Note on meeting date: The agenda and transcript refer to this meeting as taking place on May 26, 2026, but the instruction specifies a date of 2026-05-25 07:00:00+00:00. This summary uses the provided date; the discrepancy is noted.
The council held a regular meeting that began with a Pledge of Allegiance, followed by proclamations, announcements, public comment (none received), and consent agenda approval. A special report from Metro Councilor Garrett Rosenthal covered regional issues including waste fees, housing, and parks. After a recess for a photo opportunity with Tualatin High School students, the council heard general business items on a sidewalk maintenance backlog project and library intergovernmental agreements with Washington County.
The following items were approved unanimously by motion:
Metro Councilor Garrett Rosenthal, accompanied by staff, presented an update on regional activities. Topics included:
The council recessed for a photo with Tualatin High School students involved in a backyard habitat project at the Tualatin City Services building (TCS). Students from the Design Core program (Jassiani Ferrara, Hanaya Tommy, Lily Eswee, Deegan Baldwin, and teacher Dan Rote) explained how they designed and planted a native landscape around the InPipe microhydro turbine installation. The project aims for Backyard Habitat certification. Students expressed pride in the hands-on learning and concern that the Design Core program is being discontinued. Council members thanked them and encouraged continued community involvement.
Lindsay Marshall (Public Works) and James Scogan (Street Division Manager) presented Resolution 5960-26 to award a $1.47 million contract to Paul Brothers Incorporated for a two-year sidewalk repair and street tree replacement project. The project addresses 325 properties with defects (over 1,000 panels) caused by street tree roots. Zone 1 work begins summer 2026; Zone 2 in 2027. Property owners were given a choice from an adaptive tree list (about 40 species). Councilor Gonzalez expressed concerns about the number of tree choices and lack of clarity on average costs. He also noted that some Spanish-speaking residents had not received translated letters. The resolution passed 6-1, with Gonzalez voting no.
City Manager Sherilyn and City Attorney Kevin presented the final drafts of the Library Cooperative Governance Agreement (perpetual) and Operating Agreement (tracking the levy cycle, expires June 30, 2026). Key discussion points:
All right. Good evening and welcome to the May 26, 2026 Toalton City Council meeting. I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order. First thing on our agenda tonight is a Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by Councilor Reyes. I agree to the United States. And to the public for religious individual. That brings us to announcements. Our first announcement tonight is a proclamation declaring June 2026 as Gun Violence Awareness Month in the City of Twalton. And I believe we have some representatives from moms. The mom's group come on up. Welcome back. Go ahead and turn your turn the microphones. A little head with the little on your mic stand. There you go. Now we're on. Good evening. Mayor Bubenek, counselors, and all of the city staff and residents in this room and online. My name is Mary Pat Hensel. I'm your neighbor who wears orange and resides in Wilsonville. I'm a gun violence survivor, a gun owner, a vocal public health advocate for safe firearm storage. And this year I have the good fortune with my friend Sydney of accepting your 2026 Wear Orange proclamation. This is my third opportunity to tell you why this means so much to me and for your community. So you know it means I mean it when I begin by saying thanks. When you proclaim that you are paying attention to gun violence, it means you are listening and that you are aware. It means that the work I do with my colleagues at Bombs Demand Action and Every Town for Gun Safety to build awareness has traction. It also means that we are partners in this effort, and that together we will amplify the message and build more awareness because no one will miss us when we wear orange. In Oregon, the first wear orange was in December of 2015. It was pouring rain. I was there. And at that time we were concerned with 96 people per day in the US who were killed. Now it's 120 people a day in the US. We must do much better. Every stat.org research shows that in an average year, 644 people die, and 719 are wounded in Oregon. 76% of gun deaths are suicide. As I said, we must do better. Um are suicide. So we must do a lot better. In a few weeks, I'll go to Washington, D.C. And when I'm there, I will be able to tell my colleagues and your legislators that you are publicly willing to recognize gun violence survivors and those who have perished, that you acknowledge those who live in your community with the hurt and the unrest that gun violence creates with domestic situations and in very difficult self-inflicted shootings. Let me know if you want me to say more than this. Start by asking them to wear orange on June 5th and through the weekend. And I just want to say, my name's Sydney. Um I just moved here from Texas last year, so uh I would not be doing this. I would not be in a meeting like this uh if I was still there. So I appreciate it. Thank you guys. Um yeah, let's keep let's keep working. All right. Well, thank you for coming tonight. Council Reyes will read the proclamation.