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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

West Linn City Council Meeting: Parks Fee Increase, SMART Transit, Golf Cart Discussion - Feb 10, 2026

City Council & Planning Commission — Tuesday, February 10, 2026

BodyWest Linn, Oregon

SessionCity Council & Planning Commission

DateTuesday, February 10, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:23:04

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

3:30

We can hear you.

3:31

Ready to go.

3:33

Okay, yep, we're ready to ready to go.

3:38

This webinar is being transcribed and summarized.

4:31

I've touched base with Kathy, and there's going to be a on the mayor town's report, many advisory member as I think the not showing up the meeting, so there's an amendment to the agenda to just take that vote.

5:00

Be presenting a good briefing on the line that they're running from right now.

5:05

And hopefully everybody saw also trying to respond to our letter.

5:11

We sent them a letter and they gave us an item.

5:13

Respond and I delegate it for the city manager's schedule.

5:17

The meeting on council.

5:21

Thank you for your acting mayor.

5:23

Yeah.

5:24

Okay.

5:24

So the business meeting.

5:26

One item on there is a resolution.

5:30

So I'll turn it over to John to introduce the topic.

5:33

And this is really following up on several meetings that we've had.

5:37

Yep.

5:38

Thank you, Mr.

5:38

Mayor.

5:39

The uh only business item is the revision proposed revision.

5:45

Excuse me.

5:46

Uh the master fees and charges to add uh uh an increase to the part maintenance fee, uh, and this is the increase that is related to constructing the operation center.

5:58

So relieving the general fund component of this by um by uh catching up the park maintenance fee.

6:04

So uh the proposal in the packet is a March 1st start date.

6:08

Uh Lauren will be here uh either now or at the meeting to explain sort of the mechanics of that uh and to answer any questions.

6:16

Megan will also be here if you have questions about uh parks item.

6:22

Thank you.

6:23

Any uh I like to ask you this.

6:26

Anybody has any questions that will require some research between now and the regular meeting so that can do the only other thing that I would mention is that uh um we did make an error adjustment um on page 19 of the master fees and charges.

6:44

The total fees were correct, but the breakdown of them were incorrect or old, so we just updated it in this version.

6:52

Um but I wanted you guys to know that that is changing also.

7:00

Do you have uh a question I might want to ask?

7:02

Because it's to me a few times.

7:05

Um there is a difference between single family and multi-family homes, and I think a lot of people are assuming that is some sort of like misguided socioeconomic.

7:18

Um the research I did showed me it was a very different thing, um, but I didn't get on my own an answer.

7:26

Uh I I guess I'd like to ask about that.

7:30

Well, everyone has that benefit of understanding where that came from.

7:35

Uh sure, we'll be happy to answer that in the in the regular meeting.

7:40

Any anything else?

7:48

Councillor Groner is entering the room.

7:50

Welcome, Councilor Groner.

7:54

Thank you guys here.

7:55

We're just about to wrap up the pre-meeting, actually, but we're on the topic public works operation center fee increase vote.

8:03

Okay.

8:03

Uh and if you have any questions of staff that they need to research before the meeting, I'm fine on that.

8:11

I apologize deep into doing my tax move.

8:16

It's that time of the year.

8:18

Yeah, it's okay.

8:20

Uh with that, uh, we see no other questions on the increase.

8:31

So we can then I think get to the city manager report and uh adjourn the meeting.

8:39

So uh I've that business for the pre-meeting.

8:44

Okay, we can we are adjourning the pre-meeting.

8:48

See you at six o'clock.

9:18

And we can uh go ahead and we're at six o'clock, so I will call it to order this uh meeting of the Western City Council.

9:27

It's Tuesday, February 10th, 2026.

9:30

And uh as always for our business meeting, the first item of business is to do the pledge of allegiance.

9:35

It's a tradition.

9:36

So please rise and face the flag.

9:41

Ready to begin.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Transportation Safety█████████████████████21%

Parks and Recreation████████████████16%

Public Use Zoning███████████████15%

Affordable Housing█████████████13%

Public Engagement████████████12%

Procedural██████████10%

Public Safety████4%

Community Engagement████4%

Economic Development███3%

Summary of Proceedings

West Linn City Council Meeting - February 10, 2026

The West Linn City Council met on Tuesday, February 10, 2026, at 6:00 PM for a regular business meeting. The agenda included a public comment on golf cart regulations, a presentation from SMART Transit, approval of a resolution to increase the Parks Maintenance Fee, and a community advisory group appointment. All items were addressed, with the council taking unanimous votes on consent and business items.

Consent Calendar

Agenda Approval: The council voted 5-0 to approve the agenda as amended, adding item 4b (Community Advisory Group Appointment).
Meeting Minutes: The council unanimously approved the minutes from the January 13, 2026 council meeting (noting a scrivener's error in the minutes that referenced 2025; corrected during the meeting).

Public Comments & Testimony

Steve Fearing (Willamette area resident, ~15 years) spoke in favor of adopting an ordinance to allow golf carts and low-speed vehicles (LSVs) on certain city streets, particularly in the Willamette Historic District. He submitted a draft ordinance and noted that such vehicles have been used informally for years but were recently disallowed. He emphasized community benefits and provided examples from other Oregon cities. Council members expressed concerns about enforcement, safety, and potential misuse. No action was taken, but the mayor indicated the issue would be discussed further and summarized in the city newsletter.

Discussion Items

Community Advisory Group Appointment: Mayor Bialostosky placed before council the removal of Alyssa Cruz from the Economic Development Committee due to non-attendance. The council voted 5-0 to approve the removal.
SMART Transit Presentation: Dwight Brashear (Transit Director) and Diane Kotler (Transit Operations Manager) presented an overview of South Metro Area Regional Transit (SMART), which is operated by the City of Wilsonville. Key points:
- SMART operates nine free routes, funded by Wilsonville payroll tax, TriMet payroll tax, and state transportation funds.
- New service (Route 10X) will begin in late April/early May 2026, connecting Wilsonville to West Linn (stop at 10th Street near McDonald's) and on to Oregon City and Clackamas Town Center.
- A new transit-oriented development (TOD) facility with 121 affordable housing units (20 set aside for emergency housing) opened, with a customer service center coming in April.
- SMART is the only Oregon-based transit agency allowed to operate on interstate shoulders (I-5 and soon I-205).
- Council members expressed strong support for the service, noting its importance for equity and for replacing lost TriMet service. City Manager Williams offered to assist with communications and outreach.
Resolution 2026-01 – Parks Maintenance Fee Increase: Finance Director Lauren Breithaupt presented the staff report. The resolution updates the Master Fees and Charges document to:
1. Correct an error in Section 8.4 (total fee unchanged, breakdown corrected).
2. Increase the Parks Maintenance Fee by $5.20 per month per residence to fund the Parks Department's share (approx. $561,000/year) of the Operations Center construction. Discussion included:
- The fee applies to single-family and multifamily units; multifamily units receive a slight discount to account for vacancy rates (approx. $1/month difference).
- The city is funding 80% of the project from existing funds; this is the only increase anticipated for the project.
- Council members acknowledged public concern about the increase and emphasized the need for clear communication about the project's necessity, value engineering (saved $4.2 million), and long-term benefits.
- Mayor Bialostosky noted the current facility (purchased in 1930s) is inadequate for a city of ~28,000 residents with 110 lane miles of road and extensive parks.
- Council President Baumgardner mentioned that the project was scaled from three buildings to two to reduce costs.
- The resolution passed 5-0.

Key Outcomes

Unanimous votes: Agenda approval, consent calendar, community advisory group removal, and Resolution 2026-01 all passed 5-0.
Next steps: The council retreat is scheduled for February 27, 2026. The February 17 work session is cancelled; the March 3 work session remains pending. Upcoming events include a Meet the Police Chief event (Feb 18) and Vision43 open house (Feb 13). The city will continue to work with SMART on route launch communications. Staff will develop messaging to explain the parks fee increase to residents.

Meeting Transcript

We can hear you. Ready to go. Okay, yep, we're ready to ready to go. This webinar is being transcribed and summarized. I've touched base with Kathy, and there's going to be a on the mayor town's report, many advisory member as I think the not showing up the meeting, so there's an amendment to the agenda to just take that vote. Be presenting a good briefing on the line that they're running from right now. And hopefully everybody saw also trying to respond to our letter. We sent them a letter and they gave us an item. Respond and I delegate it for the city manager's schedule. The meeting on council. Thank you for your acting mayor. Yeah. Okay. So the business meeting. One item on there is a resolution. So I'll turn it over to John to introduce the topic. And this is really following up on several meetings that we've had. Yep. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The uh only business item is the revision proposed revision. Excuse me. Uh the master fees and charges to add uh uh an increase to the part maintenance fee, uh, and this is the increase that is related to constructing the operation center. So relieving the general fund component of this by um by uh catching up the park maintenance fee. So uh the proposal in the packet is a March 1st start date. Uh Lauren will be here uh either now or at the meeting to explain sort of the mechanics of that uh and to answer any questions. Megan will also be here if you have questions about uh parks item. Thank you. Any uh I like to ask you this. Anybody has any questions that will require some research between now and the regular meeting so that can do the only other thing that I would mention is that uh um we did make an error adjustment um on page 19 of the master fees and charges. The total fees were correct, but the breakdown of them were incorrect or old, so we just updated it in this version. Um but I wanted you guys to know that that is changing also. Do you have uh a question I might want to ask? Because it's to me a few times. Um there is a difference between single family and multi-family homes, and I think a lot of people are assuming that is some sort of like misguided socioeconomic. Um the research I did showed me it was a very different thing, um, but I didn't get on my own an answer. Uh I I guess I'd like to ask about that. Well, everyone has that benefit of understanding where that came from. Uh sure, we'll be happy to answer that in the in the regular meeting. Any anything else? Councillor Groner is entering the room. Welcome, Councilor Groner. Thank you guys here. We're just about to wrap up the pre-meeting, actually, but we're on the topic public works operation center fee increase vote. Okay. Uh and if you have any questions of staff that they need to research before the meeting, I'm fine on that. I apologize deep into doing my tax move. It's that time of the year. Yeah, it's okay. Uh with that, uh, we see no other questions on the increase.

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