City Council Meeting Notes 07/20/22
Heya, did you miss me? I missed you! Drugs are great, but have you ever been high on a SENSE OF PURPOSE? That shit hits hard. The metaphorical withdrawal from these meeting summaries was worse than the actual withdrawal I also had this month going cold turkey off nicotine. It's crazy how much happens in a month. Here's a short list of notable events that have transpired since our last sewing circle:
The City hosted an open house to get feedback about building Hawthorne Bridge and improving Franklin / Greenwood crossings.
Roe vs Wade was overturned.
Both Pride and Juneteenth festivals happened and were excellent.
St. Charles is rationing care again, but this time from mismanagement. They got rid of their CEO to save money, so you know it's really bad.
Alpenglow Park opened in SE Bend and it's beautiful.
A river creature called out something mildly homophobic to me while walking home with Editor.
Inflation has added an exciting new dimension to the dystopic hellscape that is the 2020's.
It's fucking hot outside.
Good times. Let's ignore all of that.
We've got a lot of interesting stuff in the meeting this week. I am excited to learn more about the work the City is doing to improve the efficiency of our permitting process in the Quarterly Update during the Work Session. I've heard that waiting for permit approval has been a significant roadblock for developers. Bend Broadband haters, pay attention: an ISP called Blue Mountain Networks is getting a franchise agreement that will let them provide Fiber to small business and residential customers. We're also getting more information about the upcoming Unsanctioned Camping Code. Other stuff is also happening, but this section is already too long.
Work Session
To celebrate Council coming back from vacation, we're starting tonight in non-public executive session an hour early. They are negotiating real property transactions. My favorite part of council meetings is sitting here in limbo waiting to learn if the council is still in non-public executive session, or if the work session has started without me and my stream is broken.
Oh look they're done. Hello everyone. You all sound tan.
City Council Quarterly Update
We're beginning tonight with a quarterly goal update. As the name suggests, the quarterly goal update is an update that happens quarterly where staff reports to Council about progress on Council Goals. Council Goals are separated into 6 broad categories, that are further split into 45 actions. You can see the City's goal dashboard here. It has recently been updated. They did a rapid fire update broadly covering these goals, but I can't keep up. There were 0 calls for fire in Bend on the 4th of July thanks to the fireworks ban, which is both rare and cool. Tonight we are focused on permitting.
Permitting Process Efficiencies
The goal dashboard will be updated to better show permit turnaround averages. Disembodied male presenting voice from staff is here to present. There are several kinds of permit types. Depending on the kind of permit, it will go through some combination of the Planning Division, the Engineering Division, and the Building Division. Different kinds of permits have different turnaround times.
This is the current permit queue:
There is a lot of volatility in the average completion time:
The average time to complete a single family dwelling permit this month is 74 days. The goal is 35.
We're doing pretty okay on approving commercial developments like apartments. The goal is for approving new developments is 90 days, and our average is 67.
Things that are affecting permit review times:
Staffing was fucked. There was a hiring freeze at the beginning of COVID, which happened at the same time as a huge jump in permitting requests because we became a zoomtown. The city thinks they have enough staff allocated, now it's just getting people to fill those positions. The city thinks that they will be fully staffed for the first time in a long time by the end of the quarter.
Users have figured out a way to game the system by submitting incomplete plans as early as possible.
They switched to a new software system just before COVID, so training people on the new software remotely became a bit of a clusterfuck.
Projects are getting more complicated than projects in the past. It's a lot of infill, and new construction types like 5 over ones, which are new to staff. (hell yes btw)
New development codes.
The city is working with the development community to lower review times by improving submission quality. They are working to be fully staffed ASAP and are working to make their internal workflows more efficient.
Board, Committee, Commission and Council Discussion
Councilor Barb Campbell wants to know if we have pre-approved plans for ADUs? Barb, did you see my tweet? No we do not, but there is something similar called master resubmittals that the city wants to re-establish. Councilor Kebler thinks that the city having 5 or so plans available is a great idea, but outside the scope of this discussion.
Councilor Kebler wants to know if there is a way to have a fast track for simpler projects. They are totally thinking about doing that. This information should be brought to council regularly so that we can make sure there is progress on this. Improving workflows and process mappings should help reduce times.
The Affordable Housing Advisory Committee (AHAC) says they have skilled developers that want to make affordable housing here, but these developers are not getting enough funding. We need additional revenue. The committee wants permission to research new funding sources including a bond? The Council endorses the committee doing this research.
The Economic Development Advisory Board (EDAB) says that a lot of their questions were addressed in the presentation. They would like to stay involved in this. They would like to be a conduit when communicating with developers. EDAB has finalized their strategic plan. They want to know if they can be the group to oversee the Economic Opportunity Analysis process. Council says yes.
Council Liaison Assignments
With the new city councilors, there has been a shuffling of which councilors are a part of which committee. They passed out a list of committee liaison assignments and asked if anyone has any issues with them. Everyone seems fine.
System Development Charge (SDC) Methodology Updates
So tonight staff is presenting a broad overview of what SDCs are and how we're implementing them. The city expects that it will need about a billion dollars over the next 20 years. Right now, the city expects that it is about 462 million dollars short of that estimate. SDCs are one of the funding tools that can be used to make up this difference.
An SDC is a one time charge assessed on new developments and some kinds of redevelopment. SDC money can only be used for capital improvements (not maintenance). The intention of SDCs is to help cover the cost to the City of these new developments. SDCs can be used for sewer, transportation,water, and park projects.
My shitty explanation of the process is that the city figures out how much money they need to complete the projects they want to do, and they divide that number by the number of "units of growth" these projects can support, which gives them the fee per unit for future development. Each development is assigned a certain number of units, and then developers are charged based on that number.
SDC collection in Bend has been dropping over time:
This is an example of the dollar scale of SDCs in town.
The city is looking to streamline and update the city's SDC charges. They want to make it easier for developers to know how much they owe, and better coordinate with BPRD's SDC charges.
Staff want to know what stakeholders they should engage with as they begin this process. Staff suggests that they talk about modifying the code to exempt affordable housing and day care. Do we want a tiered system? We should make sure the structure is aligned with BPRDs SDC structure.
Councilor Kebler thinks there should be a Council and BPRD liaison. Smaller developments and energy efficient developers should have lower SDC charges. Kebler and Barb both volunteer as liaisons.
Unsanctioned Camping Code Engagement Plan
Joshua and Elizabeth are here to present. The objective tonight is to figure out what our Outreach and Education Engagement Plan should look like.
Council previously told staff to appoint a working group to work on the camping code. They also asked for diverse perspectives and to consider community feedback.
As a reminder, that the city can only regulate time, place, and manner of camping in public when there are shelter beds available. Any code that is implemented has to work with this restriction. The kind of camping restrictions that are legally feasible can be found in the presentation.
There are two broad options for how to build this code. The timelines on these options are best case scenarios.
Option 1 is a Council directed option that would have the city make a first draft of the code based on explicit instructions by the council. A period of public feedback and revision would follow. The camping code could be done as early as October. Instead of a work group there would be a round table with the same group of people.
What is a round-table meeting? It's a new form of council meeting that was added to the council rules a while back. We haven't done one yet:
Option 2 is the same as Option one, but the process needs an additional two months (at least) to appoint a working group, build the framework, and meet with advisory committees.
Both options offer the same amount of community engagement. The working group would include City Advisory Groups, Community and Business Groups, People who have experienced houselessness, Service Providers, and other public agencies. This working group can also be done in option one in the form of a Round Table. Does the group makeup need to be changed? No.
Which option does Council want to do?
Councilor Perkins is for Option 1. The timeline for Option 2 feels really aspirational and we need to do this faster. In Option 1 there is a lot of opportunity for community engagement, and it lets the community engage much earlier in the process. Mayor Goodman-Campbell and Councilor Kebler both are for Option 1.
Councilor Mitchell says that Option 1 is their preference, as long as the round table process is equitable, and happens outside of usual working hours.
Councilor Barb Campbell is for Option 1, we need to make sure we get feedback from police.
Councilor Perkins says that we need a houselessness advisory group underneath the affordable housing committee. Manager King says that we can have this advisory group grow from the round table.
Staff says that if they choose option 1, there would be a standing work session topic on this issue through October. There will be a lot of hard decisions and tough questions the Council will need to make. Are you sure? Mayor Goodman-Campbell says that making these kind of difficult decisions is why they are elected.
Council chooses Option 1. Staff have the direction that they need.
God this work session was dense. Usually there are at least one or two agenda items I can turn my brain off for a second during, but all three were complicated and important.
Tailor's Tangent: Envision Bend
Envision Bend has begun the community outreach section of their City Visioning Project. After talking to a bunch of people they will go to City Council with an action plan filled with suggestions on steps the City should take in the coming years. The previous version of this project, Bend 2030, had a substantial impact on the local political conversation, and influenced decisions made by the City. This is an excellent opportunity for you to give the City of Bend some actionable feedback on the issues that matter to you.
You should definitely fill out the Survey, and I strongly encourage you to also register for a "Listen and Envision" Zoom event here.
I participated in the first listening session earlier this month, and it was pretty great. Of the meetings announced, there are three more left. It's a Zoom meeting so participation is easy, and two of the meetings are scheduled in the evening. I talked to Envision Bend volunteers who said that in-person events will happen eventually, COVID permitting.
Envision Bend will be releasing periodic reports about their findings as they progress through the project. You can find these reports here.
Regular Session
The regular meeting began as usual with roll call, the Pledge of Allegiance, and Land Acknowledgment. Broadman is away.
Update on Temporary Housing Strategies
An unsanctioned camping code is being developed.
Every table was full at the open house for the temporary shelter at 27th and Bear Creek.
The Lighthouse Navigation Center at Shepherds house has opened
An average of 95 people per night were sheltered at Shepherds house in June.
15 people served by Shepherds house transitioned to stable housing in June
The Division Street shelter is still being renovated
St. Vincent De Paul has made progress on their housing program.
Public Comment
Christine came home from vacation to a homeless lady in an RV set up by a park in front of their house. They had really aggressive dogs. They left but left a lot of trash. Christine has empathy for their situation, but not so much when they are right in front of her.
Sandara says it is exciting to hear that the city has done so much. It's going to take a lot more. So much about what? More of what? I think its the camping code and stuff. There needs to be clear cut rules. She lives in the same neighborhood as Christine. If her children were not adults, she would be concerned about their safety.
Mayor Goodman-Campbell thanks them for their comments, and hears that they both want clear rules. The city is unable to outright ban camping, but they are working on clear rules.
Candy is a social worker that lives in the same neighborhood. Some people living in a vehicle were hostile to her and her kids. She's been avoiding the park. She'd like an organization that visits unmanaged camps and connects them to resources
Consent Agenda
Notable Items on the Consent Agenda:
The City is buying Police fleet cameras, software, and data storage for 5 years from Axon Enterprise for 679k
Agenda passed
Ordinance to allow an extension for a Right of Way Vacation for 2nd Street between NE Revere Ave & NE Quimby Avenue
You know the Blockbuster? The owner of that site has been planning on turning that block into a beautiful mixed use development since 2020 (concept photos here). To build this project, the site owner requested that an undeveloped strip of property in the middle of the site be vacated.
The developer needs to submit a Site Plan, have a 10 foot wide pedestrian easement, and pay 95k for the acquisition, but they're running into problems. They've already gone through a one year extension and they need another one:
The applicant has already made investments to clear the site to prepare for redevelopment but is currently facing several development barriers that are delaying their ability to meet a September 4th site plan approval requirement, including price escalation of construction materials, labor, and rising interest rates. Currently, the developer is looking for local partners to help move the project forward and is requesting an additional extension of approval of the Right of Way application for one additional year, up to September 4, 2023.
I heard from somewhere that the developers would like to keep the Blockbuster as a tenant in the new building after the construction is completed.
Motion Passed.
Ordinance granting a non-exclusive Franchise Agreement to Blue Mountain Networks LLC
Every three days someone comes to the r/bend subreddit to complain about Bend Broadband, and a fourth of the time those complaints are valid! If this is you, you should be very excited to know that Bend is getting a new internet provider who wants to deliver fiber to businesses and residents. Blue Mountain Networks is already operating in 29 other cities in Washington and Oregon, they are also coming to Madras and Redmond. I don't know where or when we'll get it, or how much it will cost, but I'm pumped.
Motion Passed
Authorize an agreement with the State of Oregon, Department of State Lands, for the City’s acquisition of 20 acres of land in the Stevens Road Tract for development of affordable housing
Okay, this one is complicated and hard to distill, so be patient with me here.
Very recently, the Council moved to approve the Stevens Road Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) expansion at the south east edge of town. This UGB expansion is weird, since it is facilitated by State House Bill 3118, part of it explicitly requires the development of affordable housing for teachers. The City has sent a Concept Plan for how they want to develop the property to the Department of State Lands, and they are now in the process of negotiating the land transfer. At least 20 of the 262 acres of land have to be purchased by the City, to be developed into affordable housing. The proposed plan is to have the city buy 20 of those acres for 455k, and then sell that land to affordable housing developers through the City's Affordable Housing Advisory Committee further on in the process. This motion is to authorize the City to purchase these 20 acres.
Elizabeth is here to explain the above in more detail. Councilor Barb Campbell is not very enthusiastic about the specific process that will happen if the City cannot sell this land with a teacher restriction for legal reasons. Councilor Kebler says that she's very happy that this went through. Councilor Broadman contributed a lot to this project.
Motion Passed
Fire, Police, and City Staff are all getting a raise
Fire Association Issue Summary
Police Association Issue Summary
The Fire Association, Police Association, and City Employee Association have all finished their contract negotiations with the City. I'm sure many of the non-public executive sessions over the last few months have been about this. All three associations received about the same agreement, including a Cost-of-Living Adjustment of 5% for all employees in fiscal year 2022-23, 4% in 2023-24, and 4% for 2024-25. The Salary Schedule also went up for all three associations. Each association is going up by a different %, between 2.5% and 6%. Details of the changes can be found in their respective issue summaries.
Rob is here to present. The city's goals in bargaining were to retain talent, use the budget responsibly, have parity between the total compensation between the labor groups, and another thing that I missed. He then went through the contract negotiation and resulting agreements in detail.
We're paying for these increases with the general fund.
Motions Passed
Manager King says that the process of establishing positive labor relations is not easy. Rob and co did an excellent job. Councilor Kebler says that she's glad that they were able to address things like inflation and the current situation in this negotiation.
Authorize an agreement with WSP USA Inc. for design and engineering services during construction for the Butler Market and Wells Acres and Boyd Acres Improvements project
The city is contracting with WSP to design a roundabout at the intersection of Butler Market and Wells Acres, a particularly shitty intersection in Northeast Bend. They will also be doing pedestrian and bike improvements along Butler Market Road and Boyd Acres Road. Look at this bullshit sidewalk:
These improvements will be paid for by the 2020 Transportation GO Bond.
Total cost is 1.6 million. Construction is expected to begin in 2024
Councilor Kebler wants to know why the Roundabout is being constructed before the Key Routes have been designed. If there is a multi-use path is designed in the key route, would the roundabout be able to tie in. Staff says yes! Staff know that's going to come up. When they design the roundabout they are going to make sure the design is compatible with multi-use paths.
Fun fact: the cost difference between a regular and protected roundabout is ~ 750k. (~3 million is allocated from the go-bond per roundabout for scale)
This is staff member Rory's last presentation. He is moving to a City position in Corvallis. Congrats and goodbye Rory!
Motion Passed
Authorize an amendment to the agreement with K&E Excavating (K&E) for services for the Wilson Avenue Corridor Project
The Wilson Avenue Corridor Project is moving on to Phase 2 right on time. Phase 2 includes a roundabout at 15th Street / Wilson and modernizes the east side of 9th Street through 15th Street with new sidewalks and protected bike lanes. Tonight's contract amendment funds this 9th-15th street improvement. These improvements will be paid for by the 2020 Transportation GO Bond. The specific costs of this section have gone up more than we expected, a common thing in city projects during this inflationary hellscape. They are also buying some material early because its taking a long time to acquire. The guaranteed construction max for this section is still 3.2 million.
Kebler notes that they bought the Hong Kong restaurant to demolish to make room for this space. What are we doing with the rest of the property? How big is it? The part leftover is small, ~ half an acre.
Everyone is generally excited for this project.
Motion Passed
Authorize a Progressive Design-Build agreement with K&E Excavating for the Awbrey Butte Distribution Improvements project (1WABD)
This project is improving the water system in the Awbrey Butte neighborhood. The current system has capacity issues. There are a lot of deteriorating pipes, some pipes need to be made bigger to keep up with capacity. This project is actually several smaller projects under the same umbrella. All the projects should be done late 2024 or earlier (tentative). Cost tonight is 3.9 Million, which is going to Alternatives Analysis and Design.
Staff person did an absolutely excellent job explaining what progressive design is. I am not going to explain his explanation to you, because it's not that important that you know what it is, and I'm lazy.
Councilor Barb Campbell wants to know if this gets us closer to in-pipe hydro power. Staff says that we are getting a lot closer to a feasibility study.
Councilor Kebler wants to know where the GO Bond money is going? It's going towards potentially doing Portland Avenue/9th Street intersection improvements, since they are doing work there already. Construction will not happen on Portland until Newport is complete.
Motion Passed
Second Readings
For all intents and purposes, Second Readings are procedural confirmations of the actions Council took during the previous City Council Meeting.
approving the Urban Growth Boundary Expansion for 39.55 acres to accommodate future development in association with HB 4079 – City of Bend Affordable Housing Pilot Program (PLUGB20220115)
Second reading passed
Council Show and Tell
Councilor Kebler talked to someone heading up an effort to create a children's museum in bend. They are looking for a place to put it and funding. She asks Council to put together a letter of support for this person. Council says yes.
Councilor Kebler has a motion to buy a property next to the Rainbow Motel and lease it back to the current owners for a year for 2.9 million and 1 dollar. Motion passed.
Councilor Kebler did a lot over the last month. One highlight is she went to Pride. I saw her there.
Councilor Sehgal has been learning the ropes. He thanks staff for all their help.
Councilor Perkins went to MPO, she saw an update on Bird Bikes. There were 9k unique riders in June and July. There are 210 daily commuters using the bikes. She went to HREC.
Councilor Mitchell has been learning the ropes. They've gotten a lot of people asking how they are going to do this job and stay safe. This is the question the community has been asking the most and Mo finds this notable. These seats have not been historically been held by minorities. Being asked that a lot takes a lot of energy and space in her mind. They feel safe and okay in the room right now, but it's notable that that is how people are responding. People are concerned for their welfare.
Councilor Barb Campbell notes that [as a cis woman,] she has NEVER been asked that question in 8 years.
Councilor Barb Campbell says that if Bird has more than 1 ride per bike per day is their financial feasibility target. They have an average of 2.4 rides per bike. People have asked her about installing bike racks at these parking spaces. I think this is an excellent idea Barb.
Councilor Barb says that the City has an opportunity to buy a parcel by Les Schwab. The city thinks they can use this property, possibly for temporary shelter. If they buy it, before doing anything with it, they will reach out to neighbors, and nothing will happen with this property until after the election with the new council. Council passed a motion to buy the property.
Mayor Goodman-Campbell went to the ribbon cutting for the Lighthouse Navigation Center. There was such a shared sense of pride from everyone there. Everyone worked really hard. Program participants and former guests got to cut the ribbon with big scissors. A few years ago we didn't even have a warming shelter in the winter. We've come a really long way.
There are new Neighborhood association appointments. They approve the appointments.
Manager King Update
Manager King has a long report, but he says there is a lot of good stuff. The Council Liaison appointments still look good.
It's going to be over 100 for like 5 days next week. State has issued a heat emergency. Utility crews are bringing misting tents to Hunnell and China Hat. Reach will be reaching out to others to meet people and help where they are at. There are several other service providers doing outreach. The heat dome last year got everyone organized about this and the city is much more prepared. The ARPA funds that were applied to help people who missed utility payments have been very helpful. The city went from having thousands of people behind for COVID reasons, down to hundreds. They are working on a case by case basis.
The Newport Avenue construction has moved to a new section. Street preservation projects are still happening. We had a really wet spring, so there is a lot of vegetation. Inmate crews will be doing weed removal around town. Slow down in construction areas. A state legislation session is coming up. The league of Oregon cities has made a list of priorities. There are several proposals that he will email the councilors after the meeting for feedback.
Meeting Adjourned. Oh my god, it's only nine! <3
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