City Council Meeting Notes 02/07/24
Guess who has overbooked themselves and now can't find time to do anything? That's right, it's meeee. If you need me, I'm going to need you to schedule it at least a month out. K thanx.
TLDR:
TRUAC has provided a recommendation for updating the Tree Code to Council. The proposed code will have a public hearing with the Planning Commission in April, and will come back to Council for consideration and another Public hearing in June or July
Council agreed to send a letter urging the Federal Government to work to end the violence in Gaza and Israel
A draft of the proposed Transportation Fee is available on the city website. There will be listening sessions on February 26th, and the 29th, and the Public Hearing will be on March 20th. If passed, you should start to see this fee on your bill in August.
The City is surplussing property that will be developed into 26 affordable homes by Thistle and Nest in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity
The Comprehensive plan for the Stevens Road Tract has been approved.
Work Session
Tree Code
After NINE meetings, whatever the TRUAC acronym stands for, has brought their recommendations for updating our tree preservation code to council. On top of delivering the recommendations demanded within the scope of the committee, the group also did a lot of extra credit, and provided several additional recommendations intended to further preserve trees.
TRUAC also had a bunch of other recommendations that fell outside their scope they want to have considered:
In addition to amending the tree code, these related changes will be included in the code update:
Public outreach and information sessions about the changes to the tree code will happen through March, and then it will go to the planning commission for a public hearing in April before it comes back to Council. Council will have a public hearing in June or July.
DBBA wants more money
The Downtown Bend Business Association is funded through the Economic Improvement District downtown. A tax of .27 per square foot per year is levied on properties within the EID boundary pays for things like the flower baskets and lights downtown, and allows the DBBA to run events like First Friday.
I'm not super up-to-date on this drama, but apparently the DBBA has been kind of a mess as of late, but they have new leadership that is trying to turn it around. They started using quickbooks! The DBBA wants to renew with an extended three-year term, and to increase the tax rate to .32 per square foot over those three years. The extended term will hopefully give the DBBA time to get their shit together, and the levy increase will hopefully help them handle their budget overruns. The DBBA will also reduce the number of events they host, and focus on their core competency, beautification.
In order for the tax levy to be increased, property owners downtown will have to vote to approve it. Council wants more transparency from the DBBA and wants them to figure out how to track metrics so they can demonstrate their performance over time.
Transportation Fee Draft Code
The first official draft of the Transportation Fee has been published to the city website! I will not be explaining this for a 19th time, so check out the website or presentation if you want an overview. There will be listening sessions on February 26th, and the 29th and the Public Hearing will be on March 20th. If passed, you should start to see this fee on your bill in August.
Regular Session
The regular meeting began as usual with roll call and Land Acknowledgment. It is Black History Month.
The Gaza Thing
Proposed letter prior to modification
So last meeting, an organized group of local activists spent an hour in public comment asking the council to pass a resolution urging for a ceasefire in Gaza. In order for Council to consider such a resolution, a Councilor needed to indicate they wanted to consider one in this meeting. Councilor Campbell indicated she wished to do so. In response, Mayor Kebler drafted a letter, presumably with the support of other council members, for the Council to consider. She did so on her own time.
Local news reported on it, and during the public comment section, everyone and their racist uncle showed up to voice their thoughts about it. We're not going to pull quotes on this today, because I don't have time, and frankly, the whole situation is triggering as fuck. There were commenters that had close friends that died in the festival attack, and some who had family members that died in Gaza. There were many people who were using this forum to argue the cause and morality of the conflict. The group that came to the last meeting are unhappy with the letter, because it doesn't call for a ceasefire. Others felt like the letter was threatening to Jewish Bend residents. Many people felt like this was not a good use of time.
The letter was drafted without City support, and no staff time will be spent on this, outside of putting the letter in the mail. Council agreed to send the letter with minor modifications, with only Councilor Broadman voting no, because he wanted more time to modify the language.
The comprehensive plan for the Stevens Road Tract was approved
The Stevens Road Tract UGB expansion is continuing its march towards development this meeting. Two years ago the Concept plan was approved, last year it was added into the UGB, and today, that concept plan has evolved into a comprehensive plan. One day, the comprehensive plan will turn into a master plan, and then sometime after that construction will start to occur. Fun stuff.
Surplussing Property at Bear Creek and Franklin for Affordable Housing
The City of Bend is surplussing some property they own to be developed into affordable housing. Using the big chunk of money the State gave to Thistle and Nest, and leveraging Habitat for Humanity's experience with support services, this collaboration is going to deliver 26 income-restricted homes across the two sites.
That's everything noteworthy covered at least a little, and all the time I have allotted to this particular responsibility today. Good job team.
Meeting Adjourned.