Tualatin City Council Work Session – September 8, 2025
Tualatin City Council Work Session – September 8, 2025
The Tualatin City Council held a work session on September 8, 2025, to discuss the Neighborhood Transportation Safety Program (NTSP) update, preparation of the 2026 state and federal legislative agendas, allocation of $50,000 in outside agency funds, and a request to review tow ordinance rates. The meeting also included a manager's report and council round table.
Neighborhood Transportation Safety Program (NTSP) Update
- Presented by Engineering Associate Abby McFetcher and City Engineer Mike McCarthy.
- Completed projects: Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) at IBOC and Columbia, and signal upgrades at Boons Ferry that changed driver-facing indications to reduce pedestrian conflicts. A second RRFB was installed to connect the high school to a safer crossing.
- Ongoing project: RRFB on Hazelbrook linking the newly completed trail under Highway 99 to existing sidewalk, improving safety for Hazelbrook Middle School students.
- Program budget: $150,000 per fiscal year covering design, construction, and data collection. The 2025-2026 cycle is in the advertising phase (September 2025); submissions are accepted year-round but the cutoff for the current cycle is October 1, 2025.
- Project selection criteria: safety, equity, feasibility, and impact. The city uses crash data, speed counts, and equity maps to evaluate submissions.
- Councilors asked about outreach for residents without internet access; staff noted phone calls can be directed to the program manager. Councilor Brooks requested sidewalk gap maps and ADA compliance maps, which staff indicated are available via GIS.
- Council President Pratt praised the program and asked about handling projects that exceed the budget; staff noted such projects are brought to a steering committee for awareness and potential future funding.
Legislative Agenda Preparation – State & Federal
- Presented by Deputy City Manager Megan George and Policy Analyst Cody Field.
- State: Recap of the 2025 legislative agenda – received $1.75 million for seismic valves (kickoff call held), funded a Veterans Plaza shade structure, and had a back-pocket transportation project that was not pursued. The 2026 short session is expected to address: transportation funding (unfinished package from 2025), state budget pressures (revenue forecast worsened by federal policy), transient lodging tax reform (bill to shift tourism allocation from 70% to 40% for more flexibility), rent assistance/eviction prevention, economy stimulants, and an Oregon Government Ethics Commission advisory on food for council/staff.
- Councilors discussed what keeps them up at night: housing affordability and home rule (measures 550 and 47), business retention and economic downturn, social service gaps, emergency preparedness and FEMA cuts, youth and senior mental health, and fear of government overreach. Some supported the existing policy themes; others stressed the need for downtown revitalization, job creation, and protecting local control.
- Federal: Previous priorities included CDBG funding, community fueling infrastructure, and railroad crossing elimination. The 2025 project request for 65th/Borland Sagert received $250,000 of the $3 million asked. Council discussed whether to accept the award (which would federalize the project and cause delays) or decline and resubmit or fund locally. Councillors generally leaned toward declining and identifying a different project that fits a smaller funding level. Councilor Brooks noted the impact of federal cuts on education, health, and community safety. Councilor Hillier asked about shifting the Veterans Plaza project to the federal side, but staff noted poor programmatic fit.
- Council asked staff to bring a draft legislative agenda for adoption between December 2025 and January 2026.
Allocation of Funds for Outside Agencies
- Councilor Hillier recused herself due to a conflict of interest. The council reviewed applications totaling over $100,000 against a $50,000 budget.
- Using prior year awards as a starting point, council negotiated allocations via round-robin discussion. The final tentative allocations (to be placed on the consent agenda):
- Borland Free Clinic: $4,000
- Community Partners for Affordable Housing: $2,000
- Community Warehouse: $500
- Domestic Violence Resource Center: $2,250
- Family Peace Center (formerly Family Justice Center of Washington County): $4,500
- Family Promise of Tualatin Valley: $5,250
- Just Compassion: $1,000
- Love Inc.: $500
- Neighbors Nourishing Communities: $500
- The Peley Group: $2,000
- Ride Connection: $2,000
- Sexual Assault Resource Center: $2,500
- SMART Reading: $4,500
- The Foundation for Tigard-Tualatin Schools: $2,500
- Tigard-Tualatin Family Resource Center: $4,000
- Tualatin Food Pantry: $5,000
- Tualatin River Keepers: $3,500
- Tualatin Together: $3,100
- Tualatin Valley Pride: $400
- Agencies receiving $0: Fast Pitch Softball Association, Good Neighbor Center, and others that did not reapply or were not prioritized.
- Council emphasized support for new applicants (Ride Connection, Just Compassion) and food-related programs. Some existing agencies were reduced to accommodate new requests.
Request for Review of Tow Ordinance Rates
- Assistant City Manager Don Hudson presented a letter from Beaverton Towing requesting rate increases, as the current rates were set in 2013. Proposed changes included: after-hours release from $25 to $55, hookup fee from $55 to $85, and increases in mileage, release-at-scene, and storage fees.
- Councilors expressed concerns about regressive impacts on low-income residents and the lack of comparative data. Councilor Gonzalez stated a "solid no" to any increase without further research. Councilor Brooks requested benchmarking against other cities and verification of which of the 10 licensed tow companies are still active. Councilor Hillier considered the proposed rates unreasonable.
- Council directed staff to research rates in comparable jurisdictions and report back before any ordinance amendment. No immediate action was taken.
Key Outcomes
- The NTSP update was received as information; the program continues with the current cycle.
- Legislative agenda: Staff will return in November with a draft for adoption in December/January. Council consensus is to decline the $250,000 federal grant for the 65th/Borland Sagert project and explore alternative small-scale projects.
- Outside agency allocations were tentatively agreed upon and will be included on the consent agenda at the next regular council meeting.
- Tow ordinance: No changes adopted; staff will research and present comparative rate information at a future meeting.
- The next city council meeting will include proclamations for National Preparedness Month (Council President Pratt), 9/11 (Councilor Hillier), and Hispanic Heritage Month (Councilors Reyes and Gonzalez), as well as a resolution accepting a $125,000 state homeland security grant for badge access.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening and welcome to the September 8th, 2025 Towalta City Council work session. Our first time on the agenda tonight, it's an update on a neighborhood uh transportation safety program. Who's pitching that one? All right. No. I knew it was Mike, but you never know. Yeah. So you can roam the room and work the room. We don't have wireless mics anymore. This is Mike. And your mics are off too. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'm Abby McFetcher to engineering associate with the city. And good evening. I am Mike McCarthy, a city engineer. Go for it, Eddie. So tonight we're going to be giving you an update on the neighborhood transportation safety program, otherwise known as the NTSP. Gotta have an anchor. Okay, so tonight you can expect an update on the recently completed projects, the one ongoing project, the 2025-2026 cycle, how to submit a project this cycle, and then at the end we'll have time for questions. So first up, we have the IBOC in Columbia Flashing Light Crosswalk, otherwise known as a rectangular rapid flashing beacon. Or RFP. RFB. So as you can see in the lower right hand corner, it was installed on IBOC in Columbia. And then in the two pictures, our engineering internerously posed for some photos. He was a very good sport about it. And you can see a car waiting, so it works. Next we have the Boons Ferry signal upgrades. So it's a little bit hard to see with the lighting, but as you can see, the arrow pointing to the red arrow. So that's a change from what it previously was. Drivers would see a green circular, the green circular light, and it would basically rely on drivers to see the pedestrians. So we wanted to decrease the PED and driver conflicts. And so that's also on the other side. So we're just taking the choice slightly away from the driver, making it safer for pedestrians. And then on the right hand side, you can see the map of where the RRFB was installed, and so it gives pedestrians a better walking route specifically to and from the high school. And the idea there is that high scrollers will only have to cross one leg of Boons Ferry and IBOC. So next we have Nyberg and 65th. As you can see on the right hand side, the it's a little bit hard to see, but I promise the green arrow is on, so the walk sign is off. And then this one is just slightly different depending on when the push button is pressed. The driver will either see a yellow flashing arrow or the red arrow. Alright, so the one we have currently going is an RFB on Hazelbrook. So this connects the recently completed trail project under Highway 99 to existing sidewalk, as you can see in the left-hand picture. It's a really great section of trail, but pedestrians when they come out of it are still a little bit isolated, so it just gets pedestrians back to sidewalks. And then this also gets middle schoolers back on the same side as Hazelbrook Middle School. So hopefully we're decreasing any unsafe crossings along that road. Okay, so the 2025-2026 cycle, a couple reminders about the program. We have 150,000 per fiscal year. So that's design, construction, any data collection we need, that all goes for the 150,000. The guiding principles on which the suggestions are evaluated are safety, equity, feasibility, and impact. And then the advertising phase is September 2025. So right now, um, I would encourage all of you to submit any ideas that you have and encourage others to do so.
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