West Linn City Council Meeting November 18, 2025: Waterfront Plan, Police Contracts, Operations Complex
West Linn City Council Meeting November 18, 2025: Waterfront Plan, Police Contracts, Operations Complex
The West Linn City Council met on November 18, 2025, and took significant actions including the adoption of the West Linn Waterfront Vision Plan (Resolution 2025-13) with amendments responding to community concerns, ratification of three Clackamas County Peace Officers Association (CCPOA) collective bargaining agreements (Resolutions 2025-15, 2025-16, and 2025-17), and approval of a $45 million design option (Option 2) for the new Operations Complex with authorization to begin financing. The council also approved the City Manager and City Attorney merit increases and goals, and handled routine consent agenda items.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the October 14, 2025 meeting minutes, the Audit Services Contract (from a competitive procurement), and Council Rules Changes (minor procedural updates including meeting days to Tuesdays and court claim notice procedures). All passed unanimously 5‑0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Greg Morse (resident): Expressed concern about tree removal on a hillside near his home without neighbor notification, citing landslide susceptibility. Asked why the city no longer notifies adjacent property owners and whether state landslide maps are reviewed for tree removal permits.
- Ray Inabnitt (resident): Criticized city works project supervision, citing closed permitting counters, misinformation from staff, unsafe road conditions (unimproved street, no speed limit signs on Upper Midhill), and lack of oversight on contractor work. Requested a speed limit sign and better management.
- Waterfront Vision Plan Public Hearing:
- Jim Edwards (Willamette Falls Heritage Association): Stated support for adoption of the vision plan as written and as amended by council.
- Terence Shumaker (resident, Friends of Allyn Wetlands): Urged removal of the "Potential Development Area" label from the map near the wetlands south of 5th Avenue, citing community petitions and planning commission recommendations. Later acknowledged council’s proposed amendment.
- Written comments from former mayor Russ Axelrod were submitted but not read aloud.
Discussion Items
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Waterfront Vision Plan (Resolution 2025-13): Consultants presented the plan's three districts (Historic City Hall, Cultural Heritage, Pond) and engagement history. A key issue was the Pond District map showing a yellow "Potential Development Area" adjacent to wetlands. Mayor proposed a compromise: add a text box reading "natural resource preservation and rehabilitation" and remove the yellow shading, reverting to base green layer. Council agreed after debate—Councilor Bryck favored map change, Councilor Groner objected to altering zoning‑based colors, but consensus emerged to do both. The plan was adopted as amended. Council members underscored historic significance, tribal partnership, and community engagement over ten years.
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CCPOA Collective Bargaining Agreements (Resolutions 2025-15, 2025-16, 2025-17): HR Manager Kelsey Card reported on negotiations (June to October 2025) for two union units (rank‑and‑file, sergeants) and a management benefit adjustment. Key terms:
- Three‑year contracts (FY2026‑2028).
- Cost‑of‑living: FY26 – 3%; FY27‑28 – 2%–4% tied to CPI (Western Cities B & C index).
- Instead of a trust‑funded medical retirement (like Clackamas County), the city will offer longevity incentives with HRA/Veba contributions increasing with years of service.
- Legal defense plan increased from $6.50 to $8 per member.
- Sergeants: 0.5% base salary increase (in lieu of deferred compensation increase) to address compression.
- Field Training Officer pay changed from 18.72% to flat 12% premium.
- Combined cost approximately $19,188 under budget over three years.
- Council praised the cooperative negotiation process (no mediation) and the positive police department culture. All three resolutions passed unanimously.
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Operations Complex Design and Budget Approval: Staff and consultants presented two design options. The recommended Option 2 (budget $45 million) stacks the administration building atop the fleet maintenance building, reducing site development and retaining most program. Trade‑offs include fewer covered parking bays and slightly less square footage. Council discussed financing scenarios: annual debt service of $3.2 million, with 30% cost share to streets and distribution among utility and park funds. Approval authorizes staff to proceed with design and land‑use work; the formal Full Faith and Credit financing resolution will come to council on December 9, 2025. The current Operations Center (built in the 1950s) is outdated and non‑functional. Council emphasized the necessity of the project for winter weather operations and emergency response. Motion passed unanimously 5‑0.
Key Outcomes
- Adopted Resolution 2025-13 (West Linn Waterfront Vision Plan) as amended with a text box on natural resource preservation/rehabilitation and removal of yellow shading from the Pond District map near wetlands. Unanimous 5‑0.
- Adopted Resolutions 2025-15 (rank‑and‑file CCPOA contract) , 2025-16 (sergeants contract) , and 2025-17 (benefits addition for police management and confidential staff). All unanimous 5‑0.
- Approved Operations Complex design Option 2 ($45 million) and authorized the City Finance Director to secure Full Faith and Credit funding (formal resolution to follow December 9). Unanimous 5‑0.
- Approved City Manager goals and merit increase of 3% ($236,306.72) retroactive to September 16, 2025. Unanimous 5‑0.
- Approved City Attorney goals and merit increase of 3% ($236,199.60) retroactive to September 16, 2025 (note: minutes state September 16; the transcript stated September 9 – minutes govern). Unanimous 5‑0.
- City Manager report: Outlined six themes from the previous day’s financial strategic planning workshop: maintain critical infrastructure, sustain existing services, expand select services (e.g., traffic safety officers), remain opportunistic for community amenities, implement vision plans, and acknowledge residents’ rising costs with transparent phasing and communication.
Meeting Transcript
Call it to order the pre-meeting of the Westland City Council. Otherwise known as the meeting about the meeting. And we will begin. We have mayor and council reports, which has two items on it. City manager goals and merit increase decision and city attorney goals and merit increased decisions or wrapping up into valuations at the city council's directive courts. Looking forward to that. Any questions or comments on that at this time? Okay. Then we've got the consent agenda has the audit services contract on it and the council rules changes, which as you remember were minor changes to the court claim notice procedure and changing the meeting days to Tuesdays. Nothing crazy going on there. Any questions on the audit services contract, which went through a procurement process in Councillor Bright and the other city councillors serve on that brother? Committee. Councilor Grummer is on the audit committee, so it wasn't on the selection committee, but he was he did recommend based off of the selection recommendation. Thank you for doing that. So that went through a whole process in this year for a recommended approval, but it's on the consent agenda, so it will just be approved in bulk, those two matters and then the meeting notes. Any questions on audit services? See no questions. Okay. And now we can go into the business meeting. We didn't need as much time as I thought we were uh so on the business meeting. That's a big meeting tonight. Uh lots of important decisions or considerations. So starting off, um, we have uh resolution adopting the scene order. So if you have any process or informational questions, and again for all of us here at the table, uh the purpose of the meeting about the meeting is uh not to discuss the content but to discuss. Do you have all the information you need? Are there any last questions? Or do you want to talk about any process elements of this? I'll just share with council. So I had conversations with Darren earlier, but we've all been receiving these public comments on the issue of the wetland, and I started to think about what are some ways we can kind of compromise a little bit and without being prejudicial to the property rights, but at the same time showing that on that particular page 36, there is a community preference, or we've heard public comment about uh natural research preservation. So that's talking to Darren. He drafted up a couple of language additions that we could put on the map. If you recall, there used to be language that said potential development, or it said uh uh medium resident medium density of housing and planning state. We took that out as a text box. So I thought maybe we can add in another text box that points to the wetland area in general, not pointing to the particular property that says something along lines of environmental preservation birds. So Darren wrote drafted up in language that said uh natural resource preservation rehabilitation, and we've got some lines pointing to the waterfront wetland area. So I was gonna propose that at the beginning, so trying to see what see what the council thought, but just a heads up. Then it would be adopted as a negative if the city council agrees with that. Okay, so this one is a public hearing for the script. Yes, that's I think hopefully that's great. We'll get it. That'll be sent to us. That was the only uh procedural point I had this state. I don't think there have been too many requests to speak uh yet that I don't understood. Yeah, written comments, I think. But we'll see. Could be a larger you never know. That's the thing about cities. Uh so that will be a big milestone accomplishment to get that adopted. Thank you very much, everybody, for your work on that. Ten years.
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