Good evening, everyone.

Uh, today is March 3rd, 2026, and this meeting of the Lake Oswego City Council is now called to order.

Miss Hawkins, will you please call the roll?

Yes, Mayor Buck.

Here.

Councillor Raf is excused, Councillor Ackkin.

Wenlin.

Thank you so much.

And when you please stand or move your hats and join us in the pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God in the business with liberty and justice for all.

So, folks, today we proclaim the month of March as Disability Awareness Month in the city of Lake Coswego.

This year's theme is the power of support, which reminds us that support from family members, caregivers, employers, and the broader community help people with disabilities live full and meaningful lives.

We reaffirm our commitment to accessibility, inclusion, and ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to participate fully in our community.

And this month on March 20th, we recognize and celebrate Norus, which is the Persian New Year.

This marks the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year for millions of people around the world.

Rooted in over 3,000 years of tradition, Norus is a celebration of renewal, hope, and community.

And many who celebrate Noros, as many who celebrate Norus trace their heritage to Iran, we also recognize this year's observance comes during a time of profound hardship and conflict for many families there and throughout the region.

In the spirit of Novus, may the promise of renewal and new beginnings bring hope, peace for peace and healing.

As families gather to reflect on the past year, we're reminded of the values we share here in LO compassion, unity, and a deep commitment to belonging and peace.

So on behalf of the city of Lake Oswego, we extend our wishes for a joyful and prosperous New Year with the promise of peace and safety for families everywhere.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

As an Iranian American, when we wish each other a happy new year.

We stand against terrorism.

We stand against uh injustice in the world.

And certainly we stand against bullying.

Whether it's in our own backyard in city of Portland, or it is in Middle East or Ukraine.

But we stand with the people.

And this proclamation, I thought needed to have a little more context, at least for today.

This proclamation is simply for that we recognize all the Iranian Americans, all the uh Baha'is, all those who celebrate this event as their new year, because our value is to be a welcoming community.

And this means we see you.

We see you as part of our community.

And we have to move this forward.

We have to talk about these kinds of events and these kinds of cultures.

Because if we don't, not only we are not inclusive, but also those events haven't happened in the history.

So yes, this doesn't feel right at this time.

But at the same time, it's an event that we have to recognize for diversity and inclusiveness.

Thank you, Ms.

May.

Thank you, Councilor Afgan.

Folks, you will find uh these proclamations as well as all of other proclamations on the city website.

Um we are now going to talk a little bit about this year's Lake Oswego Reads book.

And I'm going to invite Nancy Nyland, please come forward.

Nancy is the library volunteer and special events coordinator and is going to talk to us about Tilt.

Good to have you here, Nancy.

Good evening.

Um thank you, Mayor Joe.

Um, yes, I'm Nancy Nyland, the volunteer and special events coordinator at the Lake Aswego Public Library, and it is my absolute pleasure to speak to you tonight about the 20th annual Lake Aswego Reads selection, which is TILT by local author Emma Patti.

Um the theme of the book is um post-Cascadia Earthquake in Portland and the journey of a young woman, a very pregnant young woman, um, on her long journey home after the earthquake.

We have 40 events in the month of April.

Yes, um, to satisfy many interests all over the city.

Um, we were fortunate, uh, the Friends of the Library through their generous grant.

We gave 800 copies of the book, um, and it's a quick read.

So my my hope is because all the books are gone.

Hope is that people will read the book and then uh turn it back in and we can um give more to people on the wait list.

So thank you to the friends for that.

Um major focus um if related to the book as sustainability and disaster preparedness.

Um we're doing a lot of engagement with community groups.

You can see um the ham radio, uh, prep Lake Oswego, uh, Lake Swego Sustainability Network, South Shore Fire Station, etc.

A lot of amazing engagement that we're gonna focus on for ages 13 and up.

But of course, we'll have lots of fun and engagement for all ages, um, including Lego uh Build Shake and Explore, things with the Lake Oswego School District, um, and the story walk uh throughout the month of April at West Waluga Park.

Another important element of Lake Oswego reads is conversations.

So we'll have lots of book discussions about not only TILT, but also related books and movies.

So there'll be lots of uh engagement and themes around Tilt.

We're also gonna celebrate, as we always do, local artists and actors will have our annual art show with 20 artists and have incredible presentations and uh first time only uh behind the scenes tour of Lakewood Center for the Arts.

We'll also hear from local experts to discuss the way other communities uh have prepared for and recovered from natural disasters.

So you can participate in person, watch online, three or more events or extra credit activities.

I'm holding it here, but it's also up on the screen.

The passport is a part of the brochure, and you can turn that passport in at the author event or at the library right before the author event and uh earn a chance to win uh a prize because we have uh several prize baskets thanks to the library advisory board, and my suspicion is they'll all be uh safety related.

Again, thanks to the friends of the library.

We are able to bring Emma Patti who will be joined in conversation by Henry LaTourette Miller, who is the author of the Pacific Northwest Disaster Guide.

They'll be speaking at Lake Ridge High School, and tickets for that event are free, but you do need to pick one up.

Um they will be distributed starting April 1st.

No event, no line or anything, just come to the library and we'll get you uh two tickets.

Um a little bit early, and we are having a mini resource fair.

Um, and we've got pretty much every um person from the city and um sustainability network, Aries, all these different groups to do a mini preparedness fair.

So thank you.

Huge thanks to the city for helping me with that.

It's gonna be a lot of fun and a lot of information.

Um if you are not able to make it to one of our events, we're gonna have many of them uh streaming on our YouTube channel.

And I want to say a huge thanks to Twalton Valley Community TV for filming uh the art show as well as the author event.

Uh thanks to our sponsors, which are listed here, Friends of the Library, Rotary, Lake Oswego Review, for the first time, Lake Oswego Sustainability Network, Lakewood Center for the Arts, and of course the City of Lake Oswego.

We'll also have about 25 sponsor community sponsors who will be listed in the Lake Oswego Monthly Magazine.

Uh without them, we could not put on such a wonderful program.

My pleasure to give you just a brief snapshot about Lake Oswego Reads, and I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you so much, Nancy.

My pleasure.

Um ever since we did uh cooking segments.

Counselor Boop and I had cooked some chicken.

And then Count, well, now Representative Wynne.

I always think what food could we cook as a part of this particular book?

And maybe we make some MREs.

The free dries, yeah, the freeze-drive.

Yeah.

How to prepare your freeze provides.

That seems like a very specific question.

It is well.

Yes, I we have a packed schedule already, so we'll know we actually look at what we could do food-wise with with every year, and there was nothing that really lent itself to doing an amazing cooking segment with with Mayor Joe and the front of the book.

However, we are going to have an event focused on IKEA.

All the history of IKEA.

I don't know if you know if there's a hit uh museum in Stockholm that's uh all about IKEA, has a huge history.

Anyway, one of our uh staff members, uh librarian has researched IKEA, and so it's gonna be an incredible event, and I'm bringing IKEA treats.

So we'll have some good Swedish Swedish food.

Well, I want to thank all of the community groups who are our uh sponsoring LO Reads.

It is a big wide community effort to put this on and for uh to you for organizing and coordinating all of it.

And uh I would like to remind folks that the Friends of the LO Public Library is a local nonprofit organization, and and you can be a member.

It's very affordable.

And so I recommend that everyone goes to their the website and becomes a friend of the LO Public Library, and um that contribution goes to help support programs like this as well as other programs in the library.

So it's good.

Thank you, Joe.

Your mother would be very proud of you saying that.

She's in charge of the membership.

That's not what's going on.

Thanks, Danny.

Is anyone having a question on Nancy?

Yancy, thank you very much for being here.

My pleasure.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

We're looking forward to this.

Folks, now's the time for public comment.

Some of you I have uh forms that you filled out.

If you are here to provide public comment and have not already done so, please fill out one of the white forms on the back table and hand it to Ms.

Hawkins there.

Um, when I call you forward, you'll have the three minutes to provide your comment.

There's a little indicator uh timer on the on the table there.

Thank you for respecting the limits.

Uh, Michelle Moore, you are first.

And when you come forward, please just uh introduce yourself.

You do not need to give your address or anything.

Good evening, ma'am.

Hi, uh, you've already heard my name, and I'm here with my husband Hunter and our daughters.

And we're here today as long-term residents of Lake Oswego to express our deep concern and trouble over the city's repeated failures to uphold our building and stormwater codes.

Uh, these are failures that threaten homes, safety, and our environment.

Um, a certificate of occupancy was issued for a neighboring property of ours despite major deviations from the approved plans.

They include multiple violations of the 2014 Oregon fire code, improperly sloped driveways, missing stormwater features, infrastructure misplaced by 10 feet or more, and no required DEQ permits violating state and federal law.

These defects funnel runoff to our downhill property, causing erosion, sinkholes, likely a ruptured water line, and threats threatens our slope tone.

These waters run directly above a city storm drain and Oswego Lake.

This risks the city's MS-4 permit.

The city engineer treats these codes as aspirational.

She's cherry-picked the codes from the 2003 design manual and the 2016 stormwater manual and called the violations a quote-unquote private matter.

This unfairly burdens neighbors with enforcement costs when the damage is due to the city's enforcement failure.

And it potentially harms the public.

She said, quote, let me be clear.

You need to stop emailing various other city staff regarding the stormwater complaints you have about your neighbor's system, unquote.

We have done nothing wrong.

But it is dangerous for city officials to spend energy silencing voices instead of safeguarding us.

She refused the simplest request to educate owners on required stormwater maintenance, leaving them uninformed, believing no issues exist, ultimately shielding the responsible party, which is the builder, Blue Pluse Properties, from accountability, which even further harms our neighbors.

We deserve transparency, swift enforcement, and accountability.

We believe that as many as 16 infrastructure code violations with just this one property.

Ms.

Moore, thank you.

I'm sorry, your time has expired.

Thank you very much.

And you can turn your comments or email them to us if you have more to go.

Yeah.

Thank you.

You will have them.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Stefan Ripson.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Hi.

I'm gonna speak very fast to do the time limit.

I was in this building last year when I came as a chaperone for my daughter's second grade field trip.

I mentioned this because there were two points of interest that happened.

First is that as the class walked from the library to the city hall, we had to walk past a crew of gas leaf blowers at Rossman Park.

My daughter said she could, quote, taste the smell of the exhaust as we walked past.

The other students became silent as the noise was overpowering and likely in the debel range of hearing damage.

The second part of this field trip that is relevant to today relates to the answer that each second grader gave when asked this question.

What would you do if you were mayor?

I would have expected someone to say they'd create free ice cream for all, but every single child said they would do something for to protect the environment.

In fact, when I told my daughter this morning that mom was getting a haircut and thus she would get to attend this meeting, my daughter took a sheet of paper to school and got 57 student signatures when told that when she told them the topic was a gas leaf blower ban.

Gas leaf blower use has exploded like a cautionary tale from Dr.

Seuss Lorax.

When a few are in use, it's a small annoyance.

But when almost everyone does it, the unintended consequences start to define our community and noise, air pollution, destruction of pollinators, habitats, and more.

Did you know that the emissions from landscaping industry has surpassed passenger vehicles in California and Oregon?

It's true.

Like on my daughter's field trip, where blowers tainted our outing, impact from gas leap blowers has become the norm and not the exception.

My kids mentioned needing to close classroom windows.

My daughter says that she works hard all week to earn an extra recess on Friday, as the students do, but when they go on into extra recess, all they hear is a blower.

Is this really the kind of community that we want to create for our children?

Gas leaf blowers are also inconsistent with other city goals, such as parks, climate change policy, and making people feel welcome.

There's been significant public testimony, numerous letters to the editor, and I have a copy from Mount Cyanite Children's Hospital outlining the harm for pediatrics.

They've been shared with the council, and according to the Lake House Week Review on February 24th, it says similar to last year, gas-powered leaf blowers were the predominant concern of LO community members who submitted public testimony.

For years, Lake Casuego has failed to implement any action.

We finally got a gas leaf blower ban on the city council last year, only to have it recently removed.

We've heard every reason from it being not fair to those who operate gas leaf blowers to the idea that enforcement is too difficult.

The truth is none of this is actually difficult.

The city did not substantially delay the 20 mile per hour car speed limit because of imperfect enforcement, and they shouldn't delay a gas leaf blower ban either for enforcement.

Please just enact a gas leaf blower ban, even a seasonal one to start, and we will immediately notice an improvement in our community.

Hundreds of communities around the country, like Portland, Washington, D.C., Irvine, et cetera, have implemented bans.

In a world with many problems, this is low-hanging fruit to make a meaningful community improvement.

It can be done in the near term, and it can be done without taking much time and resources from the city.

And yes, our kids are watching.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Ripson.

Chris Durke and uh Jenny Cherry Tree and company.

Good evening to you, Tia.

Mr.

Mayor, Counselors, City Manager Pro Tem, and staff, I'm Chris Durkey, 2356 Glenhaven Road.

I'm the chair of the Lake Oswego Fire Station Rebuild campaign.

And I'm joined today by my colleague, Jenny Cherry Tree.

I'm going to give a real quick update on our campaign and then turn it over to Jenny for some very exciting update, very exciting news.

We have over a hundred individual endorsements, many more coming in, over 23 organization endorsements, and more of those are coming in.

We've booked about 13 speaking engagements to spread the word on the project before between now and the election, and probably five or six more of those will come in.

And our website is up and going and being updated every day with endorsements, volunteer opportunities, facts, and all kinds of helpful information.

So now, Jenny.

Thank you, Chris.

Good evening, and thank you for allowing us to speak.

My name is Jenny Cherry Tree, and I'm here to announce the first day of an art contest.

And all students in our community from kindergarten to 12th grade are invited to join us to celebrate our firefighters.

And we think art is a wonderful way to communicate to the public and to tell the stories of our firefighters and to share what we value most about them.

And the art contest is here until April 21st, and we invite all students to use their creativity, their imagination in any way possible to tell how our firefighters protect our community.

You can use any type of artwork, crayons, color pencils, markers, pastels, collages.

We're open to all forms of communication through visual arts.

And it's a very simple process.

And if anybody needs help submitting, it's going to be an online form for students to take a picture, submit their artwork online, and then we're very excited to share that each winner will receive a t-shirt with their artwork, a poster of their artwork, and then the final winners will be able to have their artwork permanently displayed at the new firehouse.

So, fire station, excuse me.

So we're very excited about this opportunity, and we hope the community that is listening at home this evening and behind us shares the word that the art contest is open and we're looking for submissions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you all very much.

That's cool.

Jeff Weens Good evening.

Good to see you.

Good evening, Mayor, City Council, and City staff.

My name is Jeff Weens.

I live in the first edition neighborhood.

I am asking you to please ban gas-powered leaf blowers.

The emissions produced by the gas and oil mixture of the two-stroke engines is really bad.

It's way worse than the emissions from cars because cars are not burning oil.

The fumes are a known carcinogen.

They can cause cancer.

Everybody in this room has been touched by cancer in some way.

A family member, a relative, a neighbor.

It's awful.

Every time we breathe in, the allevii in our lungs allows the oxygen to enter our blood and is pumped throughout to every organ in our body.

And the carbon dioxide is removed and exhaled.

This is called profusion.

It happens every time we breathe.

When contaminated toxic fumes is breathed in, it mixes with the oxygen and is pumped throughout our body with every breath we take.

Nobody knows what triggers cancer, but pumping a carcinogen throughout our body with every breath we take can't be a good thing.

This is why cigarettes and secondhand smoke were banned.

How many people died from cancer from cigarettes that they didn't even smoke?

Gardeners are using gas leap blowers in every neighborhood in this city, which is putting the citizens and landscapers in this community at risk.

Think of the hundreds of gas leap blowers that are being used in every neighborhood.

This is a critical public health issue.

You have the ability to prevent this by banning them.

Since Portland now has a ban, the same landscapers are using electric blowers in Portland and gas blowers in Lake Oswego.

The earlier you announce a ban in LO, the more time it gives landscaping companies to prepare.

Recent polls and community input show that the majority of the LO residents want the city to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers due to significant air and noise pollution.

This should be on the 2026 council goals.

In fact, it should be a priority.

The health and safety of the citizens should be a top priority.

Please reinstate the 2025 landscape equipment goal that had a two-year time frame back into your 2026 goals.

Portland has enacted a leaf blower ban, and so have hundreds of other communities in the nation.

It's time to do the right thing for the health of the neighborhoods and landscape workers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Waynes.

Stephanie Halleck.

Hi.

Good evening.

Good evening, Mayor Buck and members of the Council.

I'm Stephanie Halleck, a citizen of Lake Oswego and president of the board of the Friends of Lusher Farm.

And I'm here to comment on agenda item 8.1, your 2026 goals and initiatives.

But before I do, I would just like to thank Councillor Afghan for your comments.

We are all citizens of the world.

As you know from previous comments by me on behalf of the Friends of Lessure Farm a couple of weeks ago, the city is poised to submit a land use application to Clackamus County, which, if approved, will make legal the recreational activities at Lusher, which have been illegal for many years under the current exclusive farm use zoning.

If Clackamas County does not take action, almost all the recreational activity at Lusher on Lusher properties must cease.

Surely you have room for one more.

One more when our parks and natural areas are so important to the community of Lake Oswego, and the future of Lesher Farm Park is at stake.

I urge you to consider adding that priority to that goal.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Alec.

And Mark Pullman.

Good evening.

Mark.

My name's Mark Pullman.

I am a resident of Lake Oswego and also a member of the Lake Oswego Sustainability Network.

I'm I currently reside on the board.

It's asking you to seriously consider reinstating the 2526 goal to phase out gas-powered landscape equipment.

It's very rare that a council that the council drops a multi-year goal.

LOSN is deeply disappointed that the council abruptly removed this goal in its current state.

With the collaboration of LOSN, SAB and the Council, we can get this life-saving project accomplished through the next year.

Please reinstate the gas powered leaf landscape equipment goal and allow us to move forward with staff support and direction.

Do this for our children, our grandchildren, and the elderly of our community.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mark.

Appreciate it.

Folks, is there anyone else who would like to provide public comment?

Not sign up.

Okay.

All right.

Thank you, everyone, for your comments.

Next on the agenda is the consent agenda.

We have two items on the consent agenda.

We have approval of meeting minutes from January 6th and 20th, 2026, as well as resolution 26-12, which approves a facility use agreement for the Lake Oswego School District regarding Oak Creek Elementary School and Lakridge Tennis Courts.

Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda?

Move to adopt the consent agenda.

Second.

All right.

Motion was made by Councilor Afgan and seconded by Councilor Corgan.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed.

Well.

That passes.

Okay.

6-0.

In an unusual thing, can I make a comment?

I didn't want to take it off the consent agenda, but on the agreement, which I fully support, I do think that we need to look at facility use agreements and charging government entities back and forth for uses of facilities.

We have supported a literally almost a half a billion dollars of school bonds to get facilities in.

And for the taxpayer to pay a fee for the use of facilities to another entity.

So my only thing is that as time goes on, maybe we could look at a reciprocal agreement that would be a little bit more.

So anyway, that's just as a former school board member and a city councilor.

That we need to get along and look out for our constituents.

So anyway.

Thank you for those comments, Councilor Woman.

Are you suggesting we add that as a goal?

Well, we'll we'll we're not we can't talk about it now, but we'll no thank you for bringing it up.

Thank you.

No, I'm I agree with you.

Um item 8.1.

Uh item 8.1, we have adoption of the 2026 council preferred uh future goals and initiatives and uh city manager Pro Tem, Ms.

Phelan, take it away.

Yes, good evening, Mayor and City Council.

Um tonight before you is the proposed goals and initiatives um based off of the council goal setting we did just a few weeks ago.

Um a couple of things I wanted to point out where we did some changing of some wording based off of the council discussion that they had at their goal setting.

Um looking at, for example, the first one, uh the first bullet under the attract and support a diverse population where people have civic agency the opportunity to thrive and equitable access to city services based on the discussion council had about the that first particular initiative, we added the words advocate for, which was a change from the original goal.

So wanted to point that out.

Um moving to the second um page under strengthened public trust in the city.

Um we did add language under the second bullet regarding prioritizing west side of town and urban renewal funding options for the modern library facility.

Um next, uh a couple more bullets down.

There was a pretty lengthy goal around understanding the outlook of the general fund, considering needs of the LORAC in particular, and we have rewritten that to read ensure long-term fiscal sustainability and routine analysis of the general fund and deeper budget review and new city programs and projects.

Our intent was to capture the spirit by which the other goal was uh initially put forth as part of the goal setting session.

Um the next one is the first bullet under improved transportation connections, mobility and safety.

Um, there was a goal uh initiative submitted about study ways to improve transit access.

We rewrote that as well to say advocate for accessible and affordable public transit services in Lake Oswego, including working with regional partners to further study options and opportunities for improved services.

And then last but not least, under the very last bullet of the last overarching goal plan for change and growth, we added Lake Oswego in front of housing production strategy.

Otherwise, everything else should be hopefully as council anticipated coming back, and I'm here to answer any questions you have.

Thank you, Ms.

Palin.

I think you all did a uh good job kind of working some of those um some of those goals that we had questions on.

I wanted to ask about the you know, in a during goal setting, we also had and we had our easels and we had some of these kind of parking lot items.

And if it's possible for us to add those items also to the um, you know, to the work plans that we look at each quarter.

Yes, absolutely.

So um we still are hopeful to come back with council to council on April 7th with our work plan.

So every initiative will be assigned a lead staff person who will develop a work plan, um, and those uh key components will be added to those work plan items.

Okay, okay.

So all the the item or the items that we said well, it's not really a goal.

Yep.

Yes, okay, we were able to track those and we'll be making sure that they're show up in the work plans.

Okay, that's great.

Um you know, to uh to be clear too, some well, and I don't want to pick on anyone in particular, but like Ms.

Halleck, I'm gonna pick on you just a little bit.

I don't I'm not picking on you, but I want to bring up your topic because we are before Clackamas County on a land use issue, and it's not that we're um uh it's just nothing that the council is taking up.

The council doesn't have anything uh to I don't want to say we don't have anything to do with it, but you know it's not something that's coming before a council meeting, it's something before a different uh body.

So it's definitely being pursued this year.

It is a priority for the city, even though it's not on the goals are just very, they're not everything, they're just what is coming to a council meeting near you in this building.

So I just want to make that make that clear.

We don't want anyone to think that their item isn't isn't important.

Um I saw the head nodding.

So yes, yeah, we are correct.

Yeah, but typically we try to focus on initiatives that were that we need council resources, council time.

It helps us also um build out the agenda for the year.

Um we try to be thoughtful to not overload you at any one given meeting or any particular season or time of the month.

So we want to make sure that we're being thoughtful about the council's time as well.

We know it's precious.

Okay, no, thank you.

Um we we also know that the goal of facing out the gas-powered lawn equipment.

We heard about it uh tonight from folks, um, and and we've uh has received a lot of community attention as well as a lot of our own uh time and city investment over the past um couple of years.

Um and uh our goal setting process, it did not necessarily allow for the type of you know discussion to weigh how best to present the uh balancing of the various priorities coming before the city, especially just the sustainability initiatives, which include important and urgent um uh uh the things related to the Emerald Ash borer and the tree code updates uh as well.

And so while while I believe that our intent was to continue the policy exploration exploration with regards to to GPLE uh to continue that work on the staff and advisory board level, uh I think what we can all see how it was confusing and alarming as we're hearing in comments uh to the community to see this goal that they've been advocating for and following just kind of suddenly fall from from the list.

But I think to be fair, just the way the goal process works, you know, we as a council didn't really have a chance to give this the clarity it deserves.

And so understandably, people were left wondering, you know, what what what happened here?

Um so I would like to uh propose that we kind of clarify that now.

Um, the fact is that the goal has uh remained something we intended to work on, but it did fall um lower in rankings and other sustainability uh goals.

Um so I want um you know to ask you all to make sure our intent is clear that it's to continue working on this uh uh this this topic.

Um I'm proposing we amend the goal list to add in proposed uh language that I drafted.

And uh Laura, do you want to put uh oh, we have right there.

Okay.

So my uh proposals we amend this list and we add explore and continue outreach and policy research in regard to phasing out gas power lawn equipment and to bring recommendations to city council in early 2027.

Um and that this essentially recognizes the work um that it as I see it, we are intending to do already um again at the staff and advisory uh board level uh to continue doing the work to make sure that as we go down uh this path, uh building on the work that we've already done, that we're doing it in a responsible way, uh a complete way and an effective way because as we see it is an item of of high importance to a lot of people in the community, and and as we've learned, it's also a topic where there are strong feelings kind of on both sides of it.

So no matter what we do, we want to make sure that we do it uh right, that we've given it all uh the thought and consideration it deserves.

Um and it's it's not a simple thing, it is not a simple thing.

Um, and it also is a time consuming thing, and like I said, it falls um amongst other pressing priorities like the Emerald Ash Bore Tree Code updates and the sustainable buildings policy, which also relate to the health and welfare of the community and um have some urgency as well.

Um so this is the proposal I'd like to put forth, and I guess I'll just make a motion that we amend the the goals list to add this language.

Can I make a motion to accept the I make a motion to first accept the council goals and then add that on motion?

Or do you want to remain a motion?

Oh, you made a motion to add it.

Oh, okay.

Then I second that then oh okay.

Yeah, that's fine.

Discussion, counselor uh Corda.

Yeah, I would I would really like us to see this.

I would like us to stay the course on this.

It's it's a tricky thing um because we have we need we do need more help from technology.

We've learned that from our director of parks and rec that they they have a really tough time when it's wet and the leaves are heavy, but technology's improving.

It's it's it's it's coming our way.

It it will be we they will be able to do that eventually.

And the other thing that's happening is we're learning from the city of Portland and other cities how they manage this to make it work for everybody.

So I think we need to continue.

We need to stay the course, we need to give it a little more time and make a commitment to come back to it early 2027.

Okay.

Thanks, Councilor Corgan.

Uh yes, I think the intent was to continue the work.

So um, though I am hesitant to put another thing onto the goals, I understand where you're coming from.

So and the and the community.

So um I can accept that.

I'm a little concerned about putting early 2027 just because we all know things happen and expectations then get set.

So I'm a little concerned that if we don't bring this then in January or February, that then we're gonna have people upset that again.

We've kind of so I am concerned about saying early, but um you know, I just would hope that because I'm not proposing that we change it, but I just want to say things need to be a little fluid.

So um I hope that we could get something early.

Um, that we can get some, you know, again, some proposals out there.

I'm a little, you know, I don't want this to suddenly mean that we're going.

I don't know what this is going to be in 2027.

I think we're gonna have again it's explore and continue outreach.

It's I think probably hoping to figure out what are some ways we can phase it in, but we still have a very important aspect of um how are people gonna register the complaints?

And I know some people are like, well, you know, that's just a really big issue that I don't think we can sweep under the rug.

I can't sweep that under the rug because we have a very engaged community who expect when they call in with a complaint that that's gonna be followed through with, and they should expect that.

We and um so I just want to make sure that we are very careful and thoughtful when this goes through.

So we do have a lot of work ahead of us, and I want to thank the sustainability network for their um uh offer to help with some of this, help us figure this out because it's going to need to be a community effort so we can figure this out.

So I just want to really thank um the Lake Oswego sustainability network for that and hope that they can partner with the sustainability advisory board um so that we can keep making progress.

But again, I am concerned about early 2020.

Thank you, Councilor Verdick.

I appreciate that.

Council.

So I agree with my colleagues.

I just want to go to process just for a moment.

Um, just so everyone puts this into perspective.

Uh we had 41 initiatives on our uh council goals this uh when we came to our retreat.

Um we typically try to keep our goals down to about 18 initiatives in a year so that we can get things accomplished.

And I think that's one of the things that Lake Oswego is very good at is we set ourselves up for success.

We try to manage the inbox so that we can uh have a productive outbox, and um uh while I support this for all the reasons that my colleagues um have said, I do want to tell you that this list that we have um is a lot of work for this coming year.

And I want to put it into perspective that we took off uh over half the initiatives that people want.

So while this group or that group or this group or that group is maybe not here today advocating for their initiatives, um there's a lot of input that we have received on a lot of great topics that are all wonderful for the city, and and I would say that after the review of all the goals that were submitted, I could have supported putting almost every one of them on our list to do, but we wouldn't have got them done.

And that is would be a poor reflection uh on the city and a really poor reflection on the city council for saying you're overpromising and under-delivering, and I would rather um underpromise than over deliver um on our goals.

And so while this is being added in, the fairness of how we determined and knocked off other really good goals was a very uh fair way that we do every year where we all vote um and we have a statistical in uh magic computer that comes out with a score, and the score basically ranks where everything is.

And I'm not saying that one is absolutely higher than the other, but I will say that this is my eighth session of doing it.

This council was as aligned as I've ever seen it uh in my eight years of supporting the goals that we came out with.

And it's not that we didn't think all the other goals were super important, but we had to make decisions, and we have to be the um the bearer of bad news in some ways, uh, that some initiatives just were not going to be put on the list and uh they'll wait maybe till uh next year or the following year.

So anyway, I just want to say we have a very fair process.

Uh I support this as an exception because it was kind of in process.

It didn't cut the list.

We had to make hard decisions to say we actually went to 20.

Uh, I think there's 20 or 21.

21.

21.

Oh we're three over already.

And now we're this is 202.

So uh it's beyond my comfort zone.

Um I think um we have a fabulous staff.

We have an exceptional city um operation here that gets things done, but um, I'm also going to be upfront with everybody to say we're maxing out the system right now.

So um if you're a goal that just got added, um be patient and we will try to get through it.

But just know that um we have to limit um how much we put into the hopper um so that we can get good results out.

So anyway, um, it's a great list, folks.

We have a lot of wonderful projects on here.

I'm super excited for the next year to see what we get done.

And I'm hoping that some of these that we can we can finally take off the list that they're complete um and that um we can add more.

Um and that we can add more.

So anyway.

You personally sacrificed the speed camera goal.

So I just want to take it.

I yeah, you're quite welcome.

And I did and I did have a goal that I wanted it 10 mile an hour speed limit like a school, but that did not get it.

No one goes slower than that.

That did not get to us any support.

So anyway.

Thank you, Councilor Well, no, I appreciate that.

Councilor Boom.

Yes, uh, yeah, we sacrificed uh cameras and and also and all my goals for you not to all I had three goals, all of them were voted out.

At the bottom, I think.

At the bottom, yeah.

And but this one was one among them, the GPLE, so that's why I supported it.

It was my first goal.

And I had a goal to ban cars in downtown Lake Oswego on weekends, and it was voted out.

So but then I will settle with having the GPLE, and thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I think one of these way of being a great leader is listening to your community.

And John said it last time.

All the goals, if the grading was 35, 35, 35.

It was amazing.

I was unhappy.

I left very angry that day because Laura knows.

But uh that's how it's the process, you know, it's how it works.

It's uh, you know, we are a very great council, very, you know, in tune, you know, we don't agree every time, but most of the time we do the right thing.

I think this is the right thing to do.

And uh something I always remember, and that's why I don't want John to leave soon, is like when you talk about the green zone, like the green zone.

Those are, you know, around the world, there's some green zone, blue zone, blue, blue, the blue zone, like in Italy, in where people live longer.

I think if you want Lake Osego to be a blue zone, the GPLE is something to ban big time.

So Mr.

Mayor, I am so happy that I think early 27 is great.

I think we should uh ban it now, but uh it's safe to say that let's see what Portland is gonna give us.

And but a year with Portland banning it, we'll have a great idea of how it's working.

So thank you very much.

Yeah, thank you, Councillor Boo.

Counselor Afgan.

I think uh you may remember that at the end of the goal setting, I said I'm disappointed because this didn't make the list, but I respect the process, and the process was fair and equitable, so that's that.

Having said that, in 2025, we made a commitment to our community, and we said two years from now, and I remember we discussed this, we went back and forth.

Is it at the beginning of the two years?

Is it at the end of the two years?

We said two years.

And also when the survey results came back, more than 50 percent of the residents said we want this to happen.

And 30 percent of the uh input to the goal setting was the same thing.

So the process always requires human intelligence in it.

So for me, it's not binary.

Made it, didn't make it, it made it, didn't make it.

We always have to go back and say, does this make sense?

And I'd be the first to admit that I should have pushed harder to have the conversation based on the information we had and put something like this in our 2026 goals, because that's the right thing to do.

And when we talk about safety and uh security of our residents, this is definitely up there for me.

I also want to recognize the LOSN, especially with their strategy.

I was expecting them to come in tonight and start swinging, but they instead they came out and they said we pledge to collaborate, cooperate, and make this happen.

And I really appreciate that type of attitude, and we collectively could put something together that addresses every of the counselors' concerns with education, with reinforcement, with communication, all of those things.

It doesn't have to be the city that does everything.

If other people can sit down and come up with the ideas and put it together, then it makes sense.

So I'm on board.

Thank you, Councillor Afghan.

Yes.

I uh want to um just recognize our department heads, uh, the board and commission members and the community at large for for all the input they gave into the uh into these goals.

Uh our work for the year ahead reflects both critical long-term infrastructure like the wastewater treatment plant and redevelopment projects in the urban renewal areas, as well as uh proactive work such as on the Emerald Ash Bore uh and also goals that promote a high quality of life, safety, and a welcoming and inclusive community.

Uh I appreciate the this council uh recognizing uh that often government needs to put efforts into um items that that don't necessarily impact the masses, but they may strengthen our community and demonstrate our commitment to ensuring the government looks out for those most on the margins, and we see uh goals as well that work towards those ends reflected here, which is great.

Um so we made a motion to add this language in to the goals.

It's been seconded.

Why don't we take a vote on this one?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Okay, that passes uh six zero.

And then I'll make a motion that we uh would it be like tentatively adopt the have it come back, or are you just gonna bring it back?

Yeah, I think procedurally um tentative tentatively adopt it and uh we'll come back with the revised language at a future meeting.

Okay, um, so I'll make a motion that we tentatively adopt the 2026 council goals and initiatives as amended and asked F to bring back a final version at a future meeting.

Second, all right.

Motion made um uh by me and seconded by council verdict.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye, aye.

Any opposed?

Okay, motion passes 60.

Okay, thank you very much.

Thank you, everyone, for your input.

Uh next we have a legislative update by Deputy City Manager Madam Thesey.

It's the final week of the session.

Maryland down.

Thank you, Mayor and City Council.

Uh, I'm Madison Thiesing, the deputy city manager.

I am here to present a brief brief update on the legislative session, which is the short session, and so it's only appropriate that it's short.

Uh, we are officially in our final days of the 2026 legislative session.

The constitutional deadline for this session is this Sunday, March 8th.

For a reminder, short session is only 35 days.

So very uh a few bills are introduced.

They move very, very quickly through basically one week timelines for almost every checkpoint.

Um, we knew going in that the state's budget gap was going to be discussed as in the the federal tax connect, disconnect conversation, the legisl the transportation funding, if that was going to be coming to voters in May or November.

And then lastly, some of the reworks that we were hoping to see um not only with uh recreational immunity, but then also with the Oregon ethics commission fixes that they did in rulemaking.

So we have been tracking a lot of the things that we've been looking at really has been led by the League of Oregon Cities, and so I I don't have a lot to update on our specific work for this session.

However, I did want to note a few bills.

Um we did rec we were had the opportunity to have a funding request sponsored by Representative Wen, that was four million dollars to South Shore Fire Station.

They just dropped that bill being the end of session ominous bill, which is when they have those last minute all the the Christmas tree bill, if you will.

Um it's not on the list right now, however, we still have a day or two to maybe see if it gets it moved into that.

Um we had asked for a million.

Representative Wynne did a wonderful job at least putting it as is one was one financial excuse me, one fiscal ass.

Um, but I just wanted to let you know I don't think that's gonna be a part of it, at least this year.

Uh one of another one I just wanted to briefly touch on is the Oregon federal tax disconnect.

Um, with those changes, the state will be preserving about 30 million dollars, which does help with the state's budget.

Um, and then the last thing I do want to mention is the gas tax right now has or excuse me, the data the gas tax repeal vote for voters will be currently planned for May.

There was a discussion whether it was going to be May or November.

It has now passed out of the Senate and the House.

Um there was direction from the Secretary of State that it all the filings needed to happen, um, or excuse me, they needed to be out of the House by February 25th, which is now passed.

Um, and so now the question is if they're gonna have enough time to actually follow through on that May election.

The reason why I bring that up is we have the South Shore Fire Station bond exact same time.

So we might very well be seeing both a question about the Gas Act at the exact same time we're gonna have this outshore fire station bond.

From a communication side, I will just say it's something we're we are thinking about.

We would love to continue to promote that local dollar stay in your local community when it comes to this outshore fire station.

But I want at least council to be aware that it that is what might be happening in May at the same time.

Like I said, it was short session, so only 35 days.

Specifically, what I have on my my list is continuing the conversation of if there's funding available for South Shore Fire Station.

They this last session in 2025, they had passed the nicotine tax.

It's not clear where that grant funding could potentially go.

And so I'd love to continue that conversation with Representative Wen and maybe see if there's ways that we can either get funding from that or another one of these capital construction requests.

And then the second thing that I am planning for the long session is to reach out to whether it's a Representative Wen or our Senate President Wagner is to talk about the Emerald Ash Bore.

We know that's going to be a huge financial cost, not only for our city, but cities across the region.

And so maybe if it could be part of our agenda to elevate it out of a larger conversation.

So it's not just a city of Lake Oswego issue, too.

That's what the plan right now for the long session.

As you know, once the session is over, we kind of do that behind the scenes work.

I think the mayor who did as a lot of that like with me as well.

And then I'll come back in the winter time with a new updated legislative priorities.

So short and brief, just like session for tonight.

Yes, they did a lot for a short session and uh yeah, a lot of activity down there.

Um the league had a couple, you know, um these lodging tax bills, which we didn't really big of an issue for us.

Uh we did we didn't, we did not weigh in on that.

Um, however, right now it's gonna be passed as a 50-50 split between the the basically tourism to to cities.

So we will hopefully be capturing more, and then we should probably at some point have a conversation of how that funding will be used.

Well, yes, it gives us, I believe gives us the ability to switch this if we wanted to.

I mean, we already are putting more money into the tourism beyond what we collect.

So, but some communities they they have more money than they know what to do with, and they're kind of left like, hey, what you know, we could we could be improving things that that are adjacent to tourism, you know, and whatnot.

So it seemed to make make good sense.

They also passed the increase to the state um to the lodging tax, the state's lodging tax, but it goes to um wildlife um habitat and and such.

That was somewhat controversial as well.

It's the first time they passed a lodging tax to go to kind of a non-tourism.

They they tried to connect it uh creatively to tourism, but it was a bit of a stretch.

So and uh yeah, I know there was a lot of opposition to that.

And then the uh did did all of the the OGEC do you know?

Did they all pass?

I thought there was still the clarification on the um the only thing I believe that's outstanding is the serial meetings.

The food has been addressed, the representation of local government on the committee the commission has been addressed.

It's it's only the serial meetings that's left.

At least when I checked yesterday or so I will double check.

So the food, what did they say?

Finally uh well, it clarified that you can have food out of a limit, they put a limit on it, but yes, yeah.

Which falls within our current policy.

No cave.

Yes, no caveat.

Um questions for thank you very much for the update.

Thank you.

We appreciate it.

In the uh in the next few months, the city will begin the formal process for the city manager uh position, recruit the hiring process.

Uh at a future city council meeting, we expect to adopt the standards and procedures to be used for the recruitment and selection of a city manager.

In the meantime, the Lake Oswego City Charger Charter authorizes the mayor to appoint a city manager pro tem with the advice and consent of uh counselors.

Uh an interim uh the or city manager pro tem may serve for a six-month period and to ensure stability has more limited higher fire uh capability than a typical city manager, but otherwise fulfills all the typical duties.

As I've stated before, we have an extremely competent and dedicated executive team within the city.

Um but it is a team that is already stretched in duties.

While they have the knowledge, experience, and skills to perform city manager role, just the capacity is not there.

And my goal in bringing forth an interim candidate is to provide the team with the leadership resources and management support.

They need to continue being the exceptional team that they are.

With that, I would like to invite uh Lynn Peterson to please uh come forward.

Uh Lynn is no stranger to Lake Us We Go.

She's been a resident and involved member of our community for many decades.

When Lynn and I first talked about her taking this position, she was only uh agreed to do it to be considered because of how much she cares about our city and because her skills, relationships, and action-oriented pragmatism are directly aligned with many of our priorities and the ethos of our entire city team.

Admittedly, uh Lynn is a typical choice for a city manager, which is simultaneously what makes her so appealing.

She comes from outside the typical city manager realm, which means she's coming in with a fresh and well-rounded perspective.

She brings an incredibly deep history of work in both an elected and administrative capacity, including getting her start on this very uh city council.

Uh I know Lynn and I trust her, and I am excited to have her here tonight.

So, Lynn, welcome to Lake Oswego City Council.

It's great to have you here and please introduce yourself and tell us about what uh you hope to bring to this position.

Thank you.

Umor, council members, and team Lake Oswego.

My name is Lynn Peterson.

I am honored to be nominated by the mayor for the position of city manager pro tem.

The mayor gave you a bit of an introduction to my background, but let me take no more than a couple minutes to expand on that and my management style.

I have lived in first edition for 30 years now.

And seen a great deal of positive and lasting changes to our city.

In fact, my first community meeting was in the mold-ridden city hall in the council chambers in 1996, and it was an extremely controversial meeting about read downtown redevelopment.

I'm glad to be sitting with you in this beautiful newer space.

And even more relevant to the work you are doing today, the council that I sat on has started the first discussion of the rezoning of the industrial land and foothills to make it a high density mixed use development.

And a conversation we began, but needs to be immediately completed is the new library discussion.

I may be coming into this position as an elected in this region, but I cut my managerial teeth as the board of Clackamas County, Chair, Secretary of the Washington Department of Transportation, interim executive director of a statewide nonprofit, and Metro Council President.

As a secretary of the Washington Department of Transportation, the biannual budget was 10 billion dollars.

And the B is correct.

Certified.

I never ever worked, but I had two weeks, two and a half weeks of training.

300 miles of railway system in eastern Washington, the congestion pricing program for the state, three mega projects at the time were all over three and a half billion dollars apiece, including the Columbia River crossing, the Seattle Tunnel Project, and the 520 floating bridge.

All the roads and bridges in the state and large-scale emergency management, including the Skagit River Bridge on I-5 collapsing, and the devastating landslide at Oso.

As your city manager Pro Tim, my first priority would be to listen and to learn.

How Lake Oswego works from the people who actually make it work and to understand what's going well.

And maybe where you've been carrying unnecessary friction as well as untapped opportunity.

Listening and learning is the only way to effectively lead.

My personal motto is GSD.

Get stuff done.

I think we all feel better when we work together to complete a task that will help the community achieve its goals.

Rather than planning to plan.

And your 22 goals are a really great start.

Your goals are my goals.

My leadership philosophy is pretty simple.

I believe in yes and as a working environment, respect for professional expertise, residents and business owners' lived experience and elected officials, clear priorities, expectations, and follow-through, transparency and trust, no surprises, a safe workplace where people can do their best without unnecessary fear or drama, and no call too small, which my city manager at the time, Doug Schmitz taught me.

If approved, I'll be meeting with employees, spending time in the field, re-apping my membership to the chamber and rotary, and now the friends of the library, and having honest conversations with department directors and staff.

Those conversations are about understanding and building a shared path forward.

I'm honored to be considered as the Pro Tem and will do my very best to serve you and this community.

Just to be very transparent, my intent is to uh put my name in to be considered for your next city manager past this fall through the search process.

So thank you again for your stewardship of this very special place, and I would be happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much, Lynn.

Colleagues, questions for Lynn?

No questions.

I don't test questions.

Happy you're here.

Yeah.

Okay.

Is there a consensus for the city to negotiate a contract with Lynn and bring it back?

That would be the next step.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Um, well, Lynn, um, thank you for um stepping forward.

Like I said, you know, we have a long uh relationship, and I appreciate you know, at the regional level, I have just seen Lynn in action um really working uh with so many different, I mean when you think about the region, all the cities of the region, all I mean, how diverse we are in in perspectives and needs, and um Lynn's most recent role as uh Metro Council president.

I mean, she has had to balance a lot, and I have seen her do that really effectively, always um very compassionately, yet you know, with with a firm hand and uh uh always a steady eye on what what the goal is.

And it's no easy task, and we have what we think our share of you know different interests in LO, but it's it's very uh um it's just so wide, and I've been impressed with the way that Lynn um operates with her calm demeanor um and and and her smarts um and just the way that um uh the the kind of I don't want to say like the the future thinking lean Lynn is a creative thinker, you're a creative thinker, you know, and always thinking of of new new ways to do things better, and I think it fits well with our team here at the city and with the city council also always thinking creatively.

How can we be doing things better?

How can we be doing them differently, not just always the same old, same old and I think you'll be a great uh fit here in this in this position.

Thank you.

Counselor Afkin.

Uh Mr.

Mayor, I don't know how we found her, but uh we're certainly lucky.

I had an opportunity to look at her CV and uh did some Googling and uh certainly uh we we are fortunate to have her, and especially with the network that she has across the other agency and other government.

It's uh uh definitely something that uh from my perspective, I think this is the third time I say we're lucky.

We're also lucky to have an engineer running the city, which could not be any better than us.

So thank you for finding her.

And I'm all on board.

Thanks, Counselor Afghan.

So our plan is to um we will um put a um uh contract together with Lynn and then with the city recorder will we'll call um our this council does not meet again until the end of this month, so most likely we'll be calling a special meeting then to approve the contract um and uh start date for uh for Lynn.

So thank you, Lynn.

Well, thank you.

Oh, yes, I'm looking forward to it.

So am I.

I would really like to take a moment and thank um our Tim.

Yes, Ms.

Fan.

She's done an extraordinary job.

Yeah, still doing it.

Still doing it.

I'm still doing it, but but you you really you really made it work for us and for me personally, and I appreciate it.

Thank you, Council.

Thank you, Megan.

Okay.

Thank you very much, Lynn.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Look forward to working.

Um information from council.

Okay, I have information.

Uh just a reminder to everyone, uh, counselor uh RAF, uh, who's not here tonight, his resignation has been widely announced.

Uh it will be effective uh April 1st, and I want to take the time, of course, to thank Aaron for his service, and we will have a more formal uh recognition um at the March 31st meeting, which will be his last meeting.

Uh, in accordance with city charter procedures, uh, we, the city council will fill the vacancy this spring through an application process with the appointee serving through January 1st, 2027.

So the for the remainder of this 20 um of this calendar year.

The remaining two years of Council RAF's term will be filled by the public in the November 2026 election process.

I have worked with staff to outline a proposed uh process.

During the March 31st meeting, that's our next regular meeting.

We will review the timeline, interview process, and set evaluation criteria.

Staff will then return during the April 7th meeting for council approval of the evaluation process with the goal of launching the application process soon after.

We plan on conducting the interviews beginning in May.

I want to remind everyone that uh the board and commission recruitment is now uh open as well.

Um and we'll be wrapping up those board interviews during the same time applications will be open for the council vacancy.

So does that proposed process seem good to you all?

Okay, okay, yeah, okay.

Um I just want to um uh we recognize the time commitment required of everyone and please be sure to let uh Ms.

Hawkins know of any scheduling uh considerations and whatnot that you have coming up with all the interviews and stuff.

Yes, I have a question on so the filling of this position, Aaron Rapp's position, will be um basically a seven month, eight month thing.

Then they will run for a two-year term or a four-year term.

Two year term, the remainder of his term.

The remainder of his term.

And so that position will be a specific position that people will run for.

Is that correct?

So that there will be three other positions that will be open.

There'll be open positions, so the top three people will for the four years, the top three people will get that position, and then whoever does the two-year position, however, many candidates are there, whoever wins that one goes for the two years.

Separate position.

I think that needs to be clarified quickly.

Um just because I'm so there's one other caveat for people that are out there thinking of running.

Um you're limited to eight years on council and consecutive time frame.

So this person uh if they do the two years would be limited to one additional four-year term and not two.

So yeah, um, so it's just a consideration for people to figure out um election strategy.

We will definitely know more about the general election process soon.

But the appointment, but for the appointment process, this is an interview and right and appointment in May.

Right.

I don't know if we've had a on the ballot vacancy.

Yeah, I don't think we I don't think it was two years.

Yeah.

Well, it'd be interesting.

Yeah, maybe it just goes to fourth place.

So, yeah, fourth.

So, any other announcements, counselor Afghan?

The uh municipal grant process has the second half has started.

The application deadline was last Friday, and councilor Corrigan and I uh with the staff are reviewing the applications, and next week we're going uh to look at uh the results and come back to the city council for with our recommendations soon.

Great.

Thank you, and Councilor Corgan for serving on that committee.

Appreciate it.

I just wanted to do a shout out to the AAPI uh club of Lakeridge as well as our library.

They worked together to do a fantastic lunar new year event this year.

So it was a lot of fun.

Um it's the year of the fire horse, which I thought was really cool.

Um, but they just did a fantastic job, and I'm really glad to see us um partnering for on these events, and I hope we can continue to do so.

All right.

Um Megan, okay.

With that, we are adjourned.

Thank you, everyone.

Good job.

Thanks.

Are you so long?