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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

West Linn City Council Work Session - April 7, 2025

City Council & Planning Commission — Monday, April 7, 2025

BodyWest Linn, Oregon

SessionCity Council & Planning Commission

DateMonday, April 7, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:30:36

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:17

We'll call to order this work session of the Western City Council.

0:22

It's Monday, April 7th, 2025.

0:24

Nice to be back in the council chamber after a little break over through the last couple weeks of March.

0:30

Thank you everybody for being here.

0:37

We have one small change of ordering.

0:40

Thank you, Mayor.

0:40

I move to approve the agenda for the April 7th City Council work session with a change from moving our county transportation.

0:54

Stafford up Stafford update to after public comment.

1:02

Is there a second?

1:06

Okay, it has been moved and seconded to uh approve the agenda, moving the county transportation Stafford update up to after public comment.

1:16

So that'll be fourth on the agenda.

1:18

Any discussion none, go ahead and call the roll.

1:25

Councilor Bonington.

1:27

Yes.

1:27

Councilor Bright.

1:29

Yes.

1:29

Council President Baumgartner.

1:31

Yes.

1:32

Councillor Grohner?

1:33

Yes.

1:33

Mayor Bielostowski.

1:35

Yes.

1:35

Thank you very much.

1:37

So the motion passes agendas approved.

1:39

And that will take us to public comments.

1:43

Do we have any today?

1:44

There are none.

1:45

Okay.

1:46

No public comments.

1:47

So with that, quit we'll quickly move right into the business of the day.

1:51

We have first the uh county transportation Stafford Road update.

1:55

And we'll welcome up Eric Layus, our city engineer.

1:59

John, do you have any opening remarks?

2:01

Uh thank you, Mayor.

2:02

Um, and welcome back to the council chambers.

2:05

Uh we are happy to be here and we welcome our guests.

2:07

Eric will do the intro.

2:09

Um, but as we wrote in the staff report, the purpose of this is a briefing on this project and have the opportunity uh for council to talk to the project managers here or the project team.

2:19

So Eric, if you want to do a more detailed intro, that'd be awesome.

2:23

Sure.

2:23

Um Mayor, uh City Councillors, thanks for having us today.

2:28

Um as you some of you may recall we were here back in October of uh I had to go back and look, but it's been October of uh 2023 that um the county team came and and gave an update on this project.

2:43

Uh since then they're um making some movement and uh a little bit farther along in the process.

2:51

So uh here today to um give a quick update on on the project and answer any questions.

3:01

So from the county we have project manager uh Jonathan Hangartner um and then uh uh traffic manager uh Joe Merrick and I understand Joe through LinkedIn that after 34 years with the county you've uh announced your retirement.

3:20

So congratulations on that.

3:21

And I um wanted to give you a shout out and appreciate um at least my ears here working with you.

3:28

So um congrats on that.

3:31

And uh with that we'll uh turn it over.

3:35

I guess um let you I think you gotta point it that way.

3:46

I get a glare.

3:47

I get a glare of uh good afternoon, uh members of the council and mayor.

4:04

Thank you for having us this afternoon.

4:06

As Eric mentioned, uh we're here to give you a quick update on the Stafford Road Improvements Project.

4:12

And as Eric mentioned, we were here l uh a couple Octobers ago to give you kind of uh overview of the project, the improvements we're gonna be making, and at that time we were looking to start construction in 2024.

4:24

However, we've been delayed about a year, so we are about to move into the road improvement construction portion, and we're proposing a series of road closures along Stafford Road.

4:35

So we wanted to discuss potential traffic impacts and the proposed detour routes and things of that nature.

4:42

So with that, I wanted to introduce the project location.

4:46

If you're not familiar with it, we'll be uh making improvements along Stafford Road north of 205, and the limits are north of the Twalton River Bridge to just south of the Rosemont Road roundabout.

5:00

And our improvements are focused at the Child's Road intersection and at the Johnson Road intersection, where we'll be making significant intersection improvements, and then also adding bike lanes along that whole length of Stafford Road.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Transportation Safety██████████████████████22%

Public Engagement██████████████████18%

Procedural██████████10%

Child Safety██████████10%

Public Safety███████7%

Engineering And Infrastructure██████6%

Urban Forestry Management██████6%

Community Advisory Groups████4%

Community Engagement████4%

Summary of Proceedings

West Linn City Council Work Session - April 7, 2025

The West Linn City Council held a work session on Monday, April 7, 2025, from 1:00 PM to 2:31 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting included a presentation on the Stafford Road Improvements Project, four proclamations, updates on council priorities, and a city manager report on unmet staffing and capital needs. No public comments were made.

Discussion Items

County Transportation Stafford Update

County project manager Jonathan Hangartner and traffic engineer Joseph Merrick presented an update on the Stafford Road Improvements Project, which will add a roundabout at Childs Road, realign Johnson Road to eliminate skew, add bike lanes, and improve habitat and fish passage. Construction is expected to begin as soon as May 1, 2025, and continue through winter 2026, with full road closures in five stages. The preferred signed detour route is via I-5 and Boones Ferry Road (through Lake Oswego), not Oregon 43. The county will monitor traffic patterns and coordinate with emergency services. Council members expressed strong support for the project, noting safety benefits, and asked about communication with GPS services (via ODOT TripCheck), the timeline for closures (e.g., Stage 1: May 1–July 14, 2025; Stage 2: July 15–September 30, 2025; winter shutdown with Childs Road closed), and curve improvements (widening, superelevation adjustment, guardrails).

Proclamations

Child Abuse Prevention Month: Presented by Councilor Grohner. A representative from the Children's Center described their trauma-informed assessment and prevention services, noting they see about 500 children annually in Clackamas County, with funding from insurance, government contracts (at risk), and fundraising. No child or family is charged for services.
Distracted Driving Safety Awareness Month: Read by Council President Baumgartner. Statistics cited: In Oregon (2017-2021), 26,264 crashes involved distracted drivers, resulting in 194 fatalities and 24,264 injuries; 2,005 crashes involved mobile device use, with 15 fatalities and 1,775 injuries.
Volunteer Recognition Month: Read by Councilor Bright, honoring volunteer service in the community.
Arbor Month: The city celebrated its Tree City USA designation (since 1993). Parks department representatives reported spending over $400,000 last year on street tree replacement and tree care, and highlighted 3,700 volunteer hours from 1,300 volunteers in 2024, including 72 work parties. A video series on trees will be released throughout April.

Council Priorities Update

City Manager John Williams provided an update on all nine council priorities:

Transportation safety/funding: TAB meeting April 21 to discuss prioritized pedestrian safety projects and funding.
Indoor recreation/community center: Staff are talking to the YMCA about a potential partnership; no bond measure is planned at this time.
Community Advisory Groups (CAGs): Internal staff team working on consistent procedures and work programs.
Drinking water system capital needs: Utility Advisory Board meeting April 8 to discuss capital plan and funding; three water projects submitted to state legislature.
Waterfront vision plan: Draft final updates and zoning analysis due May; open houses this summer; adoption hearings anticipated Sept–Nov 2025.
Highway 43 vision plan: Draft mixed-use zoning code and quarter master plan in process; open house in June.
Environmental protection: Sustainability Advisory Board reviewing list of recommended strategies (e.g., EV charging, LED upgrades); municipal tree code update in progress.
DEIB: Internal committee developing 2025 work plan; inclusive leadership training planned.
Operations facility: Final design nearing completion; CM/GC bids close April 24; council work session May 5 on sustainability elements.

City Manager Report

City Manager Williams noted upcoming meetings (April 14, 21) and the Mayor's State of the City on May 6. He reported that staff are compiling a list of unmet staffing and capital needs in response to council's request, including: additional patrol officers, code enforcement, traffic safety officer, second school resource officer (SRO), a second facilities manager, outreach/communications staff, natural areas maintenance, parks project management, and pedestrian/traffic safety capital projects. The city faces ongoing fiscal uncertainty and may need to stabilize funding to maintain services.

Key Outcomes

Agenda Approval: Council voted unanimously (5-0) to approve the agenda with a change moving the Stafford update after public comment.
No formal votes or decisions were taken on substantive items; all presentations and reports were for discussion and information.
Next Steps: The legislative update from lobbyist Doug Riggs was postponed to the April 14 meeting due to technical issues. Council will hold a work session on pedestrian/traffic safety with TAB on April 21. The city manager will present a refined list of unmet needs and cost estimates in May.

Meeting Transcript

We'll call to order this work session of the Western City Council. It's Monday, April 7th, 2025. Nice to be back in the council chamber after a little break over through the last couple weeks of March. Thank you everybody for being here. We have one small change of ordering. Thank you, Mayor. I move to approve the agenda for the April 7th City Council work session with a change from moving our county transportation. Stafford up Stafford update to after public comment. Is there a second? Okay, it has been moved and seconded to uh approve the agenda, moving the county transportation Stafford update up to after public comment. So that'll be fourth on the agenda. Any discussion none, go ahead and call the roll. Councilor Bonington. Yes. Councilor Bright. Yes. Council President Baumgartner. Yes. Councillor Grohner? Yes. Mayor Bielostowski. Yes. Thank you very much. So the motion passes agendas approved. And that will take us to public comments. Do we have any today? There are none. Okay. No public comments. So with that, quit we'll quickly move right into the business of the day. We have first the uh county transportation Stafford Road update. And we'll welcome up Eric Layus, our city engineer. John, do you have any opening remarks? Uh thank you, Mayor. Um, and welcome back to the council chambers. Uh we are happy to be here and we welcome our guests. Eric will do the intro. Um, but as we wrote in the staff report, the purpose of this is a briefing on this project and have the opportunity uh for council to talk to the project managers here or the project team. So Eric, if you want to do a more detailed intro, that'd be awesome. Sure. Um Mayor, uh City Councillors, thanks for having us today. Um as you some of you may recall we were here back in October of uh I had to go back and look, but it's been October of uh 2023 that um the county team came and and gave an update on this project. Uh since then they're um making some movement and uh a little bit farther along in the process. So uh here today to um give a quick update on on the project and answer any questions. So from the county we have project manager uh Jonathan Hangartner um and then uh uh traffic manager uh Joe Merrick and I understand Joe through LinkedIn that after 34 years with the county you've uh announced your retirement. So congratulations on that. And I um wanted to give you a shout out and appreciate um at least my ears here working with you. So um congrats on that. And uh with that we'll uh turn it over. I guess um let you I think you gotta point it that way.

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