OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Milwaukie City Council Study Session on Downtown Capital Improvement Priorities - July 17, 2026

City Council — Friday, July 17, 2026
BodyMilwaukie, Oregon
SessionCity Council
DateFriday, July 17, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:50:05

Transcript — Verbatim
0:47

Oh, right.

0:48

Oh, right.

0:49

So it says stop sharing.

0:50

That's right.

0:51

No matter.

0:52

Okay.

0:52

Should I stop sharing?

0:54

No, it's going to go to your video's going.

1:01

I can see.

1:02

You can see the next year.

1:03

I can see his audio's on.

1:05

I can see the recording.

1:08

What end is definitely our shift?

1:12

No.

1:14

I'm sorry.

1:15

I'm sorry.

1:18

Oh, the DAC or hello everyone.

1:23

Sorry, we're just getting set up in the front.

1:50

Are we being recorded?

1:52

All right.

1:53

It's our uh what is today?

1:55

July 14th study session on downtown capital improvement priorities.

2:01

Prioritization.

2:03

I'll turn it over to Emma.

2:04

Thank you, Mayor.

2:05

And thanks.

2:06

We do have a Zoom audience tonight watching us.

2:08

Um we're gonna dive in.

2:11

So uh why?

2:13

Why are we having this discussion?

2:15

Why have we dedicated a uh study session to this topic?

2:20

Um you know, I think this is actually a really exciting uh conversation because it's spurred on by this council and previous councils.

2:30

Some of these projects have been have been on the docket for many, many years.

2:34

Um the real momentum we have in our DAC account and the real desire to invest in some transformative capital improvements that could reshape um downtown for generations to come.

2:46

I think what's also really exciting about all those projects that we've been talking about for years is that they really hit all of council's goals.

2:53

They hit parks and green space, they did economic development, and they could support affordability in terms of affordable housing.

2:59

Um that's the awesome part.

3:01

There's no dearth of great ideas and great opportunities in the downtown core of Milwaukee.

3:07

The sort of reality check part is that resources are limited.

3:11

Um, because these are all in that downtown core, they all potentially compete for urban renewal um area dollars.

3:18

We're very excited and happy to see that the tax increment in the um urban renewal district is doing its job, it is growing, but it's a finite pool of money as well, and it cannot cover every single thing we might want to do on the capital front downtown.

3:33

We also um have a wonderful staff, but we don't have uh a limited staff, and and these projects, I kind of jokingly call them the downtown mega projects.

3:42

Um they they are big and they're in some of them are gonna be multi-year, and they're gonna require a lot on the design front, the construction management front, the community engagement front, and um we're gonna need to be judicious in how we apply staff to that.

3:56

We also have a finite amount of space.

3:58

So you do a lot of construction in an area, you gotta put all the vehicles and the equipment to do that.

4:03

So we have to think about construction staging, and we also can think about construction impacts.

4:07

It's really um easy to think about how great it's gonna be when projects are done.

4:13

There's that painful middle, no one likes construction, and we've built such a great momentum in our downtown core with um thriving small businesses that we have to be mindful of the disruption, construction and cost.

4:34

Uh it's very important, I believe, that we prioritize and we make sure staff are aware of how you as council want us to prioritize these major projects so that we can deliver this transformative change but in a sustainable and strategic way.

4:50

Okay, so what are the projects we're actually talking about tonight?

4:53

I'm gonna see if I can collapse the little bit.

5:02

Okay, it's gonna say that.

5:03

Um the first one we're talking about is our main street enhancements project that is uh highlighted there for you on the map in blue.

5:14

This project is currently in the capital improvement plan that's in the adopted budget.

5:18

Uh that plan had design occurring in fiscal year 28, construction occurring in fiscal year 29.

5:24

The total cost of the project is about 7.6 million dollars.

5:27

And this is an integrated project.

5:29

So it has URA funding, um, but it also has transportation funding, wastewater, stormwater, and STC funds because all of those utilities would get upgraded in addition to the streetscapes that we would do.

5:41

That's project one.

5:43

Project two is Milwaukee Bay Park.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Parks and Recreation████████████████████████████28%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████████████18%
Economic Development█████████████13%
Budget Equity Analysis█████████████13%
Fiscal Sustainability████████8%
Affordable Housing████████8%
Community Engagement██2%
Public Engagement██2%
Environmental Protection██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Milwaukie City Council Study Session on Downtown Capital Improvement Priorities

The July 17, 2026 study session focused on prioritizing five major downtown capital projects given limited urban renewal area (URA) funds, staff capacity, and construction impacts. Council discussed trade-offs between the Main Street Enhancements project and Milwaukee Bay Park, with significant consideration of ongoing operations and maintenance costs, general fund sustainability, and community expectations. After extensive debate, council reached consensus to prioritize Milwaukee Bay Park (Option B), deferring Main Street enhancements and reallocating URA dollars.

Discussion Items

  • Overview of Five Projects: Staff presented five downtown projects: (1) Main Street Enhancements ($7.6M total, design FY28, construction FY29), (2) Milwaukee Bay Park ($13.6M worst-case, $12.2M if existing designs and trolley trail grant secured), (3) Kellogg ($113M, with only $1M URA in CIP and no sewer relocation funding), (4) Harrison & Main Lot (Metro owns half, potential buyout $500k–$700k, no visioning done), (5) Coho (not in CIP, envisioned as public-private partnership).
  • Funding and Constraints: Staff noted all projects compete for URA dollars and require significant staff resources. Main Street Enhancements already has $1.65M URA and other utility funds, while Milwaukee Bay Park has $1.65M URA and $1M general fund (metro local share and climate funds) with several grants pending. Kellogg’s sewer relocation is not city-funded; staff reaffirmed council’s prior direction not to fund it.
  • Prioritization Scenarios: Three scenarios were presented:
    • Option A: Prioritize Main Street Enhancements, begin Coho and Harrison & Main planning alongside, but delay Milwaukee Bay Park.
    • Option B: Prioritize Milwaukee Bay Park, reallocate URA dollars from Main Street and Kellogg to close funding gap, delay Main Street, and defer Harrison & Main visioning. This option requires grants and debt financing.
    • Option C: Advance both Main Street and Milwaukee Bay Park simultaneously, requiring significant debt financing and likely postponing Coho and Harrison & Main for 30 years.
  • Council Debate: Council members expressed support for Milwaukee Bay Park but raised concerns about:
    • Operations and maintenance costs: estimated $50k–$60k/year for Milwaukee Bay Park and $100k/year for Kellogg, with no budgeted funds.
    • General fund sustainability: adding O&M costs to an already projected $6.7M deficit in the first year.
    • Impact on Main Street businesses: delaying Main Street enhancements risks continued ADA non-compliance and aging infrastructure (water mains nearly 100 years old, failing sidewalks).
    • Affordability: Councilor Masse emphasized that prioritizing Milwaukee Bay Park must not come at the expense of affordable housing and that the city must push harder on affordability.
  • Parks Governance: Mayor noted that NCPRD’s June 24 board meeting and recent DAC meeting suggested some desire for the city to leave the parks district. Council scheduled an August 18 discussion on parks operations and maintenance.
  • Other Topics: Council received an update on the city’s energy efficiency awards (silver and bronze from Energy Trust), regional transportation plan updates, and a brief report on Milwaukee Day event logistics.

Key Outcomes

  • Consensus for Option B: Council gave clear direction to prioritize Milwaukee Bay Park. Key decisions include:
    • Reallocating URA dollars originally assigned to Main Street Enhancements and Kellogg to Milwaukee Bay Park.
    • Continuing full steam ahead on grant applications (Metro capital grant of $1.75M already awarded; state and federal grants pending).
    • Staff will push NCPRD for contract transfer and trolley trail grant transfer.
    • Main Street Enhancements will be delayed; staff will work on budget adjustments to reallocate funds.
  • Harrison & Main Lot and Coho: Council agreed not to actively work on visioning or planning for Harrison & Main Lot for now, and not to proceed with purchase of Metro’s half. For Coho, council will have a separate conversation about affordable housing goals and potentially revise the RFP based on lessons from the previous proposal (e.g., reducing unit count to avoid needing deep subsidies).
  • General Fund Modeling: Staff committed to continued financial modeling on general fund sustainability, with a presentation scheduled for August 18 on parks O&M costs.
  • No Formal Vote: Decisions were made by verbal consensus, not by roll call vote.

Staff Reports & Acknowledgments

  • Energy efficiency awards: City received silver (electric) and bronze (natural gas) from Energy Trust, ranking in top 5 out of 95 organizations for savings.
  • Mayor shared that NCPRD is asking for government utility rates; survey of Oregon mayors showed no cities offer such rates except a few for school fields open to public.
  • Regional Transportation Plan update: 2027 is the window to add projects; projects must be on city’s financially constrained list, which may affect Harmony Road intersection.
  • Council acknowledged staff efforts on Milwaukee Day, including creative porta-potty placement to avoid disrupting businesses.

Meeting Transcript

Oh, right. Oh, right. So it says stop sharing. That's right. No matter. Okay. Should I stop sharing? No, it's going to go to your video's going. I can see. You can see the next year. I can see his audio's on. I can see the recording. What end is definitely our shift? No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Oh, the DAC or hello everyone. Sorry, we're just getting set up in the front. Are we being recorded? All right. It's our uh what is today? July 14th study session on downtown capital improvement priorities. Prioritization. I'll turn it over to Emma. Thank you, Mayor. And thanks. We do have a Zoom audience tonight watching us. Um we're gonna dive in. So uh why? Why are we having this discussion? Why have we dedicated a uh study session to this topic? Um you know, I think this is actually a really exciting uh conversation because it's spurred on by this council and previous councils. Some of these projects have been have been on the docket for many, many years. Um the real momentum we have in our DAC account and the real desire to invest in some transformative capital improvements that could reshape um downtown for generations to come. I think what's also really exciting about all those projects that we've been talking about for years is that they really hit all of council's goals. They hit parks and green space, they did economic development, and they could support affordability in terms of affordable housing. Um that's the awesome part. There's no dearth of great ideas and great opportunities in the downtown core of Milwaukee. The sort of reality check part is that resources are limited. Um, because these are all in that downtown core, they all potentially compete for urban renewal um area dollars. We're very excited and happy to see that the tax increment in the um urban renewal district is doing its job, it is growing, but it's a finite pool of money as well, and it cannot cover every single thing we might want to do on the capital front downtown. We also um have a wonderful staff, but we don't have uh a limited staff, and and these projects, I kind of jokingly call them the downtown mega projects. Um they they are big and they're in some of them are gonna be multi-year, and they're gonna require a lot on the design front, the construction management front, the community engagement front, and um we're gonna need to be judicious in how we apply staff to that. We also have a finite amount of space. So you do a lot of construction in an area, you gotta put all the vehicles and the equipment to do that. So we have to think about construction staging, and we also can think about construction impacts. It's really um easy to think about how great it's gonna be when projects are done. There's that painful middle, no one likes construction, and we've built such a great momentum in our downtown core with um thriving small businesses that we have to be mindful of the disruption, construction and cost. Uh it's very important, I believe, that we prioritize and we make sure staff are aware of how you as council want us to prioritize these major projects so that we can deliver this transformative change but in a sustainable and strategic way. Okay, so what are the projects we're actually talking about tonight?

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