzuki, urging council to consider environmental degradation.
Jacob Roloff criticized the planned executive session on May 26 as too late and behind closed doors. He argued that Hillsboro is using inflated community service fees to gain net revenue at the expense of school district and county revenues, with data showing a net loss of $63 million to the school district over five years for one site. He noted that a councilor told him "you're not my constituent" when asked about data center agreements.
Diana Jackson (planning commission member) expressed concern about data center sprawl, power grid upgrades, and rising utility bills. She criticized the lack of council attendance at community events and lack of urgency on immigration raids.
Denise Kerr read a sarcastic public comment supporting data centers and development, but the tone was clearly critical of the council's pro-development stance.
Mr. Persley addressed council behavior, stating that council members who dismiss non-constituents as not being their responsibility are failing to represent the broader community.

Discussion Items

Willamette Water Supply Program Work Session:
- Presented by Water Director Nikki Emerson, with supporting staff (Lee Lindsay, Chris Wilson, Jessica Dorsey, Stacey Steele).
- Overview: The WWSP is a $1.6 billion regional partnership (Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tualatin Valley Water District) to build a seismically resilient drinking water system. Hillsboro's share is 33% ($534 million).
- Current capacity: Joint Water Commission (JWC) treatment capacity is 41.75 million gallons per day (MGD); peak day demand is 33 MGD. The Willamette system initially provides 15 MGD (Hillsboro's share) with potential expansion to 36.2 MGD.
- Funding: Revenue bonds, a federal EPA loan (1.36% interest), and cash reserves. A placeholder for an additional bond is noted but not yet needed.
- Water rates: A typical residential monthly bill is $56.26. A 5.7% increase ($3/month) for 2026, with 4% forecast for 2027-2028. Other customer categories range from 3.2% (commercial/nonprofit) to 8.3% (industrial).
- Environmental: 700 permits obtained; work with tribal governments (Section 106); restoration projects at Molalla River State Park, Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge (Chicken Creek reconnection), and Rood Bridge Park (Rinco Woods).
- Economic impact: 77% of expenditures ($1 billion) spent locally in Oregon/Washington.
- Integration: Finalizing integration plan, water quality blending studies, and operator training program (OIT) which has attracted 200 applicants for recent positions.
- Councilors asked about data center water usage (1.76% of total supply, most use ambient air cooling), rate structure justification, workforce development, and coordination with rural communities.
Regular Council Session:
- Historic Preservation Month proclamation and awards for six properties: McFeeder House, Ulrich House, Masonic Temple (Tualatin Lodge), Collective Market building, Hill Theater, and 375 SE Walnut Street.
- Appointment to Planning and Zoning Hearings Board (approved unanimously).
- Second reading of Ordinance 6514 (Comprehensive Plan major amendment to update Parks and Recreation goals and policies) – adopted unanimously.
- Second reading of Ordinance 6516 (Community Development Code update to comply with state regulations on child care, residential treatment, and middle housing land division) – adopted unanimously.
- Resolution 2920 (Parks and Recreation Department to apply for Metro large-scale community vision grant for Working Theory Farm property acquisition and enter into MOU) – adopted with Councillor Sinclair recusing herself.
- Resolution 2921 (Support for Metro 2040 planning and development grant for consultant support on Urban Growth Boundary expansion concept plan) – adopted unanimously.
- City Manager Report: Public Works Day on the plaza, Oregon International Air Show, and farewell to Deputy City Manager Raheem Harji (last meeting).
- Council Comments: Councillor Sinclair stated she will ask legal counsel to halt pending data center tax abatements, rescind delegated signature authority, and require public hearings. Councillor Case thanked staff and emphasized respectful workplace. Councillor Salgado expressed interest in child abuse prevention efforts.

Key Outcomes

Approved consent agenda unanimously.
Adopted Ordinance 6514 (Comprehensive Plan amendment) unanimously.
Adopted Ordinance 6516 (Community Development Code update) unanimously.
Adopted Resolution 2920 (Working Theory Farm grant) with Councillor Sinclair recusing.
Adopted Resolution 2921 (Metro 2040 planning grant) unanimously.
Approved appointment to Planning and Zoning Hearings Board unanimously.
Councillor Sinclair announced intention to pursue options to halt data center tax abatements, including rescinding staff delegated authority and requiring public hearings, with a request for legal analysis at the May 26 executive session.
No formal council action was taken on data center concerns during the meeting; further discussion scheduled for a June 2 work session.

Meeting Transcript

Before we begin tonight's work session, I want to thank everyone for taking their time to attend either in person or virtually today. During this work session, I want to remind people there's no public comment. It's 7 p.m., however, we will go across the auditorium for our regular council session. And at that point, public comment will be taken. If you are here in person and would like to speak during the public comments section of the council meeting, please fill out the yellow card. I think they're in the back on the table there or give it to our deputy to the reporter over here. And when we move over to the auditorium. Today's presentation is on the Water Millamat Water Supply Program. And I'm going to turn to Acting City Manager Small Brooks, and she can do your questions. Thank you. And I'm going to hand it right on over to Nikki Iderson, our water department director. Hi, good evening. I'm Mickey Emerson, Water Director. I also serve as the general manager for the Joint Water Commission and the Barney Reserve Reservoir Joint Ownership Commission. And we'll be talking a little bit about those partnerships tonight. We don't get to usually come and present to you guys very often, so we're excited to be here. If you guys wouldn't mind raising your hands. So there's a lot of work that's gone into this project, and everyone's very passionate about what we've accomplished over the last 10 years. All right, next slide. Oh, I have the that's right. Not used to that. Okay. So tonight we built in these formatted slides, and these will be breaks in between the sections. And we're asking you to hold your questions until you see this format until we break, and then that'll be a good opportunity to answer any questions you guys may have through each section. And we put several of them in here, so hopefully you don't have to wait for too long. All right. So tonight uh we're going to try to cover about 13, actually more like 15 years of work in about an hour and a half. So hopefully we can get that done. We're going to briefly go over the Hillsborough's path to Lillamet Water Supply, our investment in the Willamette. There were some questions previously at I think our utilities Hillsboro 101 session about uh regulatory permitting environmental benefits. So we're going to hit on that and then talk about the current project stat project status, our integration plan and preparations, and then end with community engagement and outreach. So every time uh we come talk to you guys, I always like to remind everyone of our mission in the water department. Uh our number one mission is protecting public health. I think we might be the only department that people actually we produce something people put in their bodies, and so that's very important to us. We also plan for the future, not only for growth but for resiliency. And our big part of our job is maintaining essential infrastructure so that people have drinking water 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Nearly every person that starts in the water department says, I never knew how much women delivering water to people's taps. And I think that's one thing we like to call our work is a bit of the unsung heroes behind the scenes to make sure that water's there. And lastly, uh fire flow protection is a critical um uh mission for us. Uh an example is the fire in downtown Hillsboro. Um, we serve we had enough water that we were using that the whole city of Beaverton was using that night to fight that fire downtown. And we plan to oversize our lines so if in case things like that happen, or for wildfires that we are ready and available. All right, it's cutting off a little, but I can get that information to you guys later. Um, so the Hillsborough Utilities Commission was formed by City Charter, and they have oversight over our rates, our system development charges, and they serve as our local contract review board. So our contracts and things like that for construction and design go to the utilities commission. And we have a utilities commissioner here tonight. I promised I wouldn't embarrass it, but Commissioner is here to represent us. Uh Gotsi might be joining us as well. It's not able to tonight. All right.

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