City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. Thank you for coming to Alb City Council work session January 12th, 2026 at 4 p.m. I'll now call the meeting to order. City clerk recorder, would you please do a roll call? Councelor Newton, I'm here. Councelor Thompson, here. Councelor Van Drimlan, hello. Councelor Mloud, present. Councelor Smith, here. Councelor McGee, present. Mayor Johnson here.

Next on your tonight's agenda is public comment. Public comment is a time for Albony city councilors, residents to speak and for counselors to listen. The council won't discuss topics or make decisions during the public comment time, but will take comments and and request under advisement. Speakers are limited to three minutes and must follow the council's rules and observe the standard same standards of the quorum. If unable to do so, they will be asked to step down and take a seat in the audience for the rest of the meeting. When you get to the microphone, please give your name and state whether or not you live in the city of Alb, Oregon. I will call on Eric Glass. Mr. Mayor, would you like me to sit or stand, sir?

Oh, please sit. Thank you. My name is Eric Glass. I do reside within the city of Albany. Uh uh more specifically, I live along the path of the proposed bike path. Uh my little heart will speak up. Yes, sir.

Uh my property would be directly affected by the bike path as I know it to be most recently proposed. I've actually addressed um the mayor and the city council previously. That's been several years ago when Mayor Kenopa um was seated where you are, sir. Um my family is in direct opposition to the bike path. We believe it would create a dangerous situation directly related to our property and it would also dramatically affect the area bringing in potentially an influx of individuals choosing to camp and reside along the path. The path essentially is obstructed from public view with very access for any law enforcement or first responders. And the the most concerning part of the path is that it is completely out of the way. It is not along Highway 20 where it would be in view of the public and where most people looking to use a path to commute will prefer a most direct route. Our youngest son rides from our home North Albany Middle School every day on his bicycle and has done so this entire school year. If our property is seized by either the city, the county, or the state of Oregon, and a bike path is forced to be put where it is proposed, our son will not ride on that path. the path is more unsafe than him continuing to ride his bicycle along the edge of the highway

until it is safe for him to get to North Road. Um, I only have 45 seconds to continue and I could talk with you at length for more than an hour. The bottom line for our family, as I have addressed this council before in the in the past, is I will never give you my land. I will never grant you my land. I will never sell it and I will never change my mind. Thank you. Thank you.

Next on tonight's agenda, ODOT multi- agency update Carval Abony Pathway ODOT Benton County and Paramix Parametrics page 2 through 24 in your packet. Good afternoon, counselors. My name is James Feldman. I'm a project manager on the ODOT side for this project. And to my right is Laurel Byer, county engineer, Penton County. And on my left is Ryan Barnsworth, excuse me, Lauren Comb with Parametrics. Apologize. Um, tonight we'll be presenting on the Corvalis path which has been in consideration for a long time now. It's been a few decades actually. And uh, one element of that is how it connects to North Albany. And so although this is a ODOT and Benton County project, it's very relevant to the city of Albany as you've already heard. So tonight we'll go through a presentation on the outreach we did in the fall, some of the alignments we're looking at, and then give you an update on where we're going after this. And either of you would like to introduce yourselves as well.

I'll just state for the record, I'm Laurel Byer. I'm the county engineer for Bane County and been working on this project for a while. So, thank you for entertaining us again. And Ryan Farnome with Parametrics. Uh, thanks again, mayor and counselors, for your time today.

I'll get going, please. Um, so we'd just like to uh set the table with the project that we're talking about um today and be clear about which sections we're working on. Um, and then we're going to go through our uh initial alignment screening. We've been looking at various alignments in Albany and uh bring you up to speed as to where we're at with that. And then as James mentioned, uh we'll talk a little bit about the outreach we did and the feedback we've received so far and talk about next steps. So this is our project area. Um so our project is uh starts near Corvalis where um the the recent path project was just completed to Merlloy uh and extends east to uh right around the city the west city limits of Albany. So Rainwater Lane is our uh approximate eastern terminus. But when I get into the alignments in more detail here in just a second, um you know, we are also thinking about how this path would carry into the city of Albany. Um we uh so while that part of the path that's not in the city itself is not directly part of our project, it is absolutely an important consideration as we move forward here in selecting a preferred alignment for this section you see here on the screen. So, our overarching goals with this effort um are to develop an all ages, all abilities walking, biking, rolling facility between um Corvalis and Albany. And so, when we say all ages, all abilities, uh what we're aiming for is the kind of facility that you would send your your 8-year-old or your 80-year-old out on confidently. Uh so, safe and comfortable and separated from traffic. Um you know, that's our our goal. And we know as we get further into this that uh we may have to adjust in certain areas

for practical reasons having to do with feasibility or constructibility or things like that. But our aim is really to get to that comfortable facility from end to end. Um we're also looking to support um walking, cycling, and rolling between the two cities both for transportation and recreation purposes. Uh but fundamentally we're about enhancing safety and comfort for people out there who are um walking or rolling. big picture. Um, here we are in winter 2026. So, uh, we are developing alignments. Um, and that's again what we're going to share here in just a second. As part of this effort, we're also doing some preliminary environmental to understand uh, what kinds of impacts or issues we might run into with respect to given alignments. Uh and then as we get later into the year um in the spring and summer, we're expecting to choose a preferred alignment for the path um and then uh advance that through a conceptual design process. And you see we have three main um touch points with the broader public here. We just had our first this fall, which again I'll share in a second, but upcoming later this spring, um we don't have the dates just yet, but um call it spring. Um, we're intending to go back out to the public with a uh with the alignments we've been looking at and an understanding of um the pros and cons of those alignments and a an initial recommendation about the alignment so we can get feedback from the broader community but also very intentionally um folks uh living, working, traversing the corridor itself. Okay, on to the alignment screening. Um so this is a a multi-step process. So we've got evaluation criteria that are helping to guide uh our um selection of alignments along with feedback from the

public and the community. And we've doing we've done an initial exercise to kind of throw everything at the wall and say what are every possible alignment we could be looking at in this corridors to make sure that we haven't left anything out in our initial analysis. So where we are now is narrowing to that short list of alignments that have uh the most promise that we're going to do more detailed analysis on. Um after that um after we um advance those alignments, conduct more technical analysis, talk with the community, that's when we'll get towards uh selecting a recommended alternative. And I won't read all these to you, but just uh wanted to briefly show our evaluation criteria that we're using to help um guide us here. So there's both kind of outcomes related criteria. What do we want this project to achieve? And then also feasibility criteria in terms of um what's possible uh in terms of constructibility and cost, rightway needs, etc. So, and I'll zoom in on the eastern section here in just a second, but um the these lines represent the initial alignments um that we looked at through the corridor. So, broadly speaking, we looked at an alignment south of US20 and an alignment north of US20 with some deviations in there. And then things get a little bit more complicated as you get further east in the corridor. Um I'm going to zoom in here on the east end of the corridor. Um so this is coming into Albany here. There's Rainwater Lane again. Um the dashed blue line that you can see on there um east of Rainwater largely follows the alignment of a previously designed um segment of the path. And so that's obviously a

consideration for us. But uh as we look at how this path will ultimately connect into the city, we have a number of options on the table. We've whittleled these down in a second. So I will show you these in just just a minute. But again, we looked at uh possibilities along US20 uh along or near the existing rail line there and then along Thornton Lakes Drive as well. So um big picture summary of some of the issues and findings uh so far. So when we're looking on the north side of US20 um one of the issues is that it's it's likely not feasible to place the path between the rail line and the highway. It's very likely that would be encro we would be encroaching on the rail rightway with that and that is essentially a fatal flaw. We know that the the acquiring railroad right away for the path is is not possible and it's it's doubtful that we would ever get to an easement with them. Um north of the rail is possible. Um but there would be significant rightaway acquisition as a result. Um there are some steeper slopes in areas especially especially as we get further to the east. Um, and depending on what side of the the road we're or the the highway we're on, uh, at the very least one crossing of the rail would be required somewhere in that corridor on the south side. So, the south side of US20, um, one of the issues we're contending with is proximity to uh, homes and driveways, especially at the east end of the corridor. Um, the flood plane is also a factor, especially east of Independence Highway uh, and as we get closer to the city. Um and at the very least one highway crossing would be required. Um and an atgrade crossing of the highway as part of this project is uh possible but uh challenging. Uh so one of the the

key things we're working on we're starting to work on now is understanding what the realm of possibilities are around crossing the highway and rail. Um these kind of black and white bars indicate just illustrative crossing locations. Um but because an atgrade meaning um you know crossing the street at the same level as as cars is not likely possible because of speeds and volumes we have to look at either a structure that goes over the highway and possibly the rail or potentially under. So, uh, that is a complex subject that we're delving into right now and and will help us better understand which alignments are most viable, especially on the east end of the corridor. Uh, last thing I'll mention to here is um, sorry, don't get dizzy with me going back and forth. Um, you know, a key consideration for us also here is um, you know, uh, maintenance and user safety and comfort and personal security. Uh so for example that kind of pinkish line that goes along the river that was one of our originally considered alignments. We the technical team have ruled that out for a number of reasons uh having to do with environmental but also because of the lack of um visibility for that that path. Uh so we're we're keenly aware of um making this path comfortable and also deterring unwanted uses on a future path. So this is our current set of alignments recommended for further analysis. Um so you can see uh closer to the city that uh essentially the alignment for the project that was previously designed by Laurel and the county um is in contention and then we have an alignment along Thornton Lakes as well. You can see that we've uh at least at this point ruled out staying along the highway as

we get towards the east end of the corridor and that's largely due to proximity to the river, proximity to the flood plane, uh mature trees in that part of the corridor and then the number of driveways and grade changes that occur along the highway in that section. Why driveways?

Um which specific issue? Well, when you have multiple driveways and you have a path, you have people going two-way and often times people pulling into and out of driveways don't see the bicyclist or the person walking. And that's why multi-use paths with a lot of driveways can create what they call conflict zones, a lot of conflict zones. So, that's why you try to avoid crossing a lot of Thanks, James. Um, should I pause here for questions or comments before I move on or finish the presentation? Not sure what the preference of the council, you want to take some time ask questions or go ahead go ahead and finish presentation.

Okay, thank you. Can always go back to that. So, um, now I want to talk through just a bit about, uh, our outreach we did this fall. Um, so while this project has been around in various forms for a long time, we still wanted to introduce this new phase of work to the community since we're getting down to brass tax about where this facility should go. Um, we wanted to get general feedback from folks about their uh hopes, concerns, uh issues um to so we can get ahead of those as we're think and as we're thinking about the u right alignment for the corridor. Um, we employed a number of tactics uh from flyers. We sent a mailer out to corridor residences. We did a couple of uh fun project videos um which maybe some of you have seen. Um and then we also did some tableabling at at farmers markets last fall amongst other things. There's a screenshot of our video which is still up, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I recommend it. Uh we also had an interactive online open house that folks could go in and add their own comments to a map about uh issues and and and needs and and uh concerns. So here's some of our survey findings. So broadly speaking, um folks were concerned about uh safety in the corridor. both safety from the perspective of a driver and safety from the perspective of somebody walking, cycling or rolling in the corridor. The second most uh identified concern is also maintenance. So again, this is something that's top of mind for us. Concerns about upkeep of the trail, um trash, uh vandalism, unwanted uses. Um so I think it's also important to note that while we did ask folks a question around um what is their general support for the project and we found that most folks who who at least responded to our survey said they supported um this this project. um really the focus of engagement was around um the actual corridor and the actual um how will this path be achieved because this project's been in the transportation system plan and been underway in a um in various forms for a long time. So we're I think it's safe to say that as part of this project we're moving past from should should we do the project to how do we do the project. Um there is concern around again uh crime and policing. Um, you know, I think while the project we're engaged in is fundamentally a planning and design project, that a discussion around uh maintenance and enforcement is integral to what we're doing right now. So that people have confidence that as this move forward, there is a plan and we're thinking about these concerns that are top of mind for folks. Um, a lot of interest obviously in safety and comfort for those using the

facility already. Um and people expressed wanting to know clear next steps and transparency around the process which of course is our goal. So in terms of next step u we're already starting this now actually a um mailer's gone out again to u corridor property owners just uh end of last week. We're starting direct outreach to property owners in the corridor to talk about the project more. We're beginning to advance those narrowed set of alternatives I presented earlier and then eventually moving towards our initial recommendation which will go back out to the the community and partners to vet that again will happen in the spring. Um and then once we are through that we'll start to advance the design hone the cost estimate so that the county u can proceed with uh seeking construction funding. Anything else? Actually, a thought occurred to me is that the city of Albany actually applied for and received a grant from the organ committee paths program to continue this work in after this project is done. And so the city so you may see me again in the future regarding how the path continues from North Albany into downtown. And um it just recognizes that the city of Albany staff have al also recognized the need for more planning and design on on the alignment into downtown. Um I'd love to hear your thoughts on the project, your thoughts on the alignments as we go into the next outreach section.

Council, you have anything questions? Are you reaching out to adjacent property owners as well or was it just the property owners that are going to be along along the path? Uh so we uh we won't talk to everybody within proximity of the potential path alignments. So the mail the mailer has gone out to basically everybody who is adjacent to the corridors. Okay. Excellent. Um and you guys already talked a little bit about safety risks uh along the corridor. Do you know how those are being prioritized? um in alignment decisions.

That's a great question. Sorry. And um as we get into the flushing out these alternatives further, you know, again, we're starting from a place of how do we make this as comfortable as it can be for everybody who wants to be out there from end to end. And so if we run into issues in the corridor where there's a constriction or a constraint that is, you know, for example, far too costly for us to to deal with and say for instead of a separated path from the highway, we may need to talk about a brief section of bike lane on Thornton Lakes, for example. Okay.

Then we have to weigh that, I think, with partners in the community about the kind of trade-off we're making there, right? Um, so at this point, I don't think we've gotten quite there yet, but we're starting from the point of all ages, all abilities. I don't Did that answer your question? I'm sorry. Yeah. Do you have something else to add, Mr. Feldman?

Yes. I would add one other element, and that is that safety is often viewed differently depending on the per person. So, one user may prefer to be along the highway because they're visible to the public, whereas another person may consider being away from the highway safe because they're not near high-speed high-speed vehicles. Yep. And so one person may say the safe option is away from the highway. The other person says I want to be right on the highway. And you can't you can't do both. We're not going to do a path on on both. Ideally, you could pick which one you wanted. But in this case, we have to um we have to pick one of the two.

Ideally, in my opinion, I think away from high moving vehicles when I'm a soft, squishy human on a bicycle sounds most ideal personally. Um I wanted to also ask a little bit about the privacy and access and security issues that we just had someone from come before us. Just want to see how those are going to be addressed um in the design.

Yeah. So I there's a couple of there's two sides to that coin in my my view. There's the design ele there's the way you design the path to minimize the risk of those kinds of things happening. Right? And so those include um like crime prevention through environmental design kind of tactics like uh visibility to people using the road, clear sight lines, fencing, uh lighting potentially in places as well. Um and then there's the other side of the coin which is maintenance and enforcement. Um, and I think that piece is again, even though we're not anywhere near constructing this facility yet, having that conversation and presenting the initial thoughts from the uh from the county and the state around what that framework would look like for enforcement and maintenance is important during this process so people know that both sides of that coin are being addressed.

Okay. Awesome. So, any counselors, please? Well, I'm how many homeowners are impacted will be impacted potentially by this project. Um, that's somebody has a number depends on the alignment we select

and it depends on some options within those alignments on how we situate the trail and whether or not it's within or outside of rightway. you know that the I think our goal is to stay in rightway to the maximum extent possible u with the alignments and so like the the solid yellow line here largely follows US20 right away the nearly the entire way. Um so I I don't think I could share an exact number at this time. Um definitely once we get into the next piece of this we would have clear numbers and identify locations where there would be private property impacts. something.

She's a biker. She was.

Well, I was. Yeah. Um, yeah. I should declare that I a past president of Mid Valley Club and San Spokes Bike Club. um spent 15 years doing long-distance bicycle touring, commuting to my exercise class in Albany and just riding around. I I was on a bicycle for a long time um tandem and single and have done a lot of um bicycle touring in Europe. After our last trip to Europe in 2000, my husband decided he didn't want to ride our tandem here any longer because we spent three weeks in Germany and Austria on their network of bicycle highways that have no cars on them at all. They have their own traffic signals. They have their own restaurants and um hotels. They have um safe. They're very very safe. They're not subject to vandalism. I perhaps Europeans aren't as prone to vandalism as Americans are. Um, so I've had different experiences bicycling. When I was riding in Albany and Corvalis, lots of times back and forth. I would never have chosen highway 20 to ride. Now I would today on the section from Merlloy into into town into Corvalis because the highway is wide. The separation from the traffic from the main highway is adequate. It's it would be comfortable. I have never been able to envision how this would work from rainwater into Albany and I I recognize the opposition of the homeowners. Um I I know that that part of town floods. It's dangerous to drive there. Um it in my view it's dangerous to drive on West Thornon Lake.

I would I have ridden a bike on West Thornon Lake once, one time, and that was enough. If I was going between Corvalis and Albany, I would take Riverside Drive and Bryant Drive or I would go over on the other side, way over on the other side and go Mechy and and that way. Um, it's out of the way. It's more scenic, but it's out of the way. And I understand that. Um, this I know this has been in the plan for a long time. I understand transportation system plans and I I know that that all modes of transportation ought to be together when practical. I can't make this work in my head. So, I'm just wondering how we're going to get there. This has been in plans for I think as long as I've lived here. Um, and I I don't know how we're going to get there. Can you explain how the work that's gone on in the last two years and is going on right now is going to get us closer to that

like like to planning from planning to construction funding or um all of it all of it acquisition of rightway funding um and coming out with a product that's that's safe and people are happy. I nothing pleases everyone um and nothing is totally safe. uh you can fall down walking across the living room, but it's I'm just curious. I it just seems like a bridge too far to me. And can I uh piggy back real quick and just also add I'm curious about how this is going to connect to North Albany neighborhoods and destinations within the region with with everything that councelor Smith also said.

Sure. I'll start us off and then I'll pass it over. But and that is the entire point of this work right now is to figure that out essentially and doing all of the outreach that we're doing to talk to as many people as we can to determine what that path is. It's not going to be perfect, but we're going to get as close to that as we can. Um, and as far as connections to North Albany, with this path continuing to North Albany Road and over to to Springwater and into downtown, once you have that connectivity, you are able to go instead of driving to the shopping center or walking along the highway, you have all these other ways of getting around North Albany that no longer require driving. Um, as far as how do you make it happen, right now is a tough environment for finding construction funding for bike and ped in the at the federal level. And so I do recognize that that is a challenge. But the first step and the way to be bet more competitive for construction funding is to have a very solid case for what you want at a planning and design level. And so without doing this work, we can't get to that next step. So as hard as construction funding is, this facilitates that as best as possible. and I'll turn it over.

So, the one thing that I can remember to address is West Thornton Lake. Um, it wouldn't be that we would just dump the bike riders out there. There would be improvements along that corridor. So, that way whether it be a separated this, again, we haven't even looked at this, whether it would be a separated complete facility or if we are looking at adding shoulders and bike lanes along West Thornon Lake. So, it's all a part of the conversation to figure out how we can do this. The last thing I'd just add is that part of our work too is also to establish a phasing plan for this, knowing that it's very unlikely that we're going to build all of this all at once, but building it in logical chunks is is part of our task.

Yeah. Well, as part of this project, we'll come up with a phasing plan and and those that want to pursue construction funding can look to that for cost estimates and expectations about what would be needed. And I realize I've been mixing up my words here. Spring Hill, not Spring Water. Thank you. Any other questions, council?

Um, this might be a question for the city, but I'm wondering if like as construction plans or as plans are solidified, if like there's other things we want to do in North Albany, like add sidewalks or things that might be along that pathway, we would be able to maybe get get in on some of the construction happening to help with our budget for that kind of stuff. like if if there's anything I I'm just wondering out loud. I'm not sure what our um plan is right now like with some of the North Albony roads, but I know a lot of them don't have sidewalks, but if there's any construction going on, sometimes it's cheaper if there's already already a closure or already construction if we would be able to do some work at the same time.

I'm not sure what your question is, counselor. Is it would it be possible if while they're doing construction if we'd be able to do some additional add like if I'm just thinking if there's a road that we we've been intending to add on a sidewalk if they're already doing construction on like the bike path if we're able to maybe move some things forward if there's already construction happening. I'm just wondering if that might be something a possibility. It's it's like we do with street maintenance. It's always better to coordinate maintenance activities. So you're digging only once or doing work only once. It would take some coordination, but I think that's quite a bit premature based on what we've heard right now.

And I I'm I know that as our funding is right now for roads and such is pretty dismal right now. Just thinking can we keep an eye as this project progresses to think about coordination in the future. I can also respond to that is that if once the alignment is determined as development occurs and you know that that that path alignment is is approved essentially you can set aside space for it or build it depending on situation in a peacemeal fashion but that's in very specific narrow range of circumstances. Thank you very much for your presentation. And can I add one more?

Sure.

Um I would we have we'll we will be at um two more um decision-m bodies in the next year. Uh probably Benton County Commissioners and probably the Corvalis area or Albany actually more appropriately Albany area no meeting. Um, and so I would encourage you to tap into those meetings as needed and then let me know as well as if we don't have it scoped to come back to you, but if if necessary or valuable, I could probably make it work to come back and present on any specific topic. But any um guidance or support or um feedback you can give us is very valuable because it is so relevant to the city of

How can people get involved get uh more feedback to you? like how if I had a constituent reach out and I would say, "Oh, here's how you can can submit X, Y, and Z on this website. How can we have constituents get more feedback to you guys?"

Yes, we have a project web page and you can see me after the meeting or just type in Corval Path and it should come up pretty high on the results and my name and email and phone number is there. There's a link to sign up for updates and that will notify you when things like this happen or outreach happens. So, and then always Laurel at the county is available. We're trying to contact as many property owners that are affected right now so that they can also direct inquiries to her as well. Oh, yes. Thank you very much. Trying to see trying to see if it's on here. I found it. Yeah. Yeah. Website's there. Okay.

There are a few Corvalis to Albony path projects and so just make sure you're looking at the Merlloy to Rainwater section. Thank you. Appreciate your time. Thank you. Thanks everybody. Next on tonight's agenda is business from the council. We're going to take a 5m minute break. Be back at 40 4:40.

I don't have anything. Thank you, Council Newton. Um, happy new year, but that's it. Okay, Council Mloud.

Thank you. I do have a couple things. Um, over the holiday I traveled to Tucson, um, where I rented a car and I drove all over, all over the streets in Tucson, in and out of town. I noticed that the roads in Tucson were very nice, very new. And so I did a little research on um, why the roads in Tucson looked so good. I had some um, conversations with residents there. I found out that they uh the roads in Tucson were not always so nice. In fact, just recently they were not so nice. And um that road maintenance was funded by Props 101 and 411, which were a half cent sales tax to fund the road maintenance. So kudu kudos to the city of Tucson for funding their road maintenance. Um just a just a shout out to the city of Tucson for that. I also received um several emails regarding the proposed development at 53rd and Pacific. There were concerns with traffic and with the noticing requirement and um I had a question for Mr. Ruckers about the uh the noticing um and if the HOAs had been noticed on that development.

Yeah. So I I appreciate you coming up. I didn't have chance to answer. So when we do our noticing it goes out in this case was a 1000 foot um that from the the property edge to all the neighbors within 1,000 ft. We do send to recognized neighborhood organizations. HOAs are not on that list right now. So, a good example of rec recognized neighborhood organization would be uh the North Albany Neighborhood Association that we're familiar with. I don't think it would take a significant amount of effort for say if the folks down in that 53rd area wanted to create that. Um and it's as simple as putting them on our contact list. the HOA themselves. I just I know as we've gotten a lot of comments that uh the information's been kind of distributed out amongst a lot of the members now. Um, but all the information is available on our website and as I think Peter had forwarded an email uh earlier this morning or maybe it was on Friday that um for many years you've been able to access not only the notice but um some of the basic information about the project online on our website. We have just added to where you can view all the application materials. That's brand new for us. Um, in the past, people had to, you know, they'd look at the application notice and then they would call us and ask for a copy of the packet. Um, now we've just went ahead and made that available online. So, so, um, thank you for that. My my follow-up question is, um, specific to the Spring Meadow, Brookfield HOAs. Um, I know that some of their residents were notified. Um, do you know if the actual HOA board was notified? I the only way that the HOA board well it it wouldn't have been notified directly. The only way that would have happened is if say there were there was a a tract that's owned by the HOA um and

then that would have went to the property owner. Whether that makes it to their board or not, I'm not sure, but it would have went just those property owners. The the HOAs uh for those two subdivisions are not on our current contact list. They are not? No. Okay. Um, do you know why they're not on your contact list? What do you not have contact info for them or

they're not one of the because it how the the state law is written is that goes out to well in this case it was minimum of,000 ft um from the property is we notify all the property owners within the within that range. So if the HOA is not one of the property owners, we wouldn't have notified them. Now if they owned say one of the tracks, they would have gotten a notice. it would have went to whether they're either PO box or however that's registered. Okay. Now, if they went through the process of becoming a recognized neighborhood association, they would go onto our contact list and then would be notified as as one of those groups on any land use action in that area.

Okay. I I bring this question because um today we received um communication from u Miss Sapello about um Albany Development Code um where it where it shows the noticing requirements and um in that in that code um section one subsection 22 3A it says that all property owners and designated representatives of city council recognized neighborhood associations within the minimum notice area specified below um should be should be noticed. And so I it also says the broadest notice area applicable to a proposal shall apply. And that just made me think that the the HOA there should have been notified.

It they're currently not a a city council recognized neighborhood association. The Spring Meadow Brookfield

the HOA the homeowners association is not. There's h there's homeowners associations with just about every subdivision that's created. Um the recognized neighborhood associations is something that this this body would say, you know, a group would come to them and say, "Hey, we want to be a recognized neighborhood association." So maybe just a suggestion. the combined HOAs for those two subdivisions could get together as a a body and become, you know, designate specific representatives and name themselves, whatever it may be to become a recognized neighborhood association by this body. They would go then go on to our contact list that would be notified anytime there was something in that area. It it looks like councelor Vanderman.

Is there a formalized intake process for that like or is that just a like how how does one start even start that process if someone were to ask us about that? Admittedly I will have to look into that specifically. I think that that I think that that's what we're driving at here is like if they're not a recognized neighborhood like how does how does one even form one? Well, I know North Albby Neighborhood Association would be a good re touch point. Yeah, I I can verify Oh, sorry. Sure. But they don't set the parameters on that. Well, they can show you what they can show what they did and they can build the way they should. Okay.

My concern is that the Spring Spring Meadow um neighborhood association has been in existence for I want to say 20 years or so. Um I don't know why they wouldn't be it. It's not a neighborhood association though. It's an HA. HOA, excuse me. Um, I don't know why they wouldn't have already done that. Yeah. And and I'll I will come come back to you guys or get the information on what it takes to become a, you know, city council recognized neighborhood association, but there's there's the difference there between homeowners association for a subdivision and then city recognized neighborhood association. Admittedly, I don't know exactly what those requirements are, but I I can get those for you.

That would be great. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Um, also I I had a question about ICE activity in Albany. Um, Mr. Trodson, do you know if we have an update uh on that if there has been any activity since we last met?

There has been activity. However, they don't uh brief us and they don't tell us about their operations. they did reach out to the police department and tell them that we they would actually be in town which which is a step in the right direction because that helps us to to uh take basic efforts to deconlict but uh I don't they have not told us you know about their operations in advance and I don't have a total for that and I would ask uh Jerry Drummond if he knows anything more about it in terms of uh numbers of operations. So, are are you saying there has been ice activity in Albany since we last met?

Well, there's been there's been ice activity for quite a while, but but you'll remember that Chief Harden was saying that they don't it is not their custom to tell us when what they're what they're uh right. But after after the fact after the fact we find out about it. Okay. And and do you recall at the last meeting I asked that you notify us when there is ICE activity in Albany?

Yep. Well, we we don't know when that happens and we don't know, you know, how many of those happen. So, if if there is something that comes in that says that, you know, we have a name and and a particular uh we can certainly bring that back, but I I don't I don't have spec things. I don't have details for you that I'd be comfortable passing along because I they're not to a level of detail that I think is, you know, okay, verifiable. Whatever information you can share with us at the earliest convenience

would be appreciated because I do have residents that have been asking me about potential ICE activity in Albany and I want to be able to either confirm or deny those um uh suspected um sightings. And so um I anytime we have that information, I would love to hear it to be able to pass that on to them. Do you you have nothing? Okay, great. Um, and that's all I have. Thank you, Council Van Germany. Uh, nothing to add to what's already been said from W 2 tonight. I think we've got it pretty well covered. Okay, Council McGee.

Um, a couple of things. One, I attended the homeless memorial with Councelor Smith and uh, Mayor Alex uh, while we were on break. It was a at the second chance shelter. Um if you have not been able to go, I would highly encourage it. Was really a great place to hold space for those who are unhoused and home challenged who have um passed away. And it was um held the day or two days before the coldest day in the city. So if you haven't had opportunity, I would highly encourage it. Nice candle lit visual and had an opportunity to go back a couple days later and I donated a bunch of like clothes and stuff. Um, second thing is the Bears one. Just want to throw that out there. All right, that's all I got.

Councelor Smith, I wanted to um publicly uh acknowledge the reporting that Hans has been doing on city issues. He did a lot of big indepth stories about things like housing and Cara and the airport and so on while we were on the break and um well researched, well written um balance reporting. I thank you for doing that. That's it.

Um I will reserve mine for Wednesday night. Um thank you very much. City manager report. The only thing I have for you is just to remind you that the ADA has a mixer at the Carnegie Library uh starting at 5:30 this evening. So about 40 minutes from now, you'll get out in plenty of time. Thanks. With that, I will adjourn the meeting. Our next meeting is Wednesday night, the 14th of January, 2026. Still getting used to saying that. At 6 PM, I will see you there. Thank you.