City Council - Regular Meeting

All the possible All right, I have 7 PM. I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting to order.

Will the recorder please call the role? Councelor Irvin here. Councelor Hank here. Councelor Lamman here. Councelor Meriday here. Councelor Settlemire here. Councelor Wilson here. Mayor Solsby here. I'll rise for the pledge of allegiance. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. I will now call Pastor Bill Clark from City Life Church up to the podium to give us the city's prayer. Thank you. We may bow our heads. Heavenly Father, we lift up Cottage Grove before you. Father God, I ask that your spirit set at the four gates of this city. Lord God, that your spirit will establish righteousness, peace, and joy and truth. Father Lord, in in Romans 13:1, it states that you establish all authority. So, Father God, I ask that you send guardian angels around the police department and the officers that serve you in serving the people of this town. Father God, I ask that you protect them and guide them. Lord God, I ask also ask that you um grant them wisdom and how they move through the city, Father God, with your people. Father, Lord, I also pray for um for those sitting around the table right now, Lord, that you have placed them with keys in their hands to lead your people in this city. Father, Lord, I just pray over their homes. I pray peace. Let that be a place of peace in their homes, Father God, this year. I pray for health, Lord God. They experience health in their bodies, Father, for all their home and and family members, Father. Lord God, Lord, I pray that they experience your unconditional love and your faithfulness in their lives. Lord, they um seek for your wisdom as they guide and um build your city for your people, Father. Lord God, Lord, we're so

grateful for how you have blessed this city. And Father God, I ask that you continue to have favor upon us and those who you have established to lead the city. Father, Lord God, Lord, we give you all the praise and glory through Jesus Christ, we're so grateful, Father God, for how you have held this city close to your heart. We give you all that praise and glory your name. Amen. Thank you, Pastor Clark.

All right. [clears throat] Good evening, everyone, and thank you for being here. When I started thinking about tonight's speech, I realized something. This past year wasn't really about headlines or flashy moments. Sure, we have reasons to celebrate and have even enjoyed a little positive attention in the news, but we're what really stands out is the steady, quiet progress through thoughtful collaboration and meaningful work getting done in our city every day. Last year, I stood here talking about laying the groundwork for growth. I shared plans, commitments, and a vision for what Cottage Grove could become. Tonight, I am happy to report those were not just ideas. They were project promises that are now realities. In 2024, we began restoring and reinvesting in the heart of our city. The Bohemia Park splash pad in Entry Plaza made it possible made possible with a $1.7 million EDA grant are now spaces where families laugh, play, and make memories together. It is a it is a strong reminder of why public spaces are so important. And the f the first mural in Bohemia Park, our beloved blue goose came to life thanks to the volunteers and private donors reminding of reminding us all what community can accomplish. That same spirit continues with the Wall Dogs Project.

An opportunity to tell our story, honor our heritage, and celebrate Cottage Grove through public art on a scale that only a handful of communities have ever experienced. We will create 15 murals in just four days, capturing the history, the culture, and the heart of our city in ways that will inspire residents and visitors alike. It's more than art. It's a love letter to this community and a celebration of who we are. And of course, our downtown revitalization, made possible with a $6.25 25 million EDA grant is no longer a plan on paper. It's a reality. You can walk downtown, feel the energy, see the changes, and experience a space that now welcomes people in a way that it never has before. Thank you, Director Stewart and Shauna and I. You have been stellar as our boots on the ground through this entire transformation. December 12th was truly a proud day as we cut the ribbon to open traffic in both directions and it felt like a gift to our whole community. When this project began, I asked Mike, one of the leads in the wildish construction, if he believed the project could be finished by Christmas. He smiled and he shook his head no and said, "Sure." [laughter]

[gasps]

I would like to I would like to thank Mike for his sense of humor and the crew of Wildish for their professionalism and patience working with all of us city staff, business owners, and our citizens through this transition. A special thank you to our city staff for the lit garlands and wreaths. Every morning when the lights came on, every evening when the lights came on, it was felt like a Hallmark movie. I've heard so much positive feedback and we are all grateful for the joy that it brought to our city. We also followed through on our commitment to emergency preparedness by purchasing a generator for the community center, ensuring it can serve our community during ice storms or power outages. We continue to support community events and accessibility improvements. We installed automatic door openers in both the community center and the library library to improve accessibility for everyone. We supported a successful Mayor's Monster Ball fundraiser, Bohemia Mining Days, Cascade Barbecue Cookoff, Eugene Symphony at Bohemia Park, Halloween trick-or- treat, the Christmas kickoff, the Chambers Concerts in the Park, and the Guinness World Record for most people simultaneously gold panning contest. We could never have accomplished the Guinness World Record without the many volunteers and gold panning experts along with the hard work of the CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Haskell and also the generosity of the Urban family who facilitated travel for the Guinness Judge. Thank you.

We purchased 10 new golf carts at the golf course. An example of a small decision making a big difference resulting in record use. Nearly 8,000 more rounds played and $726,000 in revenue. Infrastructure projects, water and sewer expansions, planning for the river path. These are foundations for the future that we are building together. I'm especially proud of the progress in our community development. This was a year of growth, leadership, and service. Melanie Clemer stepped into the role of community development manager. Lenny Crowe was promoted to senior planner. Jeremy Means joined us as associate planner. With this incredible team in place, our planning and code enforcement work is guiding smart growth. When March 16th brought a major atmospheric river and a flooding to drain, a minor flooding here at home, Lenny worked tirelessly with state and county emergency managers talking to residents, assessing damage, and coordinating recovery. Here at home, our team processed more than a hundred planning cases, resolved more than 100 tall grass and code violations, and addressed dozens of nuisance and safety issues. Cottage Grove was awarded its 32nd Tree City USA recognition with our with our ninth growth award still under review by the state. Lenny Crowe was honored as the 2025 flood plane manager of the year. Planning staff also hosted the 9th

annual emergency preparedness fair with over 2,000 people in attendance. Our building department issued more than 600 permits, including new single family homes, a tangible sign of our city's positive growth. I also want to take a moment to recognize the outstanding work of our police department. This year, we filled our top positions and created a formal training program for our three sergeants, combining mentorship with Chief Chase and guidance from our captain and leadership seminars, building strong, capable leaders for the future. The department also introduced a new community policing initiative through a partnership with Starfish Assignment, a volunteer 501c3 supporting the books and badges program. Through this partnership, donated books are shared with local children and each child receive receiving their own copy. This program not only inspires our youth, it strengthens the relationships between our officers and the community. To our officers, thank you for mentoring and guiding and investing in the next generation. Your work does not go unnoticed and Cottage Grove is stronger because of it. I also want to recognize our public works team for their incredible dedication. This year they built 20 railroad benches for Bohemia Park. They cleaned up 36 illegal campsites, installed our trailer mounted generator at the community center, and built 40 panning tables for the Guinness World Record gold panning contest. To every member of the public works team, thank you for your commitment to Cottage Grove. Our city

could not function without all of you. moving to finance and HR. Thank you. Whether you're at the desk helping the citizens, behind the scenes, keeping everything running smoothly, or supporting our staff every day, your hard work makes a real difference. I also want to thank our city manager, our city recorder, and our deputy recorder. Your dedication and steady support make it possible for all of us to serve this community. We are truly grateful for everything that you do. I must recognize and thank our city council for the countless hours that they volunteer not just here in council chambers but on numerous committees and boards that guide our city forward. That work often happens quietly and usually comes at a sacrifice of family and personal time. Your willingness to step up and serve matters deeply. And to your families, thank you for sharing them with this community. Your support makes all of our work possible. On a personal note, I would like to thank my husband. Your continued support is invaluable to me. You're my rock. and I never take that for granted. I am proud of how our city council works together. [snorts] We may not always agree, but we are respectful

and we listen. And [snorts] because of that, we make better decisions for the long-term health and happiness of our community. to our citizens. Your engagement, your feedback and trust matter more than you realize. [snorts] I'll close with this. Cottage Grove is not perfect. No place is. But tonight, [snorts] while there is much for us to be proud of, that pride is not boastful. It's a genuine sense of accomplishment and a reflection of what this town can do when people care, commit, and show up for each other. Balance [snorts] isn't always easy. Progress takes patience. It takes compromise. It takes a willingness to listen. That's what I've seen this year.

[snorts]

a community willing to do the work, not just talk about it. Cottage Grove is moving forward thoughtfully, [snorts] intentionally, and together. Thank you. Cheers to 2026. Thank you. [laughter] Item B. Thank you, counselor. Um, 2023 23 draft audit presentation. Cody. Hi, Cody. Thank you, Mayor Solsby. My name is Cody Savvy. I'm a partner with Iser CPA and I'm here to present the 2023 audit. Before I begin, as Mayor Solsby pointed out, this is based on a draft of the financial statements, but although we're still in draft form, I'm 99% confident what I'm about to say is set in stone. Um, so with that, let's jump right into it. The first set of items I'd like to go over is the uh the board communications and some of the contents of those communications. The first of which is management's responsibility in an audit.

Management has two primary responsibilities. The first of which is for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in accordance with US generally accepted accounting principles. The second responsibility of management in an audit is to design, implement and maintain a system of internal control that is relevant to the preparation and presentation of the financial statements that are free of material misstatement whether due to fraud or error. So really just two responsibilities there but they are very significant responsibilities. The second item is our responsibilities as auditors. First and foremost, we need to conduct our audit in accordance with professional standards. For the city's audit, we apply generally accepted auditing standards. By applying those standards, we're really attempting to achieve reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An important thing there, we provide reasonable assurance, not absolute assurance. So every audit has the unavoidable risk that it could be perfectly designed, perfectly executed, and misstatements may still exist. It's one of those inherent risk that's just part of the audit profession. So after we achieve reasonable assurance, we should be at the position to issue our audit opinion. For 2023, we are looking at issuing a disclaimer of a of opinion. What this really means is that there was a scope limitation in our audit. This disclaimer specifically applies to a new accounting standard that went into effect for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023. And that standard is Gazsby 96, which is subscriptionbased IT arrangements. what Gazsby really said, if you have IT arrangements that operate in the form of

a subscription, you need to evaluate those and potentially put an asset on your balance sheet and a liability. So, one, you have the asset, but then you have to say, "Hey, we still have to pay for this." So, they don't nearly offset, but it's fairly close to an offset there. It does not impact the budgetary statements. So as you make those required payments, they're still running through those funds, still hitting fund balance. So it's really no change on the budgetary statements. This only affects full acral statements. So again, this is specific to the subscriptionbased IT arrangement standard. Other than that, there is nothing that would cause us to modify our opinion. Uh with that, we can move to the next item. Significant findings. This primarily relates to the city's system of internal controls. Professional standards require us to communicate to those charged with governance if we identify any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in our audit. But I'm happy to report that we had no significant deficiencies nor material weaknesses. The next item corrected and uncorrected misstatement. I'm sure you guessed a theme here. If we note these, we are required to communicate them. Uh we had no corrected misstatements as part of the audit and the only item that would fall under uncorrected misstatements goes back to those subscription IT arrangements. Moving to the next couple of items, difficulties encountered during the audit and disagreements with management. Um we had some minor difficulties just finding records. I think that was primarily related to turnover at the city, but at the end of the day, the city was able to provide all records that we requested. And so this doesn't rise to the severity. Just something of note. Um, so when we provide our final

communication with the board, you will see with difficulties and disagreements that there were neither of the witch encountered. The management representations very standard piece of every audit. Audit standards require that we obtain a list of representations that management made to us during the course of our audit. Um, again, very standard piece of every audit. And management consultations with other auditors, we become aware of this. Again, required to communicate it, but to our knowledge, there were no such communications. And this last one's kind of just a catchall. uh auditing professional standards always like to include kind of a catch-all. Anything that we think in our professional judgment needs to be communicated um would fall under this this category. But I'm happy to say we had no other findings or issues encountered during our audit. The next set of items is Oregon minimum standards. Um this is a fairly unique requirement for the state of Oregon. The state requires that for local government audits, we come in and look at this specific set of minimum standards. We're one of two states that has this requirement, the other being New Jersey. [snorts] Um, so they tell us we need to we need to look at these items, but they don't really say what to do. So, it's up to us as auditors to go through the minimum standards and design audit procedures to address the requirements. The first one, deposits of public funds. It's a pretty basic requirement. Really, we look at where the city has their funds and make sure it's on the state approved financial institutions. The next item, debt limitations. This applies to general obligation debt. So, really general obligation bonds. Um, we go through the state requirements,

calculate the city's maximum limit, and then compare that to the actual. Based on our calculations, the city could have had 49 million in general obligation debt, but at the end of June 2023, they're around 2 million. So well below that threshold. The budget, this is one of the more significant areas that we look at in Oregon minimum standards. We really start with the budget committee process. Looking at the affidavits of publications of those meetings, looking to make sure a presiding officer was elected at that first meeting. Uh follow it through uh them approving the budget and passing it on to city council. We then look at the affidavit of publications for the budget hearing and and really follow it all the way through until city adoption. So that's kind of what we do for the process. But then there's also the budget document. We do a very comprehensive review of the budget document, looking at things such as resources equaling requirements in each fund, looking to make sure expenditures are at legal appropriation or yeah, legal appropriation classifications. Um, looking at how the debt service fund is budgeted, looking at transfers. Again, just a very comprehensive review of the budget document. And one thing I want to point out when we do the June 30, 2023 audit, all these budget procedures are over that next year's budget. So for this year, we're really looking at the fiscal year 2324 budget document. Um, after all that testing, we noted no findings. The next item, insurance, the state is aware that we are not insurance experts and they do not expect us to be. So with insurance, this is more or less a reasonleness check. We look at insurance, compare it to the prior year, ask about any significant changes or really anything that stands out to us on

that document. Highway revenue testing. This is more appropriately stated as uh the use of highway revenue testing. Um there are requirements in Oregon as far as the ODOT aortionment on what you can and cannot spend that on. So in our testing of the street fund, we look at those requirements and ensure that those expenditures are in compliance with them if they are coming from the ODOT aortionment money. And after that testing, we had no non-compliance noted. Investments of public funds OS 294 governs uh what local governments can and cannot invest in. At the end of June 2023, the city had funds in the local government investment pool and a money market account. So, both very lowrisk investments. So, no concerns there from us. Budgeted expenditures. This is one that we do look at the fiscal year 23 numbers for. We compare the actuals to the legal appropriation limits and if any of those exceeded the budgeted amount, we're required to report on those. Uh but there were none to report on. And one item that is not on my slide is public contracting. This is really the other big area that we look at in Oregon minimum standards. Um if you've had the pleasure of looking at OS 297, you know there's a lot of information in there to be aware of. Um, so for this test, we work with management to put a list of items together that are above the intermediate procurement threshold. We pull a sample from those and then depending on the type of procurement it is, we look to ensure that it was compliant with 297 and the city's local policies. And this next slide, just a few items

that I specifically wanted to address. Uh the first of which is just the overall delay in getting the 2023 audit issued. We began the audit roughly in early June and by the end of June um our audit department was really flipped upside down. Um we were informed that the head of our department was leaving the firm. Um and this was while we were going through our tri-annual peer review which is essentially where we get audited. another firm comes in and looks at our auditing practices and ensures that we have a system of quality conduct our audits. So that was going on. We were in the middle of implementing new audit software and a new audit methodology and we also had to implement the new quality management standards that had to be implemented by the end of this last calendar year. So those standards essentially told us we need to create a completely new quality management system for our assurance department. Um so we had those projects going on and also this other partner's billable work. Um, thankfully my fellow partner who was approaching retirement has agreed to stay on and really help me navigate this tough time and so he's taken on a lot of the former partners' billable work and those other projects have um fallen into my lap. So it's been a very chaotic time. Just want to say thank you to uh city staff and the the patience they have showed us as we navigate this difficult time. And the next item is something that we've reviewed with city management and they asked that we include this in our presentation. So if we continue on as a city's auditors, this would be our plan to catch the city up on their audits. Um the fiscal year 24 audit would begin roughly April of this year with the expectation that that would be completed

uh probably towards the end of summer. Um, and then the fiscal year 25 audit would go on our fall 26 calendar. The fiscal year 26 audit would be the first half of 27. And then the 27 audit would be back on our fall schedule, essentially getting the city back on their normal audit routine. And finally, I just wanted to take a brief look at some of the financial information, give a few of my thoughts. Um what we have on the slide here is the last five years in the general fund. Um looking at it, you know, there's not a lot of variance between revenues and expenditures. We can see that, you know, as one gets bigger, so does the other. So we have a overall general increase to both of those over the last five years. Not a lot of variance. As I said, um, the change in fund balance fluctuated between a negative 300,000 and a positive 400,000. But as I was looking at this, one thing stood out to me, and that's that the general fund historically has been transferring a little over a million dollars to supplement other city activity. Um, so that's really what's keeping the expenditures, you know, equal to those revenues and other sources coming in. Um, in 2023 there was about a $216,000 decrease in fund balance, which brought the ending fund balance to right around 2.4 million. Very healthy spot to be in. Um, and in 23 there was a 1.3 million transferred out to other funds to supplement that activity. So if you net the two, take out that transfer, you're really looking at a $1.1 million increase. Um, and seeing that there's not a huge fluctuation in the general fund balance, staying around that 2.4 million, I don't think there's really any cause for concern there. So, with that, I'd like to thank you for your

time and open it up for any questions. Does anyone have questions for Cody? It's pretty thorough. No questions at all. Councelor Merid, I just want to point out that we the audit committee composed of councelor Irvin, myself and two citizen members uh did meet uh this past week and receive the same information and assurances and as as uh councelor Irvin and I can say as well as the citizen members, we have been on the audit committee for a number of years without a meeting. So,

it was great to finally fulfill our obligation as audit committee members. That's going to be a little tougher committee now. [laughter] Thank you, Cody. Appreciate it.

Appearance of interested citizens. This is a time for citizen comment. The council will first take comments addressing items not listed on the agenda for a maximum of 30 minutes. The council will then take comments addressing action items on the agenda for a maximum 30 minutes. Individual speakers must be recognized by the presiding officer, provide their name, identify whether they are city resident, and if so, their ward. Please limit comments to 3 minutes or less with council approval. Comments regarding any matter scheduled for public hearing may be provided only during that hearing. The council will not make any decisions based on public comment. However, staff and council may choose to ask questions or comment following the conclusion of citizen comments. Linds. Good evening, mayor and council. I'm Linda Olsen, um resident and ward three. So, I'm here on behalf of Community Strong Cottage Grove and it's been a couple quiet it's been a quiet year. Thank you and I'm looking forward to 2026. Recently, there were concerns from neighbors about changes to the SNAP government assistance benefits. We encourage an interdependent relationship and increase sustainability in order to become a more healthy community. Neighbors empowering neighbors. With that in mind, we created this upcoming event this coming Wednesday, which we are excited to share with you. Eating healthy on a budget. Wednesday, January 14th from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 at the reception room in the community center. Participating organizations I'm pleased to say are the Sustainers, Gleaners, 4, Row River Grains, 7th Day Adventist, Master Gardeners, Master Preserver, and several more. Many have been invited, not

confirming, but I'm sure they will be there. Participants will also earn a chance to win prizes. We have crockpotss, seed starter kits, sprout kits, cookbooks, hand garden tools, and a box of produce donated locally. So, this is a free event for the community and we would like to invite everybody to come down and consider new ways to approach budgeting your finances and learn new ways um to eat more appropriately here locally, keeping things local and and actually empowering our local community. So, I do have flyers if anybody's interested. It is going to be a wonderful event and I'm sure it will be fairly packed. So, thank you.

Thank you for volunteering your time. Dale Gangel Ward One. Uh, I just got to start off by saying thank you. That is a beautiful street out there. That's just that's amazing. I wasn't expecting it to be that nice. I really wasn't. The main reason I'm up here is last meeting people up here complaining about immigration. I am an immigrant. I came into this country legally. I am a US citizen today. It's not that difficult. These people that are complaining just all they got to do is go online to INS immigration, you know, and basically fill out the paperwork. It's not that difficult. It's pretty easy. I mean, really, I mean, we got a great community here. We don't need more problems. Just go to go online and fill out the paperwork. It's not that hard. If you don't want to do it online, go to Portland. It's it's easy. I I'm just I just tire of the problems here. I mean, it goes both ways. They don't like ICE. ICE don't like them. Whatever. I mean, that don't need to happen. We can all get along here. Anyway, that's all I got to say is it's easy. The hardest test I've had to take since I've been here is my driving test. Literally, they asked me six questions at INS. That's it. And that was oral. Didn't even have to do it in writing. The first one, who's the president of the United States? Second one, what oceans on the east coast? What oceans on the west coast? It's it's that easy. Just go online, fill out the paperwork, and do it the right way. It's not hard. Thank you.

Thank you,

Donnie. Good evening, Madame Mayor, council members. Thank you, Madame Mayor, for that presentation. It just hearing all this stuff at once. It makes me so, you know, proud to be a part of this and grateful to live in Cottage Grove and be here among the community members who are doing these things. Uh, I have you I presented last month or so. So, I just will say the same thing again. You had some paperwork is that I just ask the staff to fill out a form. Um, but I just want to demonstrate what we're talking about. Oops, not a phone. I had a um hook that's, you know, 3 and 12 inches, quarter inch hook, hangs on this pouch here. And uh I keep pulling out the wrong tool here, but um we can put a must have left it on the last table. Anyhow, a a pair of hand clippers can easily be dropped in the house. We have a clip and [snorts] I uh just kind of observe my own suggestions is that we could hang three of these perhaps on each one of these stations that this project or the Benny Hubble project that started last year has basically claimed at least a part of the publicly owned property along south uh the river

uh cottage cottage grove not Cottage Grove, the um Coastport River through Cottage Grove. As you notice on our city council ward boundaries, each one of these boundaries of the of the wards are bounded by a river that runs through or adjacent to all of the city of Cottage. We have the Ra River on the north, the Coast Fork running through and around along the south and through the city. Um, I know we've kind of had this 50 year, at least in my experience, of coming to Cottage Grove and seeing this river. It is constantly behind a row of dead thorns that you can't even see through, let alone attach. But having cleared just a portion of that river, it's very clear that the citizens are enjoying this. Now perhaps through this the uh periods of times of the city, we have accustomed ourselves to thinking of this as a drainage ditch that isn't part of our community. But now you can see it. And what I'm asking now is that we can put up these things to allow our community to participate in maintaining cutting the blackberries off of the of a riverside. But as I point out in the paperwork, uh very close reading to the the core of engineers rules say that no, we can't do anything in the flood way. But my observation is that this core of engineer is very open to having communities involve that. We just have to fill out the form and get the

permissions and then invite our community to participate in clearing the blackberries away from our riverside. We just spent what $8 million or something to make the center of our town look wonderful. Great. I'm not asking $1 from the budget or one hour from public service, just the allowance to fill out the form so we can do this and ask the community become involved and in participate with one another to clean up, not even clean up, just cut back the invasive species that we already want to cut back. Well, that's about all I need to say tonight. Thank you for your attention. Thank you, councelor Sedtomire.

Um, Mr. Nordon. Um, I I would like to just say we did speak a little bit about this as a council and I volunteered to go and check with I know Coast Fork watershed council is is a partner that we would do and I volunteered to get together with them and um get back to you and I apologize end of the year stuff I haven't attended a meeting with them since then. So I will be talking with them and getting in touch with you. Thank you.

Appreciate that. Part of what I didn't speak to right now is what I was in the paperwork is that I felt like an appropriate committee would be to change the purview of our urban forestry committee to include urban forestry and rivers committee. So we'd still have city oversight. every everybody would be perfect vetted and you'd have all of the elected officials uh in involved. So we wouldn't have to need another layer of government. We have our own government right here that could do this as well.

Thank you, Mr. Nordon. Donnie, did you want to speak? Dear members of the city council, thank you for the opportunity to speak today about a crisis that many residents experience quietly. People living in kennels or on the ground without shelter, heat, or running water. Those whose belongings are their lifeline and who face immense barriers to basic needs such as access to stores, medical care, showers, stable employment because they can't leave their stuff unattended. Um, they deserve dignity, safety, and a viable path forward. This is not an abstraction for us. It is a community issue with profound public health is safety and economic implications for all of us. Why this matters to our city? Public health and safety. Lack of sanitation, heating or cooling and medical care creates risk not only for individuals but for the broader community. Um economic vitality. Stabilizing residents who are unhoused can reduce ambulance visits, emergency room strain, and crisis responses while increasing participation in the local economy through work, volunteering, and commerce. Social cohesion and trust. People are more likely to engage with city services when they feel seen, respected, and supported. The core challenges our neighbors face, shelter and safety, living outdoors or in improvised spaces with exposure to the weather, violence, and theft. Basic needs, um not able to go access anything anything because they can't leave their stuff unattended or it gets thrown away. Um I know a few people who have had more than three of their homes taken from them this year for no good reasons. um belongings and mobility, the fear of losing their belongings, difficulty transporting them, limited ability to travel for care or work. I mean, they have to move twice a day. You guys all know how moving can be once in every couple years. They have to do it twice a day, you know. Just think about that. You know how hard it is to find something after you moved, you know? I mean, come on. Just all kinds of problems there. Housing and services fragmentation, gaps between shelters,

healthcare, employment programs, and housing options. A practical compassionate city council agenda. Immediate relief and safety with a milestone of zero to three months. Establish supervised low barrier micro shelters or warming cooling centers with on-site security, rest areas, water access, and sanitary facilities. Create safe on-site or nearby storage solutions for belongings with controlled daytime access. Deploy a city-led outreach team, nurse, mental health clinicians, and social workers to identify needs, offer immediate assistance, and connect to services. Access to essentials and mobilities. That's within one to six month milestone. Partners with local nonprofits to provide the shower facilities, clean clothing, hot meals, hygiene kits, and laundry services at multiple accessible nodes around the city. Implement a low barrier transportation program, vouchers, or partnerships with ride share, bus services to essential appointments, job interviews, and stores. expand ID replacement assistance and documentation support to reduce barriers to eligibility for services and housing, health, housing and wraparound services 3 to 12 months. Uh standup mobile clinics or dedicated clinics, clinic days offering urgent care, vaccinations, wound care, addiction services, and mental health support without rigid ID requirements. Pilot a housing first program with wraparound services, rapid placement into stable housing paired with case management, healthcare access, substance use support and employment assistance. Launch low barrier employment pathways tied to housing placement or shelter-based employment hubs, including skills training and paid micro jobs. System coordination and data sharing 0 to 12 months. Create a coordinated access point within the city social services to streamline intake, referrals, and case management, ensuring residents don't fall through the cracks. Establish datainformed performances metrics while safeguarding privacy and consent. Formalize cross agency collaboration, housing, health, parks, public works, police, and social services to ensure consistent

compassionate responses. Community partnerships and safety ongoing. Invite faith groups, local businesses, and nonprofits to sponsor units, fund services, and participate in outreach. Ensure culturally competent trauma enforced approaches. Involve residents in program design and decision- making to build trust and ensure services meet real needs. Proposed milestones and accountability. 30 days. Open at least three new shower and sanitation access points and two secure storage locations. Deploy one mobile outreach team. Publish a public facing plan with clear rules. 90 days. Stand up one housing first pilot with wraparound services. Initiate two microemployment hubs. Donnie, are you close? Are you Are you close? Close. Yeah. Okay.

Is that all right? I mean, go ahead and finish. us. You know, it's all right. Thank you. I see you guys compassion and what you guys want to hear. Thank you. I'm all right. Thank

Ken. Hi, I'm I'm Ken Gnome. [clears throat] I uh wanted to review here. Uh 2025 was uh quite interesting to me. I I've I've had 10 encounters with uh public works where they've taken all my belongings and threw them away. Whether it was offensive littering or trespassing, it's I I [snorts] still lost everything I owned at least 10 times last year. Um both both the last two Christmases my stuff has been thrown away. So I think I know what the Grinch looks like. He unlocks the gate for the homeless community. Um, I just recently got arrested after Christmas uh for trespassing at the homeless camp because I was late leaving. And yet again, all my stuff was thrown away without even itemizing and storing it for 30 days like you guys were supposed to. Um, I wonder what why why did that happen? So, I asked the uh city manager uh what was going on and I still haven't received any answers yet. Um,

I really still don't understand how this town is. If if you want me to better my life, how am I supposed to do it when you keep throwing my items away? [gasps] Uh for [clears throat] no reason. Um I would curse this town, but you guys are doing to yourselves. Your children are learning your behavior. That's all I got. Thank you, Chris Ellis. Greetings to the city council. I'm Chris Ellis. I'm here residing in ward 1 and I am here basically u appalled at uh the actions of ICE in our community and other communities in this area. My grandfather on my mother's side deployed to Europe 80 years ago to fight the Nazis in over there and he you know the things that he witnessed there are now unfolding here and he would be utterly appalled if he was here to see what's happening to see uh not just you know people who may or may not be documented but people who are full-fledged citizens s being attacked, being disappeared, being uh abducted and sent off to some camp somewhere like they like he saw in Europe 80 years ago. And so, you know, here we are again. Why why is this happening? you know we our communities these are productive people who who are uh contributing to our

economy who are you know going to work being abduct abducted going to work going to the businesses that they are owning and operating and generating revenue and income and taxes for not only this city but you know our county our state you know for all of us for our communities and these commun Community me members are under attack. They're living in fear. They're afraid to go to work now. They're afraid to go to school. They're afraid, you know, for their children. And you know, this is people now even now it's reached a point where citizens are being shot and killed like what happened in Min Minneapolis. This is getting spiraling out of control. All right. and our communities are under threat and under attack. And so we are definitely what would be defined as a under a state of emergency right now. And I would like to see this council, please. And you know, uh, I would like to see a resolution passed recommending a state of emergency being declared by our county, Lane County, and for this area, and pleading for this to stop. Please, it must stop. We can't have the same thing that happened in Germany 80 years ago rear its ugly head again right here on my grandfather's own turf. You know, this I you know I'm I'm beyond words at this point. Just please let's do something. Let's not let this continue. Thank you.

Thank you.

Public hearings. I see none. Consent agenda. Council move the council approve the consent agenda. as presented. Motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion with the second. Any discussion? All those in favor signify by saying I.

Opposed. Motion carries unanimous. Resolutions and ordinances. Item A, ordinance amending the city of Cottage Grove municipal code title 14 land use the citywide zoning map for a portion of Highway 99 approximately 5,50 ft in length. Senior planner Lenny Crow.

Thank you, mayor. Good evening, council. Um, so on October 13, 2025, uh, the city council voted to approve the annexation of a portion of the ride ofway known as Highway 99. Uh, it started at Emerson Lane moving south to the edge of the urban growth boundary. Per section 18.04.090 zoning of annex property, the applicant is required to file a zone change application to convert from county zoning to city zoning prior to the city filing documentation with the secretary of state. Currently, this portion of Highway 99 is zoned by Lane County as RC rural commercial, RR5 rural residential, RI rural industrial, and F2 impacted forest. Um the zoning does correspond to the abuing parcel zoning. The uh reference section of right ofway has a comp cottage grove comprehensive plan designation of L low density residential I industrial and c community commercial. Um so the applicant the city of cottage grove has requested that uh the following is applied uh to the designated industrial uh portion which is approximately 3,946 ft of rideway. it would be zoned uh M industrial. For the designated C community commercial, it would be zoned RC residential commercial. It's approximately 241 ft. And for the designated L lowdensity residential, uh proposed to zone it to R1 low density residential, which is approximately 863 ft of hydro. Um so per subsection 14.47.400.1, 400.1. The planning commission um shall review and decide upon land use district map changes that do not involve comprehensive plan amendments through the type 3 application procedure. Uh the planning commission did hold a public hearing for this file ZC3-25 on December 17th, 2025, voting 60 in

favor of applying uh the previously mentioned zones um to this portion of Highway 99. um staff or pardon me, the ordinance before you was prepared um and has been available for at least one week prior to this meeting. This ordinance could be adopted at one meeting and staff recommends ratification of the planning commission's decision. Mr. Roberts, we have an ordinance number. This will be ordinance number 3203. Councelor,

thank you, Mayor. I move that the city council adopt ordinance number 3203 amending the city of Cottage Grove municipal code title 14 land use the citywide zoning map for a portion of Highway 99 approximately 5,50 ft in length. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion with the second. Any questions? Any conversation, comments? No. Will the recorder please call the role? Councelor Settlemire. I. Councelor Wilson. Hi. Councelor Meriday. I. Councelor Hank. Hi. Councelor Irvin.

I. Councelor Lamman. I. Mayor Solsby. I. Motion carries unanimous. you. Item B, ordinance annexing into the city of Cottage Grove, A4-25, land identified as 78064 South 6th Street, map TL 203300900. Senior planner Lenny Carth.

Thank you, Mayor and Council. Um, so on December 9th of 2025, the real property owners of 78064 South 6 Street, um, known as map and tax lot 20-03-33-33-0000900 0, uh, properly initiated the annexation of this parcel by requesting the use of the expedited procedure, which is allowed under section 18.04.050 of the Cottage Grove Municipal Code. Um the proposed annexation of the subject property is in compliance with the standards and criterion of both the OS's and the Cottage Grove Municipal Code. Um I will call to your attention that there was a redundancy in the original ordinance that was presented on Friday. Um it had mentioned the city of Cottage Grove ordains as follows. You would have seen it twice. That only that section um was removed. So, the substance of the ordinance is the same, just the redundancy was taken out. Um, at this point, staff recommends that the city council hold the first vote on the attached ordinance um for file A4-25, which is the annexation of the subject parcel. The ordinance was prepared and has been available for at least one week prior to this meeting. Um, and this ordinance could be adopted at one meeting and staff recommends approval. Thank you.

I would entertain a motion. Councelor Urban. Thank you, Mayor. I move that the city council adopt ordinance number 3204 adopting annexation file number A4-25 for tax uh for map tax lots 20-30-33-33-00900 uh in the ordinance presented to us uh the council this evening. We have a motion. Do we have Oh, councelor slide amendment. Uh, councelor Urban, you uh had a little bit of dyslexia there on your numbers. Oh, [laughter]

let me just re redo that. I'm not going to try to amend the dyslexic thing. Um, I move that the city of that the city council adopt ordinance number 3204 uh adopting annexation file number A4-25 for map tax lots 20-03. It's probably where it was. Dash33-33-00900 0. Do we have a second? Second. We have a motion with a second. Any discussion?

Councelor Hank. Any discussion? Will the recorder please call the role? Councelor Lamman. Hi. Mayor Solsby. I. Councelor Wilson. Hi. Councelor Settlemire. I. Councelor Hank. Hi. Councelor Irvin. Hi. Councelor Mered. Hi. Motion carries unanimously. All right. Business from the city council. Election of council president, city manager, Mr. Sarowine.

Well, good evening, your honor. Members of the city council, uh, as outlined in our city charter, uh, the city council at its first meeting each year must elect a council president from its membership. So, I'll turn that over to the mayor.

All right. Well, councelor Irvin has been our council president for couple years, three years, and has done a an amazing job, and I want to commend you for that. Uh, if no one else wants to step up, I don't know if anyone wants to step up. [laughter] If if no one wants to, I would recommend that council Iran stay in that position. But if someone wants to step up, we'd entertain that. I second your motion, Madame Mayor. Okay. First, I should ask [laughter] Councelor Irvin if he's willing to serve in that position.

I am. Thank you. Yeah. All right. So, we have a motion with a second. Any discussion? Yes. I just would like to commend um councelor Irvin's fair and even handling of the position and would strongly endorse him as council president. Thank you. All right. All those in favor signify by saying I. I.

Opposed carries unanimously. Congratulations, Council President. I guess you're not getting off that easily. [laughter] City Council subcommittee and liaison appointments. City manager, Mr. Sarine. Well, good evening, your honor. Again, uh included in your packet is a list of the 2025 city council subcommittee appointments. And you know, again, I'll turn it over to the mayor if uh we can make any changes to that or we just have the same committee appointments that we had this last year.

I believe as far as I know, everything is staying the same except for one exception, which is a switching of councelor Wilson and councelor Smomire from school board to watershed. Correct. Yes.

Everyone else is happy with their committees? I didn't realize that on the [laughter] right. Okay. Thank you. All right. Item C, planning commission and historic preservation committee appointments. Community development manager Melanie Clement.

Good evening, Mayor, members of council. At the November 24th, 2025 city council meeting, council approved uh excuse me, appointed a subcommittee to conduct interviews of candidates for the planning commission, historic preservation commission and the urban forestry committee. Councelor Wilson, who was uh voluntary to be chair, councelor Urban and councelor Meriday volunteered and were selected by council to staff the interview subcommittees. Um, we had four applicants for the planning commission, four for the historic preservation, and unfortunately none for the urban forestry. Interviews were held on December 8th and December 15th. So, at this time, staff recommends that the council hear the subcommittee's recommendation and um approve those recommendations.

Councelor Wilson, you were the chair. I was. Um, and I don't have a list of the names of the candidates handy here in front of me, unfortunately.

Does any other council have it by chance? We had a lastm minute applicant that unfortunately we were we were going to interview but they had a medical emergency and they had to I do remember the you do I let it sleep and I'll try to make it big enough I can read it. Okay. Okay. Right. It's gonna go through

and then then we added the J. Yeah. Okay. Um Okay. Thank you. I appreciate councelor Irvin and his quick fingers. um for the planning commission. Um we uh interviewed some great candidates by the way and um we have chosen to believe there were two um yeah two [clears throat] positions that we we we interviewed four people and uh we chose to recommend uh Jim Colton and Jill Bill Hermanson who were incumbents to continue on in their positions. Uh although I do want to thank the other two candidates that uh that came in for interview. They they did a a good job of uh presenting themselves. And uh then for the historic preservation commission um we initially had two positions available. A third one has become available and we are recommending Rick Hazeltime. It's an incumbent Deborah Monsive and James Jordan to fill the three positions. you.

So, like to move that um we adopt those named individuals to fill the positions on those two um commissions and encourage others that might still be interested in the urban forestry committee to put in your applications. We'd like to fill that as well. Second. Do we need the the term dates there? Do we? I don't think we ever actually heard what those term dates were. Miss Clement, they're all threeyear terms. Threeear terms on those. Okay.

We have a motion with the second. All those in favor signify. Oh,

I just want to reiterate there's two of those applicants. Um, I did not show up for the initial interviews. Totally totally didn't uh read the full email. So, my apologies to them. They showed up again to be interviewed and I really appreciate uh that they're willing to do that. Um, and just the fact that we have more applicants specifically in that position uh than we have positions to fill is a very good situation to have in a community. Um, [clears throat] and just encourage anybody that uh wants to get involved. Any one of these committees is a great way to get oriented uh to the going ons and being able to see what's uh other volunteer opportunities are available. Uh but the input is really we cover that um participation. So, thank you for everyone that applied.

Thank you, councelor. We have a motion with the second. Any more discussion? Mayor SBY, could you clarify who the second of the motion was, please? Thank you. Councelor Urban, we have a motion with a second. All those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Mayor Ser, one more order of business. If we could bounce back to the uh city council subcommittee and liaison appointments, I'd love to have that done by motion if we could. Council,

I move that the city council council appoint subcommittee appointments um be remain as they have been in the prior years for the exception of a switching of the roles of liaison to the school district and the watershed council being councelor Wilson and settleers roles being switched. Second. We have a motion with a second. All those in favor signify by saying I. I.

Opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you, Miss Roberts. Item D, rain catalyst. Councelor Mary Day.

Thank you, Mayor. Um the city uh Cottage Grove Community Development Corporation is an entity that um councelor Wilson and I serve on in addition to public works director Stewart. Um the purposes of this um body is to facilitate and encourage um economic development. We have in the past had maintained a contract with the rain catalyst that was to an attempt to ensure that local business entrepreneurs get this the uh support and encouragement they need to be successful. Um the the funding uh for that catalyst uh came through um the community development corporation uh through granting primarily through the Woodard Family Foundation and a contribution by the city of Cottage Grove from the economic development fund. Um there was much discussion in the December 12th meeting of the community development corporation. Uh we cited a number of um concerns that we had with the rain catalyst. They have as an organization have experienced a number of leadership changes. So we did not have a continuity of representation in our community. Um we have also not received um requested um feedback from them. Um and overall

the the opinion of the um the body was that um we would like to cease the arrangement. the contract was not ever um certified by the city, so it was not truly in effect. Um so we we thought that the money we could in the remaining year of the contract should be redirected and and given to establishing a full-time person position that would be um sole purpose is to develop help economic development in the community. Some of the conditions cited was that um every study, economic development study and downtown improvement study that's been done is recommended hiring someone that that is their sole focus. In the um urban renewal plan, there is money in the first year dedicated towards a part-time position for economic development. We um um therefore voted that we will end the the community development corporation will chose to end the arrangement with rain and that entails that there is now funding that could be devoted to economic development and the remaining funds that

were set aside there in the city budget. So, this person could potentially serve multiple communities through an intergovernmental uh agreement um possibly including the Crestwell area. Uh it remains to be seen what exactly how this position would be put together, but there's many possibilities. So, um I would like to make a motion that we uh redirect the remaining funds as as specified in our budget to redirect them towards a position for economic development.

Terminating the relationship with rain. I second that. We have a motion with a second. Discussion, councelor Urban, if I recall, that line item of support was was it 20,000 a year? Is that uh it's 20 it's 21,000 a year over two over two years. So a total of $42,000 over two years. And what remains? Uh at this point the the full amount nothing has been expended out of that line item yet this year.

Okay. Um, yeah, I'd support this. I I want to give some context. I recall being context. I recall being pretty supportive of the initiative to bring rain and and have them uh have a presence here. Attended a number of over the years. Uh I've seen many uh community members there. Um and you know was really hopeful and I think it served a purpose. um really want to see an ecosystem of this is a place where you can innovate. This is a place where you're supported and bringing an idea um you know from your head to your garage to the market. Um and by no means does a support of redirecting these funds negate any of those sentiments. Um but hopefully they're better directed uh to a more fruitful uh purpose. So I I fully support this and really excited to to see what can happen in Cottage Grove with dedicated focus on economic development.

I also give this full support and thank you for bringing this to us. Councelor Lamman, Madame Mayor, Council, I also wanted to uh iterate on behalf of Downtown Cottage Grove Group that they're also in support of this motion. Well, not the motion, but the background of the motion. So, anyone else? All right. All those in favor signify by saying I. I. I. I. Opposed. Motion carries unanimously. Concerns from council. Councelor Lamman.

Madame Mayor Council. First off, I just want to say happy new year and uh hope you all had a good holiday season. Um there are a couple things I would like to address in regards to some of the um community members that stood up and spoke. Um I don't like turning this body into a a national political platform. Uh I just want to say first and foremost, we're a nation of laws. If you don't like the laws, keep doing what you're doing and find out. Um, the other issue with the unhoused population [sighs and gasps] right now, we currently have a $ 1.5 million deficit in our budget. That doesn't really leave any room for housing, for the city to create programs. uh there's no funding there. We also partnered with a nonprofit as if you can all remember the Highway 99 site. Uh that was a in my opinion miserable failure. Um there was nothing really good that came out of that. We never got any reports that were positive from them. We're still waiting on reports from them. Um, there were even a couple unfortunate deaths that happened in that site. I definitely would not be in favor of anything along those lines happening again in our city. Um, I am all about compassion, but I am not for enabling people to keep continuing the same [clears throat] the same action over and over. Um, the housing first standard is hogwash. If somebody's not willing to change their behaviors, just because you give

them a house doesn't mean they're going to change their behavior. Um, on a different note, uh, I would like to see our police department get their policies and procedures posted online on their website. Uh, we do not have those on there that I couldn't could find. um if you look at most all other police departments, they have those posted um to a varying degree. Uh on a personal aspect, when it comes to the audit, I'm not a fan of the length of time that it's taking to get these audits done. I would love to see the SLAs's in regards to the contracts, but apparently we're not privy to that kind of information. Um, I think there should be some sort of uh expedited timeline when it comes to overdue audits for the previous years. Um, with that being said, I really would like to see that get done sooner than later instead of finally getting caught up in 2027.

Anyone else? Councelor Simeon,

it was wonderful to hear about all sorts of positive things that have happened in this community the last year. I'm very happy that there's good things happening. Um, we got positive feedback from the community. We got some community feedback that demonstrates that we haven't solved all of the challenges that this community has. And I don't think anybody here thinks we have figured out um what to do moving forward. So, I'm very grateful for um possible avenues moving forward to keep transparently interacting with the community and trying to improve on things we should improve and celebrate the things we can celebrate as we go. Um I agree there's Thank you. There's lots of wonderful things happening and thank you for future um let's keep getting better together.

Sir,

thank you mayor. Uh I want to just update from the lane economic committee. Uh today we met uh as our first meeting in 2026 and um it [clears throat] was really encouraging meeting in that we're charting out what we want to do as a committee uh going into this new year. Um what we came away with was I think a renewed um sense of what our highest purpose it as a functioning body is. Um and that's not only keeping each other informed kind of at a regional level. Um because this is this has tentacles out beyond Lane County. This is really state and lane limb and benton county uh is is kind of the focus and we really honed in on we our most effective uh quality would be advocacy and coordination for that on underlying foundational economic drivers infrastructure and that really implicates statewide thinking uh regional and what are our assets I some of the things I've mentioned before uh being in Lane County, one of the most timbered dense rich uh reg treasures um and how that can be and continue and be revitalized as an economic driver uh in the modern age. Um power uh Mr. Stewart was uh graced us with his presence at that meeting and and drew to light uh something that got a lot of traction in the conversation about this time that we're in where where power infrastructure hadn't been an issue for uh new industry bringing bringing people in. It is it is something that has to be considered now. Um, and I think these conversations, um, just in the maybe however many years

it's been, you hear these conversations early, and then you hear them in different areas. And it it just kind of dawned on me. It's like it's it's time to actually present before counties, present before the state, present before councils when these kind of decisions are being made. Um, because how else is it going to happen in the state? Uh, that's kind of our voices. and I want to fold us into that as much as we can as a as a community to advocate for things regionally that will benefit us here um that will be part of that. So, I'm optimistic um in what we can do. I'm looking forward to updating you guys further on that. Um go to the street just a idea of um how to better enhance maybe safety on Ma on Main Street Main Street and 10th uh that intersection where the bike path pro uh passes you know just seeing this great downtown layout where those center stripes um but where where it says you know stop here where it's really clearly called out. Honestly, I don't know how much more clear big flashing stop sign you could be. But maybe we could put a stop here uh sign just so you can cross out every excuse uh of why you don't. But a banner or something. Yeah. Clown that jumps out. I don't know. Um so that's an idea. And then maybe a slightly broader discussion. Um this is bringing back the uh issues of basically alleyways. We have some alleyways, lots of alleyways in town. Um some of them are passable. Some of them are actively used to service our you know the the infrastructure that we have. Others are

needed by the fire department to to access uh areas to be able to properly serve them. There's um one that's kind of a a pulsing sore thumb at the moment, but I think it's draws attention to what we as a body ought to be doing, which is setting policy to direct staff for how to handle situations so that it's there's a play there's something that is known. Um so I guess to highlight this I there's you know what let's just use this example alleyway. Uh you can't get through it. There's a shed on it. There up until recently was a carport, temporary carport built on it and there's probably 45 50 year old trees growing right up in the middle of it. So is this really an alleyway? Well, you know, it's not functioning as one and so prop adjacent property owners uh you know use it for their own purposes. Um and then disputes [clears throat] going to arise and here we are. So, one thing I would think that if we want, if we had all the money, we could direct staff to clear all the alleyways. If it's city property, if it's rightway, it should be passable. You know, it's open for public use. People need to be able to use it to traverse. Um, maybe that's not feasible or maybe it is. Maybe that's something that's on the schedule for long term. We want all our alleyways open. Or the other one is, well, if it's in a situation like this, um, what's the pathway to surrendering that property and just letting those property owners absorb it? You know, redraw the property lines and and then the city's out of any any potential dispute. So, those are that's uh kind of the two different pathways that my mind has come up with. I've asked uh uh N Crow to come up with some what's the problem with that? what implications, you know, what can we can we surrender property? How does that work? So, it's

hoping that u you could pick it up from there. We could have a discussion.

Absolutely, counselor. Um, so we I did pull some information. Um, and I I'd be happy to provide this to to folks either in a memo or an email or something. Um, we do allow for vacations uh within our code. Um, they basically will follow the same procedure as how that rightfo was created. So, in that specific instance, the subdivision vacation. Um, as far as the legalities of the city kind of forcing um the alleyways to be vacated, I I might actually defer to to Carrie um to just clarify. I do have some of the OS's in front of me. It's um OS 271 um speaks to to vacations. Um but I would hate to say the wrong thing. again happy to meet with her and condense into into a publicly available memo. Um but in my opinion I think education is probably a great start um as to hey this is a rightaway these are options of vacation um education is always always a good start. So um Carrie if I can defer to you um to kind of touch on this if that's okay. Thank you,

Miss Before Before you start, I just want to do one clarification for council and the audience that uh what councelor Irvin is referring to is not our alleyways in downtown what you would automatically think. He's referring to residential alleyways behind the houses. So, go ahead, Miss Connley. Thank you.

You bet. So just um high level very general vacations can be initiated either by the council or uh via I think in your code um land use applications there's a specific uh petition process that surrounding land owners can all sign a petition but for this one in particular since I haven't looked at it I would like to work with Lenny if the council is interested in having us work on that and bring something back um to tell you the options or if you want to just give direction tonight as a council that you would like to look at initiating vacation as opposed to what Lenny's recommending uh which is to work with the property owners and have them initiate it themselves. My recommendation aligns with um Lenny Crows. By the way,

so you need a consensus. Um that's my preference to have some Yeah. to have some council direction on what can staff do to help. Do we have a consensus to look at our options? Councelor Smire,

I really would like to hear like the stages, the different um the different types of alleyways or whether it's just like the city has right of way or places and things like that. I've I've been in the community living with my family when right ofway um was definitely the cities how is that different than alleyways and is there no difference and and those kinds of things. So if all of that can come back that would be wonderful.

Do we have a consensus councelor Lamman? Can you uh can you give a little bit of uh definition on the what exactly we're consenting to because there's a little bit coming from Mr. Settlemire. There's some coming from all the way. So, could we just clarify a little bit? Mr. Sway,

good evening, your honor. Members of the council, my suggestion is that staff come back with a presentation involving some maps, some diagrams, pictures, uh, showing where alleyways are located in neighborhoods. Um, as was pointed out earlier, some of them have 50-y old trees growing in the middle of them. Uh, some of them are cleared and people are using them park cars on. Um, but be able to show specifically what we're talking about. Uh, one of the one of the options is to vacate the alleyways if that's what the property owners would like from both sides. We can vacate them or uh we also could, you know, clean them up a little bit. But let's start with a staff level presentation. Council Irvin,

and I know we talked about this, but one of the items I'm specifically interested in is if the city through the council vacates an alleyway, what does that do to the property owners? Do they have to consent to that? Do they have to be part of that process? You know, because that's redrawing a property line. Presumably, that's a reassessment of taxable uh line land. So that's that's something that I'm very interested in understanding what happens if we've taken action uh so that we can take hopefully take the best course of action

and uh correct me if I'm wrong, Council Irvin, but this all stems from we had a gentleman that came and was upset about his alleyway behind his house and probably trying to figure out his options as a homeowner. And so I think it would be great for an education for all of us.

And just for the record, uh, city staff is working closely with that individual um and their neighbors. Um, we've had a number of conversations, lots of pictures taken, lots of letters written. So, but you know the the biggest issue to your point is usually this is initiated by property owners. And one of the policy issues that the council is going to need to address is you don't look at this what's going to happen in the next 10 years. You look at what's going to happen in the next hundred years. And you know, 100 years from now, that alley may be a freeway. And you know, if the city has vacated the property, uh then some future city council is going to have to buy it. uh and those are the kind of things that we we we need to discuss.

But again, let's start with just a presentation so that we can maybe frame the issue a little bit. Thank you.

Um I had actually done some research as a historian into alleys and curiously enough they were often uh considered an asset because of horses. you had your stable in back of your house and so it made sense to have an alley to get your horse back in the barn and have hay and put the the waste out in the alley. And um so it was an essential part of the older subdivisions. Nearly all of them have uh alleys and over the years some of them have been maintained and some of them have not. And there's some alleys that you don't know are even alleys because they have grown up as and so just having an inventory of all the available alleys is very valuable. Sometimes the city utilities are laid in the alleys the sewer or the the water lines. So it's it's a very interesting proposition to look into these.

Director Stewart. Thank you Mayor. I would just like to build on councelor Merides and bring it to today's times. The alleyways um are an access point for folks that are building ADUs and secondary units on their properties or an alley access is available. They're able to enter their property from a from the back to be able to just as as you explained with horses and wagons. So, um I look forward to helping craft um what the public works and the utilities reasons why we would want to analyze these really deeply before giving them up. Councelor Lamman, did you have something? Okay. All right.

Just one clarification, Mayor. So, a general overview of alley is not specifically the one in question. Is that my understanding or do you want Thank you. Thank you. All right. Anyone else? Yes, counselor. Are we still in concerns? Yes. Go ahead.

All right. Thank you. So, yes, it was very nice. It was fulfilling to hear all the accomplishments of the year because if after you go through a lot of a lot of meetings um to see results is is a good thing because a lot of times you don't see [snorts] progress and so it was it was great to see them all listed out and that we as a city were able to do things. Um, I did want to uh respond to a couple of the citizens and comments as well. Our our unhoused policy has been termed a work in progress. So, and it is one of our goals and we do need to readress it because over that year we've heard a number of com uh citizen concerns about the effects of homelessness that people wandering about illegal camping um uh trash. So, there are it is still a work that we need to pick up and do. So, I do want to make that one of our focuses this year. Maybe it's time for a town hall or something. But, as a community, we do still need to address our unhoused members because many of them I know personally are are cottage grovers. They went to high school here. They grew up here. This is what they know is home. So we do have to find what we can do with our resources to ensure both our our housed and our unhoused citizens are living in peace and both have the best that we can offer. And um a group did approach me and ask me about what would be the possibility

to address the their concerns with uh the ICE enforcement. The what what seemed to be their concern is that they want to make sure rule of law is followed that people that are showing identification are not just uh targeted and swept away without any due process. So, um, that would I don't know what the answer is, but it would, you know, I think it is ironic that we're telling foreign governor governments not to kill their citizens protesting and yet some of our citizens are facing the same dangers. So, um, don't know what we can do with it, but as a city, but I hope that we can have some assurance that rule of law will be followed. Councelor Wilson.

Yes. I'd like to commend this council and our mayor for the cooperative work that has happened over this last year with their and along with our staff um and the countless hours that they put into research and and um putting together the things that we've asked them to do. Um I do like to address what uh uh Donald Norton proposed as the urban forestry and rivers committee. I think that's a great idea. I'd like to see us, you know, move in that direction. I think it would be very helpful in uh clarifying that position and possibly get some more interest in citizen involvement there. Um, I do also want to thank the citizens that were involved in some of the recent petition gathering efforts or um some of the state level issues that directly affect the citizens here in Cottage Grove. Um there was a great deal of um work put in by several citizens that are happen to be in our audience right now and I'd like to to commend them and their in their efforts to uh to step up and uh do civic duty in petition gathering. So like to commend them on that.

Anyone else? Councelor Urban. Um, as we look forward into 2026, I do want to make sure the council gives ample time to our police department to highlight, uh, the work that they're doing, um, to go over the quality of life, you know, related statistics. You know, I recall a number of times that we've had reports waiting and we had long meetings and uh we do really want to hear about that work and appreciate our police department uh for what they do. So, look forward to making ample time for that this year.

Yeah. Al along those lines, we've actually blocked out pretty much an entire council meeting next month uh to talk about law enforcement issues. And chief, I'll I'll pull the pin on it and just say we have completed accreditation, which by the way is a huge accomplishment for our police department. Uh now we we'll have some more details about that when we when the council uh receives the presentation from the chief. So thanks. All right. Council Lman, did you

two quick things? Uh, downtown looks awesome, but there's a couple random posts. One on eight. They're just posts all by themselves. What are those for? [snorts] Mr. Stewart. Thank you, Mayor Councelor Lamman. Those are uh they used to be a post there for the historic directional signs. They still need to have the signs added to them. So, they'll be directional signs uh like to the library and for the armory and to various different places. Okay. I've had quite a few people ask me what the what the just random empty poster for. So, thank you.

You've had some fun with that, Mr. Stewart. [laughter] And then there's uh one other area of concern uh with downtown. I correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there's 24 benches downtown. Count it that there isn't a lot. um [laughter] if you go through and count. Um but there has been some concern about possibly wanting to look at doing or looking into an ordinance for no camping ordinance for downtown with 24 benches now downtown. Um it could they're very inviting uh for people to want to sleep. So, I don't know if we might want to look at the possibility of having a no camping ordinance for downtown on the main street if that's something we can do.

There is something that you can do like it's a corridor and uh it was at a chamber event that we went to and uh so there there is things that you can do for that. We can certainly look into what's allowed under state law. Uh and you know, if there are changes in state law, then we can certainly try to address those. Yeah. I'd like to see if if everybody else is okay with having the city staff possibly look into what the options would be for that. I'd like to see something.

Yeah. Again, like I said, we will, you know, Cottage Grove is going to follow state law. And off the top of my head, I I don't know what is or isn't allowed, but certainly something we can look into. I'm just curious if we can have you guys look into what is allowed. Sure. That way we have options. Thank you, Councilor. Mary Day. Thank you, Mayor. Didn't Didn't we clarify this by adopting uh our policy that says if you provide a designated camping area, then you can say which areas are not. And we did include the sidewalks. Yeah. and the streets and the parks.

Yeah. Yeah. Our our policy is, as I said, you know, we're we're following state law. And it is my understanding that uh if you tell people you can't sleep on the street in downtown, you need to be able to offer them a place to spend the night, which is what we do uh with our dust dawn camp over behind Dairy Mart. uh whether that we can go beyond that and I believe that's what council member Lamman is asking is can we go beyond what our current policy is. I don't know. That's something I'll need to talk with city attorney about talk with the police chief about.

All right, councelor Lamberman. Just to clarify real quick, the a big part of the reason other than just citizens bringing it up is because I I've seen since we passed the ordinance and everything's there for the dust till dawn site, I've still witnessed people sleeping in front of the old bank building in front of other areas for days, sleeping right behind the uh to the butterfly. know, next to the um bookm alleyway just all over the place, but nothing's being done. So, I'm almost curious if it's just a matter of lack of enforcement.

Thank you, Mayor uh Councelor Lamman. It's it's not a lack of enforcement. So, um in fact, our officers have been very diligent in enforcing those laws and those rules. Um I drove by the spot you're talking about um today. There's nobody camping there. Um that is private property where that camp was set up and it was in violation of our city code. So we worked with code enforcement um again to make sure that uh that we were um acting lawfully and within our authority and following the law. So and that is what we'll continue to do. Thank you, Chief. Yeah. Thank you.

All right. Report from the city manager.

Well, good evening again, your honor and members of the council. I'm going to pass this around to everybody. This is our city council uh budget calendar uh for this upcoming year. Uh first off, let me just reiterate what I said on Friday that we do have a new website thanks to the extreme amount of hard work on the part of our city recorder and deputy city recorder. Uh if any of you would like to have a personal tour of the uh new website, talk about the changes we've made, uh please reach out uh to Mindy and she'd be happy to sit down with you um and talk about it. What you have in front of you, as I said, is the budget calendar uh for this upcoming year. Now, there's a lot of just process issues on here for city staff. A couple of things I want to direct your attention to. Starting on item number seven, uh, distribute proposed budgets to the budget committee no later than April 13, 2026. And you'll notice the next line is the first budget committee meeting is scheduled for April 21st. Obviously, the goal is for you to receive the budget materials a week or more uh before the first budget committee meeting so everybody has a chance to review those. By the way, the first budget committee meeting is usually in miday. Uh we have moved that to the middle of April to give us more time to review the city's budget. And you'll notice the next line down under number eight is the budget town hall uh meeting. This will be our community forum. So we will uh have the first budget committee go through it go through the budget and then we will have a community forum where people can respond and react to it. We then have our second budget committee meeting where the budget committee will have the opportunity uh to take the things that they heard at the community forum, the town hall, um and yeah, in integrate those into the budget if they would like. Afterwards, we have, if needed,

our third and final budget committee meeting is scheduled for May 19th. Now, uh if you'll jump down now to number 12, you'll see adopt budget and make appropriations. This is where the city council for the final time approves the budget and we scheduled that for June 22nd. So between May 19th and June 22nd you have over a month for the city council to work on getting the budget finalized. The reason for doing this obviously is in past years felt people felt like they got the budget materials the day before the first budget committee meeting. They felt rushed to get through the budget process. they didn't feel like there was enough public process. So, I guess what I'm saying is is we heard you. Uh, and we are attempting to integrate those things into the budget process. So, more to come. Um, but you know, take this home, put it up on the wall, and know when the future budget committee meetings are going to be scheduled. And with that, I'd be happy to take any questions you might have.

We commend you for that. Thank you, Councelor Senman. I commend you also. I I love the timeline except for um please correct me. Uh didn't it take us two full meetings to get through the budget the first time? And so, am I right to be a little concerned if we're going to have a a public forum in the middle of the budget committee getting the presentations from the staff trying to figure this out?

Is there a little should we move? Well, well, it is my sincere hope that uh in the first budget committee meeting, we can get through uh the budget officers report and the general fund, which are kind of the main issues that people uh talk about, and we'll at least introduce uh the utilities at that first meeting. So, uh you know, what I don't want to do is is short change the public's participation and their ability to affect future discussions. No, I I want to get I want to give the budget committee plenty of opportunity to react to what they hear at a public forum.

Did we get through that far this last year? And is that consistent with a normal meeting? We did not get through it this year. In the past, the city council and the budget committee have gotten clear through the budget presentation at that first meeting. I mean just the as far as what you're talking about did this last year did we get through the general fund in the first we did yeah we we we got through we we got through the budget officers report which includes talking about the utilities as well and then we got through the line items in the general

councelor Lamman I too appreciate uh getting the ball rolling on this a lot sooner. Uh I was one of the the big advocates for trying to get this out there as well as the mayor and quite a few other people. Um, from observing the last budget uh, session we had, I would really like to stress I know everyone has a personal life, but to try to clear as much time in the evening when we come to these meetings, that way it's not like everyone's being rushed. I've got an hour and a half. That's all I can be here. We need to get it done now. Uh I know there's a couple meetings last time that went well beyond an hour and a half, two hours. Uh but they were well needed. I I would just like to see everyone try to put aside as much time as they can or clear the evening to be able to come to these meetings because these budgets when we're a million and a half behind are extremely important and we need to make sure everything is all the eyes are dotted, all the tees are crossed. No, I I would just echo that and point out that we are starting these meetings at six o'clock with the idea being that it's going to be a three-hour meeting till nine o'clock.

Councelor, [snorts] thank you, Mayor. Um, couple of thoughts on this. I think we still have some vacancies on the budget committee um meetings uh for for that. Yeah. Wondering an update on that. Thank you, uh, mayor and councel. So, there's five open seats on the budget committee. Uh, there were four. Um, one of the current members indicated to me they wouldn't be able to um, fulfill the end of his term. So, there's five open seats and I've received three applications so far.

So, we Yeah, we definitely want to encourage uh, folks in the community uh, to to get engaged and to apply uh, for that position. um knowing that you know you are you're your input is valued, you're going to get the budget in enough time hopefully to ask questions about it that it's a process that is really worthwhile. Um and as part of the budget, you know, the committee members will receive it. Is that also put up will that be put up on the website at the same time? So then the communication out, you know, that hey, this is out there. um we're going to have this town hall meeting um you know we'd love to facilitate that but and that makes me think about the committee questions the questions that we ask in the interviews have been around for long long time um and so I think maybe it would behoove us as one of the other uh committee uh questionnaires um to just review those and and say here's how we're doing things now do these questions all still make sense sense do they get to the heart of how we're trying to um recruit for for these positions? So I think councelor

Thank you may and maybe point out that as councelor Lamman and councelor Irvin have indicated there is a good bit of time involved. you know, the time commitment. Don't say, "Oh, yeah, it'll just it'll be it'll be over in No, you're you're committing to a longhaul process." So, truth and advertising. All right.

Do we have a report from our city attorney? [clears throat] you know, it's a legislative um short session year, so they're going to be meeting for 35 days starting pretty darn soon. I'm not expecting anything huge. Um your community hasn't been debating uh the flock, the automated license plate readers. You can tell that's been a big deal throughout Lane County, but I think Cottage Grove has gone unscathed. So, I don't need to report on that like I'm doing in other communities. Um, and other than that, just happy new year. I I heard several items this evening that I will be following up on with staff. Uh, but no need to take up more council time, particularly given the hour you're going to finish on time.

Thank you, Miss Connley. Thank you. All right. Well, if there is nothing else, we will go ahead and adjourn this meeting. Thank you. Happy new year.