West Linn City Council Meeting – March 10, 2026
West Linn City Council Meeting – March 10, 2026
The West Linn City Council met on Tuesday, March 10, 2026, with a 5:30 p.m. pre-meeting followed by the regular business meeting at 6:00 p.m. Councilor Leo Groner participated remotely but had audio difficulties and was unable to vote on the agenda approval and council priorities; all other votes were unanimous. The meeting included public comment on noise enforcement and development fees, adoption of 2026-2028 Council Priorities, three proclamations, a TriMet service-change presentation, consent agenda approvals, and adoption of an ordinance, a historic-preservation resolution, and a building-services intergovernmental agreement.
Consent Calendar
- Approved by a 5-0 vote the consent agenda (Agenda Bills 2026-03-10-01 through 2026-03-10-04): February 10, 2026 Council meeting minutes; Investment Policy Update Adoption; Temporary Easement for Abernethy Bridge Construction; and the Grant Agreement between West Linn and Oregon Water Resources Department for the I-205 Abernethy Bridge Water Line Replacement Project.
- Pre-meeting staff discussion noted the temporary easement would extend an existing ODOT temporary easement for up to five years, with staff authorized to negotiate terms. The grant agreement will allow the city to request reimbursement for water-line drawdowns; staff reported that about $2 million in drawdowns had occurred against the $5 million grant.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Bill Hamilton, a West Linn resident, urged enforcement of City Code noise ordinance 5.487 against a neighbor's drum set, stating sound levels often reached 58-60 decibels and that police had told him the noise was not a code violation. He asked council to direct staff to review the enforcement decision. Council took no action but indicated staff would follow up.
- Adam and Jennifer Brown, Portland residents who purchased a lot in West Linn, expressed opposition to the city's current fee structure, saying system development charges and permit fees would total about $90,000 before construction and about $200,000 when financed over a mortgage. They said West Linn has the highest permit and SDC costs in the region and that they were reconsidering building. They suggested a low-interest SDC loan program, fees scaled by house size or assessed value, and an owner-occupied fee tier with forgiveness tied to length of occupancy.
Discussion Items
- Council reports: Councilor Bryck reported on the Arts & Culture Commission and the Willamette Arts Corridor, with West Linn's first installation proposed at Hammerle Park. Councilor Bonnington reported on the new Police Chief, Oddis Rollins, and an Economic Development Committee Vision43 presentation. Council President Baumgardner reported on the council retreat, regional coalition meetings, and a Salem legislative visit. Mayor Bialostosky announced upcoming events, including Reimagine the River on March 18 and moderating Senator Rob Wagner's town hall.
- Council Priorities: The council adopted the 2026-2028 Council Priorities on a 4-0 vote (Councilor Groner unable to vote because of audio issues). Mayor Bialostosky highlighted a new financial-planning priority and the Framing our Future engagement website.
- Proclamations: Council President Baumgardner proclaimed March 2026 as Women's History Month; Mayor Bialostosky proclaimed March 15-21 as National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week; and Councilor Bryck proclaimed March 26 as Equal Pay Day. The spoken Equal Pay Day text referred to March 26, 2025, while the proclamation and meeting materials were dated 2026.
- TriMet presentation: TriMet staff John Serra, JC Vannatta, and Tom Mills presented the agency's $300 million budget deficit and proposed service cuts. They reported about 1.2 million rides per week, roughly 65.8 million annual boardings, 35% transit-dependent riders, and a $700 million maintenance backlog. Proposed West Linn changes include eliminating Line 153, which averages 2 rides per vehicle hour at about $76 per ride, and reducing or eliminating the low-ridership hourly Line 76 extension. TriMet is funding a new SMART service from Wilsonville through West Linn to Oregon City and Clackamas Town Center, which will partially replace Line 76. Implementation is scheduled for August 23, 2026. The TriMet LIFT paratransit service boundary would shrink in West Linn/Stafford, affecting 11 client addresses and 162 trips in 2024; Clackamas County's Transportation Reaching People program was identified as an alternative. Council members asked TriMet to notify affected riders, expressed concern for LIFT users, and discussed partnership opportunities; Council President Baumgardner noted that 27% of West Linn residents are rent-burdened and linked transit access to affordable housing and school enrollment.
- Ordinance 1771: City Attorney Kaylie Klein presented an ordinance opting into ORS 105.668 liability protection for trails and structures in public easements or unimproved rights-of-way. It is not recreational immunity for parks; it covers the city, abutting landowners, and nonprofits or volunteers involved in trail work. The council approved first reading 5-0 and then second reading and adoption 5-0.
- Resolution 2026-02: Management Analyst Lynn Schroder presented the Robinwood Neighborhood Architectural Survey, conducted under a 2025 grant and finished in December 2025. The resolution makes the survey an informational resource only, creates no historic designations, and imposes no regulatory requirements. The survey identified 40 high-priority resources and six potential historic districts. The Historic Review Board recommended approval. The council adopted Resolution 2026-02 5-0.
- BESA IGA: Building Official Alisha Bloomfield and Community Development Director Steve Koper presented the Building Evaluation Support Agreement, an intergovernmental agreement with the State of Oregon and participating jurisdictions to share building permitting, inspection, and building official services. The agreement is intended to reduce reliance on third-party consultants after the department operated with only two people for part of 2025. The council learned the department made 3,713 inspection trips during the year, a typical new home can have about 27 preloaded inspections, electrical inspections are handled by Clackamas County, and the city's liability is limited when permits are approved in good faith. Council approved the BESA IGA 5-0.
City Manager Report
- Deputy City Manager Elissa Preston reported no council meeting the following week because council members would attend the National League of Cities Conference in Washington, D.C.; the next regular meeting is April 7, 2026. She also announced Lucky the Leprechaun Hide & Seek through March 17, a police/Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue food drive for the West Linn Food Pantry March through May, sandbag availability at the Old Bolton Fire Station and Willamette Park due to heavy rain, and the launch of the city's Framing our Future website.
Key Outcomes
- Approved the meeting agenda 4-0 (Councilor Groner unable to vote).
- Adopted the 2026-2028 Council Priorities 4-0.
- Approved the consent agenda 5-0.
- Adopted Ordinance 1771 on first reading 5-0 and on second reading 5-0.
- Adopted Resolution 2026-02 5-0.
- Approved the Building Evaluation Support Agreement IGA 5-0.
- Directed staff follow-up on Bill Hamilton's noise complaint; TriMet committed to outreach for affected riders, with service changes taking effect August 23, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
There's a pre-meeting of the Westland City Council. We've got reports and community advisory groups and council priorities adoption. Have uh three. We have three today. Women's history month. We would like to read that. It doesn't have to be a woman, but we will read that. She's volunteered or something. I'm gonna do the uh and then equal pay day. I'll do that one. I'll can I I'll read the last proclamation for national drug and alcoholic tax week and we got a request from Pam Pierce today to attend their poster paying up in a couple of weeks. So I'm gonna I'll read that, maybe take the proclamation. Also like National Sleep Week. We don't have one for that. We never we don't sleep here in what planet so we want to uh so that handles the proclamation and then we have a presentation from TriMet that they're coming at the councils with requests to update us on the service test. John's there who I know Mary has copied with and guy and look forward to that presentation. Um we have a full consent agenda uh reporting meeting notes, an investment policy update, temporary easement for the NASA bridge construction, and then a grant agreement with the Oregon uh water resources department for the I205 Cabernet Bridge Water Line replacement so that we can get our five million any any questions on the any of those did I read that the um temporary easement is for five years or did I misread something? Yes, well that is Dylan's um staff memo, but um under our under our rules we have to bring it to you if it's gonna extend more than 30 days. Any manager can always approve a temporary easement for up to 30 days. Yes. And this is one that has already been approved, it came back to you, but it's not like my understanding is ODOT did not finish their work, it's gonna have to be significantly longer. And in working, I only touched on this a little bit with Dylan, like he's done such good work and following everything through, is that this would be to extend that temporary usement for an additional five years, and we will receive that document because I actually haven't reviewed and approved the easement document itself. And so this would be just directing John to be able to negotiate the terms of that agreement. And I just wondered if it's five years because they don't want to have to come back for us to approve another advantage. I hope it's not really five years. Well, definitely could probably think so. I feel like you know the timeline more on that bridge project than anyone, you and Morgan. I think they also hope it's not five years. Okay. Um brand agreement and executing, I think. I think it should be much shorter. Okay. Yeah. Just this is just the cover so we don't have to keep doing this. Yeah, and there it's quite a rigmarole on their end too, like through the attorneys.org and DOJ, etc. And so I think they just serve let's do as long as we can't get some remote. Okay, that's kind of what I thought. Yeah, that's a really good clarification. Yeah. We make them go through the appraisal process, it would cost them 30 up about 30,000 and would take several months, I think. Yeah, so we've yeah, as a courtesy, we've done this before. But I know I hope it doesn't take five years. Maybe if we say we take only two years, it'll speed up the project. I think it's very small piece of the puzzle. Uh yeah, I agree. I agree. Okay. I just want to confirm that. Does this grant agreement? I'm an entertaining question on the consent agenda just because you know, otherwise we can pull it off if needed during the meeting.
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