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Record of Proceedings

West Linn City Council Business Meeting - February 10, 2025

City Council & Planning Commission — Monday, February 10, 2025
BodyWest Linn, Oregon
SessionCity Council & Planning Commission
DateMonday, February 10, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 3:06:21

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it
0:22

That's nice to see you actually at a city meeting, not just South Park Waterboard.

0:27

Welcome.

0:27

Thank you.

0:29

She's our South Park waterboard attorney too.

0:31

Oh, hi.

0:33

Hey, Katy.

0:35

Okay, but um at the meeting, especially one minute.

0:47

Pull up the agenda and we'll rock and roll.

1:00

I read the memory.

1:02

Ever everybody here that you need, John.

1:05

Would you say from the staff stuff?

1:07

Sure.

1:07

Yeah.

1:08

Okay, I'm just pulling up the agenda here, then we'll get started.

1:12

Are we streaming live and ready to go?

1:17

I think we just want to.

1:25

Okay, we'll get started.

1:26

Uh I will call to order this pre-meeting.

1:30

Uh or meeting about the meeting, whatever you want to call it of the Western City Council is Monday, February 10th, 2025.

1:38

Uh, and we're gonna go over the agenda in the pre-meeting.

1:41

Time to ask questions if you need any information from staff before we get into the regular meeting if it's feasible for them to track it down.

1:50

Uh mayor and council report we'll I'm gonna uh pull the community advisory group appointments, if that's okay, just because we have a busy evening and haven't had time to review those with everything going on.

2:03

We also still have some applications coming in.

2:05

So we will do that on the 18th.

2:08

Uh since that's a special meeting anyway.

2:10

Wait next week.

2:13

Got a full agenda tonight.

2:14

Uh we'll next is it council priorities.

2:18

Any questions or comments?

2:25

We're speaking with DEI, despite the federal and belongings.

2:33

Don't forget to uh adopt city manager goals.

2:37

Mr.

2:37

Williams, do you have any comments on that?

2:40

Glad to get to this point.

2:41

We're ready to adopt and soon enough we'll be in your next performance evaluation.

2:46

We should do it monthly.

2:48

Uh yeah, I like the extra specificity in this year's version.

2:52

Uh just to some examples of things that um that uh illustrate the goals.

2:58

So want to thank Councillor Breck for taking a stab at going through and helping out with that and sending over a draft to me.

3:06

I liked it.

3:07

Uh so we will adopt those if everybody's ready to do so.

3:12

And then we have the consent agenda, which has a couple of uh meeting notes and a couple of other items on it.

3:20

Do you have any comments on the ops?

3:22

Um that's a follow-up from a previous item that is.

3:25

Uh Morgan is here in case you have any questions.

3:28

Uh anything you need before doing another agenda that's like no questions.

3:40

Good.

3:40

Thank you.

3:43

Then the city attorney employment contract amendment is on the agenda as well for the consent.

3:48

Any questions on that?

3:50

Okay.

3:52

Uh we will then move to the business meeting, and I can turn it over to the city manager for your or I can keep going over whatever you want.

4:01

We'll be usually I turn it up to you for a business meeting.

4:04

Uh the public hearing on ordinance 1757.

4:08

Um City Council doesn't do street vacations all that often, but the uh staff report was pretty clear, I think about how we got to here, how the uh application was filed.

4:20

Um these folks have been working hard on this one to get you a procedure that is ready to go, and I think any questions you have from that are directed.

4:29

We've we've done like four or five or six of these, and they've never been this controversial.

4:34

Never and usually there's like just uh nobody shows up.

4:38

We figured you were ready to level up.

4:39

Yeah, well we we've leveled up.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Use Zoning███████████████████████████27%
Procedural█████████████████████21%
Environmental Protection████████████12%
Legal Process███████7%
Public Engagement██████6%
Historic Preservation█████5%
Public Safety█████5%
Parks and Recreation████4%
Community Engagement███3%
Summary of Proceedings

West Linn City Council Business Meeting - February 10, 2025

The West Linn City Council met on February 10, 2025, at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting covered adoption of council priorities and city manager goals, approval of consent agenda items, a public hearing on a right-of-way vacation that was continued to March 17, adoption of an ordinance regulating wild animal feeding, approval of a historic inventory grant for the Robinwood neighborhood, and an update on the Stafford Area Urban Reserves.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved meeting minutes from January 6 and 13, 2025, with a correction to Mayor Bialostosky's vote on MIP-24-02/VAR-24-05.
  • Approved the Public Works Operations Complex Construction Owners' Representative Contract.
  • Approved the City Attorney Employment Contract Amendment.
  • All items approved 5-0.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • General Public Comment (non-hearing items): Michael Tayler addressed school bond amounts; Amelia Chapin spoke on poor street conditions; Dean Suhr discussed tolling opposition and Oppenlander Park; Anthony Bracco, representing Robinwood Neighborhood Association, invited council to a meeting; RJ Cook provided updates on Stafford Road construction and urged agricultural investment.
  • Public Hearing – Ordinance 1757 (ROW vacation): Multiple residents testified, primarily opposing the vacation. Speakers included Kathy Halicki (Willamette Neighborhood Association president) requesting a continuance; Michael Taylor supporting the vacation; Eric Griswold (Stafford Hamlet) presenting a photo compilation representing "No Voice"; Terence Shoemaker (Friends of Willamette Wetlands) urging denial; Nicole Jackson opposing, citing public interest and contamination concerns; Bruce Jackson raising concerns about the settling pond's structural integrity; Connie Johnson opposing; Larry Reed opposing; and Russ Axelrod opposing and asking the council to address code loopholes.
  • Ordinance 1756 (wild animal feeding): Tony Bracco expressed concerns about the ordinance being driven by complaints against a single person and questioned enforcement.

Discussion Items

  • Adoption of City Council 2025-2027 Priorities: City Manager Williams explained the priorities were developed at a January 4 retreat and aligned with the biennial budget cycle. Councilor Bryck appreciated the introductory language and update process. Council voted 5-0 to adopt.
  • Adoption of City Manager Goals: The goals, prepared by the Mayor with input from Councilor Bryck, outlined five broad goals with implementation examples. Council voted 5-0 to adopt.
  • Public Hearing – Ordinance 1757 (VAC-24-01): Planning Manager Wyss presented the petition to vacate three portions of 5th Street and 4th Avenue rights-of-way totaling over one acre, noting the areas are within wetlands, floodplain, and habitat areas with no city plans for roads or utilities. Applicant representatives Mercedes Serra and Garrett Stephenson argued that the criteria under ORS 271 were met, emphasizing the ROWs were never used and are not needed for transportation, and that future development would be subject to separate land use approvals. Public testimony raised concerns about wetland protection, contamination of a settling pond, and consistency with the Waterfront Vision Plan. Council closed the public testimony and left the record open for written testimony until March 3, 2025, with applicant rebuttal due March 10, and continued the hearing to March 17, 2025, for deliberation and vote.
  • Ordinance 1756 – Wild Animal Feeding: Police Chief Mahuna described the ordinance as addressing public nuisances from feeding wild animals (e.g., skunks) and based on education-first approach. The council approved first and second readings and adopted the ordinance 5-0, with council members noting it was not intended for micromanagement but for health/safety situations.
  • Proposed 2025 Historic Inventory of Robinwood Neighborhood: City Manager Williams explained a grant-funded consultant inventory of 560 properties along Highway 43 would not designate properties but provide information for potential historic designations. Council approved the grant request with a 50% city match (staff/volunteer time) 5-0.
  • Stafford Area Urban Reserves Update: City Manager Williams and City Attorney Klein briefed council on three topics: (1) The Marks v. LCDC case, where LCDC staff recommended declining an enforcement order against the city and other parties; (2) Clackamas County's $1 million planning grant for a development readiness study, amended to be high-level and likely not including Stafford; (3) Senate Bill 592, which would require the state to study forming a new city in Stafford. Council discussed the need to stay informed and consider further discussions.

Key Outcomes

  • Adopted the 2025-2027 City Council Priorities (5-0).
  • Adopted City Manager Goals for John Williams (5-0).
  • Approved the Consent Agenda, including meeting minutes, PW Ops contract, and City Attorney contract amendment (5-0).
  • Continued the public hearing on Ordinance 1757 (ROW vacation) to March 17, 2025, with written testimony due March 3 and applicant rebuttal due March 10.
  • Adopted Ordinance 1756 (wild animal feeding) on first and second readings (5-0).
  • Approved submitting a grant request for a Robinwood Neighborhood historic inventory with a 50% city match (5-0).
  • Received information on Stafford Area updates and agreed to consider future discussions.

Meeting Transcript

That's nice to see you actually at a city meeting, not just South Park Waterboard. Welcome. Thank you. She's our South Park waterboard attorney too. Oh, hi. Hey, Katy. Okay, but um at the meeting, especially one minute. Pull up the agenda and we'll rock and roll. I read the memory. Ever everybody here that you need, John. Would you say from the staff stuff? Sure. Yeah. Okay, I'm just pulling up the agenda here, then we'll get started. Are we streaming live and ready to go? I think we just want to. Okay, we'll get started. Uh I will call to order this pre-meeting. Uh or meeting about the meeting, whatever you want to call it of the Western City Council is Monday, February 10th, 2025. Uh, and we're gonna go over the agenda in the pre-meeting. Time to ask questions if you need any information from staff before we get into the regular meeting if it's feasible for them to track it down. Uh mayor and council report we'll I'm gonna uh pull the community advisory group appointments, if that's okay, just because we have a busy evening and haven't had time to review those with everything going on. We also still have some applications coming in. So we will do that on the 18th. Uh since that's a special meeting anyway. Wait next week. Got a full agenda tonight. Uh we'll next is it council priorities. Any questions or comments? We're speaking with DEI, despite the federal and belongings. Don't forget to uh adopt city manager goals. Mr. Williams, do you have any comments on that? Glad to get to this point. We're ready to adopt and soon enough we'll be in your next performance evaluation. We should do it monthly. Uh yeah, I like the extra specificity in this year's version. Uh just to some examples of things that um that uh illustrate the goals. So want to thank Councillor Breck for taking a stab at going through and helping out with that and sending over a draft to me. I liked it. Uh so we will adopt those if everybody's ready to do so. And then we have the consent agenda, which has a couple of uh meeting notes and a couple of other items on it. Do you have any comments on the ops? Um that's a follow-up from a previous item that is. Uh Morgan is here in case you have any questions. Uh anything you need before doing another agenda that's like no questions. Good. Thank you. Then the city attorney employment contract amendment is on the agenda as well for the consent. Any questions on that?

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