Council - Regular Meeting

Council President Briggs is excused. Councilor Berantos?

Here.

Councilor Blosser?

Here.

Councilor Fitzgerald? Here. Councilor Holzapfel?

Here.

Councilor Jantz is excused. Councilor Schilling?

Here.

Councilor Shane?

Here.

Councilor Spifey?

Here. We have a quorum. Please join me in standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, thank you. We don't have any introductions or proclamations tonight. We'll move on to public comment. I have a script I need to read before we start. For the record, please provide us with your name and whether or not you live inside the city limits. You have up to three minutes. It's your turn to talk and ours to listen. You're responsible for the content, even if it was written by someone else. Please direct all comments to the mayor. Do not direct your comments to individual counselors, staff members, or the audience. Defamatory or libelous comments will not be accepted. It is expected that you'll maintain a decorum and respect for each other. A wide variety of viewers watch these proceedings. Therefore, we would kindly ask that you refrain from the use of offensive language and name calling. Distractions take attention from the speaker. The audience, city council members, and city staff are asked to focus on the speaker during their time by being respectfully quiet. And the first person I have up is Ann Hurd.

Just before you start, Ann, I've got the timer. That's it. Thank you. The timer here, the green light will come on when there is a minute left, the yellow light will come on when you've got 30 seconds, and the red light will come on when your three minutes is up.

Thank you. Ann Hurd. I live in Dallas. I'm president of Friends of the Dallas Aquatic Center. Our one and only mission is to raise money for the Dallas Aquatic Center for anything that goes wrong. And there have been some things that have gone wrong. Over the summer, they finished everything with the therapy pool. So it's, well, the last thing was the heat exchanger, which we just paid for. I don't know how much that was. But the therapy pool and the spa had some leakage that I fixed, but those are all good to go now for a long time, I hope. We also fixed the HVAC in the lobby of the pool because it's so hot there this summer for the workers. We went into this in May with like $93,000 in our account. We now have about 68,000. It'll be a little less than that once we pay for the heat exchanger. So we're really happy about that, but we're about to start our, our year really kind of goes from September to June because that's when most of our money comes in. The banner invoices go out December 1st and then many people, half of them probably get them in before the end of the year. that's our base amount every year is about sixteen thousand dollars from the banner businesses renting the space at the pool and um we are planning some events for this this year we're going to have um a thank you for our donors and our business banners which will be probably a two-hour swim and a movie in the party room hopefully with popcorn and soda So we haven't determined when that's going to be yet, but it'll have to be dark to show the movie. And I won't tell you what the movie is because my board hasn't even heard what my idea is yet. So anyway, everything's going great. And if you haven't been to the pool lately, come by and see how beautiful it is. It's like brand new and it's 26 years old. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ann. All right. The next person I have up is Gary Wing.

Good evening.

I'm Gary Wing. I do live here in Dallas. I'm not used to sitting down. I'm used to a podium to address you guys, so thank you for that. I'm vice president of the Dallas Pickleball Club, and I'm here to address recent changes to the pickleball court project. I appreciate the city's continued work on the expanding pickleball access. Actually, I'm excited when I heard that the posts were being drilled. I went over and looked. I went, something ain't right here. Um, they had court five going the wrong direction where you'd be playing, looking in the sun, both ways that sense, um, has been corrected and with future plans that you'll hear about later. I believe, um, I recognize project plans can change as sites, budgets, and construction needs are evaluated. Uh, this project has changed significantly since it was first approved. 12 courts were originally planned later revised to 8 at a new location and now construction started on a 4 courts and 3 additional courts are planned later possibly spring for a total 7 courts in this particular phase with only. For courts available at first, the club cannot operate efficiently with that. And I understand these courts aren't just for the Pickleball Club. They're for the community, and we understand that. We're just looking forward to be able to use them. but our current program requires access to at least seven courts. Um, we often use eight courts. It's four across the street from the Aqua center and four at the tennis courts. Um, this coming weekend, we are going to be using eight at the tennis courts. We're doing our Dallas, our annual Dallas, uh, tournament, which you are all invited to come down Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Um, let me find where I'm at here. Um, if the, if, With the courts only being four, splitting play across locations will limit our ability to host successful tournaments, run robins, and other community events. And I already told you about the tournament this week. So for that reason, we respectfully request continued access to the existing pickleball and tennis courts, and that the existing pickleball lines remain on the tennis courts until all seven planned new pickleball courts are completed. and um i know there's a lot of people that you probably be getting letters um but we wanted just to have a small group to just you know i i know from being on city boards before after about person number 10 you're tired of hearing it you want to move on to something else so there is some other speakers who's going to speak on on this and some of them have better history than i do but thank you for your time it's greatly appreciated thank you mr wing

The next person I have up is Gail Burton.

Hi.

okay yes my name is gail burton i am the president of the dallas pickleball club i have been playing pickleball since in dallas since 2013. that's when we first formed pickleball players i saw an advertisement an itemizer that said anybody interested in learning pickleball come down to the tennis courts and they gave us the times and the days and of course i went and played we had six to seven players at that time and we were we put tape down on the pickleball courts on the tennis courts to play and then we've at that time we got up to about 20 players and now we have 150 paid players in our club and we are a non-profit and incorporated club As the club grew in 2017, we were really excited that city council approved four courts to go next to the aquatic city. So we've been using those four dedicated pickleball courts. And after a couple of years, we started using the tennis courts with four others that we put portable nets on. So for several years, we've been playing on eight courts in the summertime. And that is sufficient for us at this time. Pickleball is not only an athletic sport, but also a social sport. And because we need eight courts is because we play at different levels and we like to play together sometimes, and then we divide up into different levels. And so it's important for us to be at the same location and not be separated by several miles. Sorry. Okay, we were really excited that the city council had approved eight courts to be placed next to the Lyle School in the park area. And we noticed that the courts were being constructed. We went down and were disappointed that they were only putting in five. And like Gary said, one was in the wrong direction. So I totally support what Gary presented. And I feel like we could possibly do about seven courts there across from Lyle and use the parking area and take the parking area over by the basketball courts, which would also help when there's cars in the park. That's it. That's what I have to say. Do you have any questions? Oh, sorry.

It's all right, Gail. Thank you for your testimony. All right, the next person I have up is Amber Faye Haven.

Did I get that right?

My name is Ember Faye Dolly Haven, and I've been involved with the pickleball community for over eight years. Before I talk about pickleball, though, I want to briefly talk about who I was before I found it. I was deeply depressed, hyper-emotional, isolated, and filled with anxiety and fear. Then in 2018, I found pickleball and the pickleball community. Since then, I've been compelled, supported, and nurtured That is why to me, this is not simply a group of people who play a sport. It is a community that happens to play pickleball. It is multigenerational and includes people from every walk of life and every imaginable background. People exercise together, laugh together, compete together. And somewhere along the way, strangers become acquaintances, acquaintances become friends, and as things do, friends become community. For me, those connections may have been lifesaving. And this community doesn't end at the Dallas city limits. People come from throughout the surrounding area while others travel from much farther. I applaud the city of Dallas for choosing to invest in Pickleball Courts for its citizens and the larger community. That investment has enormous potential, but it also carries enormous risk. if these courts are constructed without meaningfully consulting people with years of experience using, coaching, competing on, and even constructing them. This isn't simply about whether the community gets four courts, five courts, six or 12. It's about what those courts make possible. Our annual tournament typically brings hundreds of competitors along with their families and supporters into Dallas. They eat here. They sleep here and they shop here. They become part of our town, even if for only one weekend. But we cannot continue growing that event or this community without enough properly designed courts to bring people together. I asked the council to look beyond the court surface, the paint and fencing, and recognize what you were actually building. a place for connection, belonging, recreation, competition, and community. Please work with the people who have spent years building that community and give this project the thoughtful and timely completion it deserves. Thank you for your time.

Thank you for your testimony. Do we have anyone else here who would like to testify tonight? Do we have anyone on the phone, Kim? all right then we'll close public comment for now and move on to the consent agenda uh we have one item on there and that's the approval of the august 17th 2026 city council meeting minutes i would entertain a motion don't move move to approve rather moved by counselor shane seconded by counselor schilling all those in favor say aye aye opposed passes unanimously all right Any reports or comments from council members tonight? Councillor Schilling.

Since this is our time that we get to address the people that came up, we're fully aware of what community Pickleball brings to it. And the reason we located, started the first phase of the Pickleball Courts over by the aquatic, I mean, sorry, by the Branville Drive is there's a lot of area that can be expanded in the future. It's a potential that we can have more and we can continue to grow it in a 1 facility and still honor the, the tennis courts. And I see no reason why I'm sure we'll be talking with Brian about keeping the stripes on the tennis courts until we can get to a point that we can convert over to that other area. Can't promise you that. But I would think that most of council's on board with that. So we appreciate you coming and telling us how you what you feel. We are very much behind pickleball. I personally enjoy watching you guys play every day. I have a better view than most people in town. So I watch you from my front yard every day. And I appreciate the camaraderie. I appreciate the tournament that goes on. And it's a joy for me to watch the community grow in that way.

So, Barry Antos.

I just want to double down on that. I've been in Dallas for 25 years. I don't think that pickleball court was there originally when I first moved in. But as soon as I moved in, that pickleball court was like, it was a magnet. It attracted people. It attracted fellowship. It's a community, and it's not just older folks. It's folks from all ages, all athletic abilities. Even some people that don't have any athletic ability, they find that they can compete. It's finally something that, you know, that they can do, and they find enjoyment in it. So I am full support of... working with you folks, working with the club. I hope this is something that is, it's small now. It's something that we can build on. There's not too much that Dallas has. And I just look at the pickleball court as something that's Dallas pride, that's our own. And people will come from the outside to, you know,

you know to play pickleball with the folks out here so i'm fully in support is what i'm trying to say so shane i'll just i'll just echo all of that um the city is very well aware of what pickleball means to the community which is why we're looking for ways to expand i think the key point to take away from this conversation tonight is the point that michael schilling made which is the doing it at the location expanding building the new courts where we're building them means that we have a lot of room to expand in the future which wouldn't be the case so much at other locations and that's why that location was chosen we were looking to the future and we are committed to keeping keeping going with this so that's all all right any other comments or announcements from council members

If not, we'll move on to reports from the city manager.

We have one item under reports from city manager and that's the LOC priorities. So we shared these with the council at the August 3rd council meeting. We had brief discussion at the August 17th meeting. Brian asked all of you to provide your top five priorities and he included the results of that in the staff report. There were three clear top vote getters from you guys, infrastructure funding, public meetings, law clarity, and administrative procedures act reform. I would recommend if the council is amenable to just move these three priorities into the top five, unless there are any objections. No?

What I have is, are we ordering them?

Just provide, we just provided five.

I prefer the order that we five actually kind of talk through. Go for it. After reviewing how the results came up, they're not all my top five that I had on there, but I'm very much in favor of the top five that actually came forward. I can move my bottom fifth one out and fully accept the, what is it? Maintain local control. No. What's the fifth one?

Strengthening economic workforce development.

So if what? Well, the order that we have that we came up with in our poll, if we just keep it that way, if we want to talk about the bottom two, that's fine also.

seems to me makes sense that if we have this much consensus of the top three and there's a majority consensus with the bottom two of the top five why not just use those five i was real pleased that um my top four were also the top four and the fifth one's way down there somewhere but yeah i'm i'm with both of you i i think we should definitely go with these top four and then whatever whichever one we use to fill the fifth place i'm happy with whatever anybody wants on that on there because you know, they're all worthy and they all got a few votes, so.

So am I hearing there's a consensus to keep just the top five as they were voted?

So there is a proposed motion on page 13.

David?

The numbers would be 24-7, 24-7, 6, 14, and 20. To approve in that order. Second.

by Councillor Schilling, seconded by Councillor Shane to approve in that order. Do you have notes of what those numbers were, Kim? Is there any discussion? Sure.

Thank you. We had plenty of discussion at the last meeting and I appreciate everybody taking the time to go through all these

All right. All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Those opposed? Passes unanimously. All right, Kim. Well done. Let's move on to the second reading of ordinances. Are you ready? Okay. Ordinance number 1926.

Ordinance number 1926 is an ordinance pertaining to granting a non-exclusive franchise agreement to Spectrum Pacific West LLC, an indirect subsidiary of Charter Communications, Inc.

Is there any discussion? If not, I'll ask the city recorder to take a roll call vote.

Councillor Berrientos? Yes. Councillor Blosser? Yes. Councillor Fitzgerald? Yes. Councillor Holzapfel? Yes. Councillor Schilling? Yes. Councillor Shane? Yes. Councillor Spivey?

Yes.

Right. Passes at second reading unanimously. Next is ordinance number 1927.

Ordinance number 1927 is an ordinance granting to Forged Fiber 37 LLC the right to construct, operate, and maintain telecommunication services in the city of Dallas, Oregon.

Discussion? If not, I'll ask the city recorder to take a roll call vote.

Councillor Blosser? Yes. Councillor Fitzgerald? Yes. Councillor Holzapfel? Yes.

Councillor Schilling?

Yes. Councillor Shane? Yes. Councillor Spivey?

Yes.

Yes. All right, it passes a second reading unanimously. Next is ordinance number 1928.

Ordinance number 1928 is an ordinance related to background checks for city employees, volunteers, certain vendors, and participants in city programs.

Is there any discussion? If not, I'll ask the city recorder to take a roll call vote.

Councilor Fitzgerald? Yes. Councilor Holzapfel? Yes. Councilor Schilling? Yes. Councilor Shane?

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Berrantos? Yes. Councilor Blosser?

Yes.

All right. Ordinance number 1928 passes at second reading unanimously. Let's move on to resolutions. We have one resolution tonight, resolution number 3578.

Resolution number 3578 is a resolution approving the application for a Business Oregon Regional Infrastructure Fund grant for final design and permitting services related to the replacement of the Godsey Road Bridge and authorizing the city manager or the city manager's designee to sign and submit the application. And we have our Public Works Director, Jennifer Ward, here just to give a little information and background on this grant application.

Sure, yeah. Hi, Councillors. What you have before you tonight is a resolution allowing me to apply for a Regional Infrastructure Fund on behalf of the City. So the Regional Infrastructure Fund, RIF... Say that five times fast. No, I will not. is a Business Oregon grant, and it's a grant for local and tribal governments with populations under 25,000 for infrastructure projects, including long range planning, research, and design, as well as construction. No match is required, which is awesome. For construction projects, the minimum award is $100,000, goes up to $1 million. For planning, research, and design, the award goes up to $250,000. And any project that's submitted, it has to align with the community and economic development priorities of the regional solutions team, and it also has to be able to be completed within 24 months of the application. And so I didn't have an infrastructure project that I felt confident that we could bring to completion of construction within that 24 months. There are plenty that we're gonna be starting both at the end of this fiscal year and going into the next fiscal year. But as part of that preparation, there were several that I felt could help could be applicable for a design and an engineering grant. And so that's what I'm applying for. The replacement, you've all, I'm sure, driven by Godsey Road on Monmouth Cut-Off. So we are rehabilitating the southern part of Godsey Road. The next step then is to replace the bridge, and that's identified as a capital improvement project. for next year. That project has been included in the State Transportation Improvement Program, the STIP. It's estimated to be a $3.4 million project. We have 2.4 million in the STIP. So that's great. But there is, of course, a million dollars that we need to make up. And so if I could get some of that towards this final design, that would be really helpful. So what final design looks like, this project is close we are hoping to get this project out to bid at the beginning of 2027 so most of the design work is done but there are some final aspects of it that need to be um that need to be finished up some wetlands delineation that we need to do um some bridge refinement some of the hydraulic modeling still needs to be done and then there's also permitting that we'll need to um that we'll need to permits that we'll need to get before we begin construction so what i'm applying for in this grant is money to wrap up that design get help and get us through the permitting process so that we're ready to construct we're still waiting for notice to notice to proceed on the step so maybe we'll be able to begin construction in the 2027 construction season it might be 2028

but regardless we have to get the design done so the total amount would that i'm asking for is 217 300 in this grant application so jennifer i guess my question is when the if you get the scratch so you get this grant and the bridge goes in will that be will that phase complete the connection of what where the current project is ending and down to where the current rail crossing is at that needs to be rebuilt.

Yes, just south of the railroad crossing. Yes, and then of course we'll need to tie in the roadway coming from the bridge into the new roadway that's being built, and that's all part of the project scope.

Just want to make sure that that's all being done at one start, not doing the bridge and then the street.

right so so road replacement and the street extensions on either side of it up to the railroad on the on the north so that's not too far but yes i mean what's the uh what's the uh deadline for submitting the grant application and when will they be awarded right deadline is next week and the um we should hear on the awards the end of october soon correct

question on the 24 months is there any possibility that we can request an extension from that if we come up to 24 months and nothing's really happening i i don't know it um like i said if i were applying for a construction grant i'd be concerned with that 24-month um constraint but given that we're just doing final design i

And the intention is to bid as early in 2027 as we can. I'm really not concerned about running up on the 24 months on the design, which is why I'm going for it instead of construction.

and second question i know you don't have a crystal ball and you cannot predict the future but is there any way that we can leverage a business that might be kind of like putting a business on god zero to help us finance that fixing the rest of the road that sounds like a question for charlie

i thought that was the plan the long-term plan uh before but it fell through right this is if i'm not i'm not familiar with with any of those plans we would be able to if there was a business that was putting more transportation needs on that road but there are no businesses planned at this point in time okay on the two properties adjacent thank you questions

If not, thank you, Jennifer.

Welcome.

And if there's no more discussion, I'll ask the city recorder to take a roll call vote.

Councilor Holzapfel?

Yes.

Councilor Schilling? Yes. Councilor Shane? Yes. Councilor Spivey? Yes. Councilor Berantos? Yes. Councilor Blosser? Yes. Councilor Fitzgerald?

All right. Resolution number 3578 passes unanimously. All right, is there any other business to bring before the council tonight?