City Council - Regular Meeting

I will collect them and read the names of the council person and who the vote was for aloud. If no applicant receives four votes at the end of the first round of voting, a second round of ballots will be distributed. They will be collected and then the names will be announced. Additional rounds of discussion and voting would continue until a candidate has four affirmative votes. The mayor or a councilor will make a motion to appoint the candidate and the city recorder will do a roll call voice vote. If after three rounds of balloting there is no candidate with a majority of votes, the council will be asked if they would like to declare a stalemate. Vestalme is declared and the council is at a tie. Per the Albany Charter, section 30, the successful candidate will be determined by a public drawing of lots in a manner prescribed by the council. The council is agreeable, staff recommends that a tiebreaker be a dice roll, as that is a method approved by the Secretary of State and is viable in either a 3-3 or a 2-2-2 tie. If we are none, the council may deliberate on how to move forward. This could include additional time for deliberations, a second round of interviews for the top candidates, or some other process as determined by the council.

Thank you. Any questions? Any questions, council?

Councilor Newton? How would Councilor McGee be sharing her vote?

She's going to read it aloud. Basically, at the time ballots are collected, I'm going to ask her for her vote, and then I will have all the ballots in my hand, and I will go through and read them one by one. Sounds great. Thanks.

Vice-Chairwoman?

I don't think this is likely, but I just want to understand the options should it reach this point. So you said after three rounds of voting, if there is no majority, you'll ask if the council would like to declare a stalemate. It sounds like we are not required to declare a stalemate at that point. Am I understanding that correctly?

I would say no, but if after three rounds, I mean, that's kind of established we're at a stalemate, but I mean, if the council wants to continue the process, that would be an option. But I think at that point, it probably would be best to declare a stalemate, and then that would kick in the tiebreaker process that's set in our charter.

Right, which is essentially drawing lots for the position, right?

That is correct.

Rather than the council choosing a person that's letting chance choose, essentially.

Right. That is correct.

Okay.

Thank you. Anybody else have anything? Councilor McGee, you have anything? Nope. Get started.

And so just to let everyone know, we have three candidates who have confirmed tonight. They were here as I walked into the room. We had one candidate that did not confirm. So it is possible we only have three folks that elected to show up tonight.

Thank you.

Write it down for this here.

Yeah, are you?

He was not here, so we're gonna draw another name.

Does that mean he's disqualified?

Supposed to be here at five. That's up to us, actually.

I would say that would largely be up to the council. I mean, the deadline was missed to confirm, and we did set 5 p.m. as the deadline.

Okay.

So if it's up to the council, it might be good to go ahead and make that determination now in case he were to show later. Yeah.

I would move to disqualify Mr. Lancaster.

I have a motion.

I'll second that.

I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed say no. Thank you.

Does anyone have the spelling of her name in front of them? It's G-H-O-L-S-O-N. G-H-O-L-S-O-N. Thank you. Do we pause the clock during when we're asking questions or? Is it going?

I think it's a straight 25. Okay. That's what we did with.

Okay, I couldn't recall. Thank you.

And it throws everybody else off. Hello. Hello, Ms. Galston, how are you?

I'm good, how are you?

Fine, so you're here for an interview tonight with City Council. I'm going to welcome you and welcome you in front of us. We'll go ahead and start the questions. Are you ready for anything? Do you have any questions for us right now?

No, let's go ahead.

Okay, you got 25 minutes. Let's get rocking.

Yeah, looks like I'm kicking us off tonight welcome So city councilors are responsible for making decisions on a wide range of topics Some of which you will know a lot about and some of which you may not Can you please share an example of a time when you had to research or self study a topic in order to gain necessary? Understanding before making a judgment or decision and how this would inform your ability to do so on council sometimes on very tight deadlines Sure.

Thank you Okay, I probably have several examples, but I'm very confident and comfortable in doing research and able to better inform myself. So I work for the city of Corvallis for Parks and Recreation. I'm the administrative support supervisor. But I oversee the budget for the department, for our operational budget, but also for our capital budget, which includes system development charges as our primary revenue source, in addition to grant funding, donor support. Previous to that role, I'd never heard of a system development charge. So having to then be part of the budgeting cycle and better understand how we can apply our system development REVENUE TO OUR CAPITAL PROJECTS, WHAT'S LEGAL, WHAT'S NOT LEGAL, WHAT'S WITHIN OUR POLICY AND WORKING WITHIN THE CITY OF CORVALES SPECIFICALLY METHODOLOGY FOR SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT CHARGES. was all something that I had to not only learn and be comfortable with, but then also to the extent that I then had to explain our methodology to our staff and sometimes members of the public in terms of we would take public comment and input when we develop what our capital projects would be on a five-year scale. And so being able to explain to somebody that under our methodology, we could only apply, let's say, 14 percent of system development charges revenue towards a park rehabilitation project versus why don't you just take all this revenue? You know, I think last year we received in three million in STC's. we can't just take that and then put it over to finance an existing park project, right? It has to add capacity to the system. So all of that is something that I had to learn and be confident and comfortable with explaining, not just to staff, but to members of the public. So I think that's probably one of the best examples that I could provide.

Thank you.

All right. Welcome, Tara.

First, is there any follow-up questions? Okay, thank you.

Okay, what is something you believe about Albany or city government that you think other members of the council might disagree with you about?

I don't know if you would disagree or not, because I don't know the members of council well enough to kind of like perceive what you would agree with. I feel and I hold strongly that local government for a very long time has ESSENTIALLY KIND OF CONDITIONED RESIDENTS IN THE COMMUNITY TO VIEW THEMSELVES AS CUSTOMERS OF THE SYSTEM. AND IT'S SOMETHING THAT I THINK ABOUT DAILY IN TERMS OF THE WORK THAT I DO OVER IN PARKS AND RECREATION, THAT IT TAKES THREE PARTIES TO REALLY MAKE A COMMUNITY WORK AND FUNCTION. IT'S CITY COUNCIL, IT'S THE STAFF THAT WORK IN THE And it is the residents which really are stewards of the system versus customers. So I think oftentimes the feedback that I see is due to lack of maybe understanding about what it truly takes to to run and operate a community, a government, but also how do people fit into that equation and reframing that within our communities that people really feel like they are part of the discussion, part of the solution, and then part of envisioning what a community should look like moving forward. So I hope more people agree with that, but that is something that I CONSTANTLY BATTLE IS TRYING TO REFRAME GOING FROM I LIVE IN A SYSTEM BUT THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVES ME AS A CUSTOMER TO I'M A PARTNER WITH THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN ENSURING THAT THE COMMUNITY IS A PLACE THAT I WANT TO CONTINUE TO LIVE IN AND THAT I WANT PEOPLE TO BE ATTRACTED TO.

THANK YOU.

THANK YOU.

ANY FOLLOW-UP? COUNCILOR SMITH?

Good afternoon. Our neighborhood streets are in terrible shape. The money available to fix them is very limited. The council has created a transportation utility that could charge a monthly fee to all city utility customers and use that money exclusively for street repairs and maintenance. The council also supports a local fuel tax that would be used exclusively for that purpose. The fuel tax would have to be approved by Albany voters and is not likely to be up for a vote for two more years. What do you think of those two options? Do you have other ideas for who and how to pay for street maintenance?

That's a great question. I'd imagine an issue that is prevalent across many communities, not specific to Albany. Fees are, I think, never something that you would be happy instituting. And sometimes that is like the end result, right? Have you evaluated the need? Is the need true? Are there efficiencies that can be implemented? Are there cost saving measures that can be implemented? And if the answer is ultimately no and the service is needed, streets are needed, then that generally leaves you with the last option on the table, which would be fees. So I think it's something that you would never just enter into lightly, because obviously fees impact the community as a whole, but in particular can impact lower income families. and how can you evaluate how you you know address those fees is there a way that you can scale the fees so it's like once you get to the the point in which fees are the only option on the table then you look at what are like the sub options of those fees and and how do you lower the impact for the people that would um impact the hardest um and then when it comes to um taxation, right? Like I think a fuel tax is certainly something that should be evaluated, right? What are other communities of like size doing that have the same issues? So it's a matter of have you done the research, has staff done the research, and the idea has been presented to city councils that you're making the most thoughtful decision. And they're probably still not going to be popular. And that's where I think kind of going back to my earlier answer of communities need to think of themselves, residents need to think of themselves as stewards of the system. What are we doing to make sure that people understand what are the options on the table, why were certain solutions proposed and moved forward with, and being transparent. and educating the community of why those were the options that were then, you know, as a final, final option. But I think that there's a lot of creativity that you can implement and communities are looking at different ways to kind of finance those gaps. You know, infrastructure investment, is in need all over the nation um and there's definitely various options on the table it doesn't just have to be one singular um thing i know in corvallis we are looking at options about you know income tax and payroll tax so there's i think there's different ways to look at a problem um and just making sure that you're being transparent and honest with the community about what you're evaluating and making sure that you're receiving that feedback. And if there are hardships that you're hearing those and you're evaluating those and trying to minimize those hardships.

Thank you. Councilor McGee.

All right. How would you balance the needs of residents with the city budget limitations when making difficult decisions?

Budgeting is something that I'm very familiar with. And I would say every budgeting cycle I've been a part of, we're making challenging decisions. Typically, revenue doesn't keep pace with expenditures, especially with inflation, raw materials increasing. And ultimately, what does it take to make the community one that the residents recognize and want to continue to stay in? Lost my train of thought. Sorry. Every element of city government provides some facet of services that are critical to our residents. And so it's a matter of looking at what the government, what the city municipality offers and what provides the most community benefit versus individualized benefit. So one of the things that I oversee in my professional role is cost recovery. and really managing what services and programs are provided, but then also how are those being financed? What's subsidized? What isn't subsidized? To what degree is something subsidized? And if something isn't, is for the collective good, how are we protecting that service? If something is more for individual needs, Is it bringing in the revenue source that it needs to be able to maintain being part of a program offering? And that's all part of a discussion, right? I think that when it comes to making decisions about if you're going to make cuts, having open forum discussions with residents to see what is of value to them is part of the equation. And also just being honest about what the true cost of services really are. And, you know, what's the delta? And then how do you kind of bridge that gap and get to, you know, What can the city truly do with the resources that it has? And then the options are generally when it comes to challenging budgeting conversations is either you bring in more revenue or you have to reduce your expenditures. But really it's a conversation and it's being open and transparent with the residents and the community about essentially what is on the table and then how do you navigate that and stand behind those decisions.

Thank you. Councillor Thompson.

Thank you. How important are Albany's historic districts and historic preservation in general to Albany's future?

I've lived in Albany since 2020. I moved just before COVID. And my first resident with my husband was in downtown Albany. And in a historic district. And I really think that it is part of the fabric of Albany. So I do think that it is important that you maintain what makes Albany, Albany. And I think that's a facet of what makes Albany. And I also come from a community in California that also had a historic district. And in the same thing, like there's a lot of sense of pride in those historic neighborhoods and districts. And so I think that there is value there and evaluating, people wanna be here, wanna live here, wanna work here because Albany is Albany, right? And so what is it that you're doing to protect that so that people can, continue to wanna be in Albany and that it grows and changes as every community does, but how you retain what makes Albany specifically Albany. So I hope that answers your question.

Any follow up questions? Next is, as a city councilor, you are representing all citizens of your ward, citizens who have a range of backgrounds, positions, and viewpoints on city business. How does your background and life experience help you in dealing with individuals who may see things differently than you?

Hi. I welcome all varying opinions, and I think everybody's story is worthy of being considered and shared. I want my kids to grow up here in Albany, respecting everyone around them. And in Ward 2, I think what I love about where I live is there is a wide range of ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, that my children are going up knowing that not everybody is like specifically and that helps build the community into what it is and so I think disagreement doesn't have to be inherently bad I think in my day-to-day even within you know supervisors and managers in my own department we disagree on things all the time, right? Everybody has different life experiences. People come from different vantage points and experience and ultimately sometimes have different goals about what the output should be. But I approach all of those conversations with respect, right? I think we all have like a shared common goal and being, living in the community of Albany, I think that there's a larger like team one expectation, right? That everybody is pro-Albany, right? And how you approach different problems or solutions might look differently, but do you hear everybody? Are you open to changing your mind on perspectives because somebody has brought up something that you haven't considered? And the only way that you can get to those like best solutions is by having diversity of thought, which you only get with people that have different experiences than you. So To me, I think that is kind of like what makes communities so great, makes government so great, is that ultimately like everybody's working towards the same end goal, big picture goal, how they approach it and how they, what they want to do might look differently. But do you approach it together? Do you work as a team? And at the end of the day, a decision is ultimately made. Do you then support everybody that is part of that decision-making process? So I definitely welcome all backgrounds, all positions, because ultimately it makes me stronger in being able to look at problems, figure out solutions, and move forward.

Thank you. Any follow-up questions? Councilor Smith?

What inspired you to apply to be appointed?

Yeah, thank you. Before I moved to Albany. I lived in California, and it was before getting married and having kids, so I had an abundance of free time. I was involved in various boards and commissions for my hometown, and that to me was truly rewarding, and it was when I was working in private industry, and there was, I think, just something I was missing in private industry that I've now found very fulfilling working in local government. And so beyond that, I was involved in in boards for various nonprofits and my alma mater. And so I think that what I was missing in my professional life, I found serving other agencies in my free time. Moving to Albany, I think, and starting work in a new industry. I had some niche experience in recreation, but it was on the private sector side. I get such fulfilling opportunities work from what I do in Parks and Recreation, and it's in me to want to continue to serve. Albany has been an incredible place for my family to basically start, grow, and thrive. My children are in daycare here in the school system as of yesterday here. My children go to programs at the YMCA. They're involved in AYSO. They've gone through Parks and Recreation programs here. So this community has given so much to me and my family. And we're just truly honored to live here. And we want to give back. And we, the royal we, I want to give back. And so if I have experience from my background in private industry, from my work with local government, I want to give that experience back to Albany. Thank you. Thank you.

I will say emphasis on Royal We as my husband is home with our kids. It really does take a team to serve a community.

So question for you is you're a busy person, family, and you also have a full-time gig, full-time job. There will be times when you have conflicts that you have to work through. So how would you deal with a conflict with work and also with being on the city council?

Sure. If it's a conflict in terms of like time management, to me, that's just like foresight. It's being organized. And I'm very adept at doing that because I have to manage the timetables of my entire household. And I'm just really privileged in the role that I have that I'm able to work in an office in Corvallis. But when I need to, I'm working at home in the evenings and So there's just like an inherent flexibility in what I do in terms of, you know, managing my time and getting the work done. And then if you're asking more in terms of like conflict between working for Corvallis serving Albany, I hope truly that there's more opportunities for like collaboration than there is any sort of, you know, issue in terms of competitiveness or anything that was from a policy perspective. Now, if there was, if there was a conflict of interest, integrity means everything to me, especially because my role professionally is in finances. So I would just be open and honest and transparent and follow any sort of ethics requirements that the city of Albany would have.

Thank you. She has five minutes left on her time. Any other follow-ups? Well, thank you very much for applying, Tara. Yeah, thank you. And we're actually happy to meet you. Oh, Councilor McGee, do you have any other follow-up questions?

I do not.

Well, thank you for coming. Yeah, of course. Thanks for applying.

Thanks, everybody.

That's two choices left. Oh, please go ahead.

Yeah. I'm not an HR expert, but the question about time and, like, you're trying to get, can they make time for, does that get into areas that may be a no-no?

I don't think so.

Okay, okay then. Thanks for the question though.

You're right, for checking, that's good. Does council need time for more note taking or would you like me to draw the next name?

I had a quick question. Are we appointing tonight and they're gonna take the dais tonight?

No, no, not tonight, the 23rd. They'd have to be sworn in, go through, spend time with Eric and learning stuff.

Okay.

K-R-E-I-T-M-A-N.

I don't have my laptop open in front of me, sorry.

K-R-E-I-T-M-A-N. Good afternoon.

Well, thank you for being here, Kevin. The council has roughly, we'll have six questions for you. City recorder, I'm imagining explained everything to you how it's going to go tonight. So, and without further ado, I'll go ahead and get started with Councilor Van Gembelen.

All right. Well, welcome. Thanks for being here. Yes, thank you. City councilors are responsible for making decisions on a wide range of topics, some of which you will know a lot about and some of which you may not. Can you please share an example of a time when you had to research or self-study a topic in order to gain necessary understanding before making a judgment or decision and how this would inform your ability to do so on council, sometimes on very tight deadlines?

One of the things that I have learned throughout my career is when you have things that come up is looking at where your resources are and what you have out there available to you for research on it. So I think one of the first things is taking a look at what it is. And if I don't have an understanding, look and see, Where are the resources available to me that I can get to quickly to take a look and help take a look at that? A lot of times what I'll also look at is what has been previously done in the community or otherwise? Is it necessary to come in and reinvent the wheel? And also taking a look at what restrictions or what things, what are the guidelines that we need to be operating within? So those things are really all come into play with that to make sure that you make an informed decision.

Councilor Newton.

Was there any follow-up questions? Can you give an example of something that you had to research and how the process that you followed and where that ended up? Okay.

So I would say probably one of the most recent ones was when Senate Bill 1537 came out, what the impacts were gonna be on the community that was out at the time on Millersburg and other things. And there's been a number of things that have come up over the years with regards to executive orders when I've been in the fire service, things that have come out on new regulations, OSHA regulations and things like that that we had to come into. and come into compliance with. So going in and looking at those documents and things and figuring out, okay, where is it? Is this being done anywhere else previously? How does it impact us? What are the impacts? So for an example, with 1537, one of the things that quickly came out of that was the fact that when that Senate bill was passed, we had a supermajority. So it really limits the city's options on how you can address it. Because even though there's maybe things that are considered unfunded mandates, since it was under one of the few areas that cities are not required to have any options in dealing with it, is when you have a two-thirds majority, three-fifths majority, or 60%, you can't use the option of unfunded mandates as far as how it impacts the community. So what are your options? You're very limited on those. So how do you go about instituting those things and dealing with it at that point?

Excellent. All right. So, Kevin, what is something you believe about Albany or city government that you believe other members of the council might disagree with you about?

I don't know that I can think of anything offhand. I mean, when I look at a number of the topics that are addressed in a number of areas, I mean, I may look at things from a different perspective than someone else because of my background, but I don't have the knowledge of all the areas. you know, I think one of the things, you know, when you look at homelessness and some of the things that we're dealing with and some of the things that have occurred over the years, you look at our streets. I mean, I definitely have feelings on that. And it may be that others don't agree with me, but it may be just more because of my perspective, having lived here pretty much all my life and knowing some of the funding history that we have. I mean, when you look at, I hear a lot of times from people that for an example, that we don't have, why aren't we using our money effectively? And I don't think a lot of times people understand the restrictions on budgeting in local government. We have funds, our general funds, we can use as we please, but when you take a look at what we bring in annually, for taxes without other revenues, our taxes alone don't even cover the cost of providing our public safety, fire and police. If we were to look at paying just with our tax revenue, we have about a million dollar shortfall. So I don't know that I disagree, it's just that I may have a different perspective on things and looking at things from a different light. And I've always tried and seen an importance of trying to find consensus. How do we come to a joint agreement on things? And that's one of the things I think I pride myself on is trying to look at that, looking for collaboration and looking for consensus that can meet the needs of the community. And that's what I really try to do is take a look at things as how do we meet the needs of those in our community? and effectively, and to do those things effectively.

Thank you.

Thank you. Any other follow-up? Okay, thank you very much. I'll go on to Councilor Newton.

I just spoke.

You asked your question? You have a question?

I just read it.

Oh, you just read it? Okay. Marilyn, Councilor Smith.

Thank you. On the subject of streets, which you brought up, ours are in terrible shape. The money available to fix them is very limited. The council has created a transportation utility that could charge a monthly fee to all of city utility customers and use that money exclusively for street repairs and maintenance. The council also supports a local fuel tax that would be used exclusively for that purpose. The fuel tax would have to be approved by Albany voters and it's not likely to be up for a vote for two more years. What do you think of those two options? Do you have other ideas for who and how to pay for street maintenance?

I think we're at a point where we have to give consideration to everything. There's not just one fix. And going back, this is not a new problem to this community. I can remember sitting in these chambers 30 years ago and this very topic being discussed. And what a lot of times people don't recognize is we had a vast change in the 90s on how we are financing government with major, once major 47 and 50, first major five and then major 47 and 50. And as I just pointed out, when you look at what we see for tax revenues today, and we're spending, when you look at what we have coming in for our general fund revenues, We essentially spend that without the other revenues we have coming in, franchise fees, fees for service, and things like that. We couldn't cover our costs for public safety, police and fire today. So I think all of those are things you have to look at, but I think we also have to keep in mind the public, and I think it requires a lot of education. And it's something I've given some thought of previously that I would like to see and take a little bit more. I'm not sure where we're at. We have our ARA, Urban Development District, sunsetting. And if you look, we've got about $366 million that has been off, the tax rolls as far as general fund. I'm not sure when everything's being paid out, but I think something to be into consideration, because those aren't funds we're relying on today. Can we set those aside as well and commit those funds in the future to street maintenance? So I don't think it's just one thing that can address it. I think we have to look at a number of things. I think we need to look at how that impacts those in our community, especially those who are on limited incomes. and try to find ways to work with that. But we also need to look at making sure that everyone's, you know, we have a lot of users in the community that don't pay taxes, that aren't, you know, that's one of the things when, you know, a lot of people don't like a fuel tax, but when you look at, I'm not sure what the percentage is, I don't know if we've done a study on how many, people we have fueling and how many of them are residents here versus that. So those are all things, but I think a lot of it comes down to making sure we take the time to listen to the community and share with them so that they can understand why we're here, how we got here, what our options are on it. I mean, if you wanted to, you know, what I think what's the most recent is $14 million at the last for that. I mean, you're essentially taking your parks, you're taking away your library, you're taking away planning functions, just to get to that $14 million if you wanted to look at the other resources that might be available. And I think it's important for the public to recognize that and understand that.

Thank you. Thank you. Councilor McGee?

Hi. How would you balance the needs of residents with the city budget limitations when making difficult decisions?

I believe one of the first things we have to look at is protecting public safety. The safety of our public is our number one priority. So when I'm looking to those things and making limited and difficult decisions, I think that's one thing we have to look at first is how do we do that, protect that? And what are the necessary services that we have to provide? And what are those that are wants? And then those wants, balancing that, and finding out from the community, okay, if you were in this situation, would you rather have X? Or would you rather come in and do something? Why? But I think you have to look at what our primary focus is. So we need to have public safety. We need to have clean drinking water. We need to have operable streets. And we need to have an effective sewer program. So when we look at things from a public safety and what our primary functions are as a city to provide those have to come into play as we look at how we're going to deal with those limitations.

Thank you. Do we have a follow-up, anyone? Thank you. Councilor Thompson?

Yes. How important are Albany's historic districts and historic preservation in general to Albany's future?

You know, I think Albany is blessed with the historic resources that we have. And I think we have a responsibility to preserve those and to make sure that they stay vibrant. and that they are, I think they're an important part. I mean, we're known, I mean, there's, I don't think there's another community in the state that has the number and size of historic districts that we have in this community and the different types of architecture and stuff that's associated with it. So I think it's critical in preserving that on it and maintaining that history. I mean, you go back east, you know, we think of this as our old town. You know, you go back east into some of, a lot of the historic areas there, and we're talking about structures from the 1700s, you know, 1500s. And you go to Europe, you know, even greater than that. So I think we have a responsibility to preserve and protect it.

Thank you. As a city councilor, you are representing all citizens of your ward, all the citizens of your ward, citizens who have a range of backgrounds, positions, and viewpoints on city business. How does your background and life experience help you in dealing with individuals who may see things differently than you?

I think one of the things that I have an advantage with is having grown up here and being familiar with the city in a number of fashions and having served in community service as a fire chief and city manager. I have a unique perspective, but I also don't know everything. And I don't have the solutions to everything. And I think it's important that we hear from those in the cities on that. Yes, I have a background experience that gives me some base background, but I think it also gives me some tools to help hear from others on how, what do they see? One of the things I've told my employees forever, I said, once you get to the point where you think you know it all, it's time for you to leave your job. And I will never claim to know it all. I mean, I'm learning every day. And I think it's important that we look at that and we look at others' viewpoints and we have to do that and recognize that they may have different viewpoints than us. And again, I think it's coming back to looking for collaboration. And someone may come up with an excellent idea that I've never thought of. or that any of us have ever thought of, you know, to look at. So I think that's important when we look at that. But that's been kind of my experience and background throughout my career. You know, I look at my, you know, when I was serving, the employees were my most important, were my most valuable resource. And it wasn't because I didn't know everything, but comparatively they did. And I always was looking for someone that had more knowledge and experience than I did, or at least different ideas. Because I think when we get into, when you have people that all have the same ideas and stuff, that's when we get into a dangerous spot. I think it's valuable to have different views and opinions so that we can make informed decisions.

Thank you. Follow-up questions?

I have a follow-up question. What inspired you to come out of retirement and apply for this appointment?

I would say I felt an obligation. This was a position I ran for two years ago to represent this ward. Lost the position by 65 votes. And whether you elect to bring me on or not, I will harbor no ill harm, no errors, and I'd be more than happy to help in any way that I can in the future. But I felt that I owed a duty to those who did support me to at least put my name in.

Thank you. Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you very much, Kevin. Thank you.

Is the council ready for Nathan?

Or would you like more time for note taking?

You good? Councilman McGee, you good? Council, are you ready to go?

I'm good. Sorry, just putting my last notes in, sir. Okay.

Thank you.

Please bring them on.

Thank you for being here. You're Nathan. Yes. Thank you for being here this evening. We are in the process of entering bring candidates for the open war to beast to the council seat. We have six questions with with us today. Before we get started, do you have any questions for us? No, thank you. Thank you very much. Councilman German, please lay this off.

All righty. Well, welcome. City councilors are responsible for making decisions on a wide range of topics, some of which you will know a lot about and some of which you may not. Can you please share an example of a time when you had to research or self-study a topic in order to gain necessary understanding before making a judgment or decision and how this would inform your ability to do so on council, sometimes on very tight deadlines? Sure. Thanks, um, appreciate the question.

Yeah, for me, I, I work in the high T industry, so very frequently, um. There is not a single solution that is 1 that fits all essentially. Um, so my time, a lot of times it requires me to, uh. do analysis work, coordinate with other staff, research kind of what's going on there. So for me, probably the biggest example is any related project works within the workplace. A lot of times people are never gonna come to a consensus right off the bat. Sometimes we have to have those discussions to determine what steps kind of make sense from a standpoint to move forward. Ultimately focusing on the end goal. It's not to keep individuals happy, it's to provide services to the best level that we can.

Excuse us, excuse us, please keep it down over there. Thank you, go ahead, I'm sorry. Go ahead and finish. I think I'm good for right now, thanks. Councilor Newton.

Thank you. What is something you believe about Albany or city government that you believe other members of the council might disagree with you about?

That's a great question. Albany is definitely a growing city. We have lots happening here. I think from a strategy standpoint, It's great to see our population growing. Probably for me, the biggest thing that... maybe of you know remote concern if you will based on the question that you have is maybe whether or not we were planning from a strategic standpoint do we have the infrastructure to kind of support this has to do with you know roadways like control you know traffic basic traffic control mechanisms That's probably, for me, that's one of the things that I suspect that maybe not everyone would agree with. I think it's fantastic to see new people coming to our community, but we definitely have to have the infrastructure to support those new people.

Thank you.

No, thanks. Thank you. Councillor Smith.

Good afternoon, evening. Our neighborhood streets are in terrible shape. Thanks for mentioning them in your previous answer. The money available to fix them is very limited. The council has created a transportation utility that could charge a monthly fee to all city utility customers and use that money exclusively for street repairs and maintenance. The council also supports a local fuel tax that would be used exclusively for that purpose. The fuel tax would have to be approved by Albany voters and is not likely to be up for a vote for two more years. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THOSE TWO OPTIONS? DO YOU HAVE OTHER IDEAS FOR WHO AND HOW TO PAY FOR STREET MAINTENANCE?

NO, IT'S A GREAT QUESTION. THANK YOU. You're 100% right. We invest very little money towards our roadways. We're about, you know, a third or roughly about that dollar figure less than what we need to actually maintain the roadways here in Albany. We have about 200 miles of streets here. We've deferred maintenance over the last several decades. So to your point, yeah, it's 100% correct. We have roads that are in disarray, if you will. As for solutions towards that, I think it's interesting to start looking at options like you're talking about, either placing minimal fees with a guarantee of where those funds actually will be utilized. That's a fair statement. But we also have to really consider you know where where those fees are actually being being generated from um if it's from a utility such as water or you know um similar it's kind of interesting to Think of a fee that would be used for something that's not related to that service. I do agree with the second point about utilizing gas taxes. That's the whole purpose for that tax is to support roadways in general. Oregon Department of Transportation collects millions of dollars a month for the state of Oregon, you know, related to that and has been leveraging those funds to support, you know, highways and freeways and that kind of thing. So hopefully that answers your question there. Yeah, thanks.

Council McGee, you're up next up.

Hi. HOW WOULD YOU BALANCE THE NEEDS OF RESIDENTS WITH THE CITY BUDGET LIMITATIONS WHEN MAKING DIFFICULT DECISIONS?

YEAH, THIS IS ALWAYS AN INTERESTING ONE. ULTIMATELY AT THE END OF THE DAY YOU HAVE TO FOCUS ON WHAT MAKES SENSE FOR THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE. WE'RE NEVER GOING TO HAVE EVERYONE IN OUR COMMUNITY AGREE FOR HOW FUNDS SHOULD BE ALLOCATED. So my focus is very, very much on supporting people in my ward to look at options that they consider as important. As much as I believe my opinions matter at the end of the day, it's up to our community to make some of those determinations and for us to kind of listen to those.

Any follow-up questions?

HOW WOULD YOU GATHER THAT INFORMATION FROM RESIDENTS IN YOUR WARD?

THERE'S TWO WAYS. I THINK, YOU KNOW, ELECTRONIC METHODS, WE HAVE LOTS OF OUR COMMUNITY THAT REACH OUT TO PEOPLE ELECTRONICALLY TO OUR CITY COUNCIL PEOPLE. SO BEING ENGAGED THERE AND WILLING TO HAVE CONVERSATIONS WITH FOLKS. ALSO, I THINK SOME OF IT REQUIRES OUTREACH. YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO BE ACTIVE IN OUR COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND, YOU KNOW, WHAT'S HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITY. SO THIS IS ATTENDING DIFFERENT EVENTS, ENSURING THAT WE'RE COMMUNICATING WITH PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY, TRYING TO BE MORE ENGAGED WITH THOSE FOLKS AS WELL.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU. NEW SPEAKER YEAH, THANKS.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU. I'M WRITING MY NOTES. OKAY. COUNCILOR THOMPSON.

NEW SPEAKER THANK YOU. How important are Albany's historic districts and historic preservation in general to Albany's future?

Yeah, this is a great question. Our historic district, I think it's really important from, you know, seeing where we came from, what's still available, how our community was formed. I think we have some great history here in Albany. Whether or not it should be our primary focus, that's up for question, right? We have a whole entire community outside of that that's also interesting and have several members of our community that have voices as well. Not to say that the Albany Historical District isn't important. I think it is. But if it was a question of helping a majority of our community, that's probably where my focus would be in general.

Okay. Any follow up to that? As a city councilor, you are representing all citizens of your ward. citizens who have a range of backgrounds, positions, viewpoints on city issues. How does your background and life experience help you in dealing with individuals who may see things differently than you?

Yeah, no, thanks. For me, as I was mentioning earlier, I come from an IT background. I'm very analytic. I want to invest time into researching. I want to ensure that you know, voices are heard. No single person is, you know, going to be the ultimate decision maker or the ultimate push towards an answer, if you will. So I think it's really important to try to get a diverse group that you're listening to. This could be all sorts of opinions that we, you know, as a group may may not agree with or we completely may agree with. I think people appreciate being listened to and they appreciate that people are willing to be engaged and let them know that their concerns are important and they're valid at the end of the day. BUT ULTIMATELY, IT IS VERY MUCH FOCUSED ON WHAT SERVES THE BEST, THE MOST PART OF THE COMMUNITY, IF YOU WILL, INSTEAD OF, YOU KNOW, ONE INDIVIDUAL'S OPINION, SO.

THANK YOU.

YEAH, THANKS.

ANY FOLLOW-UP?

YES. What inspired you to apply for appointment to this position?

Yeah, I've been living in Albany almost my whole entire life. I grew up in North Albany, spent a lot of time there. Right now I live in our southeast part of Albany. I'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME VOLUNTEERING WITH DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS HERE IN ALBANY, INCLUDING BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA, AS AN ASSISTANT SCOUT MASTER FOR SEVERAL YEARS. I VOLUNTEERED WITH THE ALBANY POLICE DEPARTMENT TO HELP REDUCE SOME OF OUR BLIGHT ISSUES THAT WE HAVE HERE IN ALBANY. THIS IS GRAFFITI AND ABANDONED VEHICLES AND A HANDFUL OF OTHER SITUATIONS LIKE THAT. I SPENT TIME GOING THROUGH LYNN COUNTY'S CERT PROGRAM. I THINK IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO HAVE A COMMUNITY THAT'S WILLING TO HELP OUT EACH OTHER AND BE AVAILABLE IN THE EVENT THAT THERE IS SOMETHING THAT OCCURS IN THE FUTURE. SO ULTIMATELY FOR ME, THIS IS MY COMMUNITY AT THE MOMENT. This is where I've spent most of my life. I have the available time and resources to invest in it. I want us to ultimately be successful is what it comes down to.

Thank you. Okay. I think any other questions for Nathan? Thank you very much.

Awesome. Thank you.

Did you have anything, Dr. McGim, before he leaves?

I don't.

Okay, thank you. So, Council, would you like to deliberate before we move on to the next steps if they're necessary? What's your next in your process?

So the next process, if the council's ready, is I can distribute ballots, and the council can vote. I did want to point out one thing, though, Councilor Newton asked earlier. When the appointed city councilor, if one is selected tonight, will be seated on the dais. So a brief orientation will be provided prior to the September 23rd council meeting. Council member will be provided with a laptop and other materials. And then at the September 23rd, 2026 council meeting, the ceremonial oath of office will be provided. If a council member is selected tonight, they will have the oath of office offered to them tomorrow. So they'll be sworn in tomorrow. But if the council's ready, we can distribute ballots.

Council, are you ready? Give us a spin, please.

Can I make a comment before we vote? Yeah. I'm really impressed with the candidates that we have to choose from. Yes. I agree. Agreed. Very. I agree. It's like, where have they been all our lives, you know?

Just here in Albany, apparently.

Right, just in Albany.

Ward two.

Okay, so candidates with zero votes will be removed from further consideration. So this is an elimination ballot as well?

That is correct, yeah.

Okay, cool.

Yeah, so Noah Lancaster's still on the ballot because it was prepared ahead of the meeting, but obviously he's removed by your decision earlier.

Right, but in the hypothetical scenario where two of the candidates get votes from the council and one doesn't, then the consideration just moves to those two candidates for the subsequent?

That's correct, yes. Okay, cool, thank you.

And Councilor McGee has her ballot.

Councilor McGee does not have a ballot. She's not present here. So what's gonna happen when ballots are collected, I'm gonna ask her what her vote is, and then I'm gonna go through the other five ballots that everyone here has marked, so.

Okay, thank you for the clarification.

Eric, I have a question.

Go ahead.

When you said what my vote is, is it like a one, two, three, tell me, because I don't have the ballot in front of me, so I'm not, I'm a little confused.

So you don't have a ballot in front of you for me to collect to read what your choice was, so you are going.

Oh, I'm just picking one person.

Yes, you are picking one person.

Okay, that's all I need to know, thank you.

Are you council ready?

Yep. All right, Rameshia, I have the ballots. Who was your selection? Councilor McGee? Who's still working on it?

Oh, I'm sorry. I thought I was unmuted. I apologize. Kevin.

Okay, here is the ballots. So we have a vote from Councilor Thomson for Tara Goulson. We have a vote from Councilor Van Grimmelen for Tara Goulson. I have a vote from Councilor Smith for Kevin Kripeman. We have a vote from Mayor Johnson for Kevin Kripeman. And we have a vote from Councilor Newton for Tara Goulson.

So what's her count?

I believe that's a 3-3 tie. Okay.

A 3-3 tie with two candidates then receiving zero votes.

That's correct.

Correct. So we have two candidates remaining under consideration.

So you guys ready for another roundabout? Sure. You want us to discuss them before?

Yeah, can we deliberate before we do that?

Yeah, go for it. I think so.

I think that would be wise.

So for me, would you mind if I go first? We're gonna do our talking. Equal votes. So I chose Kevin because of his background, a longtime city civil servant for the city. Fire Chief, all of his roles have been nonpartisan. He knows the city backwards and forwards. He stepped up and supported our public safety levy for the city of Albany by doing commercials and outreach. I think he'll be a good fit for this council with his background and what we're facing, going forward with street maintenance and dash taxes. I really do think that he'd be a good fit for the council.

I'll go next. You don't mind? I voted for Kevin Kreitman as well because of his background, because of some of the answers he gave about, he's, Oh, let me consult my notes here. He is focused on consensus and looking for collaboration. He has a very good grasp of the state of revenue for the state of Oregon that trickles down to us and how to manage that. He has a good idea of what our basic services are. And as he described it, our primary focus, public safety, drinking water, streets, and sewer. He has a respect for public safety. the preservation of our historic districts. And he is open to hearing from people with different backgrounds. I liked his comment about the most important resource he had when he was working were his employees. because they had different ideas than he had. And they know different things. And I think any of us can think of the people who live around us, who work with us, who are our friends, who may be very different people from who we are, but we value them because they are different. And we can learn from them and form our own opinions and our outlook on life based on the input and the influence of other people who know things that we don't know. I think a really deciding factor for me is that he did run in the last election. He only lost by 65 votes. He feels that he's obligated to the people who voted for him, and I respect that a great deal. I think that the people of Ward 2 would be well served by their neighbor, Kevin Kreitman.

I'm going to go next. I would have to agree. One of the deciding factors for me was the fact that he did say he ran and he felt obligated. I really liked the historical context that he gave about the city and about the budget line items. That was really important to me. I think Tara is great. I love the fact that she said the communities are stewards of, the residents are stewards of the community. But I think that his entire process breakdown of the history of Senate Bill 1537 was really interesting to hear regarding the research piece. So that was a deciding factor for me.

Well, um, what I vote for Tara, I suppose, um, thorough knowledge of doesn't happen to be Albany, but it's another city in Oregon of about the same size. Her thorough knowledge of the budget aspect of parks, she talked about the concept of learning about SDC charges and how they fit into the overall scheme. I thought that was good. Her whole concept of We tend to look at, or citizens become customers, and we should think of them as, or they should think of themselves as stewards. I mean, that aligns right with what I think. I often, I try to say all the time, I really want to help people who put the computer away, stop complaining, and want to do things. And that's what she was talking about. Clearly a different, so she has experience with the local government. clearly different than Kevin's long experience, which was as a city manager and a fire chief. And when it comes down to it, I really feel that we have a city manager. We have a fire chief. I like that Tara is kind of in the trenches and on the front lines of city service, which I think is so important. I think that's where our focus needs to be is helping the frontline workers. And when we look to creating positions, put them on the frontline workers. And also her activity, I was like she mentioned, she didn't get into it too much, but in California, she was on community boards and commissions. So she brings that knowledge and nonprofit organizations. I believe she's on the board of AYSO, which is probably one of our largest in terms of children participation, one of our largest activities that happen here in Albany. So I think she's part of the kind of families that are in Albany and haven't always had a seat in leadership and now do on this council, and I think she'd fit right in with that.

Yeah, I'll also speak to why I voted for Tara on the first ballot. First of all, when someone gets up in front of us and on the very first question brings up how they have had to bring themselves up to speed on SDCs. like what more could you ask for in a candidate? Like that just hits real close. And understanding the budget process, like Michael highlighted, how restricted funds can and can't be used, and framing that from a perspective of the education that we're responsible for doing with our community, because it's really easy to look at a total number of a city budget and go, well, they have all this money, why is my local street alligator pavement? But I think that what she spoke to is exactly what we should be doing as a city and as a council. There were so many things that I highlighted or underlined or circled in her interview. And now I'm trying to read my own handwriting, but really the concept of It takes the three parties, the council, the staff, and the residents to make all of this work, and the residents being such a big part of that. And I think that that's really easy to lose sight of from both sides of the dais. And so that was a really refreshing perspective for someone to say out loud. And community and people are part of the solution. Government's not this monolithic entity. I mean, local government particularly is all of us. know the folks who are in this room and the folks who are not in this room um i think she has a really realistic perspective on things like street funding um where like if you have a revenue issue um understanding what that means in terms of the education that you need to do with the community but also sometimes it is a revenue issue and and you have to raise revenue um Every element of the city government provides a critical service to residents, but what provides the most community benefit when we're talking about making difficult budget decisions. Be honest with the community about the cost to provide services. Don't try and sweep the actual cost of things under the rug, basically, which is something that has caused a lot of deferred maintenance in this city. I think that her background is really solid. I think that her outlook is exactly what we need on this council. And I think that her comments about being open to having your mind changed by perspectives in the community When we're appointing someone to an elected position, like, I don't know, that's what I want. I mean, this person's going to be helping me represent my ward for the remainder of my term and will be representing me when I step off this dais after December. And that's the kind of attitude that I'm looking for. And Mr. Kreitman has an impressive resume, no question about it. I was a little concerned with the specificity of some examples or needing to be prompted a second time for examples. And with the Senate Bill 1537 answer, his comments about something being passed with a supermajority in Salem was actually the one comment from any of the candidates that really gave me pause. um because our positions are non-partisan and yes positions at the in the state legislature are not like that's just a reality um but i think that throwing up your hands and saying well this was passed with a super majority we have no opportunity to advocate that's not the kind of attitude that i'm looking for from a from a non-partisan city official um You know, I don't have a lot of time, but I'll write to, you know, folks on both sides of the aisle in Salem if I feel like we need to advocate. And that, like I say, that really, that gave me pause. Like, he had a lot of good answers, but he was the only candidate who said something that legit gave me pause. And so I was, you know, I definitely came down on the side of Ms. Golson. And that's, yeah, like, I was really impressed. Councilor Dutton?

I'm happy to elucidate on why I voted for Ms. Goldson. First, I feel like her perspective was a breath of fresh air to hear the, you know, I do feel like a lot of residents feel like they are customers. They're just getting served. They don't realize the partnership. That was a really important perspective for me, and I hope that she would become appointed and help us bring that perspective further. I also really appreciate her communication style. She was extremely thorough. I also really value her governmental budget experience, and I also value that she is really representative. So when looking at these two candidates, I'm seeing kind of the future of Albany. We have a lot of people moving in, younger, having different needs and expectations, then kind of like the old Albany, which nothing against that at all. I'm just seeing the difference in how services are going to be I also, you know, and Councillor Smith, when you were stating the reasons why you were voting for Mr. Kreitman, saying, you know, wanted to listen to people on all sides, have their mind changed, et cetera, you could have changed from he to she, and I feel like they could have, I feel like their answers along those lines were very similar. And then, sorry, again, I'm also trying to read my handwriting now. I did like her value of the historic district and preservation, and that is something that makes Albany Albany. I also appreciated, really, I'm not sure if you guys noticed in her application materials, she put in there her communication, how she communicates effectively, her leadership style. Just seeing from the get-go, she had the forethought to put that in. would love to actually have all of us go through that kind of exercise. And I'd love to know how you communicate best, Mr. Mayor. I'd love to know how to best work with fellow counselors. I love that she had the forethought to put that before us. Mr. Kreitman, yes, he has an extensive, fabulous resume. I also was concerned about the aspecificity of some of his ANSWERS, THEY FELT VERY GOVERNMENTAL BUREAUCRATIC KIND OF NON-ANSWERS. AND THE FIRST FEW WORDS HE SAID TO THE QUESTION I ASKED WAS, I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING OFF HAND. SO THAT GAVE ME PAUSE. AND THEN ALSO WITH THE SENATE BILL COMMENT, I CONCUR WITH YOU, COUNSELOR VANDERBILEN, THERE IS STILL A LOT YOU CAN DO WORKING ACROSS THE AISLE AND EVEN WITHIN WHEN THERE'S A SUPER MAJORITY. Not everyone votes the same way all the time. Things can get split. You can talk to people. I believe in being a true advocate, and that really tipped me in Ms. Golson's favor.

I'd like to say something additional. I feel like one of the things that our city council has been criticized about is that we all think the same way. And as someone who thinks very similarly to Ms. Golsan and some of our other fellow counselors, for me, I'm looking for a little bit more diversity in thought and someone who doesn't think like me, someone who brings a different perspective, whether that's historic, whether that's being specific. I don't want anyone on the council that is, how do I want to put this, that's kind of go, that's Doesn't seem like it's enough diversity. I feel like some of the answers that Ms. Goldstein gave are answers that I've heard from people that sit on our council currently. And I just think that one of the things we have to think about is listening to some of our constituents. And they say that we all, a lot of us, sound alike. And if we don't have enough diversity of thought, I think that that's a problem. And so for me, having someone who thinks a little bit differently than me is attractive in a way that I don't think that this council has had in a while. Could you be specific? That is specific.

That's as specific as I'm going to get at this moment.

But I but yeah, I'll just I'll say it when when. When our other two counselors came on, there was an article in the Democratic Herald that painted us all as the same person, all as the same, quote unquote, political party, even though this is nonpartisan. And that gave me a big concern. And again, hearing Ms. Carlson, even looking at some of her materials, while they were impressive, I feel that we have some people on our council that are already representative in that space. And for me, I'm looking for someone who does not think like me. You already have a me, so I'm looking for someone who thinks differently.

Councillor Newton wanted to. Councillor Newton, go ahead.

I just wanted to mention that this council currently, Mr. Mayor, I'm sure you can confirm this, we have had the most tiebreakers. We do not all think the same. Mr. Mayor has had to break.

Several.

So many. The most, I think, in history. So just wanted to mention that for anyone listening.

And thank you for saying that because that is not what the public is seeing. That's not what our community is seeing. That's not what a lot of our community feels like. That is definitely not what I've been hearing. And to be honest, especially in the last two years, it's been very apparent.

May I?

Well, Councilor Thompson was first.

Yeah, that's fair, Councilor McGee. I think it's been the most split votes recently, for sure. I can't speak to historically. And also, many a times, I've voted differently than the whole council. And so we can go along and along. I know the article you're talking about, but that's the article's mistake, not reality. The reality is we have good discussions. We have a differing of opinions. And that's fair. That's your take, Councillor McGee. But I just disagree that that's a problem.

I'm not saying that it's, I'm not saying it's the, I'm just saying that she asked me for an example. That was the one example that I can think about that I wanted to disclose. But I'm saying that there has been discussion in our community the fact that there's not enough diversity of thought that sits on our city council, that it's not representative of everyone. And that is, for me, problematic.

Councilor Smith, though?

I thank my fellow Ward 3 Councilor for her comments because she sums up very nicely what I was thinking about diversity of thought and the split votes and the reasons therefore. The other thing I wanted to say about Mr. Kreitman is that he is not a city manager any longer. He is not a fire chief any longer. He is a retired citizen. with a different background from what most of us have, and a very similar background as someone who has lived in Albany for most of his life, someone who cares deeply about the community, and to the point of non-specific answers, Anyone who has known Kevin for as long as I have, for example, and worked with him, you want specific answers, you want detail, you want digging into things, he's your guy. He can take apart a budget in ways that I did not know were possible. He is very detail-oriented. He cares very much about... the people who work for him, the people who work with him, the way the money is spent. He doesn't leave, he doesn't do things halfway. I'll leave it at that, but thank you again to Councillor McGee.

I'm sure if you had the same lived experience working with someone else, like if you worked with Tara, Ms. Golson, you would feel the same. But we are basing our voting off of these interviews that came before us.

Correct. And I want to say for the record that when I read through, as I said before we even started voting, we have an impressive group of people to choose from. Her resume and her answers in her application were exceptional. And I thought, wow. I wish we had more open seats. I would love to see her run in the future. I would love to have a spot for her now. She is not my first choice, but it's very close. She is exceptional. There's no denying that. And whatever she does in life, I'm glad she lives here. And I know that she would be an important part of the community now and throughout the time that she chooses to stay.

So I like both candidates. I think they both will bring something to the council that would propel the city forward. I struggle with choosing one over the other. However, Kevin did run and he was only lost by 65 votes. He put himself out there to the ballot, to the voters. I think he'll do well in Ward 2, which I live in Ward 2. So I support Kevin going forward. So you wanna go ahead and vote, council?

Oh, I can move over here. Please make sure you're marking the round and signing your ballots.

I didn't sign the first one.

It means putting your name at the top.

Oh, I just put my signature on it. I signed the first one then.

All right, Councilor McGee, who is your vote for?

Kevin.

Thank you. We have a vote from Councilor Thompson for Tara Goulson. Vote from Councilor Van Drimelen for Tara Goulson. Vote from Councilor Smith for Kevin Kripeman. Vote from Mayor Johnson for Kevin Kripeman. And a vote from Councilor Newton for Tara Goulson. So it looks like we're still 3-3 tied.

So it seems like we're going to be stuck there. Would you guys like to discuss some more or vote as we die?

Something else I'd like to mention is that Ms. Goulson, in her response for the, during Mr. Thompson's question about historic preservation, she mentioned she previously lived in the historic district and rented there. And since then she said that she purchased her home. I think it's important to have the perspective of someone who has recently purchased a home, recently has rented a home, knows what it's like to be involved in affordability and living in Albany. And I think that it is important to have that recent lived experience. She also said that she has children in childcare. I remember sitting on this dais my first year, talking about how much childcare costs, and Councillor Kopcinski said, oh, how much is it, like a few hundred dollars?

That was not.

Absolutely not. So understanding what it costs especially when we are making decisions that are going to impact our constituents' budgets and their pocketbooks. Understanding the whole scope, someone that has that exact recent lived experience and is in those trenches, I think that is a very valuable perspective to have on our council, and I would like to urge my fellow councilors to vote for Ms. Golson.

We just finished the vote.

I understand there is another round.

I just want to comment on what Councilor Newton said. I appreciate that. And as someone who is also still has had an apartment, has been a renter, now in a home, I also have that lived experience. So that's what I mean by we already have people. I don't want anyone, I don't think it's productive to have anyone that mirrors me on a council when we need a much more diverse perspective of thought in how we do things. That is a prime example of what I'm talking about.

Councilor Thompson?

Yeah, I just, this idea, I came up with a question. I came up with a question on historic preservation, historic districts. If you want to know my background on that position, I was on the board with the Friends of Historic Albany. My wife was on landmarks for 10 years. There is a strong feeling amongst people in the preservation sphere, the people most active in all the events surrounding our historic districts, that the districts are under pressure. Development is encroaching upon the districts, which is in contrast to the residents of the districts. Our own city staff did a poll of residents in the historic districts, and they came back with like 80% believe strongly in historic reservations. So there's a reason behind my question and as Councilor Newton pointed out, Tara answered it the best way when she said, that's what makes Albany, Albany. That's the kind of answer I was looking for. So I don't understand the concept of coming up with a question and then trying to find out who gives the least answer that I'm looking for. That makes zero sense to me. She gave the answer I was looking for and the answer I think Albany needs, thanks.

Yeah, I'm going to speak in general here for a moment, and I may get to a specific candidate, I may not, but I want to address the notion of certain traits may already be represented on council, and that's the farthest thing from consideration when I'm looking at these, I'm looking for who's going to make a positive impact on this city with their outlook, with their experience. And there's a case to be made for both candidates for that, certainly. But I think that it does a disservice to the community to say, well, we already have someone who has blah, blah, blah, and this candidate has that same trait or experience or whatever. Looking at these candidates in totality, that's why I'm falling where I'm falling on Ms. Golsan and not Mr. Kreitman. And with my concerns over that, I think that... If I'm looking at who is going to at least make an attempt to carry this community forward, it's not that either one is not going to do that. Far from it. I don't think either one of them would be on this dais. But I think the one who had the better answers tonight and the one who gave me a clearer picture was of how they want to do that in a way that at least I think is going to be positive for Albany is Ms. Golsan. And I would be remiss to not vote in that manner.

I agree that Having a vision for moving forward isn't an important part of the role we play. I'm also concerned about the here and now and solving the problems before us that will help us move into the future. The problems before us are all related to money and what to do with it and what to do when we don't have enough of it to go around. I'm kind of one of those people who checks things off the list and moves on with the hope that things are better in the future. And I do like Ms. Goldson's view, her vision, her practical application towards her job and her apparent love of Albany. I'm thinking about the budget, our budget, and how to solve problems that are right in front of us right now. And I'd like to have a more diverse opinion, somebody who has different experiences from any of us. So I'm not gonna change my vote.

I'm where I'm at.

I think that it would be important to have someone with recent budget experience, you know, that is in the trenches right now of day-to-day life, is more representative of what Albany is and what it is also becoming more like, which we are having more young families move into Albany, period. It is a good place to live. The number of Tier 1 retirees is declining. We need to make Albany livable for everyone. And I think that also includes people like myself, people like Councilor Van Drimelen, people like Councilor McGee. That is who, yes. No, but it is, the amount of younger people that are moving here because Albany is kind of the last affordable place to live in the Valley, that is who we should be thinking about. And I think that that perspective will be best served being represented by Ms. Golson.

I agree with you, Councilor Noon. I really do. I agree that we do need, you know, I agree with that. But also, it is something to say that folks did vote for somebody in their ward that was very close to winning. And I think that they should have an opportunity to be represented by that person. I see. I don't want it to, I think it would be remiss not to remind that, that people, that the voters, people that select us, did select someone at some point, and it was important to them. And I don't think that that should go unnoticed.

I think it should not go unnoticed that he did lose. A majority of his ward did not vote for him.

He said he lost by 64 votes. Is that what I understood? 65. It's a moot point, though.

It is a moot point. He lost. I do not think that is an item that should be taken under consideration.

Be that as it may, I am thinking about what I have been hearing over and over again. A LOT OF PEOPLE ON THIS COUNCIL SOUNDS LIKE. THAT IS EXTREMELY CONCERNING FOR ME. THAT MEANS THAT THERE ARE FOLKS WHO ARE NOT REPRESENTED. AND COUNCILOR VANDREMELEN, THE ONLY REASON WHY I BROUGHT UP THAT ABOUT ME BEING A RENT RENT ALL OF THAT IS BECAUSE COUNCILOR NEWTON BOUGHT IT UP AND IT SOLIDIFIED MY POINT.

COUNCILOR VANDREMELEN. COUNCILOR THOMPSON.

Councilor McGee, I understand what you're saying. However, in this room even tonight, we've... Like, we could take apart the argument that everybody on this council thinks the same, votes the same, whatever, six ways from Sunday as someone who has acted as a frequent swing vote on this council. Like, I'll name that. Like... I've caused ties, I've tried to break up log jams. Like, if the statement isn't grounded in reality, I have a hard time taking that as a guiding light.

I'm not saying you should take it as a guiding light. All I'm saying is, Councilor Newton brought that up, and all I'm saying is, okay, if we're going to go there, this is the point that it was to solidify. I'm not saying you should take it as a guiding light. But that's neither here nor there. I'm not moving my vote. I'm staying where I'm at. And so that's just where it is for me.

I was going to say, we shouldn't have just one renter on council. We shouldn't have just one Jewish woman on council. We shouldn't have just one black man on council. I don't think that, oh, one person fills this checkbox, we're good. I just, I'm not.

I don't appreciate that statement because the city of Albany didn't elect me because I'm black.

I know, I understand.

They elected me to get stuff done.

And they didn't elect me because I'm Jewish. I understand that. But I'm just saying when you're saying that there's one viewpoint, we don't need anyone else has the same view on one thing.

I think we've reached an impasse, is that correct? We agree that there's an impasse? Yes, there's an impasse. Do your thing.

All right, so the next part of the process will be rolling dice. So I'm gonna go grab Tara and Kevin, and then they're gonna roll dice, a single die to see who gets the highest number, and then the highest number will be the selected city councilor.

I'm sorry, that was like a, what kind of argument? Just trying to think of like different things off the top of my head, just like renter versus someone that has a dog, I guess I could have said, you know, but that.

You also intimated that we're two old folks on council.

Yeah, I heard that too. I'm sorry, that's not clear, thank you.

I'm just 61, that's the new 40.

No, no, no, I don't think you're old at all.

I do like the discussion. I think that it was good to have this discussion. I hope everybody agrees the discussion was heartfelt, and it was, I think, good for us to have it.

The first thing we've agreed on.

Either way, we win. Either way, we win. I do.

I know you're a GIS nerd. Is Ward 2 the youngest ward?

I think we're three now.

Demographically, are you talking?

Yeah.

I'd have to pull some data. I don't have that kind of population statistics at my fingers.

Yes, ageism.

It's not ageism. I was just asking about a characteristic of a ward.

Well, housing affordability has been my thing since day one, and so I'm glad that they're able to buy homes here.

All right, are you guys ready?

So candidates, we've reached an impasse. Three votes for, three votes against, or three votes for the other person. I would like to say from all of us, I think that you guys are both excellent candidates. And I think that we appreciate you coming here and kind of sharing your vision and the things that you've been through in your history and your experiences. But we've reached an impasse. And so the city recorder, I think, explained the process. And we'll leave it up to fate.

All right, so got these guys for purchase today. I'm gonna select one out of here, and then both of you will take a chance to roll it, and we will determine which one is highest.

Six.

Just one die, right?

Just one.

OK.

Otherwise, that's math.

Right.

Either of you want to check it out or anything?

No, I think we have. All right.

We'll have you go ahead and roll first, and then we'll call it on the floor.

Oh, on the floor. OK. Like a three?

Like a six? All right.

All right. Congratulations.

Thanks for your participation. Thank you. So who's our winner?

Yes, so it's six for Kevin and three for Tara.

So Kevin's the winner?

Yeah.

Congratulations to both of you for being here today. Thank you very much.

Thank you all.

Appreciate it. OK, I would like to take a 10 minute break so we can reset everything. I'll be back here at 6.55. Thank you all for joining us to resume the City Council meeting on September 9th, 2026 at 6.55 p.m. Next on tonight's agenda, item four, adoption of the consent calendar. Council, what would you like to do with that? I move to adopt the consent agenda as written. Second. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed say no. Thank you. Presentations and Ceremonies, Item 6, States Regional Municipal Solid Waste Task Force, Bailey Payne and Sean McGuire, page 50 to 56 in your packet.

Good evening. Thank you, Mayor, for the opportunity to present to you and also to the city manager who had the invite. Also, thanks to Eric for the logistics for coming here. So thank you for that. This presentation, oh, I'm sorry, I'm Sean McGuire in the Benton County Board of Commissioners Office.

I'm Bailey Payne, Solid Waste Program Coordinator for Benton County. Thank you.

So thank you for your time. This topic came up a few weeks ago with the city manager's meeting with Benton County Administrator Rick Rager. And again, thank you for the city manager for thinking this would be a nice idea for us to explain what's going on at the state level when it's coming to regional municipal solid waste. So our intent today is just to update you on what's been going on. It's been a several-year process, but our intent is kind of just give you an update. I know we have like 10 minutes of presentation, 10 of questions, but we're really looking to hear your input. The task force is really trying to get input from local jurisdictions, counties we've heard a lot from, but municipalities, that's why we're here today. Bottom line is I'll cut to the chase that at some point Coffin Butte will be shutting down. And the question is, how do we get to there? Current estimates are it is in the next 10 to 12 years, 2036, 2037. That seems like a lot of, that seems pretty far off, but that's basically tomorrow when we start looking at our Plan B infrastructure planning and those things. So I just want to kind of give an overview of that. The other big issue why this matters to you all is that 100% of our waste goes to Coffman Butte, and there's five counties, Tillamook, Lincoln, Polk, Linn, and Benton. And so with that much reliance on a single site, when that goes away, then what? That's really the question that we're trying to ask. So the fundamental question that we've been asking for, what, five years now is, what do we do when Coffin Beach shuts down as a region, not just a city or a county itself? DO A VERY QUICK HISTORY HERE IN THE REGION. BACK IN 22, 23, BENTON COUNTY INITIATED THE BENTON COUNTY TALKS TRASH, AND THAT WAS REALLY LOOKING AT COVERING PEOPLE SPECIFICALLY, BUT THERE WAS A FIFTH ONE THAT WAS LOOKING AT REGIONAL SUSTAINABLE MATERIALS MANAGEMENT. The following year, Benton County committed a lot of resources and time to bring together what was called the Regional Sustainable Materials Management Plan Task Force. That was 20 members. We had all the counties in the region represented there. Industry was represented, nonprofits and a bunch. That was about a nine month effort. There were 17 recommendations from four different subcommittees. The bottom line is every single one talked about explicitly or implicitly the need for regional collaboration. And so from that, Representative Finger McDonald initiated the legislation that was passed in 2025 that created this task force, the task force that's been meeting since December, and that is the Municipal Solid Waste Task Force. In that bill, the main charge was, and I quote, identify solutions for waste disposal in our region, and our region being the Willamette Valley. The challenge we have and the reason why this has been going on for so many years is currently the system is incredibly decentralized. Cities, you all have your contracts, as well as Dallas and Lebanon and everybody, and then the counties have ours. And it's really hard for us to, at local government level, to pull all that material together, to look at this as a together and not just a series of all the cities and counties. And so that's very difficult. The other one is because it's so decentralized, the amount of material is very small. And if and we keep talking about the task force meetings over and over this phrase economies of scale. If I had a nickel or we had a nickel, we would not be bureaucrats. But that is how we're trying to get to that. How can we get enough material from everyone as opposed to packing every little thing off? A REALLY GOOD EXAMPLE, ABOUT THREE MONTHS AGO, THE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR FROM POKE COUNTY CAME OUT AND IN THREE MINUTES NAILED IT. THEY'RE TRYING TO DO A TRANSFER STATION, BUT THEY CAN'T PENCIL IT OUT BECAUSE EACH JURISDICTION IN POKE COUNTY HAS THEIR OWN AGREEMENTS AND HE JUST LAID IT OUT THAT THAT IS THE LIMITING FACTOR. And so when we're trying to get through all these and it again to that decentralized, it's challenging and to let not let go of the power, but just to understand when we're all individual, we're kind of at the mercy of the industry. But if we can be more regional, we have options. And so that was really the impetus to, as I just said, over the last five or six years. So with that, during this task force, Representative McDonald, DEVELOPED THIS LEGISLATIVE OR POLICY CONCEPT. I THINK THAT'S IN YOUR PACKET. I THINK YOU MENTIONED THAT, MAYOR. AND JUST VERY HIGH LEVEL, THIS IS COMPLETELY VOLUNTARY, AND THIS IS RIGHT OUT OF REPRESENTATIVE FINGER MCDONALD. IT LEANS IN ON COLLABORATION, HOW CAN LOCAL JURISDICTIONS WORK TOGETHER TO START MOVING THIS INTO WHERE WE CAN ENJOY A LITTLE MORE INPUT ON HOW WE'RE DEALING WITH OUR RATE PAYERS AND OUR CONSTITUENTS. It offers funding in this current proposal, or we've been looking at that the last two or three months about what are different funding options for infrastructure projects. Flow control, giving Marion County has flow control right now, having that Authority to if we get all these things together, we can decide where that goes and have the private sector look at us and as a customer and like, okay, maybe we have options where we're very limited currently.

Um, excuse me, my flow control you means the flow of refuse. That's correct.

Yeah. Flow control is a tool that local governments can use to direct where the garbage is going to go. Right.

Thank you. Of course. And then the other one that involved in this is there's no creation of some metro. We keep hearing from local fear that there's going to be another layer that has not come up in our conversations as a viable option. How that mechanism works when we talk about collaboration, is that an IGA? Are we coming together in some legal? That's to be decided as we move forward. But right now, voluntary collaborative funding potential, that's where is that the key of what Representative Finger McDonald has put forth. SO THE ONE OTHER ONE THAT HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS IS WHAT IS CALLED AN INTERMODAL OR A HUB AND SPOKE. THAT WOULD BE WE TRASH WASTE COMES IN FROM VARIOUS MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES, GOES TO A SITE, THAT TRASH IS PUT ONTO TRAINS OR SOME OTHER AND THEN SHIPPED OUT OF OUR REGION, OUT EITHER WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT ARLINGTON, NOTHING IS LOCKED IN STONE YET BUT THAT WOULD BE economies of scale far more efficient, far more environmentally responsible and better for the rate payers. And so that's the one thing we do want to share. Rates are going to go up. I mean, there's just that's just how this is, especially as I'm an economist by trade. Scarcity brings higher rates. Usually it's a matter of is it going to be individual local governments or is this going to be larger as a more collaborative to hopefully keep those rates are going up lower than everyone on their own? So the real crux, and this is what Commissioner Malone, who chairs the task force, why the urgency? The consultant that we use for the SMMP task force estimated the infrastructure to be over four years. And that's if you decided right this second. No dice would be involved in that. Hopefully that would be a much bigger conversation. But that's tomorrow. So when I started this conversation to say, if Coffin Butte is on track to shut down in ten to twelve years, and it's four or five years, just all that. And Polk County has been trying to transfer stations since twenty eighteen. At six years, a shovel has never seen a blade of grass. And so that's where we're the urgency. And we're looking at this from the perspective of local governments. And that is kind of what we're trying to work our way through with the task force. So as I said, I want to be very brief, just kind of give you an overview. But if there's any specific or general questions, but also what are your issues? What are you, so we can come back to, Bailey and I can come back and to Commissioner Malone. This is what municipalities are thinking of what is on your mind. So did I miss anything? Okay.

Mayor? Council, do you have any questions? Any insights?

I'm excited to hear about this. Great. Somebody's working on a solution. I've heard hints of it here and there, but it's nice to know that it's organized. I was impressed with the package that you provided for us with all the different aspects of dealing with waste. I've had a couple of tours of Coffin Butte in the last year, and Had no idea how complex it was. I feel guilty every time I throw something in the trash. But I know that there are options, and it's good to know that people are actively pursuing it, and I hope we participate in that enthusiastically.

If I can respond. Yes, please. We use this phrase a lot. There's no Superman. He doesn't come pick up your trash and chuck it at the sun. And you are not alone. I mean, this is one of those hidden things. We're human. We're human beings. We go out, we take our trash, and it magically disappears. It does not disappear. And when the system behind the scenes shuts down or a shock is hit, that's when, oh, yeah, we have to worry about that. And so that's why we're here today. We're not waiting until December 31st of 2036. This is why people are thinking about this, and Benton County has really been pushing this with the leadership of it's in our backyard. We feel ownership and making sure that we're ahead of the curve.

One of the things I'm trying to figure out is why is it only Coffin Butte? In Benton County, why isn't there one in Linn County? Why isn't there one in Marion County? I mean, they're shipping their waste here. Well, not here, but it's a call from you. I'm just trying to understand why didn't the municipalities kind of figure out their solution before just dumping it all in Benton County?

I think, and thank you for the question, I think that siting a landfill in the Willamette Valley, or for that matter, a waste energy facility that incinerates garbage to generate electricity, I think either of those are very, very unlikely to get permitted and to get approved. So Riverbend Landfill was one in Yamhill County that closed, and when it closed, all the more garbage started to come to Coffin Butte. There was a waste energy facility in Salem, in Brooks, and that's... Is that the incinerator that was there? That's right, yeah, and that's being dismantled now. So when you look at the region there's not there aren't existing landfills in this region that would serve well for the amount of garbage created.

Just as a point of reference, it's about 750,000 people, 800,000 people. I mean, that's the gravity of how many counties. That's also Marion. The five counties that I mentioned, 100%, there's also Marion, Yamhill. It's a wide swath of a lot of people that rank trash here.

So one of the long-range concerns I have is Arlington is a receiver of this waste. What's the long-term impact to their water table, their their agriculture. I've never been to Arlington. I've only been by it, you know, going somewhere. So what do their folks feel about this waste coming there?

Arlington is just one potential landfill. Republic Services also owns one that's up the gorge on the Washington side called Roosevelt. And there are a couple others that could potentially be recipients of the Valley's waste.

yeah that's uh because you know we're looking at 2036 you said yeah well beyond 2036 is it going to be just the arlington site or the possible other sites because our rate payers have to pay our portion of getting stuff to them but so what's going to happen with coffin beat when it's shut down they're just going to put dirt on top of it and drain the methane off of it

Well, when Coffin Butte closes, the idea is that we can come up with a more efficient way to ship all that garbage using rail out to eastern Oregon. And those landfills, I didn't say that, but those landfills have, you know, 100 years or more of capacity. And they're in arid climate, so they don't have some of the same challenges that we do in the Willamette Valley area.

I have a few questions. I want to confirm you're going to be doing a presentation as well because I have questions in regards to the materials you gave us. Okay, but also I wanted to clarify there most likely will not be another landfill cited in the state of Oregon, right? Due to our environmental laws.

In Western Oregon.

Okay, and then my question also is I do know that the governor did put together a solid waste task force. The plan you're going to be presenting, has this been voted on by them?

No. There's been no, we're discussing it. I'm sorry, I shouldn't say we. The task force is discussing it at this point. There has not been any official votes. The next meeting is this Friday. But no, there's no.

This is a premature discussion? Okay.

It is a concept that the representative, and she has every authority and right to submit this in a session with or without approval from the task force. That's up to the representative.

Okay, fabulous. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Are they not giving us a presentation? Or are they just going to be? Because I have other questions. Oh, I thought in the beginning you said you had about a 10-minute presentation, because I do have other questions.

No, 10 minutes ago.

So the cost of everything. So if we chose to participate, can you actually give me as... Can we anticipate what that actually would be? I know that the proposal said that it wants to protect rate payers, but it also explicitly creates authority for a new system benefit fee. I just want to get maybe some numbers around that. Do you guys have an idea?

It's difficult, I think, at this point to give a... good number, because there's a lot of planning that still needs to happen. A lot of it will depend on how much waste is sent through an intermodal facility. So hypothetically, a facility might be able to move forward if they could secure 250,000 tons of garbage a year. But the Coffin Butte landfill currently takes 1.1 million tons. It would depend on how many of those cities and counties in that area, they're currently sending waste to Coffin Butte, how many of them would want to go in and collaborate on this intermodal idea.

Okay, so then who would be also collecting the fee? Is this going to be on our garbage bills? Is the city collecting it? How is this looking to be administered?

So probably, and this is just my guess, but I think what most municipalities will end up doing is passing a per ton fee. So that could be called a system benefit fee that you mentioned earlier. Hypothetically, maybe it's $5 or $10 or $15 per ton. And so it's then reflected in the garbage bills, if that makes sense.

So that's a great question, Councilor. So that would be on Republic Waste Bill or our water bill? I can...

That was a great question that we had two months ago. We really started diving into the funding. Right now there's too many variables. It depends on how, as you said, there's how many municipalities, how much tonnage is going through. The economies of scale, the more we can aggregate, the cheaper the rate is going to be. Right now, since we don't, you know, it's just a concept at this point, but that's really the question. The less it is, the more expensive it's going to be. The more that we can aggregate, the cheaper it's going to be for rate payers from the local government's perspective.

Okay, so since you're saying it's like an origin-based fee, how are you going to be able to reliably determine where the garbage is coming from once it enters the waste stream?

The garbage haulers currently track that. So it's based on their routes. So their routes that are in Benton County, all that garbage that gets collected in Benton County is counted and attributed to Benton County. And the same is true of Linn County.

Okay, and then the proposal you guys submitted also emphasized that participation is voluntary. So if we participate, let's just say that neighboring communities don't, what happens?

That's a great question. And first of all, I mean, this is a concept at this point. There's still conversation. This is Representative Finger McDonald's proposal. You're asking all the great questions and the questions that the task force is trying to work the right way through. Yeah, who starts? How does that work?

Are we going to end up subsidizing other regions getting benefit?

This is why we're here before you, because these tough policy questions are going to be hitting sooner rather than later in part of the conversation with this concept. So these are great questions, by the way.

So, sorry.

No, no, you're creating questions in me, so go ahead.

So what protections are going to prevent? I just don't want this to become another permanent change instead of it's tied to maybe like a specific instruction or a debt obligation. Or is there going to be a sunset date? Is there going to be a maximum rate? Is there going to be a need for voter approval over a certain threshold amount? I really don't want to saddle constituents with like this Vague. You're going to be.

As a policy analyst, I couldn't agree more with you, Counselor. We would much rather be at local government's level, we'd much rather having these conversations now than in 2035 and having to deal with this and start to look through this. How do we as a region collaborate or not and see what happens?

So if we chose to not participate, but the surrounding region does, I'm just thinking conversely, Would we face higher tipping charges or transportation costs? Or what are you guys thinking? Or what are you guys discussing?

That would be, it has to go somewhere. Currently, it's up to every jurisdiction on their own. Everybody's on their own. You do you, and we do you, and Dallas does it, and Lebanon does that.

That sounds like a cluster, man.

It does. As a former state policy director, yeah. Okay. That is not simple. It's stable. Exactly. So this is the system we have now. Love the lead counsel from Lane County came in. Everyone's acting rational at this point. Corporations and they're doing their rationality. We're having ours. Local governments want their own power for their own constituents. Okay. But with the SMMP task force full of county and municipalities, that's not really helping us as a region on the government side. And that's exactly the conversations that we're having, that the task force is having, sorry.

So there are 10 minutes.

They're at, okay. I'll probably have more questions. I have one that's kind of percolating.

Is there a point we can send information to you?

We would really appreciate that since your jurisdiction's in both counties. Linn County is engaged as well. Commissioner Nyquist and others. I mean, this is front and center. Please do.

Could you give the city recorder your contact information? That way the council can get it to us and we can send our questions to him. Yeah, yeah. That'd be fantastic.

Just the modeling also that was presented on the graph you guys sent in with WIPA. So it looked like in the modeling things there are substantially better outcomes with WIPA and worse without. I just was curious about the analysis and modeling that was used for those projections and if we could get more details on that.

So that was prepared by Representative Finger McDonald and her staff, her chief of staff. This is why we're here tonight.

Okay. I just don't know if those were modeled outcomes or if they were intended to just illustrate possible scenarios or what might happen in the future.

At this point, I apologize. I didn't mean to interrupt you.

Oh, no, no, no. I get excited with these. We're vibing right now. We're chit-chatting about trash. Trash talking, if you will.

Five years ago, I would never have imagined myself having this much fun with trash. No, these are the questions that we need to start having. And please, because the last meeting, the representative from League of Cities, everyone's busy. I'm not throwing anyone under a bus, but even he admitted that... People are not getting out to you all to raise this. And I really, again, I really want to appreciate the city manager for recognizing this. And we also had the Corral City Manager in the room. This is not on your bingo card right now, but it will be very, very quickly.

So one of the things about Albany is like the last city council meeting we voted to We currently process biosolids at 25%, and we just, the council approved going to 100% in the next, what, three or five years, Peter? That sound about right? So our biosolids, we're processing, making Class A soil out of it. So we're forward thinking about the environment, our water, our future, our children. So this is something that's pretty much a hot button for these young folks, because, yeah, anyway. Moving forward, I know they want to talk about it and get into it and provide information and feedback to Representative McDonald. So thank you gentlemen for your time today.

We certainly appreciate your time and your points and your questions. Thank you. Thank you.

And we'd love your contact info. Yes. I'll follow up.

Thank you.

Next on tonight's agenda is appeal to land use case CU01-26, Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center, 506 Ferry Street Southwest, David Martineau and Matthew Rutgers on pages 57 to 107. Before we start, there's two silent seats at the front. One is public comment and one is public hearing. If you're on the wrong one, I will bring the sheets up and then ask questions. If you meant to speak during public comment, just go ahead and stay in your seat and I'll bring you up during public comment. OK, thank you. The following hearing is an appeal for planning commission, denial of the conditional use application to use an existing residential structure at 506 Ferry Street Southwest in Albany as an outpatient drug and alcohol treatment center. The conditional use case is in file CU-01-26. Have all council members received a copy of the agenda packet materials and are you familiar with them? Everybody's good? Okay. I call this to order this quasi-traditional public hearing at 7.21 p.m. Do any members wish to declare a conflict of interest?

Okay.

Councilor McGee? Okay. Do any members wish to report?

No, I don't have a conflict.

Okay, thank you. Do any members wish to report any ex parte contact?

I can report that I had attempted ex parte contact. I did not read the materials that were sent to me. I forwarded them to the city recorder.

Okay, thank you. Do any members wish to report a site visit?

Not per se, but I'm at that intersection on a daily basis, dropping my kids off at daycare. Thank you.

Ditto.

Ditto, okay.

Councilor Thompson, no? Okay. Councilor McGee, no?

No.

Neither have I. Do any members wish to report? We talked about that one, site visit. At this time, I'll call for the reading of the meeting procedures. by current planning manager David Martineau.

Good evening. For all those wishing to testify, please be aware that you must raise an issue with enough detail to afford the city council and parties an opportunity to respond to the issue if you later want to raise that issue on appeal. Testimony and evidence must be directed towards the approval standards staff will describe or other criteria in the comprehensive plan or development code that you believe apply to the decision. If additional documents or evidence are provided by any party, the City Council may allow a continuance or leave the record open to allow the parties a reasonable opportunity to respond. Failure of the applicant to raise constitutional or other issues relating to proposed conditions of approval with enough detail to allow the local government or its designee to respond to the issue precludes an action for damages in circuit court.

Item 8. At this time, I call for a staff report from Project Planner David Martinow.

Thank you. May I have the permission to show my screen?

Caitlin, did you hear that?

Okay, thank you. I'm just going to go ahead and read the slides.

There's nothing that much is in there. I'm just going to go ahead and give a verbal presentation.

Okay.

This is a Substance Abuse Treatment Center Appeal Hearing, file number CU-01-26. The subject property is located at 506 Ferry Street here in Albany. Conditional use review criteria are found in our development code in section 2.250. The subject property is historic contributing in the Monteith District. No proposed exterior changes are slated. So the Planning Commission granted approval by a vote of 7 to 1. They approved the conditional use application on June 15, 2026. The applicants filed articles of incorporation on September 4th, 2025 as a domestic nonprofit corporation. And of note, the Albany Comprehensive Plan has goals and policies that encourage adaptive reuse of historic structures through the conditional use process. So for the proposed conditions of approval is historic review, exterior changes to the structure may require further review. And to please contact the historic planner at 541-979-10176 prior to undertaking any exterior work to confirm if a review is required. So the decision options tonight is either to approve the request as proposed and conditioned, approve the request with amendments, or deny the request. Do you have any questions of me?

Council, do you have any questions for Polina Martineau? Councilor Smith, McGee, do you have any questions?

I don't.

We will now take testimony from the appellant. Will the appellant please state your name and address and address for the record?

Legal procedures are out of my league here. I have copies. Yes, sir.

Oh, you want to pass out your copy? Give them to him, and he'll get them to us.

My name is Bill Origer. I live at 839 6th Avenue Southwest in Albany. I oppose the conditional use permit for the Sternberg House. I represent about a dozen people who are also opposed and are here this evening. Conditional use permit is an exception to an established law. According to the Alderman Development Code, a conditional use permit is a type three procedure. Type three procedure, quote, is used when land use standards and criteria require discretion, interpretation, or policy or legal judgment. Policy or judicial decisions implement established policies, but involve discretion. Repeat that. They implement established policies, but require discretion. The process looked at a complex checklist of conditions, but ignored the basic principles. I believe this decision was faulty. First, this ignores the basic purpose of the Monteith Historic District. Second, does not consider alternative locations. Third, there's a parking problem. First, historic preservation. The Monteith-Hackleman Historic District was established in 1980, and it is part of the identity of Albany. Quote, it is intended to preserve the historic characteristics of existing residential resources. The emphasis is on residential. This house from 1868, remodeled in the 1920s, still quite livable, is a prime example of what this historic district was designed for. If you can't preserve this house, historic preservation is dead. This decision does not show judgment and discretion for historic preservation. I don't believe it's good land use planning. Alternative locations. When an exception for use is requested, the first question should be, why? Why is this the only possible location? The Planning Commission did not ask. In previous testimony, a council member asked if zoning was checked prior to purchase, and the answer was no. So are there locations available? Well, I did what an amateur can do. I did an internet search on September 6th, and I looked specifically at commercially zoned properties, and I looked for properties that are appropriate for a professional office and have a similar price range and size. And I have listed what I found on the Internet here in the handout with their sizes and their prior use. And these are all things that could easily be adaptable for a professional office, and they're all within the price range. It's very interesting. Five are within the neighborhood. Four are less than a quarter of a mile from this site. I believe the failure to consider alternatives does not show judges' measure of discretion. Third, there are parking problems. I don't have time to go into this tonight unless you want to question me, but that's been well established and I don't believe it's been solved. So the duty of the City Council is to make a prudent decision that is consistent with the Albany Development Code and looks to the future. Consider the basic principles, particularly historic preservation and availability of alternatives, and please deny this.

Okay, thank you very much for your report. Does the council have any questions for the appellant? Council, no questions for the appellant?

Okay, thank you. Thank you.

We will now take testimony from the appellant applicant. Within the applicants, please state your name and address for the record.

My name is Celia Cicada with Veritone Architecture at 231 Southwest 2nd in downtown Albany. And I'm here on behalf of Core Recovery Connections. Before we get rolling on this, I do want to respectfully ask the council to base tonight's decision on your development code and the review criteria therein. Using Though that criteria, this application is as close to a slam dunk as anyone in my career can ever ask for. That said, for reasons that are honestly mysterious to me, this particular application has really inspired a lot of passionate emotions on both sides of the argument. And those passionate arguments are emotionally satisfying. They are emotionally compelling. but they are not your development code. So please keep that in mind. Because tonight's hearing comes from an appeal of the Planning Commission approval, I wanted to respond directly to the assertions from the appellant's original letter, as well as a few concerns that we've just historically seen with this application. First, the appeal argues that the HM zoning gives this property special protection as a single family residence, and that approving this use creates an exception to that protection. That is not what the development code says. ADC 3.02 says the HM district is intended primarily to preserve the historic character of existing residential resources. But that same article specifically lists community services as a conditional use in the HM district. In other words, we are not asking council to create a zoning exception here. The code already contemplates this category of use. Several public comments have described the applicant's nonprofit status as a quote unquote loophole or an exemption from zoning regulations. That nonprofit status does not exempt this application from the development code. That's why we're all here. Additionally, this land use process does not free Corps recovery from the legal, organizational, reporting, and administrative obligations associated with operating as a nonprofit. This status is not a label for this application. They're not doing this for fun. It reflects a significant organizational commitment that my clients have made, and they are responsible for fulfilling all of the requirements that come with it. While this is separate from the land use issue you are considering tonight, it is an important distinction to make. The appeal also states that approval of this application, quote, permanently removes protection for this historic home. It does not. The property remains a historic contributing resource, and the historic overlay remains in effect. The Planning Commission also conditioned its approval on Landmarks Commission review and approval of any possible future exterior alterations. Albany's Landmark Commission is a very strict commission. These are a group of people that are very well educated and well informed on historic resources and regulations. This is a very safe set of hands. So that should provide an extra layer of reassurance to this community. Approval of conditional use allows a different use of the building. It does not remove the building's historic protections. Other previous public testimony raises a related concern that changing the building's use in itself is inconsistent with historic preservation. But the city's own comprehensive plan specifically encourages adaptive reuse of historic structures through the conditional use process. Adaptive reuse necessarily recognizes that preserving a historic building does not always mean preserving its original use. Here, there is no demolition addition expansion or exterior alteration proposed the building remains intact retains its residential appearance and scale and continues to be protected as a historic resource. The appeal also argues that impacts to neighboring residences, traffic, and parking were not considered, but the detailed staff report considered each of those issues, including neighborhood compatibility, public services, and livability. Importantly, staff evaluated trip generation and found the anticipated increase well below the city's own thresholds for additional traffic analysis. I also want to clarify the numbers being thrown around to describe the intensity of this operation. The appeal refers to, quote, up to 30 clients per day, end quote. And one public comment extrapolates the staff caseload to as many as 60 families. Neither number represents the number of people at this property at a given time or even the number coming through the property each day. A caseload is the number of families assigned to a care coach over the course of treatment. Services are scheduled. There are no walk-ins. There are no overnight stays. And many individual service occur in clients' homes and elsewhere in the community. This is an outreach-based approach. For purposes of evaluating land use impacts, what matters is the actual intensity of activity at this property, not the organization's overall caseload. That is why the submitted operations plan is very critical reading here. Some public comments also expressed concern about the number of recovery and community-serving organizations already in Ward 1. I understand this concern, but that is a two-way street because having similar uses nearby can also indicate compatibility. The staff reports note several nearby community service and recovery-related uses as part of the area's current character. Their presence doesn't automatically mean every new use should be approved, but simply counting them doesn't prove an adverse land use impact. The council's question is how this specific operation will impact this particular site and neighborhood in a measurable and factual way. That's why the conditional use criteria focuses on measurable factors and findings of fact. Those criteria are really the framework for the decision you have before you tonight. This is not a question of whether any of us would choose this use for this particular house. It's not even a question of whether any of us like it. It's a question of whether the promotional meets the standards the city has adopted for evaluating it. I also want to address the two procedural objections that the appeal raised. First, it cites ORS 215-416 and argues that the notice of decision failed to contain findings explaining the commission's decision. That actually applies to county land use proceedings. ORS 227-173 is the corresponding statute for city land use proceedings, so that's what I'll reference. That statute requires the decision to be based upon and accompanied by a statement identifying the relevant criteria, the facts relied upon, and the justification for the decision. The statute does not state that all of those findings must be included within notice of decision itself. In this case, the Commission's approval explicitly incorporates the findings and conclusions from the June 5th staff report, along with additional insights from deliberations. During this process, the Planning Commission questioned City staff, considered testimony supporting and opposing the proposal, discuss the case, and ultimately approve the application, determining that the operation complies with review criteria. There are no missing findings here. Instead, there is a comprehensive written record outlining the rationale for the decision. Second, the appeal states that the agenda packet did not tell citizens how they could testify. This is demonstrably incorrect. The June 15 agenda specifically tells the public how to submit written comments, how to register to testify virtually, and how to appear in person and register to speak. The appellant himself appeared, testified in opposition, and placed his concerns into the record. I hope I have clarified the specific concerns raised in both the appeal and the public testimony to date and have shown how the record and the development code address them specifically. We really respect the passion bring to the protecting Albany's historic neighborhoods. We share that commitment. But when you compare the concerns raised with the actual proposal, the development code and the record before you, the application demonstrably meets the standards for approval, including the city's adopted comprehensive plan, which specifically encourages adaptive reuse of historic resources. For those reasons, we respectfully ask council to approve CU-01-26 and affirm the planning commission's decisions. We believe this is a thoughtful, adaptive reuse of an important historic building, one that allows it to remain occupied, cared for, and contributing to the neighborhood while providing a valuable community service. Thank you for your time and consideration tonight. Do you have any questions for me?

Do the council have, council members have questions for the applicant? Mr. Thompson?

Yeah. So how much, what are we talking about in terms of individuals at this house under this plan? What are we talking about? You dismissed 30 as wildly exaggerated.

Yes, it is wildly exaggerated. So you have six staff members. Every day. Yeah. Monday through Friday, yeah. Yeah, and so six staff members, some of them out in the community doing outreach. Within the building itself, there's a sunroom that could theoretically be used as an office and treatment location. There's a couple of bedrooms upstairs. and all services are scheduled as one-on-one or family services. So that really logically limits to maybe on a very busy day, maybe 14 people, something like that, if someone decides that they need to bring their kiddos along to an appointment. But again, because this is very specifically tailored to go out to clients, WE'RE LIMITING WHAT'S ACTUALLY HAPPENING IN THE HOUSE TO ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS ESSENTIALLY.

OKAY. SO LET'S JUST SAY 10 TO 14. OKAY. MS. NEWTON.

HAS THE APPLICANT INDICATED WHETHER IT INTENDS TO SEEK A PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR THIS PROPERTY?

I HAVE NOT DISCUSSED THAT WITH MY CLIENT. I WOULD BE HAPPY TO ASK THEM AND GET BACK TO YOU. OKAY.

ANY QUESTIONS? I HAVE NO QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS. IT'S NOT IN MY BOARD, NOT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT IT DOES IMPACT PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY. I'VE RECEIVED COMMUNICATIONS FROM PEOPLE VIEW THE COUNCIL FORM. I will then go to the next step in the questions. We will now be taking testimony, public testimony, first from those who are in favor of the applications, followed by those that are opposed to the applications with concerns, and finally from anyone who is neutral. If anyone wishes to enter an exhibit where the record is now part of your testimony, please briefly describe the exhibit and then email it to the city recorder at albanyoregon.gov. Written testimony was submitted by the deadline Written testimony submitted by a deadline have been uploaded to city website as part of the agenda packet. Those who registered to speak during the meeting will be now called upon to present verbal testimony. So I mentioned earlier, some folks signed up for public hearing, not meaning to. So I'm going to ask them questions and then we'll go from there. A COMMENT IN PUBLIC HEARING. BILL HORG HAS ALREADY SPOKE. DO YOU WANT TO SPEAK AGAIN, BILL? THIS IS AGAINST. I GO FOR. PUBLIC HEARING HERE. SO DOES ANYONE HERE SPEAK FOR THE PROJECT? Okay, next will be those that are opposed in opposition. The first person was Bill Orger on the list. You signed up to speak. You got three minutes, sir. Three minutes.

Well, I wasn't prepared to do this again, but... The basic here is the specific protection in the Monteith-Hackelman Historic District is for residential structures. Residential. Turning this into a business, the building's the same, but it is no longer residential. So this does not meet the basic criteria of the historic district. No one has addressed the issue of alternative properties. I think there are lots of things in the neighborhood that could be used. When we get down to property, to traffic, the 30 figure came from the presentation given by the applicants in their first statement here. The final statement did not say how many people were going to come, but it did say that there will be group sessions, and group sessions are usually 8 to 12. It said that many of these people will not drive, but will take advantage of ride sharing services. And so does that make a difference? Well. Let's think about this. You have 10 people who come to a group session at four o'clock. Half of them arrive by private vehicle, some from friends, some from, and half of them arrive by ride share. Each of those vehicles has to come and stop and let people out. There's no parking. There's one off street parking place. Where are these people going to go when the rideshare stops to drop them off? And when they drop off 10 at the same time, where are they going to go? You know, if you're looking for a parking place, you can be three blocks away. But if you're being dropped off or picked up, it's going to be right in the front door. That's going to affect the neighborhood. I think that's it.

Thank you. Gary Hogan or Hazel Hodges?

Oh, it's supporter, okay.

Okay, I see that. Kimberly C?

I signed up to speak.

So you are on the wrong sheet. Okay, so I'll get down the list and I'll call on you, okay?

Okay.

Okay, thank you. Kimberly C? Nope, okay. Your supporter. What is that one? Against. Eric? Oh, that's all? You don't have a comment? Okay. Patrick Hogan? You don't want to speak? Okay, this is good. Moving along. I cannot make this out.

It's very light handwriting.

CAMILLE, ROMANIA.

ARE YOU GOING TO SPEAK? OKAY. NO, YOU'RE WRITING. IT'S FINE. I JUST CAN'T SEE THE INK. IT'S OKAY.

CAMILLE, ROMANIA. MY ADDRESS IS 925 FIRST AVENUE. So I was a local business owner and also lived in the historic district. But most importantly for tonight's discussion, I am in long-term recovery. So firsthand, I want to say I'm very supportive of treatment, inpatient or outpatient. I support rehab facilities clearly, and I believe we need more of them. However, as someone who has lived both sides of the coin as a recovering alcoholic and a local merchant and resident, I'm here to voice my strong opposition to placing the outpatient rehab facility at this location. Recovery requires a precise environment in my belief to succeed and this proposal fails both the clients and our community. The location itself sits directly across the street from a bustling daycare center where one of my best friend's daughters attends. In early recovery, individuals are highly vulnerable, experiencing intense cravings, emotional volatility, and a raw reentry into society. It is unfair to place individuals dealing with the messy, difficult realities of early treatment directly in the view of children and is equally unfair to parents who deserve peace of mind when dropping off their toddlers. Second, we must consider the nature of our historic neighborhood. This area thrives on a tight knit, pedestrian heavy ecosystem of small businesses, boutiques, historic homes. People come here to gather, stroll, shop, and introducing a high traffic outpatient medical facility disrupts that tradition. in my opinion. My fellow business owners and I have invested savings into building an environment that relies on foot traffic and historic charm. There is also, right on Ferry Street, another residential treatment house that is literally one block from here. I often hear the argument, if not hear where, my answer is simple, we must place facilities where they are set up to succeed. A high density historic commercial zone facing a daycare creates immediate friction. It sets up an adversarial relationship between the facility and the neighborhood from day one. That tension is toxic for someone trying to heal. We need to protect the economic heartbeat of our historic district. We need to safeguard our children's spaces. True compassion means finding a location that offers clients privacy, dignity, and a stable environment to rebuild their lives. I urge the council to vote against this specific location proposal and encourage the providers to find a site better suited for everyone's success.

Thank you, Camille. I appreciate it. Next is Cameron Sotomayor.

I LIVE IN THE MONTES NATIONAL HISTORIC DISTRICT. GOOD EVENING, MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL. I AM HERE TO REQUEST THAT YOU UPHOLD THE INTEGRITY OF OUR DEVELOPMENT CODE AND DENY CASE CU-126. The application before you tonight is a copy of a previously denied commercial use, CU325, with a new nonprofit status to bypass the previous denial. When they were rightfully told in CU325 that their code requires a nonprofit or charitable entity for this specific zoning use, they simply paid a minimum registration fee to the state of Oregon to change their corporate wrapper. yet there is no history shown of charitable operations and they have never obtained IRS 501 or 501 tax exempt status. I did an IRS search this morning and it does not show them as a nonprofit. Ask them for their IRS nonprofit determination letter. The applicant fails the threshold definition of a community service under ADC 22.190. To qualify for this zoning exemption, the use must be operated by a government, nonprofit, or charitable organization. Yet on agenda packet page 59, the applicants and property owners are listed as Kelly and Sorek. the Owners Recovery First LLC, a for-profit commercial entity, the exact same applicants you denied in the nearly identical application CU325. If you look at the drawings on page 70 to 72 on the right-hand side, it shows the schematics are still done for Recovery First LLC, not the nonprofit core recovery connections. It appears the applicant's register disnames the state as a reactive strategy to evade zoning laws. Under OAR 125-030-0016, an Oregon charitable organization must be recognized as a 501 by the IRS. This entity is not. Furthermore, the underlying real estate remains owned by the individuals, not the nonprofit. Logically, revenue generated here will flow directly to the landowner's private pockets via lease agreements. This is private enrichment, which is strictly illegal for public benefit nonprofits under ORS Chapter 65. Also, the nonprofit's mandatory annual renewal is currently showing as delinquent with the state of Oregon. This property is in the Hackelman-Montese Historic District. Under ADC 30208, the purpose of the Hackelman-Montese Zone is primarily to preserve the existing residential character of the Hackelman and Montese National Register districts. If this is rubber stamped tonight, any developer can fill out a nonprofit wrapper. Thank you. And get approval.

Thank you, Cameron. Thanks. Next, Suzette Boydston.

Thank you. I'm coming here tonight, I've already sent, this is my second letter, I sent one last year about the same time, with the same story, which was our family story. But I'm here to tell you that things have changed since we moved into our neighborhood with little kids 35 years ago. And that's our population base in Albany, it's east. It's not in West Albany. It's no longer right around our county courthouse and the city offices. And taking that on, Of course the parking, of course the added numbers of people coming and going, of course the daycare across the street. Anyway, I'm just here to say it's the wrong place. There are many other locations on the east side of town where our population is growing every day, not right here in downtown where we're blocked in, we can't go any further. But east, they're going east. Go east, young men. And does anyone else have any questions for us, for people? I mean, we've all lived here for many, many years.

This is the time for us to listen.

Restored my home. purchasing most of our ingredients here in the community, and opening our homes up for customers and for visitors, I should say, and tourists. And there's a big sign on I-5 that says, Downtown Historic Albany. I challenge you to not push the, do not vote for this. Please. Thank you. That's it. I could go on, but I won't.

Person here. Okay, that one's done already. Okay, so next, is anybody in chambers would like to speak? Let me read it off. Whether any registered, those who registered to speak during the meeting will be called upon to do that. You will now be taking a public testimony from these who did not register to speak beforehand. If anyone in the public is interested in speaking today, please, on this topic, please do. Anyone in chambers? No, thank you. Does the applicant have any rebuttal testimony? The applicant, any rebuttal testimony?

As I mentioned, there are a lot of passionate arguments on either side of this equation. I think on the pro side, the reason that they're not here is because they know that the letter of the development code is on our side. You don't need to sit through rounds of people telling you how meaningful the service is. I do want to go through some important points here that some of these folks have made. particularly in a nonprofit status situation. So the all-many development code does not require federal 501 recognition. It defines community service very narrowly, and our client complies with that. The rule cited on the ORS that defines charitable organization, I just looked it up really quickly, it's for a specific state charitable fund drive program. It is not the Albany Development Code's definition of community service, and I'm not seeing how this could convert every Oregon nonprofit corporation to a federally tax exempt entity requirement. The concept that this is private enrichment because of ownership of the land is insane. Many nonprofit organizations lease their space from private individuals. Again, This is not some fancy label that our client put on this just to get through this application. Both the operational plan in terms of how they're reducing impacts to the neighborhood and how they're reaching out to their clients in the community was very specifically tailored to be essentially a good neighbor while at the same time making a meaningful difference in the community. They have fully committed to that, including all that entails for being a nonprofit in the state of Oregon. I ALSO WANT TO ADDRESS SOME OF THE ARGUMENTS ABOUT KIND OF JUST THE NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTER. THE DEVELOPMENT CODE DOES NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE POPULATION SERVED FOR CONDITIONAL USE. IT ONLY WORKS ON THE REVIEW CRITERIA. WE CAN'T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS OF WHAT PEOPLE THAT ARE CLIENTS AT at core recovery, like we can't make assumptions about them. That's not something that is in the development code. It is just the criteria. And all of that criteria was very well reviewed. I think also within that, we also can't make any assumptions about treatment criteria that is not from an actual practitioner and not from a developed program. I ALSO THINK THAT, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO DISTINGUISH THIS, THE PRESERVATION OF RESIDENTIAL CHARACTER. LIKE, WHY WOULD WE ALLOW A TREATMENT CENTER HERE? THE CO-DISTINGUISHINGS BETWEEN PRESERVING CHARACTER AND REQUIRING EVERY PROPERTY TO REMAIN IN RESIDENTIAL REUSE, THAT'S WHAT CONDITIONAL USE IS FOR. AND FUNDAMENTALLY, LIKE, IF FOLKS DON'T LIKE THAT, GO FORTH AND MAKE THE CHANGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT CODE. LIKE, DO THAT HARD WORK TO CHANGE THIS. BUT RIGHT NOW, TONIGHT, WE'RE WORKING WITH THE DEVELOPMENT CODE WE HAVE. AND THIS APPLICATION MEETS ALL OF THE CRITERIA. I also want to address one other issue that keeps coming back is why here also not a review criteria. Nothing in the development code asks us to justify why this property or if there is availability of other properties. If you would like that to be part of the review criteria, then again, go forth, change the development code. But right now, that is not a question. Are there any other questions for me that I can address?

I don't have any questions for her.

So to me, the applicant's nonprofit status is essential to its classification as a community service under our development code. So what evidence or record do we have that's demonstrating that Core Recovery Connections is actually organized and operating as a nonprofit corporation in compliance with ORS Chapter 65? rather than simply having filed articles of incorporation?

Well, I mean, the state has requirements for that reporting and for that.

Do we have evidence of that reporting?

No, because they haven't been allowed to start business. You know, you can't report on any activities if you have none.

True. Councilors, do you have anything else over here?

Who are the members of the board of directors? I saw in the packet that there was identified, I believe, Angela Kelly and Sarah Sork as secretary and president. I don't see any other members of the board identified anywhere.

I would need to speak to my client about that. I don't have that information handy. Okay. But I'm certain that that information can be supplied. Okay. And also, you know, it is within your right to make that a condition of approval.

You're giving me plenty of great ideas.

I mean, like, here's the thing, folks, and it's 8.04. I'm getting real tired. This has been a lot. This has been an application that fills the letter of the code so fundamentally well that every professional that has seen this application, that has reviewed this, is floored that we have gotten this much trouble. The fact that so much of the argument about this is essentially outside of the development code is shocking. Again, like if the development code isn't working, change it. But we've got to work with what we have.

At the moment.

Okay.

Is there any questions for the applicant? Any additional questions? Does the staff have a final comments in response to the testimony presented?

We do not, thank you.

Can I ask staff a few questions?

Sure.

Thank you, David. I was curious, you guys reviewed the organization's articles, bylaws, any organizational meeting minutes or written consent establishing a board of officers?

That all falls outside the scope of what we review. We're bound to review the review criteria of what we have. We don't have anything that requires us to go and look at whatever the board of directors or their state submittal looks like.

It's so confusing because being a nonprofit is literally part of having this big part of the conditional use. And if nonprofit status is the fact that makes us also eligible for conditional use consideration, should we also consider continued compliance for a nonprofit to be an express condition of approval as well? So wouldn't there be like every few years double checking, making sure that the nonprofit is still in compliance? I'm trying to.

If you want to make something like that as a condition of approval, that's certainly something we can do. So the nonprofit piece comes out of our definitions article 22. It's not necessarily tied to a conditional use. So conditional use for institutional uses like community services is a broad definition of what could be reviewed as a conditional use. But the very specific use that they have, the drug and alcohol center, and whether it's operated by the government, a nonprofit, is out of Article 22, so I'm not sure even how we would enforce that.

Okay, I'm also curious, both the state of Oregon and the city of Albany, we've identified housing supply as a major policy priority. I know at our last meeting we removed a few lots that would be buildable, and I'm just also curious why converting an existing dwelling out of residential use, how is that consistent with the goal for Albany

So when you have competing goals, you have to look at them in a balanced way to see which one you believe has the most weight behind it.

So did staff evaluate the loss of existing housing unit as part of the comprehensive plan or was this just limited primarily to historic preservation and adaptive reuse? I'm just curious.

would be adaptive reuse and in fact I mean it is still remaining there's a residential structure and it could be reconverted back to a residential structure in the future you know that like when that when something's converted most likely it does not reconvert like okay sorry I'm taking up all the time guys are welcome to it's in your work I understand

Does my fellow board one counselor have any other questions or concerns before I just keep?

I have lots of questions and concerns. Less questions, lots of concerns, lots of comments, but nothing for Mr. Martin now.

Well, actually, no, I do. So you said that we didn't, that isn't part of like the review criteria, but what exactly did staff rely on when concluding that the applicant satisfies the nonprofit requirement in our development code? Was it simply just the Secretary of State registration? Or was there any additional verification? Because if...

It would have all been in their application packet, which you should have in the record. Well, yeah. That's what it is.

That's okay.

But to add on to that, I think Cameron Settlemyer brought up the concept of the IRS nonprofit determination letter. Was that in the packet? I don't think that was in the packet. I didn't remember seeing that. I don't believe it was. Can I ask them to produce that?

Because a lot of this is contingent on activity, our client has been in active conversations with the IRS and frankly they're waiting to see how this hashes out. because for them it's a lot of administrative effort, legal costs, and kind of a lot of structure that has to get put in place for a nonprofit. And so they really need to understand that this program and this location will work in order to finalize those investments. You know, speaking towards, like, should there be check-ins for this type of status? You know, my client is next to me and she was nodding in agreement with that. I don't think anyone sees a problem with that type of verification and follow through.

Thank you.

Thank you. Councilor McGee. Regarding what you just said, regarding saying that it takes a lot of effort and finance to become a nonprofit. Councilor, you're a little muffled.

You're a little muffled, Councilor.

Can you hear me?

It's like better now.

Sorry. She stated that it takes a lot of money and effort to get approved from the IRS to become a nonprofit or to get the, I guess, the status. As someone who has a nonprofit, I think that that's a little inaccurate. I mean, it's been over a year. Normally, it takes around this time to get it, but they should already have that. their number, they should already be approved. I'm not sure why the IRS would be waiting for them to get this straightened out before they're approved as a nonprofit. That nonprofit status should carry wherever they're going to go.

Okay.

Question for staff. I think the guiding words for this... Let me do one thing before we do that.

I declare the public hearing closed at 8 to 10.

I think what I heard you say earlier, Mr. Martineau, was the use of the building. The use of the building is what's listed in the development code, not who is using it or owns it. It's the fact that it's a drug treatment center, not XYZ LLC treatment center. That's within the development code. Grocery store doesn't matter if it's Trader Joe's or a Rays. It's a grocery store.

Yes.

Okay. Thank you All right, so we're deliberating any other deliberations I have a comment I Understand that the development code Allows this to happen INCLUDING A RECENT CHANGE IN STATE LAW. WHAT SPEAKS TO ME ABOVE AND BEYOND THAT IS THE DEVELOPMENT CODE SECTION 1.00.4 REGARDING CONDITIONAL USE PERMITS. and the type three procedure that we are looking at tonight. A type three procedure is used when the land use standards and criteria require discretion, interpretation, or policy or legal judgment, or for large projects. This is a case where this is allowed, it is not required, it's not even the preferred use, it's allowed. through conditional use. Approving a conditional use is subject to the discretion of the deciding body, which is us.

Council, we've deliberated. Is there any additional deliberations? The next thing is I need to hear, do I hear a motion?

I'll make a motion. I move the City Council tentatively deny the proposed land application CU-01-26. The application should be denied because the applicant has not demonstrated the review criterion number. I can go down through the list. Number two is not met. A this commercial activities not compatible with the residential use and the underlying residential use of. This zoning area. The intensity is not compatible with residential use. um. Well, please restate. I could go on. I could go on and on and on if you want me to.

Can you state your motion? Yeah.

Following the 10th, yeah. Criterion six, the transportation system is not capable of supporting the proposed use. And my evidence or my supporting documents would be all the statements made by folks tonight. So for those two key reasons, I could go on. Those two key reasons I'm saying that.

I have a motion.

I'll second.

I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Other than Nile, that's what I'm clearing.

Yes. Okay. Councillor McGee.

Councillor McGee.

I say aye.

Okay. So please do a roll call.

Councillor VanDremelen. Aye. Councillor Smith.

Aye.

Councillor McGee.

Aye.

Councillor Newton.

Aye.

Councilor Thompson? Aye. Second motion passes five to zero.

Thank you. As a decision of the City Council may be appealed by persons withstanding in the land use Board of Appeals by filing a notice of intent to appeal the LUBA not later than 21 days after the decision has been made. The decision becomes final. Thank you. I'll return it to a main agenda now. Next is public, excuse me, next is public comment. Public comment is a time for Albany residents to speak and for Councilors to listen. The Council won't discuss topics or make decisions during public comment, but will take comments and requests under advisement. Speakers are limited to three minutes and must follow the Council's rules and observe the same standards of decorum. 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 Albany.

Ms. David Steele.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, council members. I was under the understanding that there possibly was going to be properties discussed of 9th and Jackson recently with the city council. So let me just get started. Thank you for this time this evening. I do not live in Albany, but I do work in Albany. My name is David Steele. I'm the Executive Director of Albany Helping Hands Homeless Shelter. And it's been about 15 months since I came before this council on the properties of 9th and Jackson Street. That the city is looking to sell Albany helping hands has a vested interest in these three properties of the ten properties Represented on that block Albany helping hands owns five of those houses three of those houses are used as transitional living homes that help 12 of our guests to move forward and the two other houses that we own our rental properties that help fund the homeless shelter and With the purchase of the three vacant lots on 9th and Jackson Street, Albany Helping Hands would then be two properties away from owning the entire block. This is a very important purchase for Albany Helping Hands for the future development of the homeless shelter. We've made incredible changes over the last two years to help our homeless population in Albany to make a significant strides forward with our program Pathways to Independence. With new changes comes new growth, which requires a larger capacity to help those most vulnerable in our city. The future development would allow commercial offices as well as health services on property and small businesses. With the hope of building low-income transitional housing to assist in helping our guests to move farther forward, Albany Helping Hands is prepared to offer the city $150,000 for the three lots that are available. So thank you for your time and consideration in this important endeavor. On October 7th, I will be giving a presentation to the City Council about the success of our program of Pathways to Independence. So I welcome each one of our City Council members to our charity auction dinner tomorrow night from 5 to 9. I know it's last minute, but you're all welcome to come and see a presentation about Pathways to Independence. So I thank you for your time again.

Thank you, David. Next on tonight's public comment list is Hunter Hawthorne.

Thank you, Council. Got a couple things I want to say in regard to how tonight's appointment process played out. It was actually really interesting. I would really encourage all Albany residents, or as many as possible, to watch what unfolded tonight. I'M NOT GOING TO SPEAK TO WHETHER OR NOT I FEEL LIKE WE PICKED THE RIGHT OR WRONG PERSON, BUT I DO WANT TO PUSH BACK A LITTLE BIT ON COUNSELOR MCGEE'S COMMENTS. I CAN ATTEST AS A MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC THAT YOU ALL ARE NOT THE SAME. I DISAGREE WITH COUNSELOR THOMPSON, NOT OFTEN, BUT FROM TIME TO TIME, AND WE GET ALONG ON CERTAIN THINGS. I just really took issue with hearing that comment and just greatly disagree. I also find it interesting how so much of politics seems to be just an inside game and that somebody was appointed tonight who has been involved in city politics for a long time. And I, not just as a young person, but just as a member of this community, I live in Ward 1, would like to see more participation from folks that are oftentimes excluded from the table and from these discussions. I would also really like to see the city make a better effort to engage with the community about what this appointment process looks like. As somebody that I feel like I am pretty plugged into how the city operates, I didn't realize tonight that the mayor got a vote for who to appoint. Because normally the mayor casts tie-breaking votes. but not in these cases. And so I think folks ought to know that, especially with an upcoming election. You ought to know how your mayor voted tonight. And honestly, I would like to see a reform to this process in general, because I do not think Regardless of whether or not this council comes to an impasse. I don't disagree with with most of the process But to leave things to chance even if somebody's going to be serving for two years, they're making decisions that Can be more or less permanent for the city and for the people that will continue to occupy this community and I think that's a big issue. I do not want to see permanent decisions made, decided by the roll of the dice. And I think many folks would agree with me on that. So thank you. Thank you.

Action items, item eight on the agenda is resolutions award a contract.

Mayor, I'd like to request another bathroom break before we get to business.

Let's do 10 minutes. Let's do 10 minutes. Come back at 831.

We're almost there.

So next on the agenda, item eight, resolutions, the word contact for.

Contract.

Well, it says tact.

It does.

The word contract for housing infrastructure finance program project. Ann Catlin, page 108 to 111, your packet.

I'll be really quick. You may remember that we applied for the Housing Infrastructure Finance Program grant. We got the grant. We did this in partnership with Farmworker Housing Development Corporation. They would use the funds to construct Goldfish Farm Road, extend it down to Spicer Road, and then they need to make HALF STREET IMPROVEMENTS ON SPICER. THEY WOULD BE DOING THE WORK, SO THIS CONTRACT IS OVER $500,000, HENCE WHY WE ARE HERE FOR YOU TO HOPE YOU'LL PASS THE RESOLUTION SO THAT WE CAN AWARD THESE FUNDS TO FARMWORKER HOUSING DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION. I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.

I'M GOOD. COUNCIL SMITH, DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING?

I'M GLAD WE GOT THE GRANT. adoption of the resolution on page 110. Resolution awarding a contract to Farmworker Housing Development Corporation for the Housing Infrastructure Finance Program grant to fund infrastructure associated with phase two of Colonia del Val Prospero and authorizing the Community Development Director to enter into a contract with Farmworker Housing Development Corporation for completing the infrastructure projects identified in the Housing Infrastructure Finance Program, HIFP grant.

Second. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Those opposed say no. Thank you, Council. Item B of your action items, adopt by motion, real property disposition of 9th and Jackson Properties, Matthew Rutgers, pages 112 to 127 in your packet. Aye.

Yeah. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I don't, well, we won't be adopting a motion tonight necessarily, but so the Council had asked me to bring this back. I'm not going to go into great detail. I'll be fairly brief. This is the three properties over at 9th and Jackson that the city owns. It's on page 114 of your packet. We had attempted back in, geez, it was June. We had a meeting in which we heard a couple different proposals, open sealed bids. We opted to move forward with the high bid. However, we're not able to come to an agreement based on the appraised value of the site versus what the highest bid was willing to pay and in the intervening time Since we weren't come able to come to agreement that that process stopped We have to continue to maintain these properties throughout the years which is expensive and the council had asked me to bring bring this back for discussion and As you heard tonight from businesses from the public, Helping Hands is interested in buying it, as well as the prior highest bidder, Van Vliet, has a continued interest in the property. So our next steps, if the council is interested in moving this forward, would be identical to what we had done last time, which is we would need to advertise this in the paper and hold a public hearing. At that time, we would accept sealed bids. The interested parties could come up, suggest a time-limited three minutes to talk about What they wanted to do with the property if that's something the council is interested in hearing We would then open the bids and then council would deliberate and take action if they were interested So happy to answer any questions or take direction So

Are we required to do another sealed bid process? Because I recall asking some questions last year about the process that was chosen because I wasn't on the council when it was chosen. could we list the property? Or is there a statutory or code requirement that we do the sealed bid process? Or could we opt for a different disposition process than the sealed bid?

The only requirement by ORS is that we list it before our public hearing and that we hold a public hearing. How you receive or determine how you're gonna dispose of it is entirely up to the council whether you wanna do sealed bids or whether we've already got, through a real estate agent, you've got offers in that you're gonna consider. We just have to have that public hearing process so that the public has an opportunity to provide their input as to what the council does.

Okay. And, Counselor, just to expand a little bit on what Director Redker said, just so there's no misunderstanding of words, we don't have to list it as in what we would normally list a house. Yeah, as in, like, put it on the MLS. Right. It doesn't have to be on the MLS. When he meant list, he meant advertise it. We have to advertise the public hearing. Right. And say that we're going to sell it. Right.

But that was within the context of doing another sealed bid process. And I was wondering if the sealed bid was necessary. No. Okay. Yeah.

The only when suggesting a sealed bid is if you were entertaining different prices from people, there's a distinct advantage for the person that goes last because they have now heard all the other bids. If price is one of the major factors in who ends up winning, I guess you would say, then if you go last, you have a distinct advantage if you know what everybody else is willing to pay for it. That's why we went with that kind of sealed bid process last time was just to preserve that process of everybody kind of having a fair shot at it.

Okay. Well, and that process is on the public record. So like everybody knows what and who offered last time. So, yeah, I mean, I don't know, might be six to one half a dozen to the other in this case.

Okay, so tonight we're not making any motions or adopting anything, just bringing us up to speed on where we're at?

Yep, tonight I'm looking for a direction of, yes, we'd like to hold, we want to dispose of it, which will then set up a public hearing for us to come back, and then if you have a preference on process, if you thought the sealed bid process was okay, we can do that again. It's really entirely up to the council.

Council? Any direction there, Councilor Smith?

We have two interested parties. They've put their cards on the table once, twice in one case. I think we advertise a public hearing invite those parties, and if anybody else is interested in joining in in a public bid, let's just take all comers and see what happens. It's inexpensive to do it that way. It's quick to do it that way. We're on a path, so that's my recommendation.

That makes sense to me. I agree with that recommendation, and Councilor Newton?

I'm good.

Councillor McGee.

That's good to me.

Councillor Thompson.

That's fine, that's good.

So you have direction. All right, so just a public bid, not necessarily sealed, just come present your price and we'll go. Yep. All right, perfect.