OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Tualatin City Council Meeting: Arbor Month, Library Week, Trans Visibility, and Fowl Ordinances – March 23, 2026

City Council — Monday, March 23, 2026
BodyTualatin, Oregon
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, March 23, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:32:57

Transcript — Verbatim
0:19

Anyway, just go into the month.

0:51

Richard Surning TLS is one of the best PCs ever had.

1:00

Recording in progress.

1:05

Good evening and welcome to the Twalton City Council meeting for March 23rd, 2026.

1:10

I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order.

1:12

First item on our agenda tonight is a Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Brooks.

1:51

Adam, welcome.

1:59

Ladies and gentlemen of the council, Mr.

2:01

Mayor, uh pleasure to be here tonight.

2:03

This is my first night here or first time as chair of Tea Park getting to be here.

2:08

Oh yeah.

2:08

I'm very very intimidated.

2:10

So I told them y'all were rolling.

2:12

You got an experienced pro right next to you, so watch out.

2:15

Yeah.

2:16

And thank you to Emma, my co-chair, for being here with us.

2:19

Um we're gonna tag team tonight's uh um announcement.

2:22

Um we're here to talk about Arbor Month, which um the purpose of Arbor Month is that um April is Arbor month, and we celebrate the many contributions that trees make in our community.

2:34

Um the benefits of trees are clean air, noise reduction.

2:40

Sorry.

2:44

Someone said I was a pro, so I had to prove them wrong.

2:47

Um reduced crime and traffic calming, and then the environmental benefits are uh uh um counteracts climate change, energy conservation, uh water filtration and ha uh wildlife habitat, as well as economic benefits that creases home values, attracts businesses, and they look really pretty.

3:08

Um and in here in Tualeton, we had many Arbor Month activities, um, including the trees photography contest, which Emma's gonna talk about, as well as the kids poster contest.

3:19

Um, and then we had an Arbor Month proclamation, the tree top wildlife and putting down roots volunteer planning, hug a tree hug a tree earth day, and then uh Tuolleton Library themed uh story times and a scavenger hunt in the park.

3:36

All right, so it's my pleasure at this point to announce um really the most fun that we have at Tea Park all year, which are the winners of our kids poster contest and our photography contest.

3:47

So I'm excited to share that the winners of our kids poster contest um with the tagline Tualaton Trees are um our winner for Cade's Great Grades, K2, Mara Fett Hamilton did the beautiful poster with the title Tualetin Trees Are Tall and Give Us Shade.

4:05

And our grades three through five winner is Tenley Richardson with a beautiful poster um with the title Tualetin Trees Make My Heart Really Colorful.

4:16

Uh the Tualton Trees Photo Contest has some really spectacular entries this year, and I'm pleased to share with council the first place winner, Marie Ritter with um the entry Autumn Reflections.

4:29

Uh our second place winner from Ju Julie McGuire, Maple at Sunset, and finally our third place winner, Stacey Darling with the submission fall reflection.

4:44

And to end our presentation, our announcement today, um, we wanted to let people know that we are a tree city USA.

4:53

Um, Tualton is, and each tree city has to have a tree board, which is Tea Park.

5:00

And the Tree City USA is awarded to recognized communities that have proven commitment to ongoing forestry programs.

5:09

And it's our 39th year.

5:12

Thank you so much.

5:13

Thank you all.

5:14

Okay.

5:15

So I understand Tenley is here.

5:19

All right.

5:23

Well, congratulations on winning the contest.

5:27

This is your gift bag inside your piece of art is framed.

5:31

There's a whole bunch of stuff in here.

5:33

Congratulations.

5:35

We can do a group photo all of us.

5:37

Come on up.

5:39

Do it over here.

6:40

All right, so now we'll have the proclamation read tonight by Councilor Gonzalez.

6:45

Thank you very much.

6:46

One thing I wanted to add also that in the near future, trees will be producing electricity.

6:50

In college, I was part of a program where they piloted a program how many trees did it take to power a house.

6:58

Measure that.

6:58

So the more to come on that one, but that is soon to come.

7:03

Declaring the month of April 2026 as Arbor Month in the City of Twalton, whereas Arbor Day is a celebration observed throughout the nation and the world in which individuals, groups are encouraged to plant, care for and celebrate the many values of trees.

7:21

And Arbor Month is observed in the state of Oregon during the entire month of April 2026.

7:26

And whereas healthy trees reduce erosion of topsoil by wind and water, moderate the temperatures, calm traffic, clean the air, produce oxygen, provide habitat for wildlife, and are a renewable resource, giving us paper, countless other wood products, and whereas trees beautify our community, increase property value, enhance the economic vitality of business areas in Twalton, and thousands of trees and shrubs are planted by volunteers in Tualton parklands every year.

8:03

And whereas 2026 marks the 39th consecutive year, the city of Tualton has been called, has been certified as Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation for following best practices in community forestry management.

8:21

Now, therefore, be it proclaimed by the City Council of the City of Twalton, Oregon, that the City of Twalton designates the month of April 2026 as Arbor Month in the City of Tualton.

8:33

All are urged to support efforts to protect and plant trees to gladden the hearts and promote the well-being of present and future generations.

8:44

The City of Twalton supports the Oregon Department of Forestry and the National Arbor Day Foundation in the recognition of the value trees and forest by the proclaiming April 2026 as Arbor Month in Twalton.

8:58

Introduced and adopted this 23rd day of March 2026, City of Twalton.

9:03

You're here.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Library Services████████████████████████24%
Parks and Recreation█████████████████17%
Youth Programs███████████████15%
Community Engagement███████████11%
Animal Welfare██████████10%
Racial Equity█████████9%
Procedural████████8%
Fiscal Sustainability██████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Tualatin City Council Meeting Summary – March 23, 2026

The Tualatin City Council met on March 23, 2026, to receive several proclamations, hear annual reports from the Parks Advisory Committee and Library Advisory Committee, receive an update from the Tigard-Tualatin School District social services manager, and vote on two ordinances related to the keeping of domestic fowl. The meeting included the adoption of the consent agenda and a unanimous vote on all consent items.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the regular meeting minutes of March 9, 2026.
  • Approved liquor license renewals for 2026.
  • Approved Resolution No. 5947-26 awarding a contract for construction of Basalt Creek Linear Park.
  • Approved Resolution No. 5949-26 authorizing the city manager to accept grant funds from Washington County for retail theft enforcement.
  • Approved Resolution No. 5951-26 approving termination of the Levitton Tax Increment District and Plan.
  • Approved Resolution No. 5952-26 authorizing modifications to the employment agreement with the city manager.

Proclamations

  • Arbor Month (April 2026): Celebrated Tualatin’s 39th consecutive year as a Tree City USA. Recognized winners of the kids' poster contest (Mara Fett Hamilton, K–2, and Tenley Richardson, grades 3–5) and the photo contest (1st place: Marie Ritter, "Autumn Reflections"; 2nd place: Julie McGuire, "Maple at Sunset"; 3rd place: Stacey Darling, "Fall Reflection"). Councilor Gonzalez also mentioned a future tree-electricity pilot project.
  • National Library Week (April 19–25, 2026): Library Director Jerry Ann Thompson reported a 1.5-times increase in visits during February and March (while Tigard Library is closed for renovations), along with dramatic increases in checkouts and program attendance.
  • Transgender Day of Visibility (March 31, 2026): IDEA Advisory Committee members Maya Schroeder and Emily Baker presented a packet summarizing recent attacks on transgender civil rights nationally and highlighted Oregon’s strong protections. The proclamation emphasized the city’s commitment to equity and inclusion.
  • Month of the Military Child (April 2026): Maddie Sudani, representing the Oregon Military Youth Panel, thanked the council for recognizing military youth, who often serve without an active-duty base in the state.

Special Reports

  • Parks Advisory Committee (Tea Park) Annual Report: Outgoing chair Emma Gray and new chair Adam Peterson reviewed 2025 accomplishments, including collaboration with city staff on bond oversight, downtown core planning, and the Nyberg Creek Wetlands Trail (nearing completion). 2026 goals include community engagement for the new river access park and a ribbon cutting for Las Casitas Park (ARPA-funded).
  • Library Advisory Committee (TLAC) Annual Report: Chair Ashley Payne and Vice Chair Melissa highlighted key actions: attendance at the board/committee summit, policy recommendations (child safety, community room, materials distribution), and support for the increased local option levy. The committee made two recommendations: (1) protect current hours, materials, programs, and services; (2) explore sustainable funding beyond the levy, given potential changes from WCCLS governance. Council expressed concerns about WCCLS centralization and possible loss of Tualatin-specific collection items.
  • Tigard-Tualatin School District Social Services Update: Colleen Nakanishi, TTSD social services manager, detailed increased need for food, PGE assistance, and other basic needs. In 2025–26, the district spent heavily on PGE assistance ($3,356) and provided $500 in grocery gift cards, $325 in laundry cards, and furniture assistance. Tualatin families served included 70 referrals to Northwest Children’s Outreach. Nakanishi noted challenges for Tualatin families in accessing resources located outside the city and weaker connections with Clackamas County resources. Council members offered to coordinate food drives and improve county linkages.

Discussion Items

  • Ordinance 1454-26 – Amending TDC Chapters 39 and 40 to permit domestic fowl in RL zones: The ordinance, requiring a second vote after failing to pass unanimously previously, was debated. Councilor Gonzalez expressed concerns about potential nuisances (noise, sanitation, pests) from cumulative impact, especially in HOA communities. Councilors Brooks and President Pratt supported the ordinance for its uniformity with neighboring cities and stricter enforcement. Councilor Hillier encouraged future budget discussions to increase licensing fees for compliance checks. The ordinance passed 4–3 (Ayes: Sacco, Hillier, Brooks, Pratt; Noes: Reyes, Gonzalez, Mayor).
  • Ordinance 1455-26 – Amending TMC Title 6 for domestic fowl regulations: Companion ordinance also passed 4–3 (same vote split).

Key Outcomes

  • Consent agenda adopted unanimously.
  • All four proclamations approved unanimously.
  • Ordinance 1454-26 adopted (4–3).
  • Ordinance 1455-26 adopted (4–3).
  • Council agreed to continue monitoring WCCLS governance changes and their impact on library funding and services.
  • Council will explore increasing domestic fowl licensing fees to support compliance checks during upcoming budget sessions.
  • Staff directed to maintain communication on library intergovernmental agreement updates.

Meeting Transcript

Anyway, just go into the month. Richard Surning TLS is one of the best PCs ever had. Recording in progress. Good evening and welcome to the Twalton City Council meeting for March 23rd, 2026. I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order. First item on our agenda tonight is a Pledge of Allegiance led by Council Brooks. Adam, welcome. Ladies and gentlemen of the council, Mr. Mayor, uh pleasure to be here tonight. This is my first night here or first time as chair of Tea Park getting to be here. Oh yeah. I'm very very intimidated. So I told them y'all were rolling. You got an experienced pro right next to you, so watch out. Yeah. And thank you to Emma, my co-chair, for being here with us. Um we're gonna tag team tonight's uh um announcement. Um we're here to talk about Arbor Month, which um the purpose of Arbor Month is that um April is Arbor month, and we celebrate the many contributions that trees make in our community. Um the benefits of trees are clean air, noise reduction. Sorry. Someone said I was a pro, so I had to prove them wrong. Um reduced crime and traffic calming, and then the environmental benefits are uh uh um counteracts climate change, energy conservation, uh water filtration and ha uh wildlife habitat, as well as economic benefits that creases home values, attracts businesses, and they look really pretty. Um and in here in Tualeton, we had many Arbor Month activities, um, including the trees photography contest, which Emma's gonna talk about, as well as the kids poster contest. Um, and then we had an Arbor Month proclamation, the tree top wildlife and putting down roots volunteer planning, hug a tree hug a tree earth day, and then uh Tuolleton Library themed uh story times and a scavenger hunt in the park. All right, so it's my pleasure at this point to announce um really the most fun that we have at Tea Park all year, which are the winners of our kids poster contest and our photography contest. So I'm excited to share that the winners of our kids poster contest um with the tagline Tualaton Trees are um our winner for Cade's Great Grades, K2, Mara Fett Hamilton did the beautiful poster with the title Tualetin Trees Are Tall and Give Us Shade. And our grades three through five winner is Tenley Richardson with a beautiful poster um with the title Tualetin Trees Make My Heart Really Colorful. Uh the Tualton Trees Photo Contest has some really spectacular entries this year, and I'm pleased to share with council the first place winner, Marie Ritter with um the entry Autumn Reflections. Uh our second place winner from Ju Julie McGuire, Maple at Sunset, and finally our third place winner, Stacey Darling with the submission fall reflection. And to end our presentation, our announcement today, um, we wanted to let people know that we are a tree city USA. Um, Tualton is, and each tree city has to have a tree board, which is Tea Park. And the Tree City USA is awarded to recognized communities that have proven commitment to ongoing forestry programs. And it's our 39th year. Thank you so much. Thank you all. Okay. So I understand Tenley is here. All right. Well, congratulations on winning the contest. This is your gift bag inside your piece of art is framed. There's a whole bunch of stuff in here. Congratulations. We can do a group photo all of us. Come on up. Do it over here. All right, so now we'll have the proclamation read tonight by Councilor Gonzalez. Thank you very much. One thing I wanted to add also that in the near future, trees will be producing electricity. In college, I was part of a program where they piloted a program how many trees did it take to power a house. Measure that.

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