All right, it's 6 31, so I will call this council uh workshop meeting to order.

Deputy City Recorder Bartholomew, would you please conduct a roll call?

Councillor Gaducy.

Present.

Use Councillor Halleck.

Here.

Mayor who?

Here.

Councillor Robbins here.

Councillor Schlack.

Here.

Councillor Shaw.

Here.

Council President Wolf.

Here.

Councillor Anderson.

Here.

Thank you.

Well, everybody please mute your mics and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

All right, city teammate and council.

Do you have any non-agenda items?

I see everybody shaking their heads.

So no.

Let's move on to the next agenda, which is uh item which is public comments.

Uh public comments um provides an opportunity for members of the public to address the city council.

While it is not dialogue, either I or a staff member will follow up to address the issues brought forward in these comments.

The calling number is 503 966 4101.

And those wishing to come and should call now to get into the queue.

Anyone present wanting to comment should sign up on the public common form at the front of the room.

Those uh calling in or want to testify for agenda number seven should wait until that item is announced and then call in or are uh sign in.

So let's go on to our first item, which is written common.

Um, there was one written public comment received by the Monday noon deadline regarding concern with overnight construction activity at the intersection of Hall Boulevard and Hanseker.

All right, let's move on to the in-person.

Um those who sign up, um, please uh step forward.

All right, so we have nobody sign up, so let's move on to the uh phone or video testimony.

Mr.

Water, are there any callers in the queue for fall phone or video testimony?

There are no no callers in the queue.

All right, thank you very much.

So let's move on to uh agenda number number three, which is community updates.

And I will invite Tiger Chamber of Commerce board chair, Tanner to provide an update.

Good evening.

Good evening, who are you?

Hey, how are you?

Yeah, welcome.

I have a lot.

Megan gave me a lot of updates to share with you today, so uh here we go.

Um Leadership Tiger is headed towards graduation in June, and they're halfway um completed with their class project.

They're collecting toiletries for their feeling fresh is fundamental project, and more details and information on dine and donate nights and booting and drop-off locations can be found on the Leadership Tiger Instagram page.

Uh, for education advocacy and building a strong local economy, which is very important to us as a chamber.

Uh, our government affairs and public policy committee has moved to an online format to be more accessible to a wider range of businesses and nonprofits.

Please email our CEO Megan to be added to the meeting invitation if you'd like to attend that.

And thank you so much to the City of Tiger for creating a formal economic development strategic plan.

We really appreciate it.

The Tiger Chamber is looking forward to continuing our partnership with the economic development team and working together on common goals for the business community.

Work ready just had their business tours where students were given hands-on uh hands-on look at many different types of businesses in the Tigert and Twalton area.

The Tiger Chamber partners with Tiger Twalton School District each year on these events and looks forward to having more business involvement in the future.

Our farmers market, I can't believe we're here again, but is ramping up for the 2026 season.

We have just over 65 vendors who've applied, and Twalton Valley Fire and Rescue will be ringing our opening bell.

Please follow us also on the gram for the latest news and reach out to our manager Megan or our manager rather for the uh farmers market via email or website to learn more on how to apply or apply to be a musician, sponsor of the market, or a demo or community booth.

We do have spaces available.

Our networking events happen every morning, uh, or every not every morning, every Thursday morning.

It feels like it.

Can you tell?

I just finished tax season.

I'm like, I can't even.

I'm putting words together best I can here.

But anyway, um, every Thursday morning at 7:30, uh, we have a loyal following of 65 plus attendees that come every week.

Um, and it's at a different uh member business where the business has the opportunity to host.

Um we connect, build relationships, and support local businesses.

And we'd love for you to check the chamber calendar and join us when you can.

It's a great way to engage with people.

In addition to Good Morning Tiger, we host a variety of educational workshops, ribbon cuttings, and networking events throughout the month.

Uh, and those are all on our website as well.

So stay tuned there.

And we had the Tiger Civics B.

It was a huge success.

So thank you to Mayor and Council President Wolf for being judges.

Um the winners were Soren Artman and twins, Grace and Lydia Radeki.

Uh so we'll we're we're planning on continuing with that.

It's been a great, very, very positive event.

And we have next week on Friday, the um Shining Stars Community Awards celebration.

And our theme is an evening in Wonderland, and we're excited to see you all in attendance.

I get to sort of this is a little bit of a joy kill here, not joy kill, but surprise kill.

Um, the awards at the dinner are going to be for our first citizen this year is Dennis Johnson.

Uh from the Heart Winner is Karen Grover.

Our business of the year is Tigered Festival of Balloons.

Our young professional is Fun Lee.

Our youth volunteer is Emma Hale.

Our ambassador of the year is Jason Weitz.

Our chamber volunteer of the year is Melena Kinney, and you see her everywhere.

She's the takes the um, does a lot of photography for us.

She's all over the place.

And our MC, which is gonna be really fun, is Dan Murphy this year from Broadway Rose.

Um, you can still get tickets if you don't have tickets by this Friday.

And uh if you want to drop off any last-minute auction raffle items, um, specifically white wine or bubbles to the Tiger Chamber office, we would be accepting those still by this Friday.

Um we are always encouraging people to join the Chamber of Commerce, and you can find all of the information on our website or reach out to Megan or Ainsley directly for more details.

And we will have sponsorship opportunities available for Leadership Tiger 2627 and state of business as well, which you all attended, uh, which is wonderful this last year.

Um, Ainsley or Megan also will have more information about that.

And please follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook for most up-to-date information.

And happy to answer any questions.

Thank you, Sarah.

Questions or comments.

No, I bought my ticket to Shiny Star.

I'm looking forward to it.

So thank you.

Yeah, see you there.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

And next item is uh a report from Tiger Downtown Alliance.

And we have the exact executive director, Kyle Knapler.

Knepper here, and Preston Bethany Pew.

Hello.

Welcome.

Good evening.

Good evening, everyone.

I am Kyle Nepper, the executive director of the Tiger Downtown Alliance.

And I am Dr.

Bethany Fluke, the board president for the Tiger Downtown Alliance.

Uh the Tiger Downtown Alliance is looking forward to our next quarter of work dedicated to promoting and supporting a thriving downtown.

For those unfamiliar with the TDA, um, we base all of our work off the main street four-point approach, and we will be giving our update by showcasing our work under those four um uh points under so.

The first committee is the organization committee, which I am the lead as the board president, and so I've been actively working on getting a new board member, and so I'm excited to say we have a new board member, and I'll be onboarding them this week.

Um, I've also been actively working on building out committees and so widening the volunteer base of the organization and actively working on planning an open house for the downtown area, um, focusing on the wider TIFF district in the city center TIFF district to include and also hopefully engage more of the C Center Tech District in the work of the TDA.

The second pillars are economic vitality pillar.

Um that uh committee is currently uh uh reviewing and working with uh the city on uh the new economic development plan.

And we're trying to identify areas where we can better align and better partner and help move that work forward.

The Economic Vitality Committee is also working on creating a way to kind of seek out um downtown business ideas and other types of businesses that the community would like to see downtown.

This work was last done a few years ago.

Um, and it's it's all like numerous uh groups are always doing this work, which is great, but um, I don't think we have a current list of what the community would really like to see downtown.

So we're gonna be actively working on that here in the second and third quarter.

Uh the third pillar that we work under is our design pillar.

Uh we are currently working on creating an overhead banner policy, um, an official policy.

There is an overhead cabling system above Main Street.

There's currently not a sign on it right now, but there's generally either a generic welcome to downtown sign or the um TDA uses it for uh to help publicize street fare, um, trigger treat main street and uh the holiday tree lighting.

Uh we are working on a policy now so other outside organizations can have access to that, um, but we need something formal in writing.

So we're working with our studio liaison on Danell, and um we feel like that works 80% of the way there or so.

Um, and as soon as Danelle's back, um I think we'll have that something formal ready to go.

Um, so other organizations can use that use that as well.

Uh for those familiar with our glass basket project that's been happening on Main Street since before I even started, which was a long time ago.

Um, we think we're getting close.

And I think we've been saying that for a long time.

But um uh we've been in better contact with the artist who has uh fabricating all those glass baskets to finish the project on the north side, you can say the north side of Main Street, um uh the north side of the railroad tracks.

Um the the glass balls have been blown, um, and and most of the the actual steel work we feel like has been fabricated.

The problem is all this stuff is now in uh Las Vegas, so we got to get it here to Tigered and installed.

But um so but uh we think um hopefully by by summer we can actually cross that um uh project off our list.

Uh one thing that we can say for certain is we also have another new piece of art getting installed um on Main Street.

This will be on the art pad that's uh directly in front of Modern Vital Aesthetics.

Um and that piece should be going in um early July.

Um that's by um an artist out of Sherwood.

Um so we're really excited to debut that piece um and add another awesome piece of artwork to downtown.

And finally, our fourth pillar is promotions.

Uh we have our wine walk, is our next big event coming up on May 21st.

Tickets are available for everyone who wants to uh participate in that event.

Um we are also um partnering with Jeffrey Allen Gallery to help put on a night market at the end of May to help celebrate AAPI month of month of May.

So I'm I'm helping Vun uh get all that paperwork through all the appropriate paperwork done and and get all that going.

Um we're also getting a lot of support from the farmers market um and helping with layouts and that kind of stuff.

So um our we want to thank the farmers market for that um for their partnership as well.

And finally, we are planning on finally starting a first Thursday program for downtown businesses.

Uh we will use um uh wine walk and the um night market to really start publicizing that for our first Thursday to officially start that first Thursday of June.

So hopefully keep that program running every month.

Uh we don't plan on taking any hiatuses throughout the year, but um, we'll see how things go.

So uh we hope to see you shopping and exploring every Thursday every first Thursday of the month downtown.

So any questions?

Um any question, comments.

No, but this is sounds really exciting.

I'm looking forward to joining you in all those exciting events.

And and and this is your first uh council update, so welcome.

This is very helpful.

So thank you for coming.

Thank you.

All right, so next uh update will be provided by our Tiger High School envoy.

Becca Kosra Bani.

Good evening, Becca.

Thank you so much for having me.

Um it's been a very busy month as we head into the final months before graduation.

Um our leadership junior class is remaining very busy as we head into prom and they are finalizing the logistics around prom, including ordering decorations and getting everything ready for the venue.

Um the dance is forthcoming and it will take place at the Oregon Zoo on May 2nd at 7 p.m.

Tickets are now on sale, $45 without an ASB sticker and $35 with an ASB sticker.

Our ICCF and CIA committees are hosting a dress and tax drive throughout the week for students who have gently used accessories and outfits to donate for students who cannot financially afford to go to prom um with the burden of having to get those things.

Um court voting is now open, and students are able to nominate seniors to be a part of the court.

The leadership senior class is hosting a fundraiser in preparation for graduation, in which students can pay to py or slash seniors.

That event that event took place last week.

Um it went extremely well, and we raised about 250 dollars.

Um received their caps and gowns last week at the senior meeting on the 16th, and we were given the timeline for the next few months, including information on the all-night grad party, and tickets will be embersed for graduation within the next few months.

We had multicultural night on April 9th with several affinity groups representing their individual booths, being able to share cultural food and have performances.

Um it's an incredible event and it's annual.

Um, and I greatly appreciate it being able to see some of you there.

Um, in terms of athletics, it's an extremely busy week.

The lacrosse team, the baseball team, our golf team, softball, tennis, and track all have tournaments in games throughout the week.

Um lastly, the leadership class roster for the school year has been finalized.

We will have approximately 52 students in the class next year, which is very exciting.

All committee chairs and class presidents have been selected, and I hope to introduce our incoming ACB president and ACEB vice president at the next meeting on May 19th.

And I believe that sums it up for the last month.

Are there any questions?

Questions, comments?

No.

So thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right, next one uh next uh report will be provided by the Tiger Police Department, and uh Chief McDonough will present the dashboard.

Good evening, Chief.

Good evening, Mayor and members of council.

Uh Jamie McDonald, your police chief and uh acting assistant city manager.

Tonight I would like to uh bring you the dashboard for March.

And the first slide that you see up there, I wanted to note because as our staffing continues to improve in patrol, these are some of the direct results of what you see.

So the first line up there where it says the number of shifts at or below minimums, the minimum staffing is what we put on the street to make sure that we can maintain a safe minimum level for the community.

So as you can see, um, and some of you might be alarmed that 42% of the time on day shift, we are at minimum staffing.

We do this with intention because we want um we know that we have additional people during the day.

I mean, I I could actually go out and respond to a 911 call.

It makes the officers a little nervous when I do, but um we also have like our community-oriented community-oriented policing officers out there.

They are not included in those numbers.

School resource officers, detectives, traffic, for example.

So we intentionally staff day shift a little bit lighter because we know we have additional resources for those higher priority calls that come out.

The one that I did want to note that is encouraging is the bottom middle column swing shift, where 19 days last month we had 60 or so 61% of the time we had five or more officers on the road for swing shift.

Swing shift is easily every day, week after week, month after month, year after year, our busiest shift.

And making sure that we have an officer in every district is our highest priority, and swing shift is where we focus that attention.

So it means that we adequately staff that shift to make sure that we have the uh best response for the community.

And today when I was at afternoon briefing, I think there were seven officers in there to work uh swing shift.

So I know that in the past we've talked about how I say it's a sergeant and four officers out there working tonight, it's a sergeant and seven officers, which is a better response for the community.

So if we go to the next slide, please.

It shows a direct impact on our response times.

So even though our calls for service uh continue to trend up, and as you see uh there, our self-initiated is down slightly, but if you remember, we were up 36% year over year for 25 over 24.

So even though it's trending down so far this year by one and three quarter percent for self-initiated, it's still on a pretty uh strong pace.

But our dispatch calls for service, which is where the community calls us, are up about eight and a half percent for the year.

And uh if you look below that on the bottom, you'll see that all of our response times have gotten better year over year, and um that's a direct impact on the community.

So when someone calls 911, you want us to get there as quickly as possible.

Now we still have work to do.

Um if I look at the uh year to date for priority ones and twos where it says 6.25 minutes, um, which is just under six and a half minutes, we'd really like that to be under about five and a half minutes.

Five to five and a half minutes is what our target is, and um is an ambitious goal, but it's what we what we commit to trying to get to for the community.

So I wanted to bring those up because it does show that we still are trending rather busy as a department and as a community in terms of calls for service, but our staffing is we're starting to see some of those new hires that you saw last year hit the road, hit their stride, and be able to be uh providing that service to the community, and we're starting to see it in our response times.

So I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have on the dashboard.

Thank you, Chief.

Any questions or comments?

No.

All right, thank you, Chief.

And for your very efficient management of resources, then we'll go to Councilborn Committee liaison report.

So which counselor would like to start?

All right, Council Robbins, please go ahead.

My update is very short because I'm not gonna take anything away from the library board since we're meeting with them.

Um the Lake Oswego Tiger Water Partnership met yesterday.

We didn't have an official meeting because we didn't have quorum, unfortunately, but we did the people who were there got to tour the water treatment plant, and it's really amazing.

It's in a residential area.

When I was going, I was like, is this right?

Because it's you know, it's houses, but it's so quiet it you don't even notice it.

And it's really cool how modern it is.

So it's a neat place.

Okay, Councilor Caduce.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um we had the Transportation Advisory Committee.

Uh overall, the main thing that we discussed was downtown reimagine in a lot of detail, and we proceeded with some of the discussions on the council guiding questions uh with the water advisory board.

We discussed the US EPA led and copper rule revisions and received an update about the public works police department project.

Um, and they'll be presenting some recommendations to council in the coming weeks about the proposed resiliency plan.

Uh there was also a League of Cities Separate Security, AI, and telecommunication policy committee, which was fun to be a part of.

Uh we discussed wireless policy groups and reviewed our draft policy statements given a changing landscape.

Well, great.

Counselor Shaw.

Great, thank you.

Uh I was able to attend the 10 Town Center Development Um advisory committee meeting, and they had a discussion about our February 17th joint meeting between TT TCDA and TTAC.

Um they were appreciative that we were able to review their strategic plan.

They are hoping that there could be some guidance so we ensure our economic strategic plan and their strategic plan really uh work well together.

Um I think there could be a little bit of work there to do on behalf of the council to ensure that the commissioners know that they're spending their time wisely, and we do want to um strategically utilize their expertise uh for the city and for our economic development plan.

Um I was not able to attend the water partnership committee due to a late flight, so thank you, Councilor Robbins, and I'm really bummed I missed the tour.

Really bumped.

Uh but hopefully can make that up.

And then also the um Washington County.

Oh, my notes just disappeared.

It's all right.

Um the Washington County Public Affairs Board met and they repro reviewed their 2026 uh action plan, which included um four pillar goals.

They held a public hearing.

Uh it was approved, and as soon as we get the final document, I make sure it gets circulated among the board, but among the priorities to ensure that there is housing uh for those individuals who um may be um their housing uh may be destabilized to encourage them to the resources to be stabilized, and then also to ensure that there is adequate housing among other priorities.

So I'll make sure the council receives that report amongst as well as staff.

Thank you.

Thank you.

That would be good.

Council President Wolf.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor.

Um I'll uh focus on a couple um of the organizations West Side Economic Alliance.

Um attended a policy committee meeting, which was Metro staff talking about the Metro Future Vision 50 project as just a reminder survey is currently underway.

Uh it closes May 15th.

Easy to find on Metro's website, and then just search for uh future 50 to try to have folks in the Tiger community participate on that.

And then as a follow-up, WEA had its board meeting.

Um, the CEO president of Greater Portland Inc.

was there and presented on their services, and then also a lot of discussion around the um future 50 project and its purpose.

Uh just as a reminder to events that WEA is hosting, the Washington County Chair Forum is April 29th, and the Mayor's Forum is September 17th, so out there for you to put on your calendar.

Um and then the the gap meeting um for the Tiger Chamber.

Um again, the focus on that was really a conversation around future 50 process and then an update on uh measure 34349 and other city activities.

And then the last thing that I wanted to share is um this past Saturday, April 18th.

Um I participated in the St.

Anthony's Action Assembly.

Um there were multiple counselors from uh Twileton there, um, councilor from Beaverton as well as Sherwood, um, with really a representative from uh Congresswoman Selena's office all the way through to our um state representatives and uh commissioner Jason Snyder.

And really the purpose of the event is to share testimonies and stories of individuals in our communities that are impacted as a tenant, and then also um experiences uh through immigration and ICE detention.

Um the reason that I wanted to share this is um there's also specific asks of each uh city or actually at every level of um government for the cities, the specific asks or to commit each city uh 100,000 to a work permit eligibility screening uh for uh industries that are uh short in their labor resources, a rental registry inspection program, which is a reminder to council.

We actually brought that to council in April of 25 and uh decided to not move that forward.

Um mandated emergency plans which um would address natural hazards, active shooters, or um ICE uh information.

Um at the end of that, it was really do you commit to this?

So my commitment um, and then also um a request that uh electeds at the local level would gather over the summer uh representatives um that uh to continue the conversation for collaboration and coordination across cities.

So just to share with you all, I was honest about the city's current budget situation and really uh shared that I felt uh committing 100,000 A, I'm one counselor.

I don't have that authority to do that, and that that would be a true challenge in our current budget situation.

So I left that there.

Um the rental registry inspection program, again, you know, we discussed this um a year ago, did not move forward.

I think that might be part of the conversations this summer.

And then um the emergency plans, uh Chief McDonald was very grateful to have him there as well.

He spoke to the community, which there were like 300 people there, it was quite full about that, and I think has made a commitment with the sheriff's office uh to really look at collaboration and um opportunities to better coordinate.

So that was really under the role of Chief McDonald.

So just in FYI, again, I committed to conversations for this summer.

Uh Council President Valerie Pratt has already sent out uh an email.

Um, how would we move forward with that?

If anybody, if any counselor wants to have more of a conversation with me about that, please do that.

Um so at this point, this was just the report out that I committed to sharing more information uh to come uh this summer, I suppose.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Council President Wolf uh for the report and for representing us at the meeting.

Counselor Schlack.

Thank you, Mayor.

On April 15th, I attended a meeting of chart where there was a robust discussion around the emergency ordinance amending Tiger Municipal Code Chapter 7.80 regarding camp materials, which will be uh before council later this evening.

Um and then I also on April 20th attended a meeting of the planning commission.

Uh at that meeting, the planning commission received a River Terrace 2.0 strategy update on housing transportation and finance.

Uh the planning commission uh saw what the updated zoning map and density will be based on council's feedback earlier this year.

They also reviewed the um transportation plan, which council recently provided feedback on, and they were supportive of the proposed um commercial collector A and B street segments um that council wanted a further review on.

They were supportive of them as proposed.

And then um regarding finance, the planning commission was broadly supportive of the idea of tiering SDCs um in general.

Uh there was also they also forwarded a recommendation to approve um the Kingston Terrace Water System Plan Addendum.

Um Kingston Terrace over in King City, of course, is expanding.

It will increase the um water service area, I believe, by upwards of 20%.

So that requires an addendum.

And both of those items, uh, both the update and the addendum will be coming before council in the coming weeks.

Thank you.

Uh Councillor Anderson.

Okay, the community engagement committee had an update from uh Gene Pelliquin uh on the library returning back to their uh their physical building.

And the lessons learned from the remote experience.

Sure, we'll hear a little bit about that.

Uh we met L'Oreal Amaroso, the city's new sustainability coordinator and talked about what her role is gonna look like.

And we talked about the uh possible changes coming to the boards and committees that the council and staff are discussing.

So and one more um the the downtown TIFF uh grant committee met and we agreed to award a $25,000 grant to a new business in the downtown area for uh external uh enhancement um of their building.

Uh we're gonna keep that building conf or that business confidential for a while because the documents aren't official, but we welcome that building.

It's gonna be a nice addition.

Okay.

I was going to ask you about it, but confidential.

Not quite yet.

All right.

I use Council Helleck.

Since the last time we discussed Tiger Youth Advisory Council, we have had Chelsea, our president, Kai, our vice president, and I and Rebecca attend National League of Cities.

We stayed for the youth portion, and we brought back a lot of information to TIAC that we felt would be important and could be used, especially with our new focus on the general student population.

We had another craft and movie night at Twileton Family Promise, which went really well.

It was a pretty big turnout, somewhere between 20 and 30.

People came and either did a craft or watched the movie, and it was everyone had a lot of fun.

We had a lot of stickers.

We had a meeting where we discussed how we are going to move forward in the youth portion, how we're going to try to reach out to more students to increase our 10 people to hopefully closer to 20 if we're able to next season.

I don't know when that I can't remember when that is.

But then we also had, I believe, five members work with Tualetanyak for the Braver Angels event to learn about confrontation.

And that went really well.

I think the turnout for that went well.

And then we had two of our members, Usher at the State of Our City event.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Well, speaking of stay of our city, uh just want to thank all the committee members who attend either online or in person and all the counselors for helping us introducing our going over and over providing overview of the accomplishment we have done in turn of reaching our council goal.

So that was very good event.

And if you miss it, um uh I encourage you to watch the recap.

You can go to our city's website and just do a search of um stay of our city and um it's pretty short, I promise.

So you can give very a lot of information from that.

And I also attended several regional meetings and um uh just some highlights.

Um I was going to talk about the Metro Future Vision seeking feedback, but uh council president Wolf already mentioned that.

But I believe the city's social media also um provide uh a link to the feedback.

So if you're so it's a short uh survey, so please fill it out because it can affect our uh regional um how uh how our city is gonna look like in the next 50 years.

So it's very important to provide that feedback.

And also attend the regional one area commission trans on transportation, our one act, and we provide a five again our five recommendations to Oregon Transportation Commission in terms of what kind of project we'd like to see.

And then we also um still are working on the next 10 project.

That's um that's not recommendation, but it's just in the pipeline and and helpful of our uh jurisdictional transfers, one of the 10 projects.

And then uh one big news among the mayor's meeting uh is the governor vetoing House Bill 4117, which is the um uh the the law on um a public meeting.

Um I think uh uh the news media has become has has been characterized characterizing this bill as uh as an overhaul of public meeting law, but I just I think for I just want to correct for record.

This is actually um this law came about because the local government leaders have concern about how Oregon government ethics commissions interpret the public meeting law, which makes our local government um of the elected officials' life a uh uh difficult to say politely.

And then this is a you know response for the uh that this is a legislature's response to fixing that uh interpretation.

But unfortunately, the the the governor veto it, so uh hopefully um the state legislature will pick it up um next year.

Um, because that that's in our my opinion is an important um uh uh issue that's facing our local government um right now.

So okay, so that's um our board and committee liaison report.

Any questions for other counselors?

No, all right.

Seeing none, let's move on to uh proclamation.

Um tonight I'm pleased to introduce the proclamation recognizing National Library Week, first established in 1958 and sponsored by the American Library Association.

This annual observance is a time to celebrate the important role libraries and librarians play in our communities, expanding access to knowledge, supporting lifelong learning, and creating spaces where everyone is welcome.

This year's recognition feels especially meaningful here in Tiger.

As mentioned, after a period of closure for construction, we are looking forward to reopening our library on April 28th.

Yay.

Uh this moment marks not just the reopening of a building, but a return of a vital community space that brings people together to learn, connect, and grow.

With that, I'm proud to bring forward this proclamation to celebrate National Library Library Week, which is April nineteenth to twenty-fifth.

And would like to invite library director Hospital Bernard to uh receive the proclamation and for a photo.

Welcome, please.

All right, with that, that's a good segue into our annual joint meeting with the library board.

And again, I will invite uh library director Hostet to introduce this item.

Sorry, good evening, Mayor Win Council, fellow Tiger teammates, members of the Tiger community.

My name is Halstead Bernard, and I am the director of the Tiger Public Library.

It is my pleasure and honor to be with you tonight to introduce the council's annual joint meeting with the library board.

Each spring, the library board provides an update to council about everything that's happened at the library over the past year, or at least everything we can fit within 20 minutes.

Since the mayor just proclaimed this as National Library Week, I would like to take a moment to thank all the employees and volunteers who make our library what it is.

However challenging our present moment has been, and however our library may change in the future.

You remain committed to providing materials, programming, services, and spaces that engage, enrich, and support our entire community.

You are champions of intellectual freedom, and you serve as a beacon of clarity and promise for all Tigardians.

Your commitment to our library is our legacy, and you have made us all better for it.

So thank you.

And now I'd like to hand it off to Kate Rista.

Good evening, Mayor and Council, City teammates, Tiger Community members.

We're happy to be here with you tonight.

My name is Kate Ristaw.

I'm the chair of the Tiger Public Library Board, and I'm here with Vice Chair Jenny Stoffel and board members Abe Manion and Pam Michael.

We're happy to be with you tonight for our annual joint meeting and to present our report on library operations since last April.

Next slide, please.

So one of the central ways our library serves Tiger is answering the questions we ask.

In moments of uncertainty, of turmoil, of confusion, people turned to the library for clarity, connection, and community.

And in 2020, people came to the library with so many questions.

Our strategic plan was the answer to how we would lead into the next five years.

We're gonna share highlights from the plan with you tonight, and one simple question with a complicated answer is actually inside the boxes that Abe is handing out.

So I'll let you all look inside the box and you can tell me what you see, and then we'll tell you what the question was and what the answer was.

So we're all heading back to 2020 very carefully.

And looking inside the box, you have fresh baked bread from a manion.

So yeah, uh sourdough bread, and in 2020, we were getting that question of how do you make sourdough bread?

And what's a sourdough starter and where do we find it and what do we do?

And so people were coming to the library with those questions, they were emailing in, they were looking for cookbooks, they were asking questions, what's a starter, can we watch videos?

And then, like now, the library was a place that people came to with questions.

So if we can go to the next slide.

And when in 2015 it just increased from 17 to 22 cents.

So the library support, we continually support increasing community needs.

So in addition to our traditional mission of providing access to books and reading programs, our community expects us to be a safe community space, to be cooling, warming shelters, and to be places where we can connect community members to social services.

So with that levy rate increase, we will continue to provide library services to the Tiger community.

Next slide.

Hello.

So this section begins the strategic priority.

One.

The library is an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone.

So back to how the library answers the questions for the community.

Our community asks, where can I go to feel welcome?

Who will share their expertise and patience in helping me?

Some of the ways our library answers this question is we have an accessible building and grounds.

We provide excellent customer service, and we share robust internal and external communication.

This comment from one of our patrons demonstrates how we are meeting our first strategic priority.

I just wanted to express my appreciation for all those who work here and volunteer their time.

You all make this place a nice, clean, informative, and comfortable atmosphere for all those who cross the threshold.

I have found the time I've spent here comforting.

I feel very fortunate to have access to a climate-controlled atmosphere, clean drinking water, fresh restrooms, and comfortable seating.

I want to thank you for all the information accessible, whether that's through books, magazines, Libby, or the internet.

The information workshops are helpful.

The community-focused displays are encouraging and bring joy.

Thank you for everything.

Thank you for my home away from home.

Our community also asks us, where can I go to study on my own or hold meetings with other people?

The library answers, the library provides flexible, reservable space for individuals and groups up to 16 people.

This is one of the ways we're meeting objective A in our strategic plan.

The library building and grounds are an accessible, vibrant space.

Next slide, please.

The photo you see here is of colorful sound dampening acoustic panels that have been installed in Tiger Public Library's three study rooms to facilitate studying and meeting in the library spaces.

In the past 12 months, Tigered Study Rooms have been booked for 7,461 hours, or the equivalent of 310 24-hour days.

Next slide, please.

Our community asks, where do I go when the library building is closed?

Our library answers: the library team's most significant and complex accomplishment over the past year has been developing and providing an express library location in town hall during the three-month building closure.

Tiger Public Library operated an express library location at Tiger City Hall, including story times and selected other library programs, reference and reader advisory, a circulating collection of in-demand books and movies, access to Wi-Fi and computers, technology help, and assistance with library accounts.

The library teammates also provided outreach services to partner events and spaces throughout the community.

In-person Express library services were available 10 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Phone reference and account assistance were available 10 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

seven days a week.

Tiger Public Library will reopen next week with an upgraded heating, ventilation, air conditioning, HVAC system.

A little more story and stats.

In the first two months of the Express Library service, library teammates provided 192 hours of library service, welcomed 1,883 visitors, hosted 636 community members in programs, visited nearly 30 locations for outreach, and answered more than 2,000 questions.

Some of the accolades community members shared during the opening week of services at the Express Library location at Tigert City Hall were what an awesome idea.

We already missed visiting the library, so we're sure we'll swing by.

Example, Vox Books and Wonder Books.

And I have some samples here of these magic little things.

Prior to Vox Books Wonder Books, the library had juvenile books on CD.

The Vox Wonder Books kits offer an advantage in that no special equipment is needed for playback.

These books are hardcover picture books and early readers with a built-in audio player that reads aloud as you turn the page.

Some also have learning modes and sing along modes.

According to research, audiobooks offer the same benefits as reading physical books, stimulating the same core areas of the brain.

Audiobooks also increase reading comprehension, particularly for kids who are struggling to learn to read.

The story stats are that the circulation statistics of these kits show that they are a popular resource.

252 Vox Wonder Book juvenile kits have been added to the collection.

The new Vox Wonderbook kits have circulated an average of 5.7 times in their first 16 weeks.

For comparison, the average circulation of the previous juvenile books on CD collection was 3.7 per year.

A patron checking out a stack of Vox Wonder Books said, These books are so great, my granddaughter stays awake reading in bed or being read to.

And what you see here is that you just plug them in and you turn this on, and then if you turn the pages, it'll read to the child or the adult or whoever, and then and give a little noise and tell you to turn the page.

Then there can be questions after you read, like what was your favorite character, or all sorts of fun things.

So these are great books.

Next slide, please.

Our community asks where do I access bestsellers, story times, Wi-Fi and computers, and tax forms when the library building is closed for the HVAC upgrade.

Well, our library answered.

Next slide, please.

We're on to strategic priority number three.

The library enriches the lives of community members.

Our community asks, where do we find resources and opportunities that enrich our lives?

Some of the ways our library answers this question, partnering with WCCLS and the Tiger Toolatin School District to provide all students with library cards, offering help to job seekers, providing diverse and inclusive early learning, like our very popular Caterpillars into Butterflies program.

That's a teaser.

Like our community seed library and our basic needs bookshelf.

Next slide, please.

I think we missed a slide.

That's okay.

The Tiger Library is committed to meeting the needs and interests of the Tiger Community members.

Examples from the past year include nature walks along the Fano Creek Trail, which, if you haven't taken this trail, it's beautiful.

It's got a new pathway which departs across a bridge from the library.

Life Size Family Game Night, Puzzle Plant and Craft Supply SWAPs, Dungeons and Dragons events, sound bath meditation, stuffed animal sleepover, presentations about vultures, ducks, dragonflies, and more, workshops about financial wellness, Medicare, and disaster preparedness.

This is just a tiny fraction of the 917 programs that welcomed close to 40,000 attendees last year, all designed to meet community members where they are and empower them to reach where they want to be.

On this slide, you see photos from our metamorphosis mania last spring.

Over the course of three weeks, our library offered a close-up look at the life cycle of a butterfly.

On the left, we watched caterpillars growing in their containers.

On the right, a young patron holds up a butterfly that was released into the wild last April.

This is just one example of innovative events that we offer that engage and delight patrons of all ages.

Next slide, please.

When we talk about how to expand access into our community, we are intentionally asking ourselves the question who doesn't yet think of the library as a resource?

Who can't access our on-site services regularly?

Which community members have limited access to specific resources?

School visits are one way we meet the needs of students where they are.

In school, last year, our youth services librarians visited local schools 51 times and reached 7,213 students.

Another way we expand access into our community is by participating in outreach events like the one featured here.

Our library social services coordinator, Rin Starr, and our communications and outreach coordinator, Jean Polonquin, shared books, crafts, and library information with 148 children in the foster care system and their grown-ups at the With Love Back to School event.

The event was modeled after a farmers market with fun end of summer festivities including music, ice cream, a bouncy house, face painting, paired with essential school supplies, all at no cost.

This is just one example of the kinds of outreach events the library participates in year-round.

The library social services coordinator supports the Tiger community with connections to resources for food, clothing, public benefits, education, housing, or mental health services.

Over the past year, the library social services coordinator had 1,201 interactions, supplied close to 4,000 basic needs bookshelf items, and had 135 social services drop-in hours attendees.

Okay, next slide, please.

Our community asks, how do I participate in a culture of sharing resources and community?

Our library answers by sharing one of the most sustainable resources we can imagine, our gardens.

The Tiger Community Seed Library supports gardeners of all levels, from beginners to experts with seeds, programs, and resources to enhance local food resilience, biodiversity, and sustainable gardening.

The seed library is located on the library's second floor and contains a mix of seeds prioritizing vegetables, fruits, and native plants.

No library card is needed to access the food library to take home seeds.

A patron shared this photo of starting Lubin seeds chosen from the Tiger Community Seed Library.

The seeds were collected and donated by a community member.

And if you don't mind, we'll pass around the flowers that Counselor Robbins brought in that she grew from the seeds that she got in the seed library and the forget me not, and if we forgot the other flowers, you have to tell us what else they are.

So we'll pass them around because everyone needs a little flowers.

Thank you.

All right.

Next slide, please.

Our community asks, how do we participate in enriching events while a building is closed?

Well, we're in it.

Um, right here in town hall, of course.

When considering how to offer programs without a library building, we chose a variety of programming for different ages that would fit easily in and near our express library location, town hall.

Providing a consistent location for programming meant that our program, our patrons would know where to find us, which was especially important while our usual well, a usual usual location was temporarily closed.

In the picture, you can see a sampling of express library programs.

Twenty-two people attended the program Ducks of the Pacific Northwest, which is early on after the Express Library opened.

20 kids rented dogs in our dogs and tails program.

14 teens attended the Teen Library Pro Council.

Next slide.

As we wrap up our 2021 to 2026 strategic plan, we'd like to take a moment to celebrate even more of the ways our plan helped us answer our community questions like how do I start a new business?

The library team partnered with community development and you all to provide a business incubator in the lobby cafe space dubbed the Opportunity Cafe.

Two entrepreneurs have successfully operated businesses in that space, and we've had a lot of waffles too.

So how do I find high-demand books and DVDs for all ages?

Our bestseller collection expanded with an engaging selection of inclusive, diverse titles in a browsable environment.

We had the question of how do I practice my language learning with my neighbors?

All skill levels are welcome at the library's weekly conversation group for those who are learning to speak English.

Another question: how do I tell the library story in our community?

Volunteer opportunities have been created and updated to keep volunteers engaged and support the current needs of the library.

Volunteers are a crucial link between the library and the tiger community, and they support programming, manage materials, and share the importance of library services with their connections.

And this was one of the great things we got to see grow after 2020, bringing volunteers back into the library and seeing the volunteer community grow there.

So one of those last questions of how do I access job or school opportunities from home if I don't have a computer or a connection?

The library lends Chromebooks paired with Wi-Fi hotspots that patrons can bring home to access education, employment, and entertainment resources they want and that they need.

Next slide, so as we look into the future of our library, we're considering which questions our community will ask next.

Our community asks, how will the library continue to provide excellent services and materials and services in our community in this centralized collections model?

So by July 2027, WCCLS employees will select, purchase, receive, and catalog library materials for collections across the entire cooperative.

This is a massive change from our current decentralized model in which Tiger Library employees select purchase, receive, and catalog library materials for our patrons.

And those materials are shared with all cooperative libraries via the courier system.

So right now, library teammates are working closely with the consultants hired by WCCLS to learn how our current system actually functions best so that WCCLS can implement solutions that help us to continue to serve our community the best way we possibly can.

Our community asks, how do we chart a course for the next five years of library service in Tiger?

Our library answers, our next strategic plan begins development later this year.

As in our last strategic planning process, we'll begin by gathering input from community members, employees, volunteers, you.

So stay tuned for ways that you can participate in our next five years.

Our community asks, how will we get ready to welcome everyone back into the library building?

And our library answers, we're thrilled to say that right now library teammates are already getting ready to reopen the building to the public on Tuesday, April 28th, as you said, Mayor Who.

And yay, one week from today.

So coming around, you'll see bingo cards so that as you head back into the library building, you can find different things to do, and possibly we're all about prizes.

So you might win a prize if you get a bingo.

So take a look and you can see some of the things that you can do when the library reopens on the 28th.

And we would love to see you back in there and see some of the things that you can do too.

So last slide.

So how would you like your library to answer?

Thank you for your attention and support, and we're here to answer your questions.

Thank you for the presentation.

Counselor, do you have any what will you ask your library?

Counselor Shah.

Well, thank you very much.

Uh, I think the Express Library is so well received.

And the comment was the Tiger Library rocks, and I would agree 100%.

Um perhaps my question would be having attended, and I'll give her a synopsis in our next liaison report uh in the next meeting when we have our lays and updates.

But the National League of Cities had a uh they're moving towards a dignity program, and it provides resources on how to have constructive conference uh conference conversations, um, also responsive conversations, but also how to um learn to have dialogues amongst ourselves and amongst community members that may have difference of opinions.

And so it's a nationwide project that's starting, and so perhaps that is one asking perhaps that's something our library would consider.

And I am happy to forward the information.

Thank you so much, Councillor Shaw.

I'll definitely be very interested to hear more about that program.

Thank you.

Anybody else?

Councillor Robinson.

First, I just want to say I'm really happy to see that the seed library is on the bingo, so I will try to do that.

Um, you know, libraries when I was growing up, I I went to the library a lot, and it was like check out books, get some movies, or maybe back when you used to check out CDs to listen to music, and then um you know, you could go use the internet or print.

I still don't own a printer, so I still when I need to print something, go to the library and pay my 10 cents.

Um but our library is so innovative, so thoughtful and caring for and about the community members and libraries historic librarians, I'm sorry, have historically been so important and such um so important about protecting free speech and freedom of reading and access to books, whether they're banned or not.

And that right now is so important, I think, in the the current setting that we have.

Um, and the fact that our library is working so hard to protect and enrich the lives of our community members makes me very, very proud.

So I appreciate you all.

Thank you.

Yeah, I just wanted to say thank you truly and just express so much gratitude.

It's amazing the services and activities that you all provide for our community.

Um I just love it.

I will say that I had to meet or um I met with some community members, and I couldn't get a room here.

So just as Joe Maureen Tigered Citizen went online, booked a room, incredibly easy.

The rooms are amazing.

So I guess I'm doing a plug for people that never think about using the library, how wonderful the rooms are for meetings.

Um and so uh I don't know, do I get a check the box on my bingo card?

But in all seriousness, it's just really out of gratitude and just all the creative things that you provide that really expand what people think about when they think about libraries.

So thank you.

Counselor Schlack.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you to our library board for an excellent annual report this evening.

I always look forward to our joint meeting together.

Um, you know, the library provides such critical um support for our community, as my colleagues have said, and you all have highlighted this evening.

So my question to you all as the library board is how can we as council help support your work as the library board and supporting this critical function for our city?

I don't need an on-the-spot answer right now, but something I'd love to think about um and learn more about um and continue the conversation with you all on, especially considering our five-year strategic plan will be developed for the next five years.

Thank you.

The thing I would just add on that is when we looked at our our last strategic plan, one of the goals was for the library to be a community hub, and that is completely has been an utter success.

And that's such a joy for me to come into the Tiger Library and see how how like active and involved and engaged everyone is.

Um, but uh a bunch of you know having been in uh Tiger Tiger Library Board meetings, um, a lot of the times we turn to Halstead and we say, you know, we have a question, can we get an answer?

So that's definitely where we're turning when you when you talk about you know where do we want to see the library going in the next five years?

Like we turn to the community and we turn to like our librarians and our library workers and and ask like what do they see with their experience and skill and expertise too?

So, Halstead, we're gonna need your help.

Yeah.

Well, um, yeah, so thank you so much again for the presentation.

Thank you for library bar and staff for the work you do.

And um what's what's still more twisted up to me is not just the numbers, either a lot of impressive numbers, but just how you continue to meet people where they are, right?

Even when the library was close, you have the express service, and you start you continue to show about events and you reach out to people.

So, yeah, so thank you so much.

And library is you know, to me, it's more than a place more than that, just a place to check out books, right?

People who are people get trust information and people connect to each other and resources.

So I'm really excited to uh welcome everybody back to the library.

And it's very apparent that it's that's a a lot of excitement going on.

So but so yeah, so I I would look forward to seeing you there next week and beyond.

So thank you again.

Thank you.

All right, so let me um move on.

Let us move on to the next um item, which is discussion on parks and recreation funding.

And um, so let me welcome business manager Barrett, parks and recreation manager Gurren, and finance director Kane to present this item.

And while they are uh taking their seat, I just wanted to briefly frame this discussion before we heard before we hear from them.

Um, what we're looking at is a uh growing gap between the parks and recreation services, our community expects, and how we currently fund them.

As staff will show that gap is projected to become a significant shortfall in the coming years, with real impacts to maintenance and programming, if left unaddressed.

At the same time, we know parks and recreation are core services in Tiger and central to our community's quality of life.

I also want to be clear about tonight's purpose.

We are not making any final decisions this evening.

This is the beginning of our conversation.

Our road tonight is to understand the issue and provide direction to staff on what options to explore further.

Each option carries trade-off, whether that's change to fees, impacts to general funds, or potential future voter consideration.

So, with that, I will turn over to staff this evening.

Good evening.

Good evening, Mr.

Mayor Council.

I'm Joe Barrett.

I'm the business manager for public works.

The presentation tonight is intended to be a discussion with council.

We want to offer interrupt us at any point at any slide.

This is a request of Councillor Schlack.

This is intended to be a full conversation with council on the current um funding update for parks and recreation.

Um next slide, please.

As Mayor said, there is an urgent need in parks and rec for funding.

Um these services and assets were deemed by 80% of the community in the latest national survey as essential and core.

Um the current park system is 608 acres and has a level of service demand currently in the equivalent of 20 FTE, 14 full-time, and then 12 seasonals, which is the equivalent of six additional FTE.

In addition, in the next year, River Terrace One's Blueberry Hill and Little Bear Park will come off of warranty and into our fold, and that will actually add an additional need of two additional FTE on the system.

Next slide, please.

This is the big bear in the room.

Um, this is the current four five-year forecast for our parts utility fund.

As you can see in FY28, we will dip below the negative um fund balance.

Next slide, please.

Making up that expenditures that was in that graph, you see, is our parks and rec operations.

There is a um pie chart that shows our personal services, our MS, and our ICAP, which is our internal central service funding.

In addition, um, there is the capital projects, which makes up overall parks funding of about 5.2 million dollars in next year's budget.

Next slide, please.

The current revenue models that support operations are our current parks and recreation fee, our general fund transfer and our reservation and recreation fees, supporting our capital projects, our parks system development charges and grants that we go after.

Next slide, please.

The next couple of slides are going to go in depth into each funding source.

This is our funding for our parks and rec fee on a six-year history.

This was established back in 2016.

The original fee was $3.75, and it cost roughly $7 to a typical non-resident customer, $375 for a resident.

Current fee after all of some adjustments for recreation in the past, as well as the inflationary factor is now currently sitting at $9.38 a month for residential and around $18.76 for a typical non-residential.

And the annual growth in cap on our current PARF is 4.26%.

But you can see that steady growth over the last six years.

Next slide, please.

The other main source of revenue for our parks and rec is our general fund transfer.

This has historically funded parks and rec.

Even once the PARF went into effect, it was only roughly a 50% funding source.

In FY26, it is slated to go to 2.1 million, which will cover roughly 36% of operations.

The transfer of $1 million last year in FY25 accounted for only 16% of the operations.

The transfer has varied from year to year, but on average has funded roughly 47% of the parks and rec funding.

Next slide, please.

The shelter reservations and recreation fees don't equate to much.

They bring in roughly a combined $200,000 a year.

Next slide, please.

This graph shows that green is our parks and rec fees, just in case you're wondering how big they make it up.

The gray bar is our PARF, and the orange line is the general fund funding.

Just to give you a comparison year to year, how the funding has worked.

Next slide, please.

Just to bring back the big bear graph in the room again, this is where all that revenue has led us and the expenditure.

We again will drop negative in FY26, or sorry, FY28, sorry.

Next slide, please.

In addition to the current model, which is what we've just talked about, there are going to be system growth challenges that are also going to affect how those graphs are going to look.

Again, we currently have 608 acres.

River Terrace 2.0, as currently being discussed, roughly adds 60 acres of level one parks to the system.

The potential Triangle Cinema Park would add another three acres, and then if the city looked at bringing in something like Metzger into the city, it would be another seven acres.

In addition to the new homes that River Terrace would bring in, River Terrace 2.0, we wanted to elaborate.

New residents don't solve this current structural problem.

If we added 5,000 single family homes out in River Terrace 2.0, that would equate to roughly $560,000 in PARF dollars collected.

The new acreage out, the 60 acres out there would account to roughly eight new FTE and MS, which would mean $1.25 million.

So you can see there's a structural gap in the PARF funding that doesn't solve this with new residents.

Next slide, please.

The other challenge that we're facing from a growth standpoint is trail maintenance.

The city does not have an identified funding source right now for trail maintenance outside directly outside of a park.

We are stretching that with some parks FTE that are doing as much maintenance as we can do, but we are currently not funding our trail maintenance.

Next slide, please.

The other piece to captures overall parks funding is our capital need.

This is the main source we use, which is our parks capital or sorry, our parks SDC.

And as you can see, it is healthy enough to support some new growth in our system.

We don't have the maintenance dollars to support that growth.

That's the real story for tonight.

Next slide, please.

So what we're here to discuss with council is potential options to explore to help solve this gap.

We're gonna talk quickly about the parks and rec fee itself, changes that can be made, the general fund resource transfer, fees and charges, and a potential operational levy.

On the capital side, again, it's changes that can be made to the SDC, expansion of the parks and rec fee, as well as a deferred maintenance piece along with that levy.

Next slide, please.

An update to the PARF methodology will likely be required even if we don't change the dollar amount.

It is currently tied to our street maintenance fee, which is tied to parking, which council will be hearing in the coming weeks.

Um that we need to look at switching off of that.

Once we make a change to street maintenance fee, the PARF is going to have to follow with a new methodology.

Even if we don't raise the dollar, we have to come up with a new criteria.

Council can face an array of options, including raising the PARF to fully fund operations, increase it enough just to cover the current forecasted gap, or incrementally increase it to eliminate support from the general fund.

This existing funding source does not require voter approval.

Um just a move motion by the council.

Next slide, please.

The easiest route for would be for the general fund as a resource transfer can be made in the budget.

Um motion by council other than adopting a budget with a new general fund contribution.

Um but as we all know, the general fund is facing its own set of challenges outside of increased support for parks.

Next slide, please.

Fees and charges.

We could look at radically changing our fees and charges.

However, that would be making parks very, very expensive to not only pay for in your property tax to the general fund, your PARF, but also now fees to use it.

And the gap that it would have to make up is significant, given that currently it brings in right around $200,000 a year.

It's not gonna be easy to make up a million dollar gap.

Next slide, please.

Uh the last option that we have for operations is a operational levy.

There are some challenges with the operational levy, such as a limited duration of five years, and we would be back into re-election mode for that.

Um it does put the community in charge of deciding whether they want to pay for that or not.

Um that is another option we have.

Next slide, please.

Another lever that we could pull is reductions in our current levels of service.

Um we can talk about these more at length later, but it would include things like elimination of special events and shelters, reducing our parks maintenance level, mowing, more garbage, litter, restroom maintenance, elimination of that two FTE that are currently currently doing trail maintenance that we discussed, and an overall reduction in our recreational activities that are being offered to the community.

Next slide, please.

So we are here tonight to discuss the roughly one million dollar annual shortfall that we are facing in our parks and recreation operations.

They are again unsustainable past FY28, and we are seeking council's direction of what options they would like us to bring forward in a more detailed manner.

Next slide, please.

Um I guess that was the last of the presentation slides.

So I know that was a plethora of information to go through really fast.

Um I have Finance Director Kang, Parks and Rec Manager Gruin, as well as an array of folks out still sitting in the audience that can help us answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Can we go back to the big big bear graph?

Yeah, there we go.

So uh so those are the uh those are just to cover maintenance costs, not nothing new.

Correct, that is to sustain current operations.

Um the green bar you see at the top, that is what we would call a three-month operating reserve minimum that we would want to keep in that fund.

As you can see, we aren't even currently at that level.

Okay.

Um, but yeah, this is no growth, no additional services, just to currently maintain what we are doing today.

Yeah, and I just want to bring back uh provide some contacts.

Uh council, a few council meetings ago, we just uh review a competitive bid contract for HVAG maintenance.

And even though it's competitive bidding, um the costs went up I remember 48%, right?

So it's just the cost of doing business right now.

It's beyond our control.

Everything's going up.

So this is where we are right now.

And for me, um, just during the past uh boring committee meeting, I heard over and over from many committee applicants how much they really enjoy the park and trail system in Tiger.

That's a couple of them said they could have moved to any other cities they want to, but they they stay in Tiger because the park and trail.

So I agree with you that this is a high priority for our for our committee member, and for me, I'm just not personally.

And for me, I'm just not personally, I'll open the floor, but personally I'm not willing to cut any services.

At least I would like to maintain the current service level, but the question is how we pay for it.

So anyway, so I would like to that's that's open with Consel Kudussi.

Please go ahead.

Thank you, Mayor.

Um, one question I have about this site in particular is do we have information?

I mean, I know we haven't.

What did the previous five years look like?

So was the ending fund balance basically the same, or was there an inflection point?

And if so, do we have any idea of what caused it?

I can tell you it did look very similar.

Um, when we ran all of our forecasts for last year and the year before, it was similar, it was pushed out a little bit.

Um the main contributor to the urgency and the move forward of the cliff, we'll call it, um, was the reduction in the general fund transfer last year, because that caused us to eat through some of our fund balance faster than we anticipated.

Council Shaw.

Thank you so much and appreciate business manager Barrett, the presentation and to Councilor Slack for being bringing this topic up.

Um obviously our parks are vital to our community and wonderful for individuals' health and services.

Um City of Tiger is a member of the League of Oregon Cities.

Uh we know statewide, US wide construction costs have quadrupled, if not gone up a hundredfold.

Uh so it's a problem that not only our city are facing, but cities across Oregon and counties across Oregon.

So I'm wondering if we have an opportunity with the League of Oregon Cities to do any best practices for maybe other cities who have found an additional funding source, or perhaps even um coalescing as cities uh within the League of Oregon cities to request that there be additional uh monies from the legislature.

I know they have their own state um budget issues, but if we're looking at maintaining health, maintaining welfare, um that might be an opportunity.

So just curious if that's come up in the discussions.

And thank you.

Well, I'll take a stab at that, Councillor Shaw.

Um hi everybody, good evening.

We not with League of Orient Cities, uh, we're very active with the Oregon Recreation and Parks Association, and you know, communicate regularly with not only our neighbors but other park providers around the state, and work closely with Oregon Recruit Parks and Recreation Department.

Um finding money for operations is not there.

Uh we've been very successful over the years, I think many of you know with securing grants for our capital projects.

Our capital funding, as Joe pointed out, is fairly healthy, but it's been we've been very successful augmenting those funds with uh various grants.

Um we're really leaders in the state is our work with asset management.

And the slide that Joe showed where we identify what our system demand is, is far ahead of most of our peers where uh we can really very accurately identify what our operation and maintenance needs are given the amenities within our parks, the categorization that we have within our parks.

Uh so we're pretty much leaders in the state in in regards to uh accurately being able to uh identify what our needs are to meet the level of demand that's uh as you've all pointed out, our community loves our parks and and trails.

Um the most difficult thing is with the slide is you know we've been operating very successfully within our means.

Uh this is not a request that we need more money to do our current job within our level of service, as this slide points out with the reduction of the general fund.

Uh when we build our level of service, we very incrementally increase as the system grows, and we've been successful over these last five years since I've been here.

You know, growing very strategically as the system grows.

And what we've seen with the drop in the general fund without an offsetting revenue, we're challenged with how do we maintain our current level of service without reducing services while the pressure of growth is so we're getting it from both sides.

We're not alone in uh constraints on uh funding support for parks, not you know, from our neighboring cities as well as other uh park systems around the state.

If I could uh perhaps uh add a comment to that.

And um good evening, Mary Council.

Uh for the record, Eric Hang Finance Director.

So I just wanted to remind everyone, um, just as you're looking across the region, the funding for may operations and maintenance for park systems is um uh having a shortfall in addressing the maintenance needs is not unique to Tiger.

Um, a lot of the regional uh cities around this area, particularly if you look at like City of Portland, they've announced um what their backlog looks like for maintenance.

And so the competition for funding uh is quite fierce.

Uh, there's regular dollars for things that are one-time for capital um for capital acquisitions, uh, but it's extremely rare to find dollars for operations maintenance.

So this isn't a problem that's unique to tigered, but I will say that um you know we've been very thoughtful in um how we've maintained our uh operations and the funding for it.

Um obviously there was a um a decline in the general fund transfer in fiscal year 25.

Uh that was um planned by design at the time uh as a measure to address the funding gap in the in the general fund.

So that was the the purpose for that.

Thank you.

Council President Wolf.

Um Thank you, Mayor.

Um, and thank you all.

So uh just real quickly as a statement.

Um, you know, I think as we looked at the budget reduction, we've talked a lot about what are core services and staying focused on that.

But I really believe um keeping our parks as our communities expect to really enjoy it.

That's a huge gem of Tigered.

So when I talk about core services, for me, that really does mean having them at a level that people can truly enjoy being um on our trails or in our parks.

So my question is twofold.

Um short run, short run versus long run.

So um, Director King, as we I just picked up my book um today, haven't read it deeply yet.

So as we look into the short run in this next year, recommended changes for revenue that we'll see as a proposal.

Are there any or we're really just kind of heading down the same course?

So that's my first question is the short run.

Yes, so uh thanks for highlighting the proposed budget that was published last week.

I'll just drop that as a um so for what's in the fiscal year 26 proposed budget, um it's it's more or less status quo.

Um the problem with that is that these figures do factor in that status quo.

Um and and in fact, the proposed budget does not increase, include the FTE increase that are needed to address the parks that are going to come online uh because the funding, there's already an existing funding gap.

So this is this is intended to be part of that discussion process.

So in the long run, um I think this is an incredibly important conversation.

And for me, uh what would be helpful to make a really informed question?

Counselor Shaw kind of leaned on it, but then also I'm curious about the benchmarking, right?

I know that Beaverton's not a great example.

They have their own parks district, they have a higher uh permanent rate, but just really trying to understand what is that mix of revenue that cities have in place because this is going to be an important community conversation in my mind.

So to really understand um how that's been a model, and I know there's tremendous constraints everywhere, but is there something that we can lean on as we communicate and talk to community members as to what's a um probably uh a best idea or you know, a couple ideas as we continue to have these conversations and move forward.

Thank you, Mayor.

Councillor Schlack.

Thank you, Mayor.

I'd like to thank the team for taking on um this requested agenda item because I remember going back to um our October joint budget committee meeting, this was sort of the the big glaring issue, and I felt like it had reached a point where council really needed to provide policy direction about what the future of our parks and trails system looks like rather than just sort of kicking the can down the road.

Um I think where where I sort of fall on this is I think we need to immediately find have an immediate proposal for triaging the situation because I think a majority of the council would agree that parks are a core service and that we want to maintain our current um service levels because of how vital it is our parks and trails are for uh livability in our city.

Um I'd like to look at updating the PARF methodology.

I'd like to look at uh updating PARF and fees and charges to index with inflation so that way it keeps up with the increased cost of the business that we're all facing.

And um being mindful of um affordability challenges in our community.

I'd like to see um the bigger changes phased in over a period of three to five years if possible, so that way we can just incrementally get to where we need to be over time once we immediately triage the situation for the next um one or two fiscal years.

So that's my immediate thoughts here.

Counselor Robins.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And I appreciate Councillor Clack bringing up this topic because it is important.

Thank you for the report and all the information.

Um else, just quickly, I do agree that this is a core service.

I think that uh reducing the services we have right now would be um a mistake for safety, for longevity of the programs, and also just the the um community value and the fact that if we if we stop taking care of the facilities that we have, we're gonna lose more money in the long run when we finally think we can come back.

Um I believe that THPRD is having a levy this year for their parks, so we wouldn't be alone in that.

I admit I don't like the idea of a new levy, but at the same time that does allow community members to to voice what what's important to them and to really say what's important to them.

Um I do like the idea of phasing in the changes over a couple years so that people, if they think they can't afford that and want to try to move, they it's not an immediate problem, right?

So I appreciate that.

Um I would love it if we could have like a uh a bulleted list of what has driven this imbalance because you know I can imagine some of it um inflation um just to flat out say the cost of maintaining these parks has outpaced the increase in population that we have paying those fees.

I'm assuming that's correct.

Um the um loss of money from other sources.

I know we were talking recently and we recently like during the pandemic, we had a lot more federal dollars coming in, and now recently we don't.

So I'm guessing that that's part of it, and you can say yes or no to that.

But it would really help, I think, for me and the public to understand why isn't there enough money?

Because you know, when you look at the numbers, the the PARF has um it's two and a half times what it was 10 years ago.

And while that's not uh unreasonable, it is a big jump.

And if we then say we have to make another big jump, I think people want to hear the you know, why is this happening?

Um so I appreciate that.

I I would be willing to propose increasing the the fees for some of the programs.

We do a lot of free programs, and so we either have to say this is a service and it's gonna lose money and we're gonna have to charge for it for everybody, or some of it we can increase the fees.

I did quick research um and just reserving the um the shelters, which by the way, our shelter thing on the website is fabulous.

It gives you uh all the information that you need.

But um our smallest shelter of a hundred people that accommodates a hundred people is thirty-five dollars an hour.

And um Beaverton, their um their largest shelter, or THPRD, I should say, is the same capacity of a hundred people and um in district is um $42 an hour, and we charge $35 an hour.

So I mean I know there's a lot of variables with that, but I think we could bump up these fees and bump up some of the program fees, um, keeping in mind that we might need to cover some more scholarships for people who can't do it, and maybe that would help cover a little bit more of the staff who are putting on these great programs.

I realize that that's just a drop, but you know, maybe we need a lot of drops from a lot of different sources.

Counselor Calusi, yes.

Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Robbins.

I do agree overall we need a diversified sustainable funding model, so it's not going to be one size fits all or one solution overall.

I also happen to look at that, and one thing I did notice with their district is they have a 25% surcharge for those that don't live within the community.

And I know we have application fee for those that are outside of Tiger, but perhaps re-evaluating those that aren't paying PARF or not a part of the you know currently paying those fees.

Um question that I would have in terms of looking at sustainability at least for the next couple of years is uh do you know what a minimum general fund stabilization level would be through like 28 We do.

It's roughly one million dollars.

So we would need 3.1 million dollars out of the general fund per year.

Uh counselor Anderson, do you have anything?

Well, I was there for the original PARF uh back in the day.

And uh it would be interesting to see what the uh what the rates um from that very first, you know, we tried to keep it small, obviously, um to what it is today.

Uh is that keeping up with inflation?

It's it's not.

So we got some work to do.

Yes Counselor Helleck do you have anything to add I would be in support of possibly introducing a levy to bring more choice to the voters.

Okay.

All right so what I heard so far is um I think everybody was support Councilor Robins uh point of we probably a better explanation to the tiger public why this big bear picture is here and then I think the majority of the council uh support explore um just looking to the part the par fee the parking the the monthly fee and then at least um have a better picture of what if we keep out with inflation rare inflation what would that fee look like today and then if that's still not possibly you know thinking about gradually increasing it over you know because of the affordable affordability issues um but because the majority agree it's it's a core service and we we would like to at least see the see the server level service being maintained right and and we're not doing anything extra and maybe you know any anything extra will be down the road we will look at the levy but I don't think we're ready for that at least for the long term and activity fees I think um had counselor Robbins and Godusi are open to looking at activities fees.

How about you, Counselor Shah looking at Yeah I mean I think we uh I would be open to looking at the gamut uh but also uh I think as council president Wolf more eloquently put it than I did looking to see what other um cities are doing from a best practice standpoint and what they're charging so we know where we fall in line as well.

Okay.

Yeah and activity fees I know this is just a small portion of it but are you all open at least to explore yeah I'm I'm open to that and I'd like to reiterate my interest at looking at indexing those as well even though it's a small portion I I just think that is important moving forward with a number of our fees.

Yeah so I think the the council direction is you know we are open to look at par fee as well as activity fees and but that's just to maintain the current service level and then I think we'll uh down the road we may look at the levy for extra but we're not there yet so go ahead um one other thing that I would propose if possible is if we could look at what the specifics of service level impacts would be if we didn't end up increasing those fees.

So what specifically would we be losing I know you gave a general gist of it but what would have the least impact to the community overall again ideally we will get the funds and do that but worst case scenario robbins.

Thank you one more idea is since we are exploring getting um sponsors for some of our events could we also consider um looking for sponsors for some of our parks and rec events such as the movies in the park which I'm sure is not cheap and it's free for everyone to go and so it it wouldn't be hard to get a sponsor I would think to it wouldn't uh make the the the event worse if we had a sponsor and and that's great so that's part of the activity fee yeah uh formulation consideration yeah Councillor Robbins we do currently uh solicit for sponsorships uh our recreation folks and Caitlin is here our recreation coordinator but she can if she wanted talk about uh the efforts they go through to secure sponsors for like Easter egg hunt and other activities so uh and I just want to you know speaking of the activity fees and the shelter reservation fees that you mentioned we did a fee amendment last year uh I just wanted to clarify we up until last year when we made the amendment to that we had a residential rate and a non-residential rate it was causing a lot of problems people shopping to get someone in residency to book so we made the decision to offer the resident no application fee so that's where the discounting came from and both resident and non resident paid the rental rate on the shelter and their in resident got that discount via the the waiving of the application fee.

So we can look at it again.

When we did do the uh request for the fee adjustment last year, we did do a survey of our neighbors to make sure we were weren't the highest, we weren't the lowest.

We were kind of looking to be kind of in the middle.

The other thing that we need to do, and I've talked to some of the counselors about this, is uh with special events.

There's a big question mark of who pays who doesn't pay if entities, organizations receive city funds for grants, uh community grants.

There's a belief that they're not required to pay the event fee.

Uh so one of the things we've been talking about is as we look at fee increases, you know, would be do we eliminate that uh condition of waiv fees so that anybody who is requesting a special event would pay their application fee, would pay their venue fee.

So that's an area where we can look at increasing revenue uh for those events.

Uh it's painful on the other end, but uh that I think would provide a greater return than you know, some of the camps and programs that Caitlin and her team run where we're trying to be you know mindful of the cost, and Caitlin does a great job offering scholarships.

Uh so we'll we need to kind of work through that as we you know come back with the information.

Yeah, yeah.

And tonight we're as I think Schlack mentioned, we're doing triaging just tonight.

So we're giving you very high-level direction on what we like to see.

And please come back with some more proposals and uh with the request of information.

And of course, and I was just talking to Joe, when we do engage in the that analysis of the rates, that will pick up what all the other cities are doing, and that'll give you the answers.

You know, we've talked to them uh, but to get it on paper and get it formalized, that'll be part of the uh information we'll bring back.

Yeah, please.

Council Robbins.

Just one quick response.

And Counselor Schlack and Councillor Schlack, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe when we do the community event grants that we have we have discussed in the past that the recipients still had to pay the fee.

So I think we as a subcommittee thought that they were still paying the fee.

And so we were giving funds for the event, thinking that that would cover the fee.

So if they're kind of getting a double benefit of also not paying the fee.

And not paying the labor to service those events as well.

So thank you for that, Counselor Robin.

So it sounds like you know that's not a far-fetched proposal then.

No, and no, because we I think we all thought that they were paying that.

And um, just one last thing.

I realize that I've said, well, how about this?

How about this?

And feel free to say, hey, that's more work than it's worth if if these ideas are just kind of out there because you're the ones doing the work.

And so if finding a sponsor for the movie night that's gonna cover the popcorn or something, it's just not worth the time, then know that it might well, my feelings will be hurt if you say that was not the best idea.

So Rick, thank you.

And I guess my only follow-up, and it kind of goes back to the benchmarking.

If you're asking cities like their rates, I would really be curious what cities um have levies in place, uh, park levy supports um as well, just kind of in that data of information.

So thank you.

Could you repeat that again?

Uh part if you're asking cities for kind of their fee rates or how they structure those changes, um, if they have a parks levy in place as well.

Um, it would just be good data to have as we go forward.

Thank you.

To my knowledge, just generally to answer your question.

The special districts like Twilight and Hills and North Clackamas do, but the uh cities you know, municipal city providers do not.

Okay.

Okay.

Any last questions or comments?

Oh.

Okay, you have the last word, Consor Schleck.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just want to thank everyone for um the discussion tonight and just emphasize that this is about long-term strategic planning for supporting these course services, not immediate changes that will happen overnight.

I think that's really important to emphasize.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's triaging and see what we can do.

So uh decision will be made tonight, but thank you so much for coming and presenting this.

Really appreciate it.

Thank you all for your interest and support of parks and recreation.

Excellent.

Thank you.

Yeah, this is the one great thing about tiger is uh parks.

So thank you.

All right.

So that's we're a little bit early, which is good.

Uh so next item agenda is legislative legislate a public hearing, which is an emergency ordinance amending tiger municipal code chapter 7.8 regarding camp materials.

And I will open the public hearing.

Um anyone may testify by signing up on the floor in the back, or you can do so by phone video uh by calling now.

Uh the number is 503-966-4101.

Um I will invite City Rihalat, City Attorney Rihala to give the staff's report.

Good evening.

Good evening, council.

Uh staff was directed by council to address the situation of personal property on the sidewalk next to the public works lawn.

The time place manner ordinance that we have in place specifically addresses camping.

The police department has increased enforcement efforts on the lawn.

And if any of you have driven past it recently, the results on the lawn are noticeable.

The issue is not with the camping, and the issue is not with the overnight stays on the lawn itself.

The city follows state law in regards to abandoned property, which is one of the public comments that we seem to get is just enforce the property as abandoned property.

Two issues with that is one, most of the property is not abandoned, and there are people with it.

The second issue is that the police department does not have the resources to collect the property nor the space to store it for 30 days, which is what the state law requires of abandoned property.

So those have been the real challenges in addressing this issue of the personal property out on the sidewalk.

So again, this ordinance specifically addresses camp materials and prohibits a person from leaving or maintaining camp materials on any city property or public right-of-way.

There are exceptions for when the person is actively moving the camp materials or when the camp materials are on their person.

There's also an exception for camp materials on the public works lawn during the allowed overnight camping hours.

So this ordinance before you tonight is proposed as an emergency adoption.

This is based on the dangerous conditions created by the camp materials currently on the sidewalk, as well as some complaints that we've gotten regarding Americans with disabilities access on the sidewalk.

So virtu joining us virtually tonight, um, I'd like to turn it over to House Less Liaison uh Megan Cohen to speak about the outreach that has been done in preparation for this ordinance and the plan for implementation beginning tomorrow.

Should council pass it tonight.

Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor and City Council.

Um apologies for not being there in person.

Um I wanted to share a little bit about the outreach that we've done around this ordinance.

Police and street outreach have been out uh on the lawn and on the sidewalk um over the last week to let folks know that this ordinance is coming.

Um, the change to the ordinance.

Um we did a um sort of uh larger event this morning where we organized with public works to have some trucks out there, street outreach went out um and sort of was um preventively trying to help folks um toss items that were damaged, um wet or trash, um and they were able to fill up a whole truck um and take that away.

They were also able to um meet with folks individually and update housing and shelter profiles.

We do have several people waiting on shelter beds, they've been approved for them, but unfortunately those beds are not yet available because they're um filled by other folks.

So um we uh feel really confident that folks are aware of um the proposed ordinance change um and knowing how that would impact expectations around um what they can and can't have with them and at what times on the public right-of-way.

Um and uh police would continue to do that education for any new folks that come to the lawn um during the summer.

We usually see more people, but just generally anywhere in Tigered, um, if we have folks that uh don't know this change or this ordinance, um, they would proactively do that education um before that next step of enforcement.

But we do feel confident that the folks that are there and that have been there regularly for the past few weeks know this is coming and that we've made the best effort to try and support them in reducing uh items and making them easier to carry to and from um the camping location.

Thank you.

So with that, counsel, we're available to answer any questions.

Uh Chief McDonald is also available to answer any enforcement related questions uh about the police department.

So turn it over to you.

Thank you.

Let me see if there are any public testimony.

Uh Mr.

Walter, are there anybody uh in the queue for video or phone testimony?

We have one caller in the queue.

All right.

So would you please patch him patch him hurry in and have a two-minute timer on the screen, please?

We'll do.

Go ahead.

Mr.

Peterson, can you hear us?

The concern around this ordinance.

Uh nobody wants to see our city park property um appear in its condition.

Um I'd really like you to consider what is being seen and what is being missed.

What looks like clutter on a sidewalk is for many people, everything they own.

What you are usually seeing when you drive by public work during the daytime are people watching over each other's belongings while others go out into the public to attend appointments, go to their jobs, explore hopeful opportunities or visit their their families.

If this ordinance passes, we will not be making their lives tidier.

Rather, we'll be telling people to do things that we do not expect of ourselves.

It will be required to carry everything they own everywhere they go every single day.

And that visibility will cost them job opportunities.

It will bar them from medical appointments and it will close the doors to nearly every business and indoor facility in the community.

This morning I was on the lawn with someone who um I've worked with on and off a while, and I was helping them consolidate some of their belongings, and they looked at me and said, when will it be enough?

And I I didn't have an answer for them.

So I'm asking you, the people who have the power to shape what life looks like for our most vulnerable residents.

Um just consider when will it be enough when making these policy decisions?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Mr.

Walter, are there any other callers?

There are no other callers.

Thank you.

Um response to testimony by staff.

I think it was well articulated, and that's a policy decision that council will have to grapple with tonight.

Okay, thank you.

Uh council, questions.

Counselor Shaw.

Great.

Thank you very much.

Knowing that this is obviously a difficult topic, but one that's important as we have seen the increase on the sidewalks.

Um Megan, uh, just compassion has been a partner.

Obviously, they see a lot of these community members who come in who are on waiting lists but don't yet have a place to go.

Um, has it are they going to be sharing that information if the council decides tonight to reduce the amount that can be on the sidewalk?

Is that information been shared with them so that they too can help uh perhaps even store some of these goods since they do have property uh very close.

Thank you for the question.

Um we have been talking with Just Compassion about the change there where um and have been talking to folks on the lawn.

Um just compassion is pretty constrained for storage as well.

They are currently in construction for their South building, which has reduced a fair amount of storage that they had um on site.

Um and for folks that come to their access center and bring items and that type of thing, um, they are also um grappling with the challenges that that comes with that of having those items seen on private property as well, too, that can be um subject to code compliance.

So I think we're trying to find a balance in terms of helping folks and also again recognizing that we're pretty constrained in terms of storage options, unless folks do get into shelter housing.

And I've been working with the county to figure out if there's any like gap options for folks that have been approved but haven't been able to get in yet.

And at the end towards the end of the fiscal year, um, of course, finances are pretty constrained at this point.

So there are some challenges that I predict that we'll see in that process.

And also I think everybody is committed to trying to figure out how to best serve um the folks that have nowhere else to go with their belongings.

And thank you, uh Megan.

I appreciate that.

And I really do hope we can encourage the discussion on gap options with the Washington County, because Tiger is doing a significant part here, and I think the county also needs to recognize that and even fill part of that gap in.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Question questions, Councilor Schlack?

Thank you.

Um, this question came up during uh chart last week, and it was um a question about how enforcements of this ordinance should it pass tonight would impact um existing police resources.

And um how considering that we have ongoing calls for service across the city, there would now be calls for service related to potentially um addressing you know um camp materials in public right-of-ways and city properties.

So um I just wanted to ask that question.

Uh thank you, Counselor Schlack again for the record, Jamie McDonald, the uh police chief.

Um so we already uh allocate a pretty solid amount of resources to this uh challenge that we have.

And um so uh I've got tonight Commander sitting here with me as well, and he's and he's the commander over our patrol division, and we've been uh for the last week or so going out and talking about the possibility of this uh of this change to the ordinance coming into play.

And in addition to that, we're educating folks, and we are also um trying to put some additional resources when they're available, not responding to priority calls to go out there and uh remind folks, and not just uh you know, in the morning, which is when we typically focus the most amount of our resources, but throughout the day and reminding folks.

So we expect that um the short-term impact will be uh will be an increase.

But then as we as we educate folks, we'll we don't expect it to be an ongoing increase in the impact on our resources.

The I think the part of the challenge is is this community is constantly changing.

There are new folks coming into this into this community and and going into uh housing.

So we're constantly seeing new folks come into the uh come into the camping area there at public works.

And so it does require uh continued persistent uh education and enforcement.

But what we are going to do is we're going to uh do it with compassion and empathy, but yet uh make clear the expectation and uh hold people accountable if they're in violation of to of the uh code as it as it sets at that point in time.

Brad, do you have anything you'd like to add?

Yeah, thank you, Chief.

Uh counsel, thank you.

Uh Commander Brad Sitton, police boardman.

Uh in addition to everything that the chief just mentioned, we not only have the two dedicated cops officers that are out there Monday through Friday, and that we've been educating and having our other officers patrol and stop by, like I mentioned previously.

We have spent a lot of effort this last couple weeks having meetings during shift briefings, educating the officers, telling the officers exactly what we expect, uh giving a lot of guidance and direction and making them feel a bit more comfortable with not only the backing that they're gonna have from us, but understanding what the overall goal is.

And as the chief mentioned, yes, it's gonna be a lot of effort up front, but as we go through it, we become into a maintenance level where we feel that the normal two cops officers that are out there, Brian and Jason, will be able to do the education factor of it and help maintain the status quo when we get there.

Any follow-up questions?

Any question before I close the public hearing into deliberation?

Thank you for for answering all questions.

So now I will close public hearing and council will um deliberate on the on the ordinance, the proposed ordinance in front of us.

Any comments?

Councillor President Wolf.

Um I just want to thank everyone for uh the hard work on making these really difficult decisions.

But um I support moving forward with the ordinance and um counselor Shaw, uh, thank you for their questions about just compassion and Megan, your um initial conversations with the county uh because that was going to be my comment.

And I just feel like if there needs to be added support from counselors around advocacy, but to that point, if we see um folks coming in um and kind of this uh uh con I don't know if I say constant, but transition that is uh usual, it just would be great to have some additional resources.

I've said it before, I'll keep saying it again.

Um, but we need those additional supports here and really trying to support this community as they get services and hopefully land in housing.

But um I think that uh Tiger could use some additional resources from the county.

So just wanted to continue that advocacy.

Thank you.

Thank you, Council President Wolf.

And I I also want to take a moment just to address the concern we heard in terms of public testimony about the people's belonging.

And I think that's a fair question, but um it really reflects the broader challenge we're facing, as everybody mentioned, navigating as a community.

And um but I think we're doing here is balancing the need for safe accessible public spaces with the real reality that some of our committee members do not have uh access to shelter.

Um but in my opinion, this all ordinance does not change when or where camping is allowed.

Why it does is clarifying our authority around camping materials in the public right away, especially on sidewalks, where block access has created real safety and accessibility concern, as our city uh attorney Rahala mentioned.

So I believe our responsibility is to ensure that sidewalks remain passable for everyone, including people with disability, families, and seniors.

And this is a uh basic function of the city government.

At the same time, as chief mentioned, I expect enforcement will be continue to be guided by discretion and compassion, available resources, and a focus on safety.

Um this is this is not about punishment.

This is about having clear rules that can be applied consistently.

So I'm I'm in favor of this ordinance.

So at this time, if you don't have any comments, I will entertain a motion.

Uh Council Godusi.

Uh thank you, Mayor.

Um initially I did have concern that this is more displacement rather than an overall solution.

Um my initial concerns had been uh being clear with the implementation and prioritizing that outreach, the notice and the humane handling of any sort of property.

And it sounds like our houses liaison has addressed a lot of that, and our you know wonderful police officers have been working with the community and working with everybody that's out there already.

Um so although it is not a final solution, it is a step in that direction.

Yeah, we're not solving homelessness tonight, unfortunately.

Council Robbins.

Thank you.

I have a brief question, brief comment.

I also want to thank everyone who's done the hard work from City Attorney Vihala drafting this and doing the research necessary to make sure that what we're gonna do is correct and legal to the police uh chief and all the officers out there every day working on communication and enforcement and helping with all the things that you do to keep us safe.

And Megan, for the hard work that she does every day, you know our city puts a lot of resources into the the houseless people who live here in in very unfortunate circumstances, which is um a terrible way to be, but it is a small portion of our overall population.

And I think it's also about fairness and about the fact that if you need that extra space to be able to safely move along the sidewalk, it should be there.

And if you want to walk down the sidewalk with your small children and not worry about this massive pile of property, then you should be able to do that and feel safe doing that.

And so um, whereas I realize that for those people who will have to do something different to manage their property.

I I think that this is the right thing to do to be more fair to everyone.

Would you like to make a motion?

Yes, I would like to move to approve ordinance number 26-09.

All right.

So the motion is being proposed by Counselor Robin and second by Council President Wolf.

Any further discussion?

Youth Councillor Hillick?

I would just like to say I think that our public comment articulated it very well.

These people don't have anywhere to put their property.

And as Megan mentioned, just compassion does not have extra storage space.

And I don't think that it's fair to impose this on people who've been living a certain way.

And I understand that accessibility is an issue, but property can be moved, and very rarely is it left unattended, from what I have seen, fairly often.

I think that that is not fair.

I don't think that it is equitable, and I think that we need to think about this is all people have and they need space to live.

And I think that that is really important to be considered.

Thank you.

Councillor Schlack?

Thank you, Mayor.

And I plan on supporting the uh the motion and the ordinance tonight.

Um, you know, thinking this is just where I'm coming from on it.

Sometimes I think the it's sometimes the compassionate thing to do is to take tough decisions proactively.

Um when I reflect on my time on council starting in July 2024, I think the first ordinance I ever voted on was uh restricting camping at library and city hall.

And uh we've progressively been tightening our time place manner ordinance and adjusting our code in response to community concerns about our homelessness response.

So I think this is consistent with uh the track that council has been on for uh a long time at this point.

I also think it's why we need a houselessness task force, which I think council will be considering next week, because I think we need a public forum for community members to voice their support and concerns about uh homelessness in Tiger moving forward, and that way we can have a public forum where the community can advise the council on time place manner ordinance and other aspects of our homelessness response.

And I think that will help um address or a number of concerns uh moving forward.

So my hope is that uh this ordinance passes tonight and that homelessness or houselessness task force, excuse me, is um supported by council next week.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Counselor Shaw.

I appreciate all the my fellow counselor's comments and uh if indeed there is a house assist task force that is created just to look back in history because there was also a committee previously that worked on uh houselessness and homelessness and developed a number of different recommendations, and before creating all new ones, I would hope we'd look back because there's a number that hadn't been um discussed.

So I'd hope we looked back and not have to recreate some of the recommendations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And that's uh good good to bring that up next week so we can talk about so any further discussion.

Hearing none, uh would the deputy city recorder read a number and title of the ordinance.

Ordinance number 2609, an ordinance prohibiting camping materials on city property and right of way and declaring an emergency.

Thank you.

Would the deputy city recorder please conduct a roll call vote starting with the youth counselor with for an advisory vote?

Youth Councilor Helleck?

No.

Mayor Who?

Yes.

Councilor Robbins.

Yes.

Councillor Schlack?

Yes.

Councillor Shaw.

Yes.

Council President Wolf?

Yes.

Councillor Anderson.

Yes.

Councillor Gaducy.

Yes.

Ordinance number 26 09 is adopted by unanimous vote of the council.

All right, there being no additional item, this meeting is adjourned.

Good night, Tiger.