Good afternoon, everyone.

This May 19th, 2026 meeting of the Lake Oswego City Council is now called to order.

Ms.

Hawkins, will you please call the roll?

Mayor Buck.

Here.

Councillors Wendlin.

Here.

Verdict.

Corrigan.

Here.

Afkin.

Here.

Mm-hmm.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Now, everyone will you please stand, remove 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, indivisible.

Okay, now is the time on the agenda for public comment.

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

But I have one person signed up, it's Robin.

Robin, come on down.

Good afternoon.

You'll have three minutes to deliver your uh statements.

Okay.

And just please uh start by um saying your name.

Thank you very much.

And I'm here to briefly highlight what we did with the uh preservation month program this May.

Last Thursday, we presented the making of Mountain Park, which um involves speakers tracing the development from the indigenous roots all the way to the present.

We also discussed how the area was developed by Carl Halverson, architect Robert Oringdolf, and others.

So Mountain Park began development in 1968, so many of its buildings are now more than 50 years old, and that's the magic number.

So that means that they may be eligible for landmark designation.

It's one of Lake Oswego's largest neighborhoods with a 2025 population of about 4800, and it covers about 600 acres.

We also highlighted Mountain Park's architecture and its natural setting.

And the brochure that I'm handing out is uh a self-guided tour of some of the most notable buildings.

I really wanted to just say thank you to the uh city council for your support of this event.

Um we drew about 175 attendees, including uh Ms.

Verdick.

And um, it was recorded for inclusion with in the library along with my notes and the other information that I've gathered.

So it will be part of uh Lake Oswego history.

And there's already been a very strong interest in that recording, so we need to get it done.

Um but your support also helped us create the display boards, some of which are out in the lobby.

And I would invite you to take a look at those.

And if you want to see the rest, um please ask Paul uh SP, and I'm sure he can make it happen.

Um, but some of the information on those included information we couldn't cover in the presentation due to time constraints.

But I would uh invite you to take that look at those display boards and take the tour and see a little bit more about Mountain Park.

Thank you.

How how so how are these particular properties selected?

Um representative of an organization called Docomomo, which is um an organization that supports mid-century to late 20th, late late 20th century architecture by the name of John Rush.

He also is the person that did the survey for us um of McVay South Shore.

Um, he and three others and myself drove around Mountain Park.

And I had picked out some in advance.

Um, but they also had their own favorites, and we came to conclusion that those were the ones that we wanted to feature.

Wow, that's very cool.

Thank you for all of your uh work on this project.

Awesome.

Thank you for supporting us financially.

It wouldn't have been possible to have the display boys otherwise.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Would anyone else like to provide public comment?

Okay.

We have resolution 26-14.

This is uh approves our appointments to the city's boards and commissions.

Uh thank you to everyone who applied in that process.

Resolution 2620 adjusts the city manager pro tem compensation.

Resolution 26 22 is IGA with Clackmas County for adult center county contract.

Uh resolution 2623 is a supplemental budget approval.

We have 2624, which is a tax exemption.

We have uh two one tax exemption for Hollyfield Village and 2625 is the tax exemption for Oak Ridge Park Apartments.

And we have the 2026 pavement rehabilitation contract award and approval of the Willamette River Greenway Trail Construction Contract Award.

A lot on the consent agenda.

Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda?

I move to adopt the consent agenda.

Motion made by Councillor Corgan, seconded by Councillor Mboop.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

All right, motion passes 60.

Okay.

Okay, and now we have our first of two study sessions this evening.

Our first is a discussion about library site selection and existing site reuse decisions.

And we have library director Melissa Kelly joining us.

Good afternoon, Director.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Councilors.

Thank you for the opportunity to present to you today.

My name is Melissa Kelly, and I have the privilege of serving as the city's library director.

And I'm before you today because of the council goal to develop a strategy for an expanded expanded and modern library facility, prioritizing the west side of town and urban renewal funding options, allowing it to serve as an all-ages and all activities community center.

To support council's upcoming decisions on the library's future, staff are proposing a three-phase project plan featuring two parallel tracks of public engagement.

Key goals of the proposed plan are centering fiscal responsibility, sustainability in the broad sense, and opportunities for public participation to shape the decision making process.

It's worth noting that sustainability here includes not only an environmentally friendly facility, but a facility that sustains the long-term needs of the community and can be maintained and operated within budget.

And we are seeking council direction on this approach today.

Let's start with a high level overview of the proposed project plan.

Two tracks for decision making for the existing site and future site in three phases.

And the decision phase proposed for January to March of 2027 would result in formal adoption of a top site and backup site for a future library and the formal adoption of a reuse recommendation for the existing site.

So that that is the framework that we're proposing.

And each phase would include at least one study session with council, opportunities for public participation to shape that decision making process, and a council business item to formalize key decisions.

So what brought us to this point?

Jumping back over 50 years, Lake Oswego voters approved a bond to construct a 35,000 square foot library in 1974.

In 1977, after over 1200 hours of discussion and study of potential sites, an advisory committee recommended that the new library be built in the vicinity of Cruiseway and Boones Ferry Road on a site of approximately two acres.

The present site is only 1.1 acres and was the lowest ranked of the potential sites in that 1977 study.

However, as we know, the library was ultimately rebuilt on the present site.

And due to site constraints, a 27,001 square foot facility was constructed, opening in 1983.

As a result, a series of community efforts and facility assessments aimed at expanding the library started five years later and continue to this day.

And as we know, during this time, the role of the library and society has changed dramatically, transitioning from a traditional book repository to a vibrant community hub for learning, gathering.

And with many different services provided.

So despite the creative use of space, and not to mention our partnerships with other venues, the existing site can no longer accommodate the growth and usage or demand for new diverse services.

Furthermore, the existing facility has reached the end of its useful life with significant and worsening seismic water intrusion, building system, and accessibility deficiencies.

And these conditions really restrain safe, reliable, and equitable service delivery, and they'll continue to escalate over time, limiting our ability to meet core community needs and expectations.

Estimated costs to address our current safety and maintenance needs are approximately 10 million dollars.

While maintenance can extend operations in the short term, they do not resolve core building limitations or the constraints of the site itself.

A replacement strategy aligns public investment with life cycle value, risk reduction, and long-term community needs.

Recognizing this, since 2022, council has had a series of goals around the need to expand the library to replace the failing building and include the community learning and gathering spaces now standard in 21st century libraries.

In support of these goals, a library visioning process was conducted in 2023, as was a library strategic plan.

One of the key findings from the consultant team who administered the visioning process was that expanding the physical footprint in a location that is proximate to Westside residents, since that's the population center is crucial to achieving the community's vision.

And the library's existing geographic location in the northeast corner of its service area is not accessible for most residents.

In 2024, a seismic evaluation and general facility condition assessment was completed.

And in 2025, the city's community survey asked residents what their top priorities are for spaces in a new facility.

Also in 2025, our youth liaison to the library advisory board conducted a survey survey of Lake Oswego teens, and 355 teens responded with what they need in the library.

Now in 2026, we're preparing for the next steps to address the need for a facility replacement strategy, recognizing that site decisions can be very challenging and tumultuous processes for a community to navigate.

As council and the community consider criteria and decision making around the future of the library, the core facts of the situation are that the current building is reaching the end of its useful life.

Ongoing repair is not a long-term fiscal strategy.

Community demand exceeds what the site and facility can provide, and more than one library is not financially sustainable to operate and maintain.

The goals are to make sure there is community awareness and engagement.

It's important for residents to know about the public process for decision making and opportunities for them to participate.

And this is accomplished through transparent, consistent messaging about the need to replace the library on a new site, reuse of the existing site, and again about the public process for shaping these decisions.

The communications plan is also a key tool to build greater community understanding and support for a library facility investment, and to make it clear that fiscal responsibility is a core value of this project.

Staff recommend a customized approach to communications and engagement for each track.

And again, those two tracks are decisions about site selection for a future library and decisions about reuse of the existing site.

For site selection work, a robust communications plan will be important to make the community aware of the process and of opportunities to participate in public hearings and to inform the community as council reaches key milestones.

After a site has been selected, deeper public engagement opportunities will be essential in the future to fine-tune and right-size the scope of services for the facility and further develop the site and building design to align with community expectations.

For the existing site, staff recommend a community task force comprised of key community stakeholders, including first edition and other surrounding neighborhood members, downtown business owners, youth, city board and commission members, and a city council representative.

Supported by an experienced facilitator, this group would be charged with developing reuse scenarios aligned with the council's criteria for the project, presenting them to council for feedback, and then making a final recommendation to council on the reuse of the site.

Here's a more detailed look at the proposed process and timeline.

Overall, the process is designed to center fiscal responsibility, long-term community needs, and stakeholder recommendations.

The criteria phase for both tracks is tentatively scheduled over the next few months in June and July to determine two sets of criteria, one to be applied to each site decision.

The criteria will be based on regulatory requirements, suitability, geographic considerations, financial feasibility, and other key factors that council specifies.

The analysis phase is outlined for August to December of this year and includes identifying options that meet that criteria, analyzing them using the criteria, and presenting a balanced evaluation for council for feedback and narrowing of options.

The decision phase would come last, tentatively in early 2027, structured for council to leverage the previous two phases to identify a top site and backup site for a new library and receive final recommendation from the community task force on the reuse of the existing site.

And here's another way to look at the three phases with key milestones listed.

Each phase includes study sessions, opportunities for public input to help inform and shape council decision making and council business items to formalize decisions.

With so much work ahead of us, it's important to have a strong internal project team supported by external resources for different stages of the project.

This just gives you a kind of an overview of that.

A project manager will coordinate and oversee the project through each stage, working closely alongside the staff who are subject matter experts.

They will be supported by an interdisciplinary city staff team who will bring their specialized experience and knowledge to the table.

Advice will also be sought from other staff who have successfully delivered capital projects.

And the entire effort will be guided by the city council.

And appropriate to each stage of the project, contracted services will also be necessary.

To prepare for the criteria phase, a building program consultant is being brought on board to provide pre-built pre-building program research.

This information is necessary to understand facility and lot square footage needs on a future site.

And that report will include a range of building scope options with minimum and maximum square footage estimates to inform council's decision about lot size criteria.

A facilitator will also be brought on board in the near future to support the community task force in their work pending your approval of this framework that we're proposing today.

So the rationale again behind this two-track three-phase process is to provide a framework for council decision making while maintaining flexibility and creating opportunities for community feedback.

The timeline is recommended to keep the process moving forward toward a decision.

There's a pressing need for site decisions to be made, given that the existing library facility is at the end of its life and the future project phases will take additional years of work.

And I know council remembers the video shown recently of the uh rain seeping into the building.

However, we can be flexible with the process.

It's designed intentionally to be flexible.

Adjustments can be made to the timeline, uh, and/or different or additional elements of public engagement can be incorporated if council deems that the community needs more time or opportunities for thoughtful engagement or analysis as we move forward.

So the questions before council today are um, does this look like the right approach to site decisions?

And do you have any additional elements to add or changes that you'd like to make?

Thank you.

Questions or comments?

Council Burda.

Um, first, thank you for the presentation.

And I actually really like this two-pronged approach because I don't think there's any reason why we need to do these things, um, you know, one and then the other.

So I fully support that.

I think it's well thought out.

Um, so I'm I'm fully supportive of this approach and moving forward.

I do have um, and this isn't you don't need to answer this now, but I think it might be something that would be useful to share with the community as we're just going forth and being transparent, and that's how much has been spent in the like since the last decade, 10 to 15 years on the maintenance of the library, because I think it's been pretty huge just trying to do the fixing.

So I'm not sure will we say that it's 10 million to kind of fix the building.

If I don't know that it's gonna fix it.

And I know you can't, I'm not asking you to answer that question.

I'm just saying we definitely do have that data.

Yeah, so we can pull that.

I think it's it's been significant because I have to sign off on all of those work orders and things come out that are just problems that pop up that we have to find find money to um you know fix the leaks and the elevator.

I mean, how often have we had the elevator go out and then we have an accessibility issue, and we have a lot of people who can't access um good portions of the library.

So I just um, you know, as we're going through and just sharing what what the need is, I think that's an important piece to include in that.

And again, I I thought that 10 million was kind of a conservative number as well to actually do the repairs.

Um that was the low end of the range that they'd given us in 2024, which is you know already been two years.

Exactly.

So I think that's yeah, you know, that would be if we were really lucky.

And again, I'm not confident that I think we could keep dumping and we're still gonna have water, and we're still gonna have elevator issues and everything that you showed to us.

Um yes.

So I'm fully supportive of this process.

I think it's um I think it's the right direction.

So I'm all for it.

So thank you, Melissa.

Thank you.

Thanks, Councilor Verdick.

Counselor Afghan.

Thank you, Ms.

Mayor.

Director Kelly, a couple three comments.

Uh as I have heard about the existing library and how it had to be shrunk by 23%.

I think that's one of our lessons learned.

So I'm sure it's part of this process, but it would be nice to make sure that we hone in what do we need, and make sure that wherever we go, whether it's existing site or the new location, wherever that may be, we go after what's needed and not end up in a compromising situation.

So if we use that as a lessons learned, I think that's that's a good thing.

Number two is I'm not sure if I'm in full agreement of the organizational charts you put up there, but it's a good start, and we're far from getting there, but it has all the elements.

And last one is I have yet to run into anyone that would say we don't need a new library.

Everyone, I think all of our constituents are all for it.

But the disagreement is whether we keep the existing one or not, or build a new library in existing location or not.

I know that the city council have had so much study sessions that we understand all the challenges, but we need to be ready to answer those questions succinctly, and black and white, so there is no confusion for the residents that this is the direction we have to go, and these are the return on investment ROI and option A is not an option.

So that's what I see in the community that's uh in conversation.

You counselor.

Thank you.

Thanks, Counselor Afghan.

Counselor Corgan.

Yes, I say um yes to the two-track, to the two-track approach.

I think it's well considered.

Um it incorporates a lot of what uh a lot of where we've been, and I think I'd especially like to um let you know I appreciate uh your sensitivity to the first edition neighbors and the downtown neighbors, and by creating and allowing them to participate in a more focused task force process.

So we're sure that their voices are heard.

They'll be the most you know immediately impacted by this.

And I think this is also probably under the the category of lessons learned with all the upset we had from the neighbors and like grow.

So we'd ideally like a process that everyone can get behind to solve this pretty big pretty big um goal and pretty big problem for the city.

So thanks so much uh councilwoman great report as always, but I would expect that out of you.

Um and the library group, you're very organized.

I guess I'm I think it's a great plan.

We should go forward with it.

I think in many ways we're over the hump of the existing site because I just um I think we've determined that we have um too small of a space for the needs of the community.

So while I think it's good to go through that analysis, um I'm going to jump right off the ledge and say that um if we want to move forward, um we need to do what counselor Afghan said to look at really what we need, and what we need is not gonna fit on that site.

I mean, it's just um it's just not gonna work.

So that being said, I mean go ahead and I think we should go through this, but I think we have to um lesson learned um is that we really have to look at what we truly need, maybe not what we want.

Um, but the one aspect of this, and I would challenge you to change the dimension or the the vocabulary of uh Lake Oswego public library um into more of the uh addition of the community center aspect because I think one of the problems that we have here, and I've heard well, Councillor Afghan said nobody thinks that we shouldn't be um replacing the library.

That is true, but I think I've heard why do we have libraries anymore?

And these are from older people, this this is from my generation, so um, and we're the ones who still read books by by paper and hardcover, you know.

So if they're asking that question, and then I explain, well, do you know what a library does right now?

Um they don't have a clue.

Um a lot of them haven't been to the library for ever and ever.

So I think in the in the bigger picture, um we really need to be looking at this as a um a new vision of uh space for Lake Oswego to um to embrace, you might say.

And to do that, we're gonna have to educate and change the concept in people's minds of oh, so they just have a bunch of books down there.

Well, we know that the value of the community center now aspect is that's what libraries are all about.

It's bringing people together, it's be bringing ideas, it's bringing um spaces to meet, spaces to studies, spaces to you know, do all kinds of things that are beyond just a book.

Um, and even though books may have gone to the wayside for many, they're still publishing books, they're still making books, and people are still reading books.

So, you know, and they always will.

Um, and the fact that we have one of the highest circulation rates um in the country for uh a community our size, these are some of the aspects that we have to continue to say, hey, we have a 25-year or 50-year record of being one of the premier users of a library facility.

Um, and so from that standpoint, um I think we need to look at um future site on the on your chart more than the existing site, because I just I just don't feel like we have the um opportunity to to go up to to six levels or whatever that you would need to build on that site.

I I just don't think that's gonna happen in Lake Oswego.

So yeah, just being a realist here, and then the last part is um it's what we truly need, and maybe not what we want.

And I've seen this in in the uh the last couple of decades when we've gone after a new uh library project or community center.

Um you get people and they keep wishing, and it's kind of like I would say the Columbia crossing bridge between Washington and Oregon.

Um I mean, gosh, now you know we could have done it for a third of the cost 10 years ago.

Um, but everybody keeps adding everything on to it, and it's great, but now nobody can afford it, and there's no way in heck it's ever gonna be built.

So let's be realistic and say, hey, if we can afford 40,000 or 50,000 or whatever, I don't know, we've got to come up with some realistic, and I think some of that has to come in your planning to have consultants um who know really the library world and say, hey, folks, you're talking about a hundred million dollar building now.

You I mean that's not gonna happen um uh with with all the ones that you want on it.

Maybe if it's uh X amount of dollars building, then and I don't know what that is, but I think there's good going to be, I think, some research that we need to do, some polling or some um whatever to find out kind of what the thresholds of people uh people's tolerance for passing another bond.

Because we learned twice now in Lake Oswego that you know, when when they went after the one where first edition um moved it into the North Anchor area, um that was a 70,000 square foot library with all kinds of wonderful things that it just I mean it was it did not pass at all.

Um, and so I think that was the disconnect.

Um, but uh as always, um I think you're on the right plan and the right approach.

Um so it's exciting.

Well, Council Windham brings up a good kind of question in terms of the uh assumptions, you know, what what assumptions are really fixed at this stage and what kind of remains open for um both the community and council consideration.

So let's just clarify this.

Because I so in the plan it seems like in this this plan the assumption is that the library is relocating, isn't that okay?

So okay.

Um and you know, this is a big project, and we have had it's both this library past iterations and just other community projects of town.

We see it takes multiple kind of iterations of.

I mean, look how long it took us the Lorac to fruition, right?

Like long, long time.

So we even, and then we looked right now, you know, today is election day.

We have the fire station bond, and all of the community engagement we have done on that still have people saying, why aren't we remodeling the fire station?

You know, like you know, so I mean we have really done a great job and have a great community team that has been uh assembled and has been talking all over town at every opportunity about why it does not make sense to rebuild the fire station and even some might why does it cost what it's costing?

Why, you know, so I really don't want to uh take and and that's a public safety facility.

So I mean they typically tend to be the easiest to convince you know folks of the need.

Um, and we've heard some of this with the library already.

I mean, it's gonna be um we we have you know uh like with anything, we have we have our champions who are 100% behind this, they see it, they know that great communities have a great library, and while we have a great library community, um, and our team at the library and all of the the social infrastructure around the library is really really great in Lake Oswego, the use of the library, but the building itself is just getting to to be not so great, and and we cannot make um it would not be financially responsible for us to continue just down this path of of increasingly expensive patches to a facility that one is not meeting our community needs now, is not going to meet our community needs into the future and is going to just continue to be an extremely costly facility to maintain to even just a very base you know um level.

But how do we how do we really bring people on board with that?

And so I I'm thinking like we have the two different paths and we have a lot of community engagement on the reuse path, but not really community engagement on the site selection path.

I'm wondering if that's what we kind of need to keep the community engaged on that.

I mean, on at every stage of this to make sure people really understand why we can't replace why it doesn't make financial sense or um operational sense to to rebuild the current library um and why it um whatever site we do end up selecting, why it make why the whole thing, why it makes sense, why libraries are different, because I just think it's gonna be that no matter what we do, we're gonna get to the end, and we're still gonna have people saying, Why are we even talking about this?

You know, um I think the more we can engage, and I know it's tricky because we do have two separate issues here the re the current site reuse and then the future site.

Um and so are those two separate community uh because it is two different topics, um but I think if we leave out the community on the future site slope, I think we're gonna get down too far down the path and maybe be leaving folks behind who don't, you know, again, while there's a subset, the champions who are on board, I think the broader set of the community just kind of even unaware of what is happening and we don't want to get to the place where it's decision time and people are just catching up with what's going on.

So I don't I just kind of pose to you all what you think about that, you know.

I think it's a great idea.

I mean, we had I believe however this book comes out today about the self-store fire station, that was a no-stone unturned process.

It was remarkable, and I think if if we can find another group like that, fantastic group that can do that, it would be probably a great path forward.

Yes.

And we did it with that group too.

We assembled a wide variety of perspectives.

You know, there was folks on the committee who who are more like, well, I'm I'm uncertain about the fire station, like if it needs to be, if we even need the fire station there, you know, like Council Wynn said.

I mean, that is 100% true.

Yeah, people like, why do we even need why we can just let it crumble?

I mean, that's horrible.

That'd be awful.

None of us agree with that, but there are folks who have that perspective.

What do you think, Council Verdict?

I agree.

I think the South Shore Fire Station gave an excellent template that I think we should be following again for this process.

Um, so definitely um let's like a two-task force thing then is that it might be because uh one thing I wanted to I should have said when I spoke earlier, and I'll go on to it.

It might be, because I uh one thing I wanted to, I should have said when I spoke earlier, and I'll go on to what uh counselor Corrigan said, you know, I think it's really important that we don't forget about the existing site, because what happens that is a big in has a big impact on the first edition neighborhood, and we need to make sure that they are engaged and support because if we don't have first edition support on this, we're we we're pushing the ball uphill.

And I think it's really important that we have them engaged and do something that works for the neighborhood as well as a community, and then to everyone's point, we also have the future site question.

So it might be that we actually have two task force because and one might be a little broader than the other.

I mean, I think as Dr.

Kelly said, with the existing site, you know, we're dealing with the neighborhoods and business owners, you know, and a collection of people, but then I think the future site is a much broader uh yes aspect of the community, um, and different members of the community and different perspectives of you know from the community that comes.

So I I you know, so again, I think they're similar, but they have very different roles.

But again, I just I really want to make sure that we don't um or that we put in the attention that that existing site deserves.

Because I think we know, or many most of us know that the existing building, it's failing, it's not working, and the existing site is not gonna accommodate a new library.

So I I think that message is getting out there.

I think there still needs to get out there, but I think we've, you know, I have to say, I think the the library's been doing a good job getting that message and educating, so we need to continue that.

But I just really want to be respectful of that existing site.

Um, but I love the idea again of kind of mimicking the South Shore fire station um, you know, process for the future site.

I think that's so critical.

So I think that's great.

I councilor you've been waiting patiently, but Lynn, everybody just wanted to pose the question of how you saw the library advisory committee and um the friends of the library participating in this because I think we had been relying on that as the base assumption of who should be involved in helping, um, and really kind of going off of that.

But if there's more that you'd like to see a whole new committee, um we can come back with that.

Maybe just uh, yeah, because the library advisory board and friends have been huge, you know, to this process, but broadening broadening that that those are the championship and that's what happened last time is that it was it stayed with the champions, and they didn't invite anyone else to the table, and that's why it didn't pass.

Yeah, people just didn't know about it.

Right.

And so you need, I mean, you need the mom's group.

I mean, that mom's Facebook thing that everybody uses.

I if they're advocating for it, it will pass.

And they should be because take your kids to our children's library.

Great programming.

Yes, fabulous programming.

Horrible facilities.

Yes.

So I mean, and and it's not up to the standard for like us we go.

Sorry.

I mean, it's just um, you know, once we once we built a new city hall, it's just kind of like we have new standards everywhere.

But um, bottom line is that it's just not representative of our communities standards.

So uh councilman boot, thank you for your patience.

Yeah, I mean I worked with Melissa and the advisory board.

I think as we we will always lose a bet against uh the existence of school in the next five to one thousand years, we lose a bet against libraries.

I believe we'll always be here, you know.

It's uh more like Counselor Men said, it's more than having books than my students just left the library.

They yeah, they were there, you know, and they go there.

They there's a library of things where there's a library, even to get seeds.

We have a garden, we went so it's more than the perceived idea of having a book.

You can have a book from Amazon, but Amazon will never be a library.

It's a community center, it's a learning place.

So it's also a no-brainer that the building there is gone.

It's like, you know, and two years ago, Melissa and we were a group of five or six who went to a library around.

Yeah, I think Conservative was there.

Honestly, it's even it's embarrassing to be part of Lake Oswego when you go to other places, and we always say we are that high.

And we always say we are that high.

The blue zones.

We want to be a blue zone.

And the blue zone is also part of where you can have knowledge.

It's important in places where people live long, are places where you have this.

So people see things in a grandiose way.

It showed them also that they live longer.

It's a part of living longer.

It's a this library is really something we have to put a kibosh on, like just boom.

We close it for safety reasons.

What you show last time, I was shocked that in Lake Oswego, we have buckets to get water against.

I mean, it's even it's a terrible image to show to the world.

Plus, there's a safety.

When my student goes there, I say, wow, maybe, you know, maybe the roof is not safe.

So we need to, yeah, we need to chant.

That's a fact.

Everyone agrees with that.

And that's when I agree with Councillor Afghanistan.

You talk to everyone, they say we need to have something now.

Is it gonna be there like my friend?

You know, Councillor Raf, we would say, yeah, maybe we can build that place.

Some people would think that.

I think that we should go to, you know, work with I don't know if I can say that here, but like the places that we have in on Boons Fey where the acres where we can build a library over there.

We can build a library in many places in Lake Oswego where we have land.

We can talk about that.

So I agree with your plan 100%.

We should what we're gonna do with this site.

That I don't know.

We can I think it's also something uh a reward for the community over there that that site becomes something that also they can cling to, you know, that we just not come and destroy it.

Maybe have something there, maybe add more on the adult community center or something should be there in place of the library, and remove it somewhere.

Or I was thinking a satellite, but you will put 10 million dollars to fix it.

That's not even so you know and like Joe said, it would be very dangerous to just have a whole group of people say that oh, the library advisory board, friends of library.

We have like you say, all the constituents of Lake Cosvigo have to pitch in to say what they want, where they want it to go, and with a timeline, like we did all we are doing, the envisioning, we have to talk to everybody because it's uh it's not a first edition thing and the city, it's the Lake Coswego thing.

We talk to everyone, and I also get something.

The result of tonight's election would encourage or discourage us to move forward.

Thank you.

Councillor Book.

Councilor Afghan.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

I think we all agree that we need a new library.

We all said that.

And one of the things Councillor Wendland and I were talking about the other day was that whichever city we go to, we try to find the library there and see what they're doing.

And uh our library right now represents our city.

It's not a bad library.

When it was built, it was perfect, and now it's outdated.

So I think if we took a vote today, we all approved the budget and we say let's go, but we don't have that authority.

The question becomes how do we come out and campaign for such a big project that the community has to vote on it in order to make it a reality?

It's not something that we go in and see what happens, it's something that we go in with the intention of having the critical mass to make this a possibility.

So that's a that's a big job.

I think on the fire station, we had people whose kids are big kids or uh firefighters.

So they had the passion, they went after it.

Here we may have a different uh situation.

And I agree with you, Mr.

Mayor.

We need to have two task force to make every possible scenario looked at so when we come out, it's almost hundred percent.

Yeah.

Okay.

Thank you.

What's did uh director?

Did you say too that in I didn't know if I knew this this fact in 77 the when they were going out for the bond to build a library that the proposed site was the cruise and boons?

It was a few years after the bond passed that they did that research.

Oh, interesting.

Yeah, because that bond passed in 74, and then they were looking for for a site to build and and did that study.

So look at that.

Here we are, right back right back to where we started from.

Um it was about you know, well, if things are mountain park was just being built.

And it's you know, the the libraries over you know, back in the 70s, 80s and whatnot, you know, we had a uh a multitude of other kind of um uh places for social gathering, you know, in communities, people but in the churches more not that of course church is still around, but churches, other other institutions in town and where people could go and gather, you know, and whatnot.

And now really the last remaining kind of place just to go and be is a library, which is why they have evolved from just the books to now they've really supplanted some of these other past uh uses and they're also leveling the playing field when it comes to access to technology and and and resources, you know, as well, because as those have become you know quite broadly available, it's not the same, you know, for for everyone.

So libraries fill that role as well, one of education, community gathering, and they're just critical uh institutions for the community.

So I'd say it's just great that we as a council we are all united behind you know this um project.

And I know we have a lot of community members who feel the same way.

Um and and uh now it's really just making sure that our process is uh transparent and disciplined, financially uh uh credible, and that we address, you know, um uh and that it's genuine genuinely aligned with the long-term uh community uh priorities.

And I know that we can do that.

Director Kelly, you have a great team.

We have a great team here at the city um and a great community to lead this uh process.

And we've seen the community in these recent years coming together around these larger projects that are important um uh aspects that really add a great deal to the quality of life here in in Lake Oswego.

Um and uh I know that we'll be able to uh to do this together, and I appreciate you thinking through this thoughtful plan and all of the engagement the library has been doing around this project in these past years has been so informative.

You know, so I know this isn't all obviously all this is a this is already the culmination of multiple years of of thoughtful engagement and collaboration with members of the community um with uh with neighbors, but I just think it's important for us to recognize the the heaviness of this situation, you know, how endeared people are to this particular facility because we are a community that that that you know does things the right way.

I mean, this library was built with a lot of love, and people have grown up with this library and have existed in our community with this library for for generations now, and so it's not lost on us the the difficulty of having to relocate this facility and do something else, but we have to think about the future, you know, the the kids and and their kids and what and that their needs are going to be different than our needs were here in in the 70s and see the positivity in the in that as well, but also recognizing that that takes some sacrifice too on on the part of of all of us.

So um thank you for the continued work.

I hope have we provided the the direction that you need to take this to the next step.

Is there any clarification we can provide?

Um I don't think so.

I think that this was very clear feedback.

We'll definitely be thinking about how to provide more opportunities for public engagement, um, as you mentioned with the new site selection.

There's definitely gonna be a lot of opportunities over the years, but I think uh I hear your point that this is another opportunity, and we can bring even more people into that into that conversation.

Um I did want to, of course, thank you uh for having me here with you today and for your guidance on this project.

Um I'm scheduled to be back with you on June 2nd for study sessions on the criteria you'd like to use for these two site decisions.

Um, and also wanted to mention that at one of the July meetings, we will be coming back with information from the building consultant um relative to what Councillor Wenlin, I think um Councillor Afgan had mentioned about getting um more information about what do we need, what size site do we need to uh so that we can make sure that we learn from that lesson of the past and have enough space as we continue moving forward.

So you can look forward to that, and we'll take all this great feedback and keep moving forward with this project.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Your presentation.

By the time you retire, we will have a library.

I'm gonna do before then.

Okay, next on the agenda, we have our annual arts uh Lake Osugo Arts Council, Arts Council of Lake Oswego annual update.

So I invite our assistant city manager, uh, Megan Phelan and Arts Council of Lake Osico, executive director, Nicole Nathan.

It's great to have you both here.

Good afternoon, everyone.

Thanks for having us.

I'm Nicole Nathan, the executive director at the Arts Council of Lake Oswego.

And Megan and I are going to be talking today.

So thank you again for allowing us to come and talk to you today.

Here are some great images from just a few of our activities over the last year, along with our mission, vision, and values.

So our mission is to enrich lives through art, and our vision of the Arts Council makes it possible to experience the power of art every day.

One of the sculptures included at Lorac by Michihiro Kusuge, and a talk by the beloved Monica Setzel Phillips in ArtSpace.

So reviewing 2025 in January of that year, the ACLO contract and liaison relationship were moved from parks and recreation to the city manager's office.

And Megan, as I mentioned, is our liaison to ACLO.

And this year, our council liaisons to the public art committee are counselors Wendland and Verdick, who have been our liaisons previously and always love having them.

So the first quarter of 2025 consisted of a lot of strategic planning and implementation on our part of the 24 through 29 Public Art Master Plan, as well as the public art guidelines, both of which were passed in July of 2024.

That passage in 2024 did not include funding for projects outside of our contract.

So this necessitated strategic planning both internally with board staff and stakeholders, as well as externally with the city to address goals and initiatives included in the public art master plan and alignment of time-based activities, which is a lot of what you see here, as well as future contracted tasks and remuneration between ACLO and the city.

So what we really tried to do is line up schedules as to when things were happening.

So if we go top to bottom, as you see our contract uh ends again June 30th.

So our proposed contract would line up with budget years.

They would also line up with city budget two-year processes.

So between now and 2029.

It also would work in conjunction with the public art master plan.

And part of that was also a work plan that would be updated every year to two years, and we would come to you at council to propose this is what we would like to work on over the next year or two years, and then get your approval on that.

As long as as well as the ACLO strategic plan.

So those were a lot of things to try and line up, and uh I think we got there.

And you see a selection of them right here.

Um interestingly, the three along the bottom are three of our choices for people's choice.

So PUP by Ben Dye, Eva Seela by McRae Wilde, Night Flight Journey of Dreams by Angelina Marino Heidel, and then we also have Snail Spring or The Snail by Will Jewett in that pub in that uh in those choices for people's choice.

Um five new artists were came into the program last year, including two first-time public artists, uh, Will Jewett, who made the snail, as well as Kit Carlton, who made Trillium Light Bath, which is over by Safeway.

We really mentored and helped Kit with her material selection, assistance with grant writing to Clackamas County Cultural Coalition, troubleshooting on installation.

There were some challenges with installation, and ensuring that the pieces able to withstand the public part of public art.

But we have resolved those.

Also last year works identified or solicited by the Lorac Selection Committee were installed throughout the interior and exterior of the site between early spring through July of 2025.

So there were two commissioned pieces as part of this project.

This is a site-specific mural entitled Swimming in Circles by Davy Barnwell, which you see here.

Also, there is Living Steel 2 by Diego Harris on the left there.

And also included were existing works from either the city's collection or donations that came to us.

On the right, there you see Alyssa Looney's Going for Your Vision, which has been part of the collection for a long time.

It was a people's choice.

And that was a special request from the Parks Department.

We also have Hink Nelson's Deborah in Motion, as well as three sculptures from Michihiro Kusuge, his estate.

And that's Evolve number two, which are the benches there in the middle, Lava, and the piece on the left, I see you, hear you, and kiss me.

In addition, a number of works from the permanent collection were included on the interior of the building, including these pieces by on the left, Bruce West, and right Bill Bailey.

More collections work, of course, included Spirit of the Marsh.

So with the opening of Oswego Lake to the public, Spirit of the Marsh had to be removed and deinstalled.

So on the left, you can see when the boulders were removed from the lake, the pieces of artwork that were attached needed to be removed as well.

So we didn't save all the boulders.

But the artwork itself was palletized and taken to storage over near Lusher Farm.

And so what you see on the right are some of our collections, volunteers measuring, photographing, and inventorying those pieces.

So here you see sunbaters on the right there looking nice and bright and pink after some cleaning.

Fairy Tree has a number of structural issues.

And so we looked at those trying to evaluate what might happen with that, what we can do, what is beyond what we're able to do, potential relocation, cost estimates for work, and possible deaccession.

For August Trunk on the bottom, it also is experiencing some rust just due to age and nature of the materials and some biological growth there.

So that's what we call it in conservation.

So you get to so we are taking a look at that to see like how can we mitigate the rust and keep it from continuing to during the cultural exchange in September, we had the great opportunity to honor Sharon Worman Agner.

She is the artist for In the Mystery, which is on your left there.

That was People's Choice last year, and was added to the permanent collection.

Sharon is also a longtime contributor to Gallery Thought Walls.

She's had pieces in Gallery Thought Walls almost every year that we've we've had it.

She's an incredible artist and longtime contributor.

This is her first People's Choice winner.

And this piece was moved over to the new Lake Oswego Middle School.

So it is at the entrance to the middle school, right on Country Club, as you approach and is already garnering some nice attention.

During the Gallery Thought Wall celebration, which we held in conjunction with the Cultural Exchange, we had excellent attendance.

We had 50 plus people taking part in docent tours in guided docent tours with many of the artists present.

And somewhere around 4,000 attendees came through throughout the day.

So that was pretty great.

We also are working with a bunch of our volunteers who are specifically looking at conservation, preservation, and best practices.

So on the left there, the person that you see with the clipboard, that is Claire Dean.

She's a conservator and who helps out with objects, and she's helping to train our group of volunteers so that they can know better what kind of condition the pieces are in, documenting that with photographs.

Is it getting worse?

Is it getting better?

And so then they also understand what the collection looks like.

What do we need to keep our eyes out for?

And they can do some of that, they can do some of that simple conservation work that helps prolong our collection.

And it also empowers them to enlist other community members to bring them into that conversation of caring for public art.

This is our selection of pieces that are coming in this summer for Gallery Without Walls 26 through 28.

The submissions came in at the end of 2025.

And we had a new uh we had the assistance of a new face filling in for our public art and collections manager, Nora Crean, who congratulations to her, she had a baby.

So Carrie Gilbert has been filling in and has been a great addition.

Selection, siting, engineering, and contracts have all taken place so far since January of 2026.

And these eight sculptures for this year are from everywhere from Lake Oswego to Canada, and we even have a piece from Slovakia.

We've also been working away on the respond to racism, Lake Oswego Public Library and ACLO project that's happening over in front of our beloved library.

You'll recall that in October of last year, Sahara Defrize was confirmed by the by council as the artist for this project.

And we have been ACLO has been managing the project to its completion, which is coming up here soon-ish.

And so you'll see upcoming events there where these are going to be opportunities for the public to participate in the process of actually making the artwork that will be in front of the library.

So that includes Festival of the Arts between 10 and noon.

There's going to be a children's painting event.

So a speaker from Oregon Black Pioneers will be doing a program at 6:30, and then we'll have another painting event in conjunction with that.

In August, on at Adult at the Adult Community Center, we're working with Oregon Humanities.

And we're doing a they're doing a program called Monuments and Memorials by Michael Stevenson, who is an author and artist.

And then September 19th, mark your calendars, because that will be when the dedication happens.

For the artwork itself.

As you can see, some of us on the left-hand side are standing in for where panels will be, so that we can see where everything will end up.

So we've really been working with the artist engineering department here, beautification, everybody on the details of where will things go, where do sprinklers, where do sprinklers sprinkle, where does the water go?

And where are we going to put rocks and rain activated paint on the sidewalk?

So there are a number of components to this that are really coming together nicely for this project, and we really are looking forward to it.

On the right there, that's a brief schematic of the circles with the lines are where the interpretive panels will be.

That's on the library building side of the sidewalk.

And then the smaller solid circles are where quotes from BIPOC authors are going to be placed throughout the site.

And then again, in addition to the sidewalk paint that is rainactivated.

So alongside all of those things, between December 2024 and August of 2025, ACLO and the worked with the city manager's office to work on our new contract as and to what and what that might include as we come to the end of that contract phase.

So in summary, uh these bullet points talk about what the substantive changes to the contract are.

So a little bit more of those details.

Maintenance and conservation of the public art collection, obviously, that's what we are contracted to do.

And the change and update for this is that if there are specific special projects that reach a threshold of a cost level, that those costs would come out of the maintenance budget that the city holds.

So that's where the percent for art maintenance money goes.

So if maintenance or conservation is in excess of $2,000 per piece, that's where we would it needs to be approved by the city, and then we would uh utilize the money out of that fund to be able to work on the work on the pieces.

Um gallery thought walls and people's choice.

So gallery thought walls obviously is our signature program that we do every year.

Um, in terms of people's choice, that would be included in our annual or biannual work plan.

So if we were going to do a people's choice, it's right now how the contract is written is that it's a it's a foregone conclusion that we would do it annually.

And so this provides the ability to do it on a biannual basis every other year and gives us the opportunity to say, well, maybe there aren't any sculptures that you know really help augment our collection, or what's the long-term cost and conservation that this that this sculpture might entail.

So being proactive and um and uh mindful of the cost and fiscal responsibility of that.

Additional special projects through the work plan.

Again, the work plan will speak to these are the things that we will do in addition to what our regular contracted um items are.

So we would come to you, say, like with the library project and say, we have this project, it's going to cost X amount, this is where the funding's coming from.

It would happen within this biennial time.

Uh the rest of the items, office storage and museum space, those were just updated as to reflecting what actually is in place at this time.

Uh networked Wi-Fi and the accessibility to laser fiche.

Since it is the city's collection, we do have access to laser fees to record those objects.

And then contract specific marketing and promotion.

It was a very in the previous contract, it was pretty vague.

And so I worked with Megan and the city manager's office too.

We came up with a list of here are the contracted things that ACLO does for the city.

So here are the things that can be promoted via the city.

As uh Nicole has mentioned, we've been in discussions with them and other representatives of the arts council for a couple months.

Now we're actually from the fall of last year.

And as part of our contract with them, they do submit their financial data to the city.

Um again, as mentioned, they're coming off of a seven-year contract, which had a 3% increase each year over year through that that lifecycle of that contract.

So their current contract amount as of 7-1 2025 was just over 250, 225,000.

Um, while we're being what's being proposed as part of the update to their contract would be an annual amount of just under seven uh 272,000, um, with then out in year two and year three three percent increases each year, which has been consistent with the last contract status.

Um as Nicole mentioned, there's there's been language changes and some other changes to the agreement.

Um, the plan is to have that come back to the city council at your next meeting on June 2nd for consideration and approval of all the changes that you've heard tonight.

Just to give you a little bit more information in terms of ACLO's total budget, um, the city contracted services and labor equal about 68% of what our annual budget is.

So those that is the orange and green sections.

Um as Megan mentioned, our current contract is uh just a little over 225,000.

The difference between that and um what we anticipated the hard costs and labor of the program was a difference of 80,000 dollars, and what we what the city came back to us with uh was a 40,000 increase.

And this is just a uh division of um our different staff folks and how much time is allocated to the city contract.

So for instance, I spend uh roughly 80% of my time on things related to the city contract, our public art and collections manager, that's their entire job, our communications and development manager, about roughly half of their time, and our education program manager and curator, about 40% of their time.

As Megan mentioned, um we will be back on June 2nd for a vote on the contract so that you can review that between review the changes between now and then.

Thank you both so much.

Colleagues, any questions?

Uh uh, Councilor Corgan.

At the risk of the risk of seeming dumb.

That other 20% of your time, I'm curious what what other things are you doing besides the city?

Can you explain that for us?

Sure.

So uh the space where we have um art space with our exhibitions, that is not part of our contracted um duties for the city.

So that uh fundraising, um, board relationships, um, going out into the community and telling them about who we are and what we do, um, programs, things like that.

That's what that other time is spent on.

Thank you.

I just kind of follow up on that.

So the arts space is not a part of the what does that mean?

The art this is the city hall space.

Correct.

This is the space that's uh kind of a considered a retail space uh downstairs uh next to the boutique.

Um there is a by the contract, I believe one program that the arts council is required to do on behalf of the city's program in that space, but otherwise it's it's subject to their um programming.

Oh, I see the program.

Okay, okay, that makes sense.

Uh counselor Afghan.

Thank you so much.

Uh I understood the 3% increase year over year.

Can you highlight the reasons behind 225 being adjusted to 280?

Yeah, and part of it was the slide Nicole shared with regards to what just the realities are of what their budget looks like.

And um the 3% certainly over that time frame to not keep up with even inflation and just the challenges with regards to to that.

Um we have we had some money, have some money in the tourism um tourism fund, which is the primary source of funding that comes to the city to be able to pay for the services that they provide in the city's contract.

Um, and so it seems a reasonable amount to not quite give them everything that they had asked for, of course, as her slide indicated, they were looking more to close the gap of about 80,000.

Um, but uh we felt comfortable at the time to to meet them halfway.

So if we looked at CPI, which we do for other contracts, how would that uh land with this delta?

Do we know?

We did not do that analysis, but we could get that information for you.

Okay, thank you.

Counselor Willow.

Well, I think it's a wonderful budget, and I think we're getting a lot of value for the amount of money that we're investing.

Um and what people really I Nicole covered it a little bit, but there's a group of volunteers that um the the great thing about having an art collection is that you get to look at the art collection.

I mean, it's fabulous.

The problem with having a bigger and bigger expanding art collection is that there's more to take care of.

And we have a group of volunteers that are probably doing a hundred thousand dollars at least or two hundred thousand dollars worth of work in a year to maintain our art collection, which that's part of our secret sauce in Lake Oswego is the wonderful volunteers and the organization that um really thrives on bringing the arts to Lake Oswego, um, also does the dirty work of cleaning things up and making, you know, it's not just cocktail parties and observing art, it's the the down and and gritty uh maintenance.

And so I just wanted to throw that out to make sure that people knew that um there's a component to this with a lot of volunteers in the art arts community.

And and I when you sit on the arts um group, uh the volunteers that step forward.

I mean, like we have retired art professors that taught for 30 or 40 years that know, I mean, uh the the level of expertise that we have available in our community um is just phenomenal.

So anyway, my point is that we're getting a lot more value out of this contract than just dollars and cents.

Yes.

Anyway, I agree with Council Wind, that it's a great um uh the public art in Lake Oswego is is really a large part of our community identity and the arts council and then all of the infrastructure around it um is um uh really well leveraged and and they've done a just a fabulous, you know.

Nicole, the team you leave just done a fabulous job uh promoting art in Lake Oswego and really ingraining it into who we are as a as a community, and I think we get a great a great value for the contract here.

You guys do a lot of really good, a lot of good work.

So it's uh important to recognize that.

And uh I appreciate you know the comments too around the maintenance because that does become even space, you know, to put things.

Um and people do get to look at the art.

I'll say the only if if it is possible to the one thing where we people love all the art, but the one thing we hear some feedback on are the armless and headless um pieces of art in Millennium Park.

And you know, it's been down there a while, and maybe it is time to switch it up.

Well, people we because people we've done such a good job bringing people in, you know, and we all get used to it because we're like, oh yeah, this is just the armless folks, and they're like, why are there sculptures of children with no arms in your park?

And you're like, oh yeah, then like, yeah, where are their heads?

It's like okay.

So it's an interesting, you know.

It could be it could be something down there.

Art is to to have a it does generate, yeah.

To generate reactions, and we could put it somewhere else.

Maybe we spread it around.

Not in the medians in Lake Grove, although they'd already be missing their limbs.

So it's it's your opportunity to ask for money right now.

More money.

We could do that with more money.

That's right.

By the way.

How does the the so then in the one and a half percent for the art?

We save a little bit for maintenance, but is that maintenance for that project?

No, maintenance is for the entire collection.

Okay.

Um, the one percent goes toward that particular project.

And then so, for instance, like for Laurac, the budget, the one percent budget went toward those pieces being located or purchased or commissioned.

The half percent goes into the larger public art trust fund, and that's maintenance for the entire collection.

That is not that half percent is not enough to maintain though, no, no, it's just a one.

And so then you have to make choices of what will we maintain or what will or consider to continue to build facilities.

Right.

Well, exactly.

We don't always have uh counselor.

No, it's it thank you.

So yeah, I mean, art is very important, and people have different view.

I have been almost assaulted with the mayor last year for that piece that we're talking about.

It's uh you know, we it's it's important to have art that's provocative because you know, like the philosopher said, it's an anti-destiny art gives the form their styles.

That's what art does, and that's what you know, Lake Oswego.

Still, um I like your idea for blue zone.

I'm so interested in the blue zone now, and that's why I have this.

And art is part of the blue zone.

People seeing all this art, it it's immaterial, but it brings some value to people's lives.

And it can, you know, people who are in solitude going around looking for the art.

It's very important.

And we live in a society of exclusion sometimes or solitude.

So and plus my student was touring today.

They're old art.

And the adorscent and people say, how do you pay all of those folks?

That's why the budget, I am shocked even to see 275,000, because you're doing a lot of things.

And I hope the other school do like our school come and tour all the stuff, you know, see the art and appreciate what art is about.

So I'm very proud of the work you are doing.

And um also more eager to see the end the finishing line of the response to racism.

I call it that that project on the when it rains, you see the stuff.

I really I think it will be a great addition to our city.

And so you're doing a wonderful work.

And you know, just the mayor ask you to have to add more in the budget.

So I think it's time to do it.

Because moving the piece will be a lot of money, I think.

So maybe five percent instead of three.

Thank you, Councilor Booth.

Counselor Corgan.

I just have a question that generated in my mind.

You you posed the question about would we consider gallery without walls every other year instead of every year, I think.

Not gallery without walls, just people's choice.

People to the people's choice port.

Okay.

But so anyway, so the flea jumped in my brain and said, Wow, gee, it was pretty cool the way you guys brought the red man out for Little Rac.

That was just so good.

And I'm wondering how many pieces do we have in inventory that aren't on display for one reason or another.

Are there pieces sitting around that need conservation that we can't afford?

What could you tell us about that?

So, in terms of pieces that are basically in the in storage or collection, um, outdoor pieces, there's only spirit of the marsh and um another kosuge piece that we got from the donation from them.

So those are the only two outdoor works that um don't yet have homes, but we have some ideas around where those might end up.

Uh, in terms of the two-dimensional collection, there are some pieces in storage, um, and we try and get those out to a a lot of different locations.

Um, like Lorac.

So that's why pieces are are hung in the staff areas of Lorac, as well as um in City Hall here, when this building was built, it has a lot less wall space than the previous city hall did.

So you'll recall from being in the old building, there was art hung all throughout those that kind of circular um location within the within the building.

So we just don't have as much wall space as we used to.

Okay, and it's probably safe to assume that those those 2D pieces aren't going to require the conservation that those big outdoor sculptures do.

Correct.

Those, yeah, that's a that's a much small uh lower threshold.

So it might require a frame or some new matting.

Um, or you know, maybe it needs to be totally taken apart and and conserved.

Maybe it does need to be cleaned, but again, that is a lower threshold.

Okay.

And the reason why you're suggesting that people's choice may only be every other year is because that is where the city makes an outlay.

The rest of those, the rest of those pieces are really just loaned by the artists, right?

Correct.

Yes, the rest of gallery without walls, the pieces that come in on for the temporary collection, those are loaned by the artist.

So, but the the collection does include um roughly about 60 pieces that the city owns all throughout the city.

So that's a lot.

It's a lot for a city of our size.

Uh, and so then the other 30 or so, anywhere between 25 and 30, those are the ones that come in and are on loan, and then which people's choices selected from and purchased from.

And then which people's choices selected from and purchased from.

So yes, that is an outlay of cash that could go into if we don't utilize it one year with a purchase, it could go into conservation of some of our existing pieces.

Great.

That's that's helpful.

Thanks.

Do we have a number on kind of the um total or an estimate on the deferred maintenance on the on the collection?

Of deferred maintenance.

Um I could find that for you.

It it varies sometimes year after year after you know what we've completed and what needs to be done still.

So for instance, like with Ferry Tree, if we were gonna use that as an example, um, we don't know what it would fully cost because we don't know if it could handle being picked up to be moved.

So if it could, it would probably we estimate somewhere between anywhere between I'd say 50 and 75,000 just to bring that back to what it looked like before and moved.

Oh man.

Which is which is a is a big consideration.

Yeah.

Which was 10 times the amount of money that it cost to do it originally, but then inflation is involved.

But that was in 1967 or 67.

Oh, that's the place right.

Oh, well, that's why we're decommissioning that's the recommendation of public art, the public art.

It's tough, yeah.

But that's I mean, but yeah, you look at it and you're like, well, would you invest this much?

And what do you but again?

Uh, you know, like the library, it has a lot of um community support to it.

Right.

So, you know, you have to though we have to talk about, and I think it's good to talk about how do we honor that piece, whatever happens to it.

You know, if we do de-accession or decommission it, you know, how can we honor the the history and the significance of that piece?

I was shocked when I found out that both Counselor Winland as a child and myself as a child both played on that.

Yes.

I heard that counselor and we're still alive.

I know.

We're still alive without any head injuries or yes.

Right, I know.

Yeah, we really got into politics.

Yeah, that's what happened.

Oh my gosh.

That's crazy.

Okay.

All right.

Uh well, thank you so much.

We look forward to the contract of the next uh meeting, and thank you for the great update and all the good work.

Um thank you.

Thanks to the arts council and all the everyone.

I see many in the audience back there.

Come down and see our exhibition, it's great.

Oh.

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

Next item on the agenda is a foothills uh district plan updates.

We have our long-range planning manager, Mr.

Eric Olson.

And Jason.

Good afternoon to the both of you.

Good to see you.

Good afternoon, Mayor and Counselors.

Uh, we're gonna have a few seconds here just to set up.

We're gonna run it off of Jason's computer here.

Enjoy a pause for technology.

Of course.

Don't you worry.

Beautiful evening.

Happy election day, everyone.

Thanks, Jason.

I was able to drop my ballot off with Rachel in the parking lot.

So thank you for accommodating our democracy.

Appreciate that.

I'm gonna set up a presentation here.

Eric's gonna get us going.

Introduce why we're here, and uh then I'll pick up.

Yeah, so um, of course, you you know me, but my name is Eric Olson.

I'm the long range planning manager, and I am the project manager for our work to update the Foothills District Plan.

Um, so we're here today to talk with you all um about some preliminary design concepts that we've developed based on some input that we've received from you all and the broader community on the vision and guiding principles over the past few months.

Uh so really we're here to talk to you a little bit about just a quick summary of what we've been doing for the past few months.

Really, it's just been a month or so since we last talked to you, so it hasn't been too long.

Uh, then we're gonna talk a little bit about what we did to refine the vision and guiding principles based on your input as well as some of the input from the community, um, as well as um, I think hopefully this will be the meat of the conversation.

Talk about these draft preliminary development concepts um and see sort of which ideas you like there and which ones you you may not like so much or want to see um continue on to our future sort of schematic design alternatives or the next iteration of of development concepts that we'll be working on.

Uh so yeah, we really appreciate you being here.

I'm of course joined by um Jason with our project consultants at first 40 feet.

Um Jason Graff.

Um I don't want to uh belabor that, but uh yeah, just to give you a quick update on recent engagement.

We uh did conduct a uh community advisory committee meeting last week on uh Tuesday, May 12th.

Uh we gathered feedback that was kind of the initial test run really for some of these preliminary design concepts.

Um so we presented similar information to what we'll be presenting to you all to the community advisory committee last week and um have just been continuing to work to refine our vision and guiding principles based on what we heard from you all.

Um we also held a um work session at the planning commission on April 27th.

So that was um relatively recent and something we didn't cover with you all at the last meeting.

Uh but yeah, not too much has transpired.

It's been less than a month since we talked to you last, so I'm gonna go ahead and hand it over to Jason to talk a little bit in more depth about the vision and then hopefully dive into those concepts here pretty quick.

Great.

Thank you, Eric.

Hello, everyone.

Great to see everyone on a beautiful day.

Um we're gonna walk through the vision statement.

And you know, that was an iterative process developed by the CAC, and then we had a great conversation with you all um about the vision statement and guiding principles.

And we followed that with the planning commission, and we came up with some refinements to address some of those comments, and we also presented these refinements to the Citizens Advisory Committee, all of which were very supportive of direction that was received from both the commission and the city council.

So thank you.

Um and the vision statement here really added some sort of additional aspiration language around you know, the meaningful riverfront presence, that really the success of downtown Lake Oswego that is continuing.

This is not a start of something new, but it's a continuation of things that have started previously and is extension of that.

Um is really important that we continue to stress that this is an extension of downtown and a mixed use district.

There may have been some implications early on that we were more sort of neighborhood focused, and we really wanted to be um direct about the fact that this is really an expansion of downtown.

This really is the downtown plan, that that access and connection from downtown to the waterfront is preeminent, extremely important, as well as the foothills park being that community asset that's treasured downtown on one side, uh riverfront on the other, and the integration of landscape and the environment is extremely important.

We're wrapped by Trion Creek, the Willamette River.

There's this uh community of trees, this aspiration of expanding that tree canopy that's so important to Legacy Swigos.

So getting that language in here was a way to help strengthen that mission statement, as well as the built environment being a tool to really accentuate connections and really um advance that building of a new neighborhood expansion of downtown, but in a way that really addresses the context, which is this relationship to the water, to the creek and to the community you live in.

So this is a refinement statement then that we are bringing forward as a result of that information.

Um I can pause here for a moment and happy to take any comments.

I think Mayor Buck is going to kind of lead the discussion.

Go, Councilor Afkin.

I thought you guys did an awesome job incorporating all our feedback into this uh statement.

One thing that I didn't see was the aesthetic of what we would see from up here down there.

So I kept looking for it, but I wasn't able to find it.

Can you tell me what I missed?

Well, I think it's hard to encapsulate everything in the statement.

The guiding principles try to sort of expand on some of those um ideas.

And I think you know, the connection is really important.

That's both visual and physical.

Um, and stressing the importance of the connection, I think is kind of that that's the really the preeminent piece.

And then how we execute that, the guiding principles can really help inform that.

And so we did we do touch on that view aspect as you mentioned within the guiding principles.

And so I think I think you'll see that it does get reflected here.

Um in other parts.

Yeah, thank you.

Councilor Corgan.

Yeah, so I'm I had the exact same question as Counselor Afkin.

And so my confusion in trying to evaluate these three really interesting choices.

Um, were how so that's a rail crossing?

Would you envision?

So we're talking about landing or plaza there.

Is that something that would go?

I mean, I know this is kind of a detailed question, but would that go up over the railroad tracks or in what way would you negotiate that crossing in order to accomplish that?

Sure.

We can can we get into those aspects when we get into the concepts part and focus on the vision now.

Is that okay?

Um because I'll come directly.

We can start with that question when we get into the concepts, if that's okay.

Thank you, Trudy.

I think it's a good, yeah, it's a good uh statement.

It captured, I mean, part of there's so many uh, you know, things to be excited about with regards to foothills that is kind of uh you know, deciding what we hone what we hone in on, you know, we got uh it's uh uh test site for sustainability initiatives, it's uh economic development driver, it's a neighborhood, it's a park, it's uh you know it's it's uh it's a lot, which is good, but it's because sometimes it's good to have some focus focus, you know.

But the vision encapsulates everything.

So that's good.

Okay.

Maybe the maybe the focus will come.

Well, what do you think about that?

Well, I think we could we could take a page from the ACLO ACLO book, which was very simple in their vision, their values and their you know, they kept it really succinct.

We joked about that that we had we would have loved to have gotten the vision statement to just that a statement.

Um but uh you know there's a lot of really important voices out there.

So I think we're trying to roll it all in there.

But simplifying is great.

And we'll do that as we move along.

This just gives us an a place where we don't mess up and we can come back and look.

I think that's what I was like because you you get the three.

The Pak Plaza, downtown Plaza, Tupac, and Pac Promenade, like saying that in the vision that this is it.

Honestly, it's the first time that this thing makes sense.

No, it made sense when you came with the kids and we joke about them, but now like I can say, wow, this is what we want from here to there to that.

This is the like we have a 3D thing.

Can we just put it in one sentence as a vision?

That's it.

Like because for me, it is too big as a vision.

I think yeah, you know, we we would struggle a bit to do that.

I think it would actually expend quite a bit of uh project time and energy to go out and have that conversation again with the public.

So this is trying to reflect those conversations that we did have with the public.

Um and I will emphasize this as at least a sentence or maybe a few sentences shorter than the 2012 version of this vision statement.

So just to put that in a bit of context.

We can always abridge it as we communicate it to the rest of the community moving forward.

And sometimes when you look at sort of where you land on the schematic or the preferred concept, maybe it does help to simplify the vision statement.

I mean, this should be something that gets gets tweaked and and turned, and I think we can sort of use it in a way that makes it more practical and accessible to people.

So we're we're we're happy to keep wordsmithing at the same time we keep moving toward the actual physical look of what that vision is.

Yeah, I think we want it to continue to evolve, of course.

Um, but when it comes to making big slashes, I guess we we don't want anybody to feel like their voice has been, I guess, taken out of the picture.

So yeah, I I totally get that.

And I I agree that um I think it's it's a good landing pad for the ideas and all that stuff, but I have to tell you that let me let me put into context.

Hey, I'm at a at a event.

Um geez, John, what are you doing with with foothills?

One moment, let me pull up my phone.

Well, do you have a half an hour?

Because let's go through some things.

Um, I it would be interesting, and I'm not saying that this is the direction to go, but I'm just saying where you would say that it's like we do a um elevate pitch.

The what?

Like an elevator pitch version of this.

Well, just a little bit, so it's it's tightened down.

I mean, I you know I I think all of that that you've got going in here, it sounds like it's a 300-acre project.

And we're still talking about three acres or whatever, eight, whatever.

It would be 16 developable acres, and that increases um quite a bit if you look at potential uh development.

But yeah, it's uh not substantial.

I mean, to me, like a vision statement would be hey, let's have a um a community that is when you look into the culture and cultural narratives and the frameworks and and and whatever um and the sustainability be a concept like have uh the you know the new timber project or whatever that they're doing in in Portland.

I mean, maybe this is a timber um project where it's I mean, if if you want a really defined thing, I'm not saying that that's the um concept, but what I'm saying is that if you immediately get an idea of what you're trying to do down there, you're kind of like recreating Earth.

I mean, in the world.

I mean, this is like 14 chapters of the uh of Genesis.

Yeah.

What uh yes, what do you think about that, Council Afghan?

Uh I agree with you guys with everyone.

Here's what's going through my mind.

As I started reading everything here, it came across as the project description to me, as opposed to the vision.

Uh-huh.

So the vision is our North Star.

Well, all we define under it are most of the stuff here.

Mixed use, uh, waterfront, all of that stuff is the project scope.

So I the vision got to be our north star.

Yeah.

So I agree with so maybe we could take a uh stab at a owned vision.

I hear I hear the kind of consent.

Yeah, I think if if there are any suggestions for things that we could remove from this, I you know, I think that would be helpful.

I think that's unfortunately the conversation we're gonna be having here.

So I think that's the you know, any direction of of where we can go with that would be welcome because this is you know, as you can probably tell, this is a reflection of what we're hearing, and we're hearing that that there's a lot of ideas.

Well, Council Rafkin has a good framing of it because we don't we don't want to it's just um moving those ideas to the project description and and using the the vision is kind of the the more honed in um uh clear, not kind of kitchen sink model.

So that we're not you know, nothing's being erased.

We're just we don't want to lose anything.

We just want to make sure our vision is clear and our project description is clear.

Two different things.

Right, two different things.

But go on.

Great.

Yeah, any guidance on that overall vision would be helpful.

We'll still on that for a bit.

Yeah, it's early still early.

The the guiding principles there they're the trajectory for the north.

Sorry, Rachel, you had a comment.

I was just gonna say, really, I think if you look at it, the first paragraph is almost what you're saying, Allie.

And then the rest is kind of detailed.

So I don't think we need to be spending a lot of time.

I think it's here.

So let's not overthink in wordsmith.

Let's well, no, this is not wordsmithing, this is kind of conceptual.

Yeah, I get it, but I mean it's philosophical.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

I was tracking you, Rachel, on that one as I looked at it.

I thought, hmm, maybe we're maybe Mr.

Afghan has got it right.

It's that first paragraph.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Good conversation.

Um the guiding principles, that is sort of our trajectory.

That is getting more into some of the details, or at least what is going to help define a great district.

And so these six points are really trying to touch on what we need to think about as being really important, what we value in terms of reaching that mission statement.

And so some of the additions here then reflect those comments from you all.

Um about this being a walkable pedestrian-oriented connection.

That that really um resonated not only from you all but from the planning commission.

So that was a double echo back to us to reinforce that that piece, the complementing nature of the district that it's really an extension of downtown, not a competing element, um, was also reinforced um in that in that waterfront mixed use uh area, and then balancing development with the natural environment.

So integrating those natural systems, which we are trying to do, Trion Creek is so important here.

We have a wastewater treatment plant that's also tapping into those resources as well in a much cleaner way, and allowing us as a community to function much better.

So I think some of those aspects of the district are already happening in some of the early projects, even before we've got a framework plan.

Um and thinking about that long-term environmental performance, not only in tree canopy, but in the way we move around through the district.

I think all those are going to tap into a balance of development that really supports those natural elements that are that are surrounding us on all parts of the district.

Um so we can we can stay on these two and then move to the next two, if that's okay.

If it looks great, and I will thumbs up from Joe, I'll go to the next one.

Or two, three and four.

Um this idea of of the connection being porton that it's uh supporting all modes um needed to be overt here, um, and that the design of you know those connections really do accentuate multimodal connections, but also thinking about trails and streets and public spaces all sort of working together to help make that connection.

You're gonna see that I think in in the concepts, which would you have looked at, and I think we picked up on that in particular as we begin to describe what those opportunities are for future development around this grant connection.

So, three, I think we we're hitting in spades, and then four support and inclusive and economically vital community.

Um, you know, affordable housing was something that um planning commission certainly weighed in on, felt like it was important to describe that, you know, a mix of housing types, yes, but let's think about affordability for folks living in the community.

So that was the addition there.

And then five and six integrate sustainability, ecology, and climate resilience.

Um, you know, there's this is going to be a model district in a lot of respects, both in how people are living and populating the district.

Um, the fact that you've got an upgraded wastewater treatment plan is really huge, and the infrastructure itself can help to support a good balance of development and resilience and ecology.

Some aspects, as we know from community groups who really want to push hard on green sustainable development.

Um, you know, we're really tasked with making sure we don't preclude that.

And so being cognizant of future opportunities that aren't fully present is something important in the district.

And so we're we're trying to get that in into the verbiage here and those guiding principles, and um, we're looking forward to that, creating a framework that allows for and is inclusive for really good ideas in the future is gonna be important.

I think we can get there.

And then planning for adaptability, I think that just coincides with the comment I just I just made.

Um, the initial framework is gonna be setting a trajectory, the positive trajectory and not limiting us in terms of of the future, both of how we get around and how we uh live in and amongst the natural environment.

I think those are gonna come together pretty well.

So changing community needs is always important to think about, and I think there's gonna be a lot of opportunity to address to address that, both how we use spaces today and the opportunities we'll have in the future.

So thank you for that.

And let's um, if there aren't any more comments around that, I'm gonna jump into the development concepts.

Um I love this view of the district.

It really puts your eyes and your heart right exactly where where things are happening, downtown, that edge, the seam of State Street, and then just that flow down the hill to the waterfront.

What we're gonna look at in terms of the feedback from you tonight is this idea of a grand connection, and that grand connection is kind of manifest in three different ways.

And so as you look at the concepts, we're not this isn't really like let's pick one, one, two, or three, and what's my favorite?

It's really about what aspects of each concept do you really like or you see value in?

What are areas that maybe you think aren't performing as well or you have questions about, and then certainly is there something missing?

Is there something overtly not you're not seeing here that we need to address and think about as we move forward?

And this is all high level, but it gives us a sense of where we might be going.

And there's some key design moves that we we hone in on before we sort of jump into the concepts.

Um, the first is a wastewater treatment plan is gonna really set the stage and kind of put a stake in the district area in terms of where it sits and it moves closer to the rail line, and it's gonna be fixed in an area uh of the district that we're learning more and more of kind of how that's gonna work.

And so we're able to develop the concepts, sort of knowing where that where that flag is gonna be planted and how we want to react to it in terms of development in the future, making sure we have access to that wastewater treatment plant, but also that um it's able to be sort of out back and behind from the development area in a sense.

And the other piece is what is this opportunity for this grand connection, this this link between State Street, which is really our sense of arrival, moving through the district where the bulk of redevelopment is gonna be happening, and then what's that park edge like as you get into the district?

And so we're gonna look at each one of those pieces, the concepts really address those.

There's also access to the district.

So the South Portal is really how do we circulate in and around the district today, coming in off State Street on the southern end, and then thinking in the future where that north portal might be, because I don't think uh the north portal isn't necessarily contingent at day one, but I think it's uh it's something that we would aspire to over time and try to define exactly how we might execute that.

Um so thinking about these and sort of pieces and phasing is really important.

We've done that in the initial layouts of the concepts.

And then development character is also gonna be a key attribute.

You've all talked about that.

If there's a a great grand connection here, how are those buildings orienting to that?

What type of views are we creating?

Does it feel like you're being pulled into the waterfront?

Does it feel like there's a sense of arrival, both downtown and to the district, and where is it taking me as I traverse through the district?

All those things we're trying to explore in these concepts, and they all come together in the grand connection.

And how we get there is also looking at the project objectives.

So we are thinking about exactly what we've been tasked to do, identifying opportunities for housing, improving access and connectivity.

It's such an outback and behind district.

And so I think we're going to find some fun ways to do that.

We'll get to some of the other bullets of project objectives as we move forward in terms of funding and how we move on that trajectory and the guiding principles that we just went through have also been a guide for us as well as a North Star with the vision statement.

So we're thinking of all those things, and we'll be able to evaluate both these three concepts and where we move into a schematic by measuring the success of each one of these against those objectives and the guiding principles.

So we want to use those as a way to sort of test how well things are performing.

So three concepts are developed here based on this idea of a grand connection.

Park plaza creates a sense of arrival at State Street, and then movement through the district really centralized in the redevelopment area.

So sort of running that new connection through the middle of where the opportunities for future development exist and creating a signature amenity at the waterfront.

So imagine State Street is kind of that front door.

You've got a great processional, and then you arrive at this amazing public space as an extension of Foothills Park with development wrapping its edges.

So that was the idea for Park Plaza.

Downtown Plaza says maybe let's be a little more overt about what that sense of arrival is in downtown.

And so that State Street between A and B really becomes this important sort of moment to open up that space between A and B and put the river and the district at the front door, knowing we have the anchor project coming online at B, we've got great development at A, and maybe this is an opportunity to be more overt about what that means to arrive on State Street, continuing that processional through the redevelopment area, but creating larger development site opportunities on the wastewater treatment side, but creating a good back up against the existing condominium project, and then still landing on a great public space at the bottom, maybe a little bit smaller at the terminus at Foothills Park.

The promenade says, hey, let's really look at Avenue A and Avenue B is these important connections.

Avenue A being kind of the grand connection because development is oriented to that piece.

But B is also an important walk bike connection.

Think double row of trees.

I think someone mentioned Barcelona in an earlier conversation.

Maybe that was the CAC.

But that promenade then extends really this idea of canopy and tree and movement through the district in two locations.

And so those are generally the three concepts.

We'll walk through here.

This is a motion graphic that sort of gets into the sequencing of development, knowing that the wastewater treatment plant will be the first project that's built.

And so you get a you get a sense of where that is going to be located in the district.

And we're looking at those points of access.

There's three arrows that you see there.

That the project right now, as it's being designed, is a series of terraces.

So it has an upper level where the administrative building is, it has a middle level where you know the bulk of processing would be, and then there's a lower roadway that connects to that black dot that you see by Trion Creek, and that's a pump station.

So access needs to occur in three locations to support that facility.

And as we pull back then and think about redevelopment of the district, we want to talk about this grand connection.

How do we extend then from state street through the redevelopment area, creating these anchor amenity places, a sense of arrival at state, a park plaza space at the waterfront at Foothills Park?

So State Street becomes one element of that, extends along then to the park plaza, and then the South Portal then extends from basically the roundabout in into that district area and extends up to where the redevelopment of the old wastewater treatment then creates development opportunities on either side of that roadway.

So then the development area evolves from this south portal and extension of that roadway, and it aligns with that grand connection, and then we think about those north portal connections over time in those two locations, and then the weaving of those trail connections, building off your master plan and other elements as part of that concept.

So let me pause.

Sorry for bouncing around here.

So this is then the park plaza concept.

And I'm gonna pause at each one of these just to get your sense and your thoughts as you look at each one of these.

This gives you an, you know, that that new state street landing.

So you're coming into the district, that processional through development on both sides of that street, um, and then that plaza space terminating at Foothills Park.

So some of the more unique elements here is that the access goes sort of through the development blocks here.

So you might have somewhat smaller development blocks, but a lot more of that sort of emphasis on the you know access itself as a connection.

Yeah.

Like I was asking, I'm also very curious about the access.

Yeah.

Is it I'm in my vision?

I feel somewhere like a tunnel.

Is it a tunnel or because it cannot be a bridge?

Well, there might be a bridge.

So as we look at the grades, the state street elevation.

Okay.

At Avenue B.

The rail line is much lower than the street level.

And so getting a bridge over at Avenue B, it is a feasible opportunity to go over the tracks.

Not under not under, but over.

At A it would you would need to cross at great.

So it could be steps down to the tracks and crossing, much like what we saw in the previous concept in 2012.

And it was sort of oriented between A and B, they were looking at doing the steps as well.

We want to look at an overcrossing as an alternative to that.

There's another overcrossing that we're really interested in, and that is from Millennium Plaza, the upper plaza over State Street, and down into the district next to where the trolley building is.

And that may be another opportunity to connect from a great public space and have direct access to the park and not down the ramp, down the stairs, cross the train track, over to the light, cross the intersection, come back and get in the district.

But that really may be a signature element that we haven't really explored before, but we would like to for this option.

What's that?

Land bridges, yes.

And we have some great examples.

Lynn mentioned the land bridge concept where I mean you're you're walking through kind of a channel of landscaping up and over the roadway and coming into the district.

So Vancouver has this Maya Lynn is a great artist who designed a bridge crossing over SR 14 in Washington.

Great example, and we'll share some of those with you.

And there's a variety of different ways to create that crossing.

It can also be a great gateway into downtown.

I mean, would there ever be a way to, you know, uh envision uh just a kind of pedestrian-only promenade into this district?

Um yeah, absolutely.

I think there's a there's an opportunity to do that.

I mean, I think that you know, I think you can do that even with a street there.

I mean, the street that that we're showing here is two lanes, you know, one one traveling in each direction on street parking, but a much wider zone, certainly in the in the promenade concept, which could be translated across all three of them.

Um but yeah, absolutely.

I think there can be a pedestrian-only connection, you know, through the district here.

Things well, you know, if you create that that festival type street, then it it serves other purposes, you know, um from time to time.

And it just seems like we crowd all of the people love like downtown right now, they love to be out walking and biking, but it gets so crowded between pedestrians and bikes all crammed onto these little sidewalks, and it just creates too much kind of that enjoyment is almost ruined by then cars trying to like get into the lot, you know, and um it seems like in an area that's just kind of free of that, where it could be it to people more free to mingle around each other and um and and kind of walk throughout, and then um more opportunities for some of the um some of the economic drivers, I think of like pop-up markets and things like that, where people want to see this kind of uh that type of activity.

We've obviously been hearing a lot about all different versions of that and whatnot.

Um, but it could facilitate that a little bit.

I'd like to also add that the curly queue is just an awesome feature that is integrated into all three of these concepts.

I mean, that the sloping topography between the rail line and foothills road is a unique condition in itself.

In 2012, that was envisioned as a redevelopment area because there was a new street running between the rail line and and the development area, but that has all changed with the wastewater treatment facility.

And so that really interesting zigzag curly queue across that space between the rail line and the redevelopment area really is gonna continue to exist.

That's gonna be kind of this awesome transition zone through that area and then into the curly queue that continued.

We'd love to see that arc just continue.

So the things that you're seeing in the Grand Connection are really an addition, but it keeps that sort of core um element, which frankly is a part of the historical nature of the redevelopment of the entire district because that was the old rail line that that arced around from State Street down to the foundry.

So it's just a beautiful piece of reinterpreting, you know, the use of that space and that that connection.

I mean, they graded it so they could get a train down there, and now it's just a perfect trail path.

So that'll be in there as well.

Um I think it's a good good asset to keep.

Can I ask a question on the general three concepts?

Is it going to yield roughly the same amount of developable developable land?

Um it's it's really a matter of development intensity.

I mean, the land is there.

For instance, in the concept you're looking at now where the road runs down the middle of the redevelopment area, that creates smaller development blocks.

So you're you're likely to get a smaller development yield because your infrastructure is running through the middle.

So it creates sites that aren't as ideal for certain types of building footprints, if that makes sense.

And those blocks are about the half the size of you know, first edition blocks, which are buildings, alleyway buildings, and so this encompasses about half that area.

And and you all know kind of the character and size of development within sort of that that narrow of an area.

So this would probably have be a little more restrictive just along that main street.

Now the redevelopment of the wastewater treatment area is a little more open and would be more flexible and allow for a variety of different building types, but it is a little narrower in this concept.

I think the the third promenade concept actually was that the one that has the biggest uh blocks that we um came up with for our development.

Yeah, let me just I just put all three of them up here.

You can see park plaza on the left, that road running through the middle, that creates smaller block sizes, the downtown plaza and promenade creates larger block areas, more in line with what you have in in uh first edition in downtown.

So you can see what the download is.

The promenade could yield potentially the most in terms of development.

But there's a couple of things that play into that because the depth of the the concrete batch plant means you have opportunities for taller buildings that aren't sort of hitting sight lines of the downtown.

And so there's some opportunities for increased density in areas, even in the narrower blocks, for instance, where you could do parking underneath the roadway.

I mean, there's some strategic things that filling that hole with levels of parking as a really cost savings measure way to put development on top of that.

So you capture the ability to get a couple of floors of parking that would typically be unseen because you need that fill anyway, not only to get out of the floodplain, but but to create sort of terraced development um through the district.

So I think the reason why I I'm asking that question is because I I think it's great to look at the concepts of how you want to set it up, but I think you have to ask the question initially of what are you trying to accomplish from a I don't know if it's a volume standpoint or uh um I mean do we want to try to design the space for 2,000 people, 1,500 people, 3,000 people?

I mean, from that standpoint, and then it gets into the affordability part because you if you start having more public spaces, it's less developed space, and that's just gonna drive the price up and that takes out of your affordability.

So I I think some of those concepts, um, it and you have pretty much flat in the in the models that you show there everything's flat versus three-dimensional.

So I don't know whether you go, you know, if we could go more than four stories or whatever, or or six because you do have that right space.

Um, I mean, it um from that standpoint, I mean, those are to me baseline philosophical things that we have to figure out as a community is uh the density down there.

I mean, uh do we want it more just park-like with fewer residencies?

I mean, to have a more park-like, or do we want it to be really dense?

And the reason why I'm saying that I was just on a trip, and I mean Europe is very dense.

I mean, and you go down narrow little roads, and um it's beautiful, it's wonderful.

And then they have the big plazas in Barcelona.

I mean, they have the wide uh plaza with the trees and whatever, and it's it's absolutely fabulous.

But they also have millions of people in that city that walk up and down, and and I mean, it's it's made for that.

I mean, if we put you know, if we have these plazas, we can only put 500 people down there.

That's pretty pricey.

Parkland, I mean, versus um having a where you can put 3,000 people down there.

Those are just kind of the things that I don't know what if we and then obviously having somebody to build all this stuff too.

And you're absolutely right.

So there are basic thresholds that the development yield needs to be at a certain level to balance the cost of the infrastructure.

And if those are imbalanced, then you're not gonna likely have a development scenario.

So that's one thing.

And so we can we'll certainly calibrate each of these, each of these concepts around that, what the potential development yield is.

I think there's a variety of different ways to get that yield.

Um, but but to your point, yes, that is part of the metrics in in determining what your you know ultimate plan moving forward is.

To your point, do we want to balance the cost of public space with less housing because we value the public space?

That's that's one attribute, still understanding that you need a critical amount of development to make the infrastructure cost balance.

We're always gonna be there.

We're not gonna put forward a plan that doesn't at least equalize or do better on the development side uh versus the cost of infrastructure.

But um, you know, it's kind of the quality of space.

What's the what is that experience for you as you move between downtown and the waterfront?

That's really important.

How important is each end of that experience?

What can we accomplish on State Street, for instance, to maybe make that feel like arrival in the downtown.

Um, so there's gonna be you know things that help guide that.

But to your point, yes, we we do want to try to balance development with infrastructure cost, and and we'll work toward that.

Thank you, uh, Counselor Afkin.

Uh so we're talking concept, so no judgment, right?

Sure, that's very important to keep in mind that these are conceptual, so there's a lot of calibration that needs to come later.

So a few things.

As you were talking, you started distinguishing between downtown and the waterfront.

And our North Star was we want to expand the downtown.

So we gotta, if that's the case, then option three or the park promenade is what caught my attention.

That means we can't say we expanded that downtown, but visually not have that in place.

Meaning you have to see it in order to believe it.

And if that's the case, if you're driving down from Avenue and you can see the downtown expanded, then that's the option for me.

The same thing with B Avenue.

You're coming down, you see the downtown expanded as opposed to building here, building there, there's a dead end, so you have to turn in order to see the rest of the downtown.

So that was one, and I also like the multi-entry into that area.

Whether it's pedestrian or bikes or cars, multi-entry is best, especially with the events we're having there.

And most likely we will have more events.

Uh so for again, from my perspective, what we see is important as well as what ends up being built there.

So whether our alleys are going to be small, like Europe or wide, and every place we look at our street, it's like what do we see?

Because this is the only opportunity we get.

And a comment for the city manager is that the wastewater treatment project manager and this project manager have to be best friends forever.

Because we can't have a uh foothills district that has a wastewater treatment that it's either has order or noise or this or that.

So the whole thing got to come together nicely.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Um, you know.

This view or what what this connection is is experienced coming from multiple directions.

And part of it is is where where are you creating that moment where now you're orienting yourself?

You've got downtown on one side of you, and now you have the opportunity when you look the other direction, which today we know is looking at a sea of sort of low-hung commercial buildings, or tree-lined, literally fully obscured the view.

In any in each one of these scenarios, we're creating an opportunity to open that space.

And the location of that, whether it's here or here, here, that's the moment where you're really going to experience this vastness, something allowing you to orient over here.

And so I think it can be accomplished in in the middle between A and B.

It could be accomplished the way you're seeing it is extend the Avenue corridor, extend the B Avenue corridor.

I think we're going to have the opportunity to do that in each of the alternatives, because that's the goal is to create that that opening in that moment to, you know, there's a lot of things obscuring the view.

Even if we were to take the buildings down at State Street, you've got the you've got a tree line along the bluff, you have the transformer units.

There'll be a moment of arrival at State Street and a decision that you'll be able to make that can take you to the water.

And so I think that's what as we look at all the things that are impacting how we do that.

That that'll be the moment for us.

Like, is this the right connection?

Did it is it orienting me, you know, to the to this place, and does it feel connected to the core of downtown?

Is it expanding the downtown or are we separating?

Those are the type of dialogue we have to have.

I appreciate that.

Yeah.

Looking forward to that.

Yes.

Yeah, I think unfortunately there's like some very real physical barriers there.

So we have to think about what we can do to actually integrate the fabric.

And you know, I think we were thinking that the plaza, you know, would be a good, at least a visual at the eye level downtown that would draw you to at least that connection, if not the entire district.

But to the extent that we can do that, you know, that would be a way to frame it potentially.

Um maybe second option and third option can be combined with the plaza and access or visual access.

I think as we explore some of those crossings and what's really viable, what isn't, you know, a lot of people have already questioned can you really make State Street kind of uh a pleasant place to be with all these cars pushing through?

Um so I think those are gonna weigh in, you know, as factors too.

And and um the vision statement.

Yeah, absolutely.

Uh yeah, that interface is gonna be really important though, and I think that's something that um we're starting to try to incorporate into these concepts and acknowledge.

I don't know if you've been to Independence Oregon before, but it's one of I mean, this project here has the opportunity for your downtown to really be oriented to the Millamette River in a way that no other city on the Willamette River can do.

And the only community so far that's done it fairly well is independence, because their main street, much like your state street, is sitting at the edge of this space between their core downtown and the waterfront.

And they have a glorious park there.

There's buildings on one side, storefronts, the highway runs through there, but it's not four lanes, it's two lanes.

Um, and it it is a sense of arrival, and that park is the front door to the downtown, and it feels like an extension of independence to the waterfront.

And they've had some additional development, they've got a hotel and townhomes and that activity on either side of that great public space.

And I think this is the in my mind, this is a similar opportunity for us.

Like if we're to think of State Street as this sense of arrival, then you know, let's push hard to try and actually do that and make it uh done a very interesting job there.

They've done a very nice job.

Yeah.

Counselor Corgan.

Yeah, I'm um interested in what you might be able to tell us about what would the exp what these three options.

It's not clear to me what the experience of someone walking along between the buildings and the river would be like.

I think a lot of us were really inspired by the way the Vancouver waterfront was done.

Um, sort of the accessibility to the water.

Um, what do what are the variations and theme here on that for letting people be close to the water?

I mean, I don't know if you have problems with seawalls or all these other things and all the other environmental considerations.

I don't know.

What can you tell us?

Yeah, I mean, this is different from Vancouver in that Vancouver, the development is separating the downtown from the waterfront.

This is uh a scenario that turns that on its side and says, okay, we're not creating a wall, we're actually creating a direct connection to the waterfront that is extending the downtown forward, which is awesome.

I mean, I think that's that's really that's really where you want to be.

You want to create that something perpendicular to your downtown on the waterway because that's what's going to accentuate that experience.

If you're able to activate development on both sides, so the park plaza concept where new development is sitting up, you know, on either side of that development, that creates a lot of activity.

It creates a great space and the and the connection has a lot of logic.

And so I think that's a good benefit.

B gives you a little bit more flexibility in how you execute that, i.e., there's larger development blocks on one side of the road versus the other.

So that gives you more flexibility in the types of buildings than development you might do.

The promenade, if if it has any fatal flaw, is it it's not double-sided on those grand connections between the downtown and the waterfront, because on one side you have the wastewater treatment plant, which you know, we can screen and do some things.

On the other side, we have the you know, kind of the back side of the condominium project.

I mean, the promenade's gonna be so grand and tree-lined that I think the experience is going to feel lovely, much like it is today when you're on the curly queue.

But I think it doesn't have the energy on both sides of that of that connection that the other two concepts offer.

And so, you know, that's a an important consideration because if you're trying to create like great eyes on the street and something that feels like a vibrant uh place, it's really good to have uh buildings on on both sides of that connection.

So I'm still kind of confused.

If I'm walking down there, where um or my bike, how close can I get to the water?

So that I mean it will continue to be along the park.

So I mean, that would be a part of the Foothills Park Northward expansion.

So we're not scoped to think about exactly what the park sort of design and layout would look at with this project.

Um, but if you think about just the sort of need for cut and fill and um what the topography of that corner would be of sort of trioncove and the laminate right there, you know, that's currently um raised up out of the floodplain.

You know, the wastewater treatment plan needs to be up and you know, uh safe from flood risk.

There would be opportunities to lower some of the adjacent uh slopes so that we could um you know have uh more basically area for um cuts and you know, more area for stormwater or you know, for floodplain to be um you know that water to be uh absorbed um or or you know contained for those events.

But you know, there is a potential though, at least for that there to be some sort of earthwork in that area that would lower it.

But you'd still want those buildings to be up and out of the floodplain.

Um so it is creating somewhat of like a steep scenario there.

So it wouldn't, it wouldn't be the flattest area for folks who uh sort of experience the water, and I think the existing park facilities are um well suited for that, but that's certainly something that I think would be a really fundamental part of any future Foothills Park northward expansion.

Um but that you know they the that doesn't mean that that's not something we need to think about now and how these buildings could be laid out.

Um, you know, that's something that needs to be coordinated as with the wastewater treatment plant.

I mean, each scenario is making a more direct connected way to walk and bike from State Street to to the waterfront, and it's taking you right to Foothills Park.

Um, and the plaza concept, it takes you to a grand space right at the edge of Foothills Park plaza, downtown plaza could do something similar but at a smaller scale.

And the promenade just kind of continues that tree-lined walkway all the way through right into to the park.

So there's a real sort of obvious continuity in that that seam being just glorious.

I mean, so I think you'll you'll find that it's a positive experience coming down.

There's gonna be some topography change for sure.

If you want to keep it easy, you want to be on the curly queue, because that's gonna give you a little more tempered way to get up and down.

Some of these streets are gonna hit a little bit steeper thresholds than we we would anticipate from an accessibility threshold, and that may just be the you know, the nature of working in steeper slopes like we have here.

In some instances development or the wastewater treatment plant, the old wastewater treatment plant, which we'll leave, is up in a higher bluff area itself.

So imagine those buildings are gonna be up a little higher than even the park down below.

And so there's some accessibility experiences there.

So kind of terracing down.

Uh we'll we'll try to minimize those slopes as much as possible.

But um that's great.

Yeah, yeah.

I like the you know, I you know, I bring up the idea of that kind of um festival street, you know, pedestrian promenade, because then it kind of creates some of that plaza space just all throughout, you know.

So you're you're always in the in that plaza space and the the it's like a kind of a combination of that park promenade if one of those promenades, you know, were just a wide kind of um, you know, a wide pedestrian promenade and the other dedicated to more multi model, you know, because you have to be able to access the space too.

I mean, I mean realistic about that.

Um and I do like that it kind of trying to find a way to weave uh uh so that there's no lost space, you know, that there's no or there's no you know, off to the side space and keeping in mind that the city, of course, will then control that old wastewater treatment plant site.

So I can see that being an integral kind of part to whatever gets developed um down there.

We have uh currently less control over the rest of the um over the rest of that development.

But but that being the site that's right on the water itself is a key, you know, it could be a key site, whatever that use ends up uh being, and um tying that also into uh a promenade.

I think the I kind of I guess that's what I like about it.

It's bringing people down through the district.

I think the concept I like the least is the downtown plaza, just because it kind of starts so heavy at the top, you know, the others kind of draw you still have that that um important uh you know, visual at the top, like counselor afghan said that but it makes you want to want to go through.

So you have that experience where people could start in in the downtown set the expanded downtown, you know, take their experience from downtown all the way down through to the park, which is in itself is a great gathering um place too, and could even be expanded again with that um around the site that we control, you know, maybe it's a combination, maybe that's a park plaza.

No, park plaza is a it's a it's a prom it's a plaza promenade.

Plaza promenade, yeah.

It's just perfect promenade.

One thing I just wanted to, I guess, uh ask maybe a pointed question about, you know, I think one of the um elements that's common amongst these three concepts is that there is sort of treatment of the wastewater treatment plant um sort of as like a back of house access road, um, foothills road does become somewhat of an access road and is de-emphasized, I think, um, in comparison to this what we're calling the grand connection, um, you know, to sort of um, you know, again, promote the um, you know, the what would likely be a more desirable pedestrian experience, um, and you know, the uh, you know, the sort of presence of like waste trucks alone is something that we're trying to be cognizant of.

So this the trucks kind of coming to and from that facility with uh you know what in large uh trucks um that needs to, you know, be a critical part of their operations there.

And so, you know, that's something that we want to think about, you know.

Obviously, there's a crossing there that needs to be managed, but um, we didn't see that as being too compatible with much uh pedestrian activity, I suppose.

So I guess, you know, I just wanted to ask about, you know, you know, do you see that as being something that we should maintain moving forward?

Or do you see maybe with this park promenade that maybe we should try to activate that more at least on one side um to have options um you know for folks to traverse the area?

Um again, this could be, you know, uh Mayor Buck in your comments, you know, if we did think about shutting down the sort of grand connection, if you will, that could be the sort of outlet for vehicles and other things that could function in the event that the other sort of pedestrian-oriented area was shut down.

Right.

Um so they could have sort of differing functions, but it might be a challenge to make them both successful pedestrian uh axes, if you will.

Um so I I guess, yeah, I I think that we might want to prioritize one.

And I guess I'm just you know, I'm I guess it's an open question.

I'm it's more of a statement, I suppose.

But you know, I guess that's one element of the park promenade that um, you know, I I guess there could be issues with activating that sort of northerly uh access um on Foothills Road if we do have this other sort of prominent access, that's even more direct.

Most of those trucks go out the back.

Well, yeah, that is a future possibility, of course.

Yeah.

I don't think we're gonna have trucks coming and going 24-7.

So from my perspective, we want it all.

So you you guys are the experts and see what you can do.

Yeah, I mean, that's you know, that urban design principle is that you know, you if you have this size of a space, it might be hard to activate, you know, those two kind of disparate areas, I suppose.

So I guess that's one that's something that we're struggling with with that in addition to the sort of access needs of the wastewater treatment plant.

The multi-use area that we have already agreed, so yeah, it's and it's kind of you know, as a smaller area too.

It's I mean, there's the the larger development sites of the promenade are appealing, but then the the kind of single, you know, it's just not that big, it's you know, of a space like kind of concentrating it.

There's a lot of appeal there too, like just having one draw, like in our, you know, instead of like, well, we go down here there.

That's when you get you know, naturally, it can't all be super vibrant, right?

So you can get a hierarchy maybe of the different roads, yeah.

Um it gets it gets and there is something about the plaza where it's it is that you see that prominent that that grand um entry and and and extension framed as we've talked about, then it kind of ending along the water.

I mean, there's something really appealing to that too, because that is that natural, you know, it seems like in scale with what we're talking about here, um, kind of a walk through a neighborhood, you know, if you will, to this complementary um use to the current extension of the current downtown along the water is something very appealing about that as opposed to like too many.

Well, do I go down this road or that road?

Yeah, there's a lot of clarity in the park plaza in that direct connection.

The fact that it embraces the foothills park and and state street is really important.

And if you think about okay, what does it mean to extend the downtown to the waterfront?

Well, there's a certain DNA to the downtown, and it's a series of blocks of buildings fronting those streets, and A really does that um in a very overt way and creeps that connection, not aligned with kind of the view corridors along A and B, but it creates its own a new corridor that is emblematic of the kind of the block structure of the traditional downtown and those buildings and oriented to that space as a logic and continuity of what you already experienced today in downtown.

So that makes some sense.

The plaza too allows that development.

I guess in downtown plaza and park promenade, you see the development kind of is becoming the Vancouver wall, a little bit separation of the park space um from the rest of downtown, whereas that first option really says this central seam is taking you to these this great public space at the end, and it's filling in that area, kind of like the blocks that you have in your downtown.

So I may I'm maybe convincing myself on one of these options.

Sorry.

Park plaza, Councilor Verdict.

So one, two or three.

I think we can do that.

This is supposed to mix mix and match.

It's like a Mr.

Potato Head.

You can pick your pieces and create your own puzzle out of it.

Yeah.

Um, I think these are great.

They give you a lot to think about and kind of just doing what we're doing, which is kind of talking about what are the different scenarios, what do we want to see?

And I would say I lean, you know, again, if I had to choose one right now, I kind of lean towards the park plaza just because I I like that just central going down and it gives you a destination at the bottom.

Yeah.

Um but I also I I think the mayor made a really good point.

Like, I wouldn't want cars on that.

I'd want that to be, you know, more of a pedestrian street.

And then if you could keep kind of the cars on the sides somehow.

And I'm not sure if there's space to do that or how that would work.

But keeping traffic when you look at park promenade too, the northern promenade, if that's like your cars more there, which pushes it up against the wastewater treatment.

To me, that's just a little bit nicer.

Not saying that you don't have people that can walk there, but you don't have that nice kind of pedestrian feel, and that may mean that that pathway or that the street on park plaza, maybe it's not as wide because you have to make up for some space.

But I also think um, Jeff, you made a really good point is the vibrancy that you feel when you have things on both sides.

And so that would be my concern with the park promenade, is that you kind of lose that energy, yeah, because it's all focused on one side.

So that's where I I like that, but at the same time on that promenade one, it's like I think you we lose something.

And what I probably want to see is that you have some connections between the two promenades where you have those pedestrian streets that maybe are between.

So you have kind of that more that European alley kind of feel.

So I would say if we did something like that, I'd want to see that.

And I also like, I'm not sure if because of the grade, if that makes more sense, you know, is it that I don't exactly know what that grade would be on the park plaza when you go down.

It's like, are we going to lose the feel that we're hoping for because it's too steep?

Because I think as soon as you start adding steps in there, I think you start losing that feel.

So that would be just those are just kind of the different things going through my head.

But I do like ending with a plaza at the end.

I'm not sure how much we can leverage of some of the existing foothills if we're kind of expanding the park a little bit.

Um, because I think Councillor Wenlin brought up a really good point.

Um, because I think Counselor Wenlin brought up a really good point if we do want to leverage buildability in those spaces, but I do think coming and having some again plaza of some sort.

And again, whether that means we kind of tap into the existing and move the park further north, you know, where the floodplains and stuff might be a little, you know, where you want to park there versus build.

Yeah.

Um but so but I do like having that destination of however we make that that look and the size of it.

I think we can kind of figure out base again.

We don't know any, there's so much we don't know that it's like, yeah, we can sit here and talk about all this, what we like and don't like, but until we start getting the grades, until we start seeing everything, it's we're just kind of to me talking really high level.

What are the generally what we're liking?

Um one thing I do think is really important, and I don't think we have any issue because of the grade trait, how it goes down, but as you come down A, I think everyone loves the view of kind of the mountain.

So not so much as you look down, but as you look straight across.

And I think we've got you know plenty of space that we can build up, and maybe we even look at, you know, do we how high, you know, does six stories make sense?

What makes sense down there before you start, you know, yeah blocking that view.

But I think we do need to look at leveraging the height in that area.

Um, I'd be a little careful going over about six stories or so, because then you start it as a pedestrian, it starts feeling overwhelming, and I think you have to look at your you know, the spacing between your um, you know, how wide is that pedestrian street.

But I think you see you see in Paris, you see in Rome, you know, you can get five or six stories and still keep a very pedestrian great feel.

And so we need to look at that and say, okay, are we is our zoning right in that area matching what we can do so we maximize our density and you know, help increase the type of housing that we can have down there and so forth.

So everyone will have great calves.

I love it.

Just to I guess follow up a little bit on what you were saying, you know.

I think and and what you were saying, Counselor Wenlin earlier, you know, with the park plaza with you know, maybe some of the the concepts that might result in smaller blocks can, you know, if there are concerns about the amount of development that could be placed on those blocks, you know, that is something that could be mitigated by height and a more thorough sort of uh look at sort of massing and density in that area.

So that that's something that you know, I think um is gonna be a part of our next sort of refinement phase as we move forward, making sure that these things um you know are something that a developer would feasibly want to construct in the future.

Yeah, yeah.

I I think that's the big picture is that you can have all these dreams of what you really wanted to do.

But tell somebody is willing to invest, it's kind of like you're just dreaming and nothing's gonna get done.

And so I that's where we need your expertise in in if you divide in a park plaza look with smaller buildings.

What exactly does that building look like?

I mean, can you only put 40 units in there instead of 60 for the same cost?

Well, guess what?

The 40 units are going to be a third higher.

Um is that the right math?

Whatever.

Um, but I mean, those are the trade-offs that you have, and and I like the the idea.

One thing like Barcelona and a lot of European like they must have had somewhat like Washington, DC, where there's like a height limit.

I really like that where it's all consistent.

And so when you're looking, everything is the same height, and and you can get some of that spacing conceptually.

Um from a visual standpoint, it looks calmer, it looks consistent, and and they can pack.

Oh my gosh.

And then they have the little narrow um sort of walkways in between.

Um it's it's a it's it's a good good vibe and a good feeling.

Um, instead of having 15 different projects at different heights and everything else, it looks so choppy.

Right, right, right.

Yeah, you know.

I also like the land bridge.

I think that's pretty cool.

Yeah, what okay?

The land bridge, the crossing of State Street.

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Especially I like that the idea of like from Millennium Park.

I mean, that's a pretty ambitious, but I'm like, how cool would that be and make that so easy for people to really transition from our core down?

Yeah, just be so a big wide one.

Yeah, yeah.

It'd be really fun to, yeah.

We're already seeing people, I mean, just rampant jaywalking in that area, as you might imagine.

But um, you know, that's something that we highlighted in our in our bus store early on in the CAC.

Um, you know, we took people there first and crossed that road and you know, had people experience that because it's it can be a little a little uh intimidating, I think, regardless of if it's possible, you know.

I think you know, the the feel of it can make people either want to go back or not not really go again, right?

So I think that's something that we want to make it more inviting.

Have um uh okay, have we provided the feedback you need?

Yeah, pretty good.

Okay, I mean the deeper dive on building heights um will come, I think, as we merge in kind of a preferred concept because that allows us to dig into the meat of the infrastructure better, understand grades and slopes and things of that nature.

But I again I think there's enough in each one of these concepts that kind of pull together, distribute and allow the things that what you like from each one can be attributed and combined into something that is distinct for the district.

And I think in particular, the promenade, the connections along Avenue A and Avenue B, maintaining that continuity and the strength of that as a walk bike connection should be universal to where we land.

I think I think we're gonna get there.

The exploration of height and all that's gonna be an interesting one because that's where the pitchforks are going to come out in uh you know, in pretty high high manner.

But um we expect that.

But if we can get the basic framework together, I mean, what does it mean to have that sense of arrival and then move through the space and then land at something great at the edge of the park?

I think that idea will be will resonate with people and we can work through the details of the things that happen on the edges, um, both from a financial standpoint, John, but also from a visual standpoint.

So this is exciting.

I love this kind of work.

Thank you so much for thank you.

It's fun seeing that now to get to see the concepts.

I know that the CAC enjoyed going through this process as well.

Um, and also provided good good feedback.

It's nice to go from the the conceptual, you know.

Well, this is still conceptual, but you know, to the from the framing down to this is is a cool step.

So yeah, thank you.

Yeah, thank you very much.

Thank you for being in the CAC.

I think it's really helpful.

I appreciate that you great group.

You're doing that.

And I think it's really important.

Having leaders as a part of that process is awesome.

Thank you.

Thanks, Jason.

Go quickly to next steps.

I I have a just a few notes before we go.

I guess first of all, I would just mention um we are undertaking another, as you're all aware, um, undertaking another large process to look at areas where we could potentially um add residential density to um existing either mixed use or commercial areas of the city.

So that's something where we will be thinking about foothills as well within that larger context, and that will be a part of that larger discussion.

So we'll we'll be able to have that discussion, you know, fairly clear-eyed, not just you know, within the bubble of foothills, but thinking about it citywide um fairly soon here.

Um and another thing I would mention is if you have any uh additional comments on any of these concepts that you didn't get to explain or or go into detail on today, um, I'm going to follow up via email and would encourage you to send any written comments my way and I'll um be sure to distribute those um prior to the next meeting.

Um so um yeah, be happy to you know take those offline.

Um so yeah, I will uh follow up with you on all that and other things to uh be mindful of coming up here uh on June 8th, we will be talking about uh these same concepts with the planning commission at a work session.

So uh pretty soon here.

And we are working to solidify some of these dates, and we're already solidifying them as of like a couple hours ago, but chamber of commerce uh meeting is happening um sometime either in late June or early July.

Um we're gonna meet as a technical advisory committee in mid-June, June 17th is actually the date that we firmed up for that.

And um, we are also hoping to plan our next open house or community event for either early July or late June as well.

So we're trying to pin down a venue and um have some good leads there, hoping to be able to share some news on that within the week or so.

Awesome, Eric.

Thank you very much, Jason.

Thank you.

Can I ask one question real quick on when on the when you're meeting with the um chamber?

Um they're gonna be asking what opportunities would be, you know, business wise.

What have we come up with new concepts of of you know, from 15, 20, 25 years ago?

We'd re-zone things so you'd have to have certain types of businesses and all that stuff.

Have we updated that now to what's happening, what the norms would be as far as how much business we would want down there versus um residential?

Um it's a residential focus.

I think you know, there's a long enough distance between State Street and the waterfront that to create, for instance, edge to edge retail along that new development would be competing with the downtown and likely couldn't be absorbed even with the new development there.

The real opportunity is how can we strengthen the commercial um businesses on State Street, like enhance that, maybe add a little bit more to that to really help create that destination, and then look at the opportunity, for instance, if the park plaza concept were to be a reality from a development perspective, that public space would be coveted from a developer, and an active ground floor would be you know, the types of businesses that want to be oriented or close to that plaza would would be big.

But I think in terms of the amount of retail we might expect here.

I think the original plan said uh I can't remember they they said maybe up to 75,000 square feet of retail.

We're we're at 10, 15, maybe, maybe 25.

It's really about at those endpoints where we have an opportunity to create some type of active storefront, either oriented to the water or oriented to the downtown and strengthening the downtown as that sense of arrival.

But in between is not it's probably not feasible or advisable.

We wouldn't want to require it at least, right?

Right, yeah, yeah.

Thank you.

Good question.

All right, thank you very much.

Thank you.

Okay.

Information from council.

Does anyone have anything to report?

What have you all been up to?

I went to the market last Saturday.

And there was uh kids.

Yes, and the mayor was there.

There's the uh Arbor contest.

Arborist our contest for the Arbor.

It was one wonderful, not only one, because two of my students was uh prize winners, and the mayor gave them the thing.

It was last year we were there, it was smaller.

You remember, like we I gave the things the mayor wasn't there, I think.

I was the mayor.

I mean and but this time the mayor was there.

There were thousands of people.

It was really the draw factor.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, yeah, because the mayor was there.

And also honestly, I I love that.

I love uh that the city is you know, like having everybody.

Now it's not only the adult, but the kids because I work with children.

So the city, you know, the implication is young kids, kindergarten to the adult.

So I was very happy Saturday.

So the kids were very and Sunday.

I played football and scored three goals, if you want to know.

That's a hot trip.

Yeah.

So for the right team?

Yeah.

For the no, no, for the men's league.

Yeah, I'm good.

Did the other team show up though?

No, they're just kidding.

It was against the kids in the contest.

Yes, right.

All I know is Chris is not playing anymore.

So that's really what's going on.

Assistant chief is not playing anymore.

I think need you back.

Anyone on the mayor?

Yeah, I think Mr.

Mayor, one thing that was part of the consent agenda that we have all been supporting is the boards and commissions interviews and selections, and which took a lot of coordination by uh our staff as well as so many different interviews.

That was a big task, but I think we all contributed and we made it successful.

So thank you for making those recommendations that got approved tonight.

Thank you all.

And um, yeah, special thanks to Laurel for doing all the behind-the-scenes coordination and to our uh DI advisory board members who helped us out as well and and the chairs and committee members who sat on those interviews.

It's always a lot of work.

Good job.

And to everyone who applied, it's a good good group of good group of people.

Yeah, everyone did a great job of their applications interviews.

Yeah, for sure.

Um it's just really it's great to have so many folks engaged in what's you know going on in the community.

Um we had uh sustainability advisory board here last night, um, talking a little bit about foothills and some kind of um new energy concepts.

Um uh they're looking into uh down there, and then uh just talking about their work plan in the year ahead.

It was overall a uh productive uh productive meeting.

Um want to recognize too on this election day, you know, just again the good work of uh the city communications team, especially and um with the fire department and leading the um leading this effort around the the and our community members who have also both internally within the city and then our community members leading the bond on the South Shore Fire Station.

They've done a great a great job.

Thank you for serving on that task force.

And again, the community members and our team here at the city put out lots of good communications through all of our all of our channels to really get get information out, and people were talking about this, and I feel like really well informed of the decision they're making.

So manager.

Okay.

Well, we are now going to uh convene an executive uh session, and I will ask Ms.

Totoyan to please read the statutory basis for this session.

They like Oswego City Council will now meet an executive session under ORS 192.660 sub two sub D to conduct deliberations with persons designated by the governing body to carry on labor negotiations and subsection F to consider information or records that are exempt by law from public inspection.

Pursuant to ORS 192.660 sub four, representatives of the news media are excluded from this executive session.

No final decisions will be made in executive session.

Following that, the city council will meet in executive session under ORS 192.660 sub two sub H to consult with an attorney concerning the legal rights and duties of a public body with regard to current litigation or litigation likely to be filed, and subsection F to consider records that are exempt by law from public inspection.

Representatives of the news media and designated staff shall be allowed to attend the executive session.

All other members of the audience are asked to leave the room.

Representatives of the news media are specifically directed not to report on any of the deliberations during executive session, except to state the general subject of the session is previously announced.

No final decisions will be made in executive session.

At the end of the executive session, we will adjourn the meeting.

Thanks, Mr.

Toyen.

Okay, this will conclude the broadcast portion of the evening.

We are going to recess and we will reconvene in the side room.