City Council - Regular Meeting

Oh man, I thought we had a minute, but we don't have a minute anymore, so everybody want to get settled in if you need to use the restroom, now's the time. We're going to start tonight's public council meeting with an invocation, and Mr. Jeremy Ford will lead us off in the invocation. Thank you.

Let's break. Father, I just thank you for the men, for the women that sit up here tonight that you have brought to this town to lead, to govern, and to guide. I pray that you would give them your wisdom, your eyes, your ears, and your heart for the city. And we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.

All right, if you guys want to stand for the flag salute, or remove your covers if you got them. All right. Just gonna do a quick roll call. It looks like we have a full house. Everybody is present. No need for that. Okay, cool. We're gonna go forward. We got a public hearing for the approval of the FY27 budget and to discuss the use of state revenue sharing amounts. Oh, yeah. Thank you for that reminder. Um, so tonight's agenda, before we get into the public hearing tonight's agenda, we previously had scheduled, um, the executive session before our urban area renewal agency meeting. We're going to switch those up. Uh, it's going to flow a little bit better. So we'll take the executive session at the very end of tonight. So we're going to have a regular public meeting. we'll adjourn after that we'll go into the urban area renewal agency meeting and after that is done then we will go through our executive session as noted in that was the only scheduled change ahead for tonight so with that said i will hand the mic over to you aaron thank you mayor council members of the public i have the privilege today of providing a budget hearing update with regards to the budget committee and the potential approval and adoption of the budget

SO TODAY IS A REQUIREMENT BY OREGON REVISED STATUTES. WE ARE NEEDING TO ULTIMATELY ADOPT A BUDGET BY THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR, WHICH ENDS JUNE 30TH, AND THE BUDGET COMMITTEE DID APPROVE, AND NOW TONIGHT WE'RE LOOKING FOR YOU TO ADOPT. SO I'M GOING TO GO THROUGH AND DO AN OVERVIEW OF THE BUDGET PROCESS, WE'LL DO A BUDGET SUMMARY, AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT STATE SHED REVENUES, AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A NUMBER OF CALL TO ACTIONS. SO AFTER MY PRESENTATION, We'll open it up for public comment, discussion from council, and then we'll go into the three resolutions that would need to be approved to adopt the budget tonight. So the budget process really establishes standard procedures. Everyone throughout the state of Oregon does something very similar that we're doing. It outlines programs and fiscal policies. It requires estimates of resources and expenditures. It encourages citizen involvement as we provide an opportunity for the public to provide comment. And it helps control expenditures of public funds. It is truly a financial plan. It's for one fiscal year, from July 1 to June 30. It's based on estimates of revenues and expenditures and other requirements. And the budget is the basis for appropriations, which creates the authority to spend public dollars. Looking at where we've been, April 28 was the start of our budget process. Where we received the budget message, we looked over the capital projects, police fire and community development was the first night. The second night on the 30th was public works and then May 5th was administration and finance. The budget committee did vote on May 5th meeting to approve the fiscal year 27 budget. The committee approved budget was then published in the daily courier and the process of making any further changes would occur throughout the year. After this public hearing is held there are going to be some other RESOLUTIONS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER. THE BUDGET FOLLOWS THE STRATEGIC PLAN AND THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT REALLY EASY FOR US TO HELP MAKE IT EASIER FOR US TO DEVELOP THE BUDGET IS COUNCIL PROVIDES POLICY DIRECTION AND WE KNOW WHERE WE'RE HEADED BECAUSE YOU HAVE A STRATEGIC PLAN AND WE APPLY THE RESOURCES TO THOSE STRATEGIC PLAN ITEMS. SO ONE OF THE THINGS WE DID THIS YEAR BEFORE THE BUDGET PROCESS AS WE REVIEWED WITH YOU AND IT WORKED OUT FAIRLY WELL TO GO OVER THE BUDGET PARAMETERS AND UPDATE OUR FINANCIAL And here on the screen is the financial policies with all of our funds that we have it's important for us to have These kind of financial policies as we need to make sure that we can operate the city starting July 1 and We need to make sure that we have dollars associated with that because we don't get all the dollars in every month at the same time Sometimes it takes until November to get property taxes And so we need to make sure we have a healthy reserve fund in order to make that happen The couple, just a couple of notes here on the funds themselves, the general fund from a budget perspective, it looks like it's at 19.2%. However, this year during our discussion with the council on our financial policies, we recognize that there is some underspending each year. And when it comes to the budget parameters with the financial policies, we're going over the, we're going off of the annual comprehensive financial report this year instead of the projected budget that we have here. and the goal is to maintain still that minimum of at least 25%. Couple of other things, just to make note, our industrial downtown loan fund, its parameter is $500,000. We're just $6,000 shy of that. We have an internal policy where we wait until that gets to about $550,000 and then we use the $50,000 a year for facade improvement grant programs. We're going to continue to build interest on that. We don't see a problem with us getting the interest next year to be within our financial policies. And then once we get and we hit the $550,000, we'll start the facade improvement program again and draw down a little bit of that interest income that we're receiving. Our tourism promotion is at 23.5% or so. So we're just right there. We don't see an issue with that at all. Public Works Administration, GIS, Benefits Administration, and Workers' Comp are all above the financial policy. So that's a positive. So a number of these ones that I was talking about are internal service funds. So when it comes to GIS or Public Works, what we're going to do is we're going to provide a credit to our customers, our internal customers, to draw down that percentage until we get to that fund balance reserve. So that's a financially fiscal way of trying to manage those additional resources. year's budget does represent a change in ftes as you are already recognized council provided direction for us to hire 12 additional public safety staff six police and six fire this also adds one additional which makes it 13 a facilities maintenance tech and that is for specifically to maintain public safety's infrastructure when it comes to buildings and facilities maintenance And we did do a, it wasn't an FTE increase, but we did do a modification of a change from an engineering tech to an engineering supervisor. So the total budget that you're gonna be adopting today is 297,000, 297 million, $247,088. Not often I say a million dollars, that's a lot. 53% of that is a general fund with special revenue funds being second. Well, actually, general fund is 18%. I'm sorry. 53% of the total budget is the enterprise funds. So enterprise funds are 53%, and that equals $123 million. Second largest is general fund, and I'll have some breakdown of some additional slides that will show you the difference there. Operating revenues. Operating revenues, this is how much does it cost the city to operate on a daily basis, minus the transfers to capital and those kind of things and your contingency. What does it cost to operate the city? And where does this money come from? The money comes from, to operate the city, the largest portion is 46%, comes from fees and charges. So that's your utility bills, your water and wastewater and sewer and et cetera. That's what goes to fund the enterprise funds. And then the second largest is 36%, which is property taxes. So our property taxes at 36% represents just a little over $24 million. So we're bringing in $24.2 million in property taxes. Where does the money go? So the money, 60.15% goes to personal services. It just takes, and that's people. That's the staff, that's my colleagues, That's the largest expense when it comes to the city's budget for operating the operating budget. Here's a breakdown by department of where the money goes. And again, a lot of it is personnel. You have police and fire because they represent at least about half of the FTE within the city. And so that graph makes sense, followed by community development and then on down the line. does the money go from a general fund perspective and your general fund expenses are public safety and community development and parks and recreation the majority of that is personnel that is our largest expense as compared to our utilities our enterprise funds the largest expense is not personnel although it is a larger expense the largest expense are transfers and those transfers represent the capital associated with keeping all the infrastructure necessary in order to provide the services to the community. Now part of this public hearing, we need to discuss state revenue sharing. We need to make sure we want to declare that we want to receive state revenue sharing in order for us to do that. So the budget committee hearing was held on May 5th, and at this hearing, the meeting did meet the statutory hearing requirements, and we're meeting those again today with having a public hearing to discuss state shared revenues. In fiscal year 27, our state shared revenues were budgeted to be $390,800. And here's a breakdown of some of those state shared revenues. General support resources and we have dedicated to police state shared revenue marijuana tax we have that at 67 and approve the budget with the Ability for council to start paying right bring it back to council for further discussion and or action one Likely going to face with criminal trespass for second degree Pass that to the chief

I don't know the fine amount off the top of my head. I want to say it's $1,000 or six months or a year. I apologize. I don't know. I can look it up real quick, though, and give you the right answer.

Essentially, it adds the ability to arrest someone if they refuse to move after they are issued a violation. And then they can face jail time or a fine up to the maximum allowed.

So I realize this is a way bigger discussion, but in general, So you say they could face jail time, and are they likely to, is this gonna make it any more likely that they spend more than 30 seconds in jail than what we have right now?

Probably not, but they would at least be issued a citation or charges for it, and the more, and the chief can talk about this too, but when you continue to get convictions, when you continue to get those charges, penalties can amplify and you can face more serious consequences down the road.

yes counselor and great questions by the way i just wanted to add This provides essentially more tools in our box to resolve the problem at that particular moment. We know we're not going to solve the problem within the state or in our jails regarding housing of people, but it will help us fix the problem in the moment. And for the majority of issues that we deal with, let's say downtown, we need to have a tool, something at the ready to be able to remove an individual so we can let commerce flow again essentially. So this helps with that. Also too, I wanted to just remind council that we, these are kind of force multipliers, meaning we have CSOs and we have cadets that can also issue citations. So that will help with our enforcement priorities downtown. And then also, too, as a reminder, while we are sometimes firm, we are always fair with people. And people don't always get citations. We talk people into leaving all the time. We'd much rather gain compliance than arrest if that happens. We work together, let's just say. So this doesn't mean we're going to go crazy trying to arrest people for criminal trespass, not at all. It just gives our folks a tool to solve problems in our community that are happening on the regular. And these particular ordinances that the city attorney is presenting tonight were at the request and worked together with our community response team, who I trust wholeheartedly.

Further questions? I've got Indra and Joel. Indra?

So the doorway sleeping or sitting, while the business owner can not do anything and allow it, anybody could report that for a citation, correct? Correct.

Joel? Stephanie, could you educate me, because I'm ignorant? So you issue a citation for criminal, not criminal, trespass. Does that go to, do they have the right to appeal that to a judge or a court?

All tickets can go through court.

Okay, and then do we have the capacity to have that happen within our existing court system?

Our existing court system is struggling a little bit with the violations. So we'll have a bigger discussion about this on the 15th.

Okay. Okay.

Thank you. Any further questions from counsel in regards to this ordinance? All right. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and move on. Thank you.

Next one is 6.46.020. And this one would be revising the definition of parks. Again, expanding it just a little bit. One of the areas left out was public restrooms, as well as instead of saying undeveloped property owned by the city, changing that to any property owned and maintained by the city. We were having a hard time determining what undeveloped really meant in this particular case. So just making it clear that it's all city property.

All right, any council questions in regards to this definition? I don't see none. Go ahead and move on, thank you.

On to 6.46.040. This is our utilization of open city park space, which prohibits living, sleeping, or leaving personal property in a park overnight other than authorized resting sites. One of the things that we have found was we needed a definition of overnight, and that we are suggesting would mean outside of posted park hours Or between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. if there are no hours posted, those are the typical park hours. There was a suggestion that we include you cannot live, sleep, or leave personal property at any time, regardless of whether it's overnight or not, in or on a playground, splash pad, gazebo, ball field, sport court, or any other site of active recreational activities. This is probably a new piece for everyone that it shall be prima facie evidence of a violation if any city employee or contractor observes or where there is clear and convincing evidence that a person has committed a violation of those provisions. And what this basically means is normally for a violation an officer has to observe the actual violation themselves. This would mean that at 6.01 in the morning if a park employee is at the park and sees that somebody has, you know, has their tent set up, has whatever else, they would be able to say, I observe a violation and can document that, and we would still be able to issue that citation. And same thing with any contractors. And for the contractors, that's for the crews that go in and unlock bathrooms, things like that, any vendors that we're contracting with to provide services. This would also provide the consequences for a violation, as well as the failure to move is a trespass.

Great. Any questions to this ordinance? Rob and then Rick. Rob?

Yeah, I think good changes with regards to contractors being able to document not just police officers. I have a question on, I guess it's the very top sentence on page 26. when it says overnight shall mean outside of posted park hours or between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. if no hours are posted. I mean, to me, the no hours are posted is really problematic. That'd be like giving someone a parking citation when there's no parking sign up. How could the city possibly win that case if someone were to challenge it?

Because we have a definition of parks. And jumping back to that 6.46020 definition, for purposes of this chapter, parks means all of these areas, not just the parks where you would normally have posted park hours.

So in other words, you actually think that you could win a case in court if there was no hours posted where the person was staying, and they'd have no way of knowing that that either was a park, and they'd have no way of knowing what the hours were.

Ignorance of the law is not a defense to charges. You're expected to know what the rules are.

So why do we have any like no parking signs then? We could just ticket anybody anytime we wanted, right?

Because there are places that we do allow parking. So this would say you can't sleep on city property overnight.

If you're satisfied.

Any further questions? Rick. So Stephanie, the City Council at times has approved sleeping in the park by a separate action. Does that come under the next section for exclusion or how do we

Under six point four six. Oh four. Oh a right before the overnight definition It says without written approval by the city manager or their designee so you can be you can receive that written approval Council could either approve it or direct the city manager to issue that approval.

Okay. Thank you

Can you say that again? I didn't get what you just said. Because you just basically, I just interpreted that you as a council member want to give somebody permission to sleep in a park.

Stephanie answered it with item A, saying if there's an event to allow sleeping in the park. Oh, the event, okay. It doesn't have to be cited as a violation as long as they have approval.

I appreciate your clarification, because in my brain I just regurgitated what my brain was thinking. I was like, wait, that's not right. Thank you very much for the banter. Joel, further questions?

That just led me to believe so. If we have, at the city manager's discretion in the transition, having them sleep on public property next to the police station, say, then that's the way we'll do that.

That's one way we can do that, yes. The way we also did the resolution regarding the authorized resting sites will allow for that as well, but this is another mechanism.

Okay, thank you. Any further questions to this ordinance? All right, seeing none, we'll go ahead and move on. Thank you.

We got two to go. This one is 6.46.350 regarding temporary exclusion from city park properties. The two changes here, are to include a violation of utilization of open city park space as an offense for which a single violation can result in exclusion, so you don't need two of those in order to be excluded from a park. The other was one of the ones that we came across after the packet was released. We realized that, for instance, on the criminal trespass, If you are taken into custody, you are not actually issued a citation at that point. It's up to the DA to address charges. So there's no citation issued, which meant we couldn't issue an exclusion order. And so this would also add, or if you're arrested for a violation of those things, and that would then mean that we could exclude based on an arrest as well.

Any questions from council in regards to this ordinance? Rick?

So just for clarification, who actually, if an exclusion order is issued, who issues that?

Law enforcement at the same time the citation is issued or the arrest is made.

Okay, thank you.

Any further questions in regards to this ordinance? All right, seeing none, thank you.

All right, our last one is 6.46.355 regarding appeal and hearing, and this would be on those exclusions, exclusion orders. So over the past few months, we've had quite a number of exclusion appeal hearings, and we have learned some things. number of procedural questions and limitations have come up the recommendation for this particular ordinance is to replace the original language entirely although many of the same provisions are incorporated into the new language so what you see on your screen now is the original language which would be completely struck and there would be three sections then added from there so the first is appeal in the appeal section the requirement for a written appeal to the city manager within two days remains But it does change from allowing the person to continue using the public space until the appeal is decided to the exclusion is immediately enforceable unless and until the order gets dismissed. So this would basically operate the same as any other protective order where it takes immediate effect. You can appeal it and if the merits require then it gets dismissed and then you're allowed to go back. But you do have to immediately leave.

Any questions from council in regards to this? All right, seeing none.

The next section will be on hearings. There are a few revisions regarding scheduling. The hearing would be held as soon as possible. There would be the inclusion of an appellant being allowed to seek one continuance. We had an instance where we had an individual, I think we were at three or four continuances for, basically they were extending the time that they could stay where they were at continuance after continuance, so we want to fix that. The other piece I want to mention here is that council does not hear these appeals. Council did opt to designate a hearings officer, and the hearings officer is where we schedule those and handle those in a fairly quick manner. The other change in the hearings section is that it now spells out the burden of proof and references the appropriate code citation. And then the last piece on this section is a new section which would be effective dismissal of site.

Any public comment in regards to state share revenue, state revenue sharing?

I think we should get as much as we can from state revenue sharing.

Thank you. All right, bring it back to council for further discussion and or action. And you have a potential motion listed on the screen. Victoria.

I move to approve the resolution to receive state shared revenues in the next fiscal year.

All right, do we have a second? Second from Eric. Any further discussion? All right, seeing none, how do you vote, Victoria? Yes. Eric.

Yes. Rick. Yes.

Indra. Yes. Seth.

Yes.

Rob.

Yes.

Kathleen. Yes. And Joel. Yes. Thank you. Motion passes. Aaron.

Yes. The next resolution on your calendar is a resolution imposing taxes and categorizing taxes for fiscal year 27 for the City of Grants Pass. The taxes would be at the rate of 4.1335 per thousand and then a public safety levy at $1.79 per thousand. and then there's a potential motion for you.

All right, any specific questions from council? Kathleen?

I just want to clarify, Aaron, that there's no changes. This is the way it's been over the last couple of years, and we're just continuing to have the same amount of taxes.

That's correct. We're levying our full taxable amount.

Any further questions from council? All right, there's an opportunity for a public comment in regards to this resolution. Anybody in the audience wanna speak? All right, seeing none, bring it back to council for further discussion and or action with a potential motion listed on the screen. Kathleen.

I move to approve the resolution to levy and categorize property taxes to fiscal year 2027.

Do we have a second? Second from Rick. Any further discussion? Seeing none. Go into a roll call vote. Kathleen.

Yes.

Joel.

Yes.

Victoria. Yes. Eric. Yes.

Rick. Yes. Indra.

Yes. Seth.

Yes.

Rob. Yes. Motion passes. Next. We're just going to rip right through these.

Next is resolution adopting the budget and making appropriations. The limitations on amendments to the budget, committee approved budget amounts, 10% limit on increases or expenditures. And with the amendments, the approved budget totals are as follows. All funds of $295,729,282. Total unappropriated amounts of all funds is $1,517,806 with a total budget of $297,247,088. and there is a potential motion.

All right, bring it back to council. Is there any questions in regards to the overall budget? All right, seeing none. And last chance, any public comment? Seeing none, bring it back to council for further discussion and or action. Seth.

I'll make a motion to approve the resolution adopting the fiscal year 2027 budget with amendments.

All right, a second on that? Joel. All right, any further discussion? Seeing none, I'll go into a vote. Seth.

Yes.

Rob. Yes. Kathleen. Yes. Joel.

Yes.

Victoria. Yes. Eric. Yes. Rick. Yes. Indra. Yes. Thank you, motion passes. And that concludes Aaron's participation for the night. Thank you very much. Next we have an ordinance amending grants pass municipal code.

Good evening, mayor and council. I'm here to talk about some proposed ordinance amendments tonight, um, in anticipation of some of the changes that we're about to see in the city. Um, so this is an ordinance to amend several municipal code sections throughout chapters five and six. And the purpose for this is to address health and safety issues during and after transition from the authorized resting sites. And this would support council's goal of public safety by amending the city's laws to address emerging issues and increase accountability of offenders. So while we were planning for the transition from the city's authorized resting sites to a low barrier shelter facility, there was an opportunity to review chapters five and six of the municipal code. And during that review, there was a lot of discussion about some of the issues that we've seen over the past year, uh, in particular around public health and safety. Um, so given those experiences, some clarifications and amendments were deemed appropriate to bring forward to council. Um, our, and again, our goal is to protect health and safety, but also to provide reasonable time, place and manner restrictions as required by law. I would note that after the packet materials were submitted, I realized that one of my placeholders had not been filled in, so we'll see those tonight, and that there were two additional revisions that we discovered to bring forward, and I'll address those as well. On the coming slides, you're gonna see the language proposals. The black text is the current language of the ordinance. Red text is the changes that were included in your packet materials, and blue text is the additional recommended revisions that we'll talk about. So the first one to discuss is 5.36.010, and this is the ordinance regarding obstructing traffic. So this prohibits the obstruction of pedestrian traffic as well as vehicular traffic. And the proposed revisions for this ordinance are to explicitly state the consequence of violating the ordinance. This was a request from law enforcement that It helps them make sure that people really understand what the consequences of a particular ordinance are, as opposed to just relying on the general statement in the ordinances that says anything is a violation. So it's a more specific way to handle this. We also are including that it would constitute criminal trespass. And this is, again, where one of those placeholders comes in, because I had to include the citation in the materials that were in your packet. We specified that it's criminal trespass in the second degree under ORS 164.245 if you fail to move after being notified that you're in violation. So if you're told you can't stay here and you say, okay, cite me, and a violation is issued and you continue to remain there, then it puts people on notice that that would constitute criminal trespass. The third revision in this ordinance would be to include that any personal belongings, trash, or refuse that remain to obstruct pedestrian or vehicular traffic, that that can be removed and discarded. So if somebody leaves a space or if they just leave the belongings there, we can take care of that. And that wasn't included before. Would it be easier for Council if we went one slide at a time instead of jumping back and forth among the ordinances, if there's any questions on one?

Yeah, let's do that. We'll do one slide at a time and just make sure we get quick questions and then we can further on. Any questions from council in regards to this ordinance? Joel.

Stephanie, good job. I apologize. I didn't look up those ORS citations.

That's okay. You weren't required to it was in in what was in your packet materials. I had in parentheses Verifies title and citation. It was like a placeholder in there. The blue language just fixes that placeholder.

Okay, so then The Constitution says no cruel and unusual punishment, and I'm sure that this is constitutional, but what is the penalty if you have criminal trespass in the second degree?

It's a misdemeanor, so it just elevates the level a little bit. You can be taken into custody if you're failing to move.

Okay, and then is there a fine associated with it or anything?

Yes, under state statute for criminal trespass, there would be fines or even potential jail time under the subsection A, the violation. There's a fine that's outlined in our ordinance, and I don't know what that number is off the top of my head, but a violation is only punishable by a fine, not jail time.

Sure, a misdemeanor. Okay, and it's constitutional. Yes. Yeah, which I'm sure it would have been, otherwise you wouldn't have proposed it.

Any further questions? Indra.

So in this slide and others that come, it talks about notification. Is that an official police notification? Or can citizens or business owners notify?

The idea of that is that you're being issued a citation for the violation. So if you're issued a citation for the violation and you still choose to remain in that place, then you could receive a subsequent citation for trespass.

Does, and maybe Chief Hensman could answer this, does a citation, because I know police are really stretched thin, does a citation have to come from a police officer? Yes. Or can, you can't train anyone to be able to give citations that aren't officers?

It has to come from the police department, yes.

Okay, thank you.

Any further questions in regards to this ordinance? Cena? Okay. Thank you.

The next proposed revision is to 5.36.020, which is the ordinance regarding objects or materials on street sidewalks or public way. The proposal here is to prohibit a person from depositing, storing, or allowing personal belongings, trash, or refuse on street sidewalks. And we changed it from public way to public property or right of way to make sure that it was encompassing all public property. And then, so it's essentially, because previously it was just related to merchandise and equipment. So this would broaden it to all personal property. The second piece of that one is also to allow that trash, refuse, and unintended personal belongings can be immediately removed and discarded. So there's abandoned things there, it can be taken care of, and it provides the, for a violation. Anything on 020?

Any questions from council in regards to this ordinance? The adjustments? All right, CNN, thank you.

The next one is 5.38.010. This is placing trash in the trash receptacle of another. The proposed revisions here would expand it to include removal of trash from the receptacle trash can of another, and it would not apply to the placing of litter in public trash receptacles provided for that purpose. So you can't put trash in somebody else's trash bins. And it also includes the consequence of violation.

Any questions in regards to this ordinance? Rick?

Thank you, Stephanie. So under trash can, we have people in this town that collect recyclable bottles and cans and so forth. Based on this, they would not be eligible to go into that trash can and remove those, is that correct? Correct.

And that would be a public safety reason. It's dangerous to stick your hands in a trash can. So it's a health and safety concern. That's why we would want to prohibit that.

Okay. Thank you. Any other questions in regards to this ordinance? Victoria.

So would it be similar to the being asked to move the violation? You would be cited, and then if you continue to do it, it would be?

Criminal trespass only applies if you are remaining in a place that you have been explicitly told you cannot be. I just meant similar. It really wouldn't on this particular one. You could just get cited for a violation.

Okay, thank you.

Any further questions? All right, CNN, thank you.

The next one is 5.57.070, and this is related to, this is the ordinance on water pollution. Within this one, we included that you cannot bathe in a water feature or splash pad, because we have seen that occurring and you can't wash clothing or in any way pollute those items there was also an inclusion at the suggestion of parks about disturbing the ground adjacent to the natural water features within city parks or on public property due to concerns about erosion and sediment in the waterways any questions in regards to this ordinance Kathleen

And that would apply to park restrooms?

We'll get to park restrooms. Okay. Thank you.

Indra. Does that apply or do we already have something for private property?

I don't know the answer to that off the top of my head, but private property is generally people have control of that. They can have people removed from their private property. This would only apply to public property.

How is that handled, Chief?

I think what I hear is that your question, if it's on private property, what can we do?

Right, because...

If it's on private property and you call, a citizen calls, we will have the individual removed, and if the individual doesn't leave, then he or she will be arrested.

Any further questions in regards to this ordinance? Rick?

So, Stephanie, is the word base defined, or specifically what concerns... SHOWS THE PARAMETERS OF BATHING?

IT'S NOT DEFINED, BUT THE COMMON UNDERSTANDING OF BATHING IS WASHING A PERSON'S BODY. NOT JUST WASHING YOUR HANDS, NECESSARILY, BUT ACTUALLY BATHING.

OKAY. SO IF IT'S A HOT DAY AND YOU WANT TO PUT YOUR FEET IN THE STREAM, THAT'S NOT A PROBLEM? SHOULDN'T BE. OKAY. THANK YOU.

ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS IN REGARDS TO THIS ORDINANCE? ERIC?

Not so much regarding this ordinance, but after Chief gets a chance to review all this, I would like to know what his expert opinion is on if he foresees any problems with any of these ordinances that we simply don't know about. Maybe he does. So I wanted to give the Chief the opportunity to address those concerns, if there are any at all. Thank you.

And just so we're clear, these were created in conjunction with law enforcement.

Perfect. Thank you.

All right. Any further questions in regards to this specific ordinance? All right. CNN, we'll move on. Thank you.

All right. On this slide, it's not 5.57, it's 070. It's 5.57.100. I forgot to change the ordinance number when I was copying and pasting. And this one is the ordinance regarding public urination and defecation. And the only change to this one would be to further clarify that it has to be urination or defecation in a toilet, not just in a public place that's inside a restroom facility. So sad that we have to make those distinctions.

Any questions in regards to the adjustments to this ordinance?

Rick. So a lot of people that go camping have portable toilets. Would it apply in that situation as well?

No, because that's not a public place or a public view. They would be able to use their portable toilets out in camping spaces. Okay.

Thank you. Any further questions? Seeing none, we'll move on. Thank you.

All right. The next one is 5.57.110, along the same lines as the previous ordinance we talked about. This one's public indecency violations. And this prohibits the exposure of genitalia or engaging in sexual activity in a public place or a place visible from a public place. In your packet, you saw other than an enclosed space containing a toilet for the same reason that we talked about on that last ordinance. Since then, we realized that we should probably also clarify that it can only be for the purpose of urination, defecation or hygiene.

Any questions in regards to this specific ordinance? It's clear as mud.

Next one is 5.61.010 regarding sleeping on sidewalks, streets, alleys, or within doorways being prohibited. The proposed revisions are to prohibit bodily obstruction. One of the things that law enforcement has heard is, I wasn't asleep when they're, you know, clearly laying on the streets. And it also clarifies that it's not just doorways, but also recessed pedestrian entrances. So if your doorway is back a little ways, being in that space. We put in, it's essentially a protection for business and property owners, which prohibits them from allowing such activity. That gives people the ability to say, I'm not allowed to let you sleep here, as opposed to just, no, you can't sleep here. It explicitly provides the consequences for violation as well as the failure to move as a criminal trespass in the second degree.

Council have any questions in regards to this ordinance? Victoria.

There wouldn't be any consequences for a business owner who didn't report with their, or let's say that there are two businesses side by side One likes to report someone who is sleeping in their doorway. The other one does not.

Failure to report is not an issue. You can't actively say, yes, you can sleep in my doorway.

Oh, okay. That makes sense. Thank you.

Any further questions to this ordinance? Rob?

So a few times, Stephanie, you've mentioned criminal trespass in second degree. So typically, what is the penalty? What is someone likely going to face with criminal trespass to a second degree?

I'll pass that to the chief.

I don't know the fine amount off the top of my head. I want to say it's $1,000 or six months or a year. I apologize. I can look it up real quick, though, and give you the right answer.

Essentially, it adds the ability to arrest someone if they refuse to move after they are issued a violation, and then they can face jail time or a fine up to the maximum allowed.

So I realize this is a way bigger discussion, but in general, so you say they could face jail time, and is this going to make it any more likely that they spend more than 30 seconds in jail than what we have right now?

Probably not, but they would at least be issued a citation or charges for it and the more And the chief could talk about this too But when you continue to get convictions when you to continue to get those charges Penalties can amplify and you can face more serious consequences down the road Yes, counselor and great questions.

By the way. I just wanted to add I This provides essentially more tools in our box to resolve the problem at that particular moment. We know we're not going to solve the problem within the state or in our jails regarding housing of people, but it will help us fix the problem in the moment. And for the majority of issues that we deal with, let's say downtown, we need to have a tool, something at the ready to be able to remove an individual so we can let commerce flow again essentially. So this helps with that. Also too, I wanted to just remind council that we, these are kind of force multipliers, meaning we have CSOs and we have cadets that can also issue citations. So that will help with our enforcement priorities downtown. And then also, too, as a reminder, while we are sometimes firm, we are always fair with people. And people don't always get citations. We talk people into leaving all the time. We'd much rather gain compliance than arrest if that happens. we work together let's just say so this doesn't mean we're going to go you know go crazy trying to arrest people for criminal trespass not at all it just gives our folks a tool to solve problems in our community that are happening on the regular and these particular ordinances that the city attorney is presenting tonight were at the request and worked together with our community response team who I trust wholeheartedly

Further questions? I got Indra and then Joel. Indra?

So the doorway sleeping or sitting, while the business owner can not do anything and allow it, anybody could report that for a citation, correct? Correct.

Joel. Stephanie, could you educate me, because I'm ignorant? So you issue a citation for criminal, not criminal, trespass. Does that go to, do they have the right to appeal that to a judge or a court?

All tickets can go through court.

Okay, and then do we have the capacity to have that happen within our existing court system?

Our existing court system is struggling a little bit with the violations. So we'll have a bigger discussion about this on the 15th.

Okay. Okay.

Thank you. Any further questions from counsel in regards to this ordinance? All right. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and move on. Thank you.

Next one is 6.46.020. And this one would be revising the definition of parks. Again, expanding it just a little bit. One of the areas left out was public restrooms, as well as instead of saying undeveloped property owned by the city, changing that to any property owned and maintained by the city. We were having a hard time determining what undeveloped really meant in this particular case. So just making it clear that it's all city property.

All right, any council questions in regards to this definition? I don't see none. Go ahead and move on, thank you.

On to 6.46.040. This is our utilization of open city park space, which prohibits living, sleeping, or leaving personal property in a park overnight other than authorized resting sites. One of the things that we have found was we needed a definition of overnight, and that we are suggesting would mean outside of posted park hours Or between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. if there are no hours posted, those are the typical park hours. There was a suggestion that we include you cannot live, sleep, or leave personal property at any time, regardless of whether it's overnight or not, in or on a playground, splash pad, gazebo, ball field, sport court, or any other site of active recreational activities. This is probably a new piece for everyone that it shall be prima facie evidence of a violation if any city employee or contractor observes or where there is clear and convincing evidence that a person has committed a violation of those provisions. And what this basically means is normally for a violation an officer has to observe the actual violation themselves. This would mean that at 6.01 in the morning if a park employee is at the park and sees that somebody has, you know, has their tent set up, has whatever else, they would be able to say, I observe a violation and can document that, and we would still be able to issue that citation. And same thing with any contractors. And for the contractors, that's for the crews that go in and unlock bathrooms, things like that, any vendors that we're contracting with to provide services. This would also provide the consequences for a violation, as well as the failure to move is a trespass.

right any questions to this ordinance um rob and then rick rob yeah i think um good changes with regards to contractors being able to document not just police officers i have a question on um i guess it's the very top sentence on page 26 when it says overnight shall shall mean outside of posted park hours or between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. if no hours are posted. I mean, to me, the no hours are posted is really problematic. That'd be like giving someone a parking citation when there's no parking sign up. How could the city possibly win that case if someone were to challenge it?

Because we have a definition of parks. And jumping back to that 6.46020 definition, for purposes of this chapter, parks means all of these areas, not just the parks where you would normally have posted park hours.

So in other words, you actually think that you could win a case in court if there was no hours posted where the person was staying and they'd have no way of knowing that that either was a park and they'd have no way of knowing what the hours were.

Ignorance of the law is not a defense to charges. You're expected to know what the rules are.

So why do we have any like no parking signs then? We could just ticket anybody anytime we wanted, right?

because there are places that we do allow parking. So this would say you can't sleep on city property overnight.

If you're satisfied.

Any further questions? Rick. So Stephanie, the city council at times has approved sleeping in the park by a separate action. Does that come under the next section for exclusion or how do we?

Under six point four six. Oh four. Oh a right before the overnight definition It says without written approval by the city manager or their designee so you can be you can receive that written approval Council could either approve it or direct the city manager to issue that approval.

Okay. Thank you

Can you say that again? I didn't get what you just said. Because you just basically, I just interpreted that you as a council member want to give somebody permission to sleep in a park.

Stephanie answered it with item A, saying if there's an event to allow sleeping in the park. Oh, the event, okay. It doesn't have to be cited as a violation as long as they have approval.

I appreciate your clarification because in my brain I just regurgitated what my brain was thinking. I was like, wait, that's not right. Thank you very much for the banter.

Joel, further questions? That just led me to believe so. If we have at the city manager's discretion in the transition having them sleep on public property next to the police station, say, then that's the way we'll do that.

That's one way we can do that, yes. The way we also did the resolution regarding the authorized resting sites will allow for that as well, but this is another mechanism.

Okay, thank you. Any further questions to this ordinance? All right, seeing none, we'll go ahead and move on. Thank you.

We got two to go. This one is 6.46.350 regarding temporary exclusion from city park properties. The two changes here, are to include a violation of utilization of open city park space as an offense for which a single violation can result in exclusion. So you don't need two of those in order to be excluded from a park. The other was one of the ones that we came across after the packet was released. We realized that, for instance, on the criminal trespass, If you are taken into custody, you are not actually issued a citation at that point. It's up to the DA to address charges. So there's no citation issued, which meant we couldn't issue an exclusion order. And so this would also add, or if you're arrested for a violation of those things, and that would then mean that we could exclude based on an arrest as well.

Any questions from council in regards to this ordinance? Rick?

So just for clarification, who actually, if an exclusion order is issued, who issues that?

Law enforcement at the same time the citation is issued or the arrest is made.

Okay, thank you. Any further questions in regards to this ordinance? All right, seeing none, thank you.

All right, our last one is 6.46.355 regarding appeal and hearing, and this would be on those exclusions, exclusion orders. So over the past few months, we've had quite a number of exclusion appeal hearings, and we have learned some things. a number of procedural questions and limitations have come up. The recommendation for this particular ordinance is to replace the original language entirely, although many of the same provisions are incorporated into the new language. So what you see on your screen now is the original language, which would be completely struck, and there would be three sections then added from there. So the first is appeal. In the appeal section, the requirement for a written appeal to the city manager within two days remains. But it does change from allowing the person to continue using the public space until the appeal is decided to the exclusion is immediately enforceable unless and until the order gets dismissed. So this would basically operate the same as any other protective order where it takes immediate effect. You can appeal it and if the merits require then it gets dismissed and then you're allowed to go back. But you do have to immediately leave.

Any questions from council in regards to this? All right, seeing none.

The next section will be on hearings. There are a few revisions regarding scheduling. The hearing would be held as soon as possible. There would be the inclusion of an appellant being allowed to seek one continuance. We had an instance where we had an individual, I think we were at three or four continuances for, basically they were extending the time that they could stay where they were at continuance after continuance, so we want to fix that. The other piece I want to mention here is that council does not hear these appeals. Council did opt to designate a hearings officer, and the hearings officer is where we schedule those and handle those in a fairly quick manner. The other change in the hearings section is that it now spells out the burden of proof and references the appropriate code citation. And then the last piece on this section is a new section, which would be effective dismissal of citation. One of the things that we realized was probably a little unfair is that if a citation was dismissed at the court for lack of probable cause, or if they were acquitted, the exclusion order still stayed in place because they had been issued a citation. The fact that the citation went away was irrelevant under the ordinance. This would state that if the citation or the arrest that was the basis for the exclusion order was declined or dismissed for lack of probable cause, or if there's an acquittal, then the exclusion order also gets dismissed as part of that. So this would not apply if the district attorney declines or dismisses a case due to lack of resources or for other reasons as part of a plea agreement, something like that. It would only apply if it has to do with the actual facts underlying the issuance of that citation.

Any questions for regards to this? Eric?

Sorry, I missed it. But for the hearings, you mentioned the hearings officer. Can you explain their qualifications and how the hearings officer becomes a hearing officer? I don't know. I've never.

It's a practicing attorney that comes in and basically acts as a neutral decision maker and goes through a standardized process.

Thank you.

Any further questions? Joel?

I just had a quick one, Stephanie, and it'd be easy for you to answer. As we go through this, you know, you've done your homework. Is this similar to what other cities have done? And also, is there any case law in effect? And is this in accordance with what the case law is? And I'm sure it is, but I just need to ask the question.

I haven't actually dug into those because this is a due process matter. Exclusion zones, you've talked about those before. This is essentially a form of an exclusion. It operates the same way. We haven't been challenged on the exclusions or the previous process. This is just fine tuning that process and providing some additional due process rights and tweaking things to make sure that we're meeting standards.

All right, so if you have a spare time, if you could just do some research on that case law, and if there's any difference that we need to change, let us know.

If I have spare time, I will sure do that. Okay.

That's why I put that in there, Stephanie.

Any further questions? Eric?

Just for clarification, when we vote on this, that's when these are going to be put into law, or is there a time frame?

We did put this in as an emergency. under the emergency clause so they would take immediate effect given the public health and safety concerns that are being addressed by these ordinance revisions, that would be reasonable.

Thank you.

Last time, any further questions in regards to the specific ordinance?

None. All right. Thank you. Then we are done with the actual languages. Your call to action tonight is, it can be deferred if you choose. Your alternatives are to approve the proposed ordinance, approve the proposed ordinance with revisions, do not approve the proposed ordinance, The recommendation is to approve the proposed ordinance with the revisions. That would be the blue language that you saw tonight. And if you so choose, there's a horribly long potential motion on the screen.

Thank you, Stephanie. At this time, we open it up for public comment in regards to these ordinance changes. Is there anybody in the audience that would like to speak? Go ahead and up to the microphone, state your name. You have two minutes.

Patrick Rooney grants pass. I think what you guys are doing is a good job as far as trying to get some of the stuff under control, the city under control. I do have a question about ordinance 5.38.10 about placing trash in the receptacles of another. It doesn't say anything about removing trash. You had a question earlier about somebody who wants to take bottles or cans out or things like that. I only see placing trash in there. So that's a question right there. And I'd like to make a comment on that as well. I think one of the few things that I like to see the homeless people doing here, the ones that are having trouble and on the streets, I actually think it's positive that they're out getting bottles and cans and things like that that would ordinarily just be there for trash and not being used and put in the landfills and they're taking them and making some money and trying to do something to make a few dollars. I think them doing something, hustling, doing some work, not depending for everything from the government, I think is quite refreshing. So I don't know, I just think it's a little bit, that one might be a little harsh if it's included that they would not be able to take trash. Again, this one only says placing trash, which makes sense, but it doesn't say taking trash. And I just have a question about that. Thank you. Thank you.

Any further member in the audience? All right, we have one person online that would like to make public comment in regards to this. Mike, are you available? If you're ready, you got two minutes.

Yep, I'm available. So here's what I'm thinking. These ordinances that you guys are discussing, this should have been a discussion years ago. We should not have had to wait until we get to this point in our lives and in the condition of this city to have this discussion. And what I haven't heard is how are we going to address the overwhelming number of violations that are going to occur. So what's happening right now, if you read the courier, and Rob actually feed in on this earlier, and he mentioned that what happens after they spent their two and a half minutes in jail. What I actually refer to it as instead of it being in jail, these people are visiting the Grants Pass Airbnb. And I'm pretty sure that they're not leaving five-star reviews. But irregardless to that, the issue is that when you read in the paper that this person has been arrested eight times in the last 12 months, 15 times in the last 12 months, 19 times in the last 12 months, you know what that is? That's a frequent visitor. Maybe the city of Grand Pass could give them a punch card so that they can earn some reward points in order to maybe their visit here is a little bit more memorable to them. I have a better solution, and that is perhaps after a certain number of violations, we take that person to the edge of the town, and we just let them know that they're no longer welcome here in our community because they no longer respect the city of Grant's past. It's not rocket science, people. Put your big boy pants on, especially the chief of police, and do your...

Thank you. Any further member of the audience here want to weigh in on public comment in regards to this? Correct. Yeah, general public comment will be a little bit later time. We do each council action, but it affords you an opportunity to talk on this council action item. Okay, seeing no more public comment, I'll bring it back to council. for further discussion and or action and you do have a very short sweet potential motion listed up on the screen. Rob, Joel, Kathleen, Victoria, Rob.

So Stephanie maybe you can help me with this. The gentleman that came to the podium and was concerned with people placing trash in the receptacle of another It says on 5.38.010, it says placing or removing, right?

That's correct. The proposed revision would allow it also to be a violation if you remove trash from a receptacle as well. The only exception to placing or removing trash from somebody else's receptacle is if you're putting litter into a public trash can because that's what they are there for.

Right.

Thank you.

Further discussion and or action? Joel?

I just had a question that has an obvious answer, but I just wanted to have it be public. So we've got a state law that we need to be consistent with, and it talks about something like reasonableness. And then we have a court case that already decided what is reasonable. And my understanding, and correct me if I'm wrong, is that these regulations are not contrary to state law and in accordance with our court order.

We do believe that these are reasonable time, place and manner restrictions and would not have any issue under that statute.

To further clarify an evolution from our past experience. Further discussion and or action, Kathleen?

Yeah, I just wanna say this is a welcomed change to our municipal code. I think the public's gonna be very happy with it and it's very timely. I mean, in response to our public commenter, better late than never. I mean, at least, you know, we're doing it in this transition time when there's a little nervousness about how things are gonna go. So I just give you credit for doing it now.

Further discussion and or action, Victoria.

Well, actually, my question was, it was already addressed, so I just want to, I don't want to stop anyone from speaking, but I would just like to motion to move to adopt the ordinance with revisions amending grants passed municipal code and then dot, dot, dot, the rest as written, if that is acceptable.

I DON'T KNOW. I REALLY WANT TO HOLD HER TO THE FIRE. I REALLY WANT YOU TO READ IT.

I'LL READ IT IF I HAVE TO. YOU KNOW WHAT?

I'M GOING TO ASK IF YOU WOULD READ IT BECAUSE WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO SEE IS KAREN'S GOING TO HAVE TO READ IT TWICE.

OH, MY. OKAY. OKAY. SO I SHOULD JUST HAVE TO READ IT.

IF YOU WOULD BE SO KIND AS YOU READ IT IN FULL. THANK YOU.

MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 5.36.010, OBSTRUCTING TRAFFIC. 36.020 objects or materials on streets, sidewalks or any other public way. 5.38.010 placing trash in receptacles of another. 5.57.070, Water Pollution, violation. 5.57.100, Public Urination and Defecation, violation. 5.57.110, Public Indecency, violations. 5.61.070, Public Urination and Defecation, violation. 010, sleeping on the sidewalks, streets, indecency, oh, did I, on the streets, alleyways or within doorways prohibited. 6.46.020, definitions, 6.46.040, utilization of open city park space, 6.46.020. 3.50 temporary exclusion from city park properties and 6.46.355 appeal and hearing and declare an emergency and have it read by title only first reading.

That was awesome. Thank you very much. And I got a second from Eric. You are awesome, Victoria. All right. Any further discussion? All right. CNN will go into a vote for the first reading of Victoria. Yes. Eric?

Yes. Rick?

Yes. Indra? Yes. Rob? I mean, sorry, Seth?

Yes.

Rob? Yes. Kathleen? Yes.

Joel? Yes. Motion passes for first reading. An ordinance of the council, the city of Grants Pass, amending Grants Pass municipal code sections 5.36.010, obstructing traffic, 5.36.020, objects or materials on streets, sidewalks, or any other property or right of way Public property or right of way. 5.38.010, placing trash in trash receptacle of another. 5.57.070, water pollution violation. 5.57.100, public urination and defecation violation. 5.57.110, public indecency violation. 5.61.010, sleeping on sidewalks, streets, alleyways, or within doorways prohibited. 6.46.020 definition 6.46.040 utilization of open city park space 6.46.350 temporary exclusion from city park properties 6.46.355 appeal and hearing and declaring an emergency as amended awesome all right bring it back to council for further discussion and or action for second reading

Joel. I move to adopt the ordinance with revisions amending grants pass municipal codes as previously described in the first reading for the second reading.

That is a seasoned pro right there. I will accept. And I'll be looking for a second. Eric, seconds again. Any further discussion for a second reading? Seeing none, we'll go into a vote. Joel. Yes. Victoria. Yes. Eric.

Yes. Rick?

Yes. Indra? Yes. Seth? Yes. Rob? Yes. Kathleen? Yes. All right. Passes for second reading. Microphone.

An ordinance of the Council of the City of Grants Pass amending Grants Pass Municipal Code Sections 5.36.010, obstructing traffic, 5.36.020, objects or materials on streets, sidewalks, or any other public property or right-of-way, 5.38.010, placing trash in trash receptacle of another. 5.57.070, water pollution violation. 5.57.100, public urination and defecation violation. 5.57.110, public indecency violation. 5.61.010, sleeping on sidewalk streets, alleys, or within doorways prohibited, 6.46.020 definitions, 6.46.040 utilization of open city park space, 6.46.350 temporary exclusion from city park properties, 6.46.355 appeal and hearing and declaring an emergency as amended.

Thank you very much. Okay, awesome. Moving on through our agenda tonight, we have a resolution approving commercial activity at Riverside Park and a fee waiver for the 2026 Cruise the Rogue event. And it looks like we will be led with a presentation by Brad.

Thank you, Mayor, members of the council, member of the public. We have a PowerPoint coming up here. There we go. So this is a request submitted to the city by Main Street, Grants Pass, who is represented tonight by their executive director, Daniel Small. The request is two-pronged. They are asking to allow commercial activity in Riverside Park and to grant a fee waiver. Relates to the council goal of public safety. So Main Street Grants Pass' core mission is the revitalization of downtown through economic development, community events, and civic engagement. This 2026 Cruise the Rogue event is a four-day event. The request before you tonight only pertains to two, but the overall event is four days, scheduled for July 23 through July 27 across downtown as well as Riverside Park. This is the inaugural year of what they are proposing to be an annual event. And it is modeled after destination automotive festivals that generate sustained economic impact for host cities. This is similar to other requests that you've seen over the last year. Commercial activity in parks of this scale need your approval. The total fees calculated for this event are shown there in the second bullet, $941 are the total for this particular event. And they are requesting a full waiver. This is a non-alcoholic, no fee event, and they are a registered non-profit. So here are the specific two um aspects of the project the four-day event that they're looking for approval within riverside park one on saturday july 25th and that is a curated stationary display of european and exotic vehicles my french isn't very good so i'm going to leave that up to to dan to speak that and then the second one is the sunday july 26th that's the awards ceremony and that's a public vehicle class awards presentation honoring the registered participants. Over the full four days, their application identifies a projected total visitor count of between 17,000 and 23,000. 350 to 450 registered vehicles in 12 different classes. As I mentioned, it's a free event. They are expecting some national media presence. Guests Richard Rawlings and Dennis Collins of Gas Monkey Garage and Alan Taylor, host of The Drive, are expected to be there. Here is a layout also from their application of how they propose to have the Riverside Park event laid out So the yellow is the vehicle display area. The green is the vendor and food. You have their proposed port-a-potty locations shown there with the red markings. And then the new band shell that we're finishing up right now is shown here in orange. So essentially, it's that sort of eastern portion of the park that they're proposing off of Vista Street for the main area. As mentioned, park reservation fees total $941. That would be the cost implication to the city if you waive that. Call to action is tonight. And there's a couple of alternatives on the screen for you. And as I mentioned, we do have Dan here if you have any specific questions about the event itself.

Thank you, Brad. I'll bring you back to council. Any questions for Brad and or our applicant? Rick.

Thank you, Brad. Can you go back to the slide that shows the park fees? So on those fees, if I recall right, we have required the damage deposit with the idea it's refunded if nothing is damaged. Is that correct?

Council has done that. You also have not. So there have been actions where you have taken both approaches.

Okay. Thank you. Any further questions from council? Kathleen.

Is Rick gonna be able to have his one-seater electric vehicle in this?

As an honorary guest? I see he's shaking his head, he's a little shy on that one. Any further questions? Okay, seeing none, thank you, Brad. If you could leave the potential motion up there, bring it, let's see. At this time, we've afforded the public an opportunity for comment in regards to this council action item. As listed, anybody from the audience want to weigh in with public comment in regards to this topic? All right, seeing none, I'll bring it back to council for further discussion and or action. And I will weigh in a little bit. I actually got to attend a Corvette show that was very similarly set up in Riverside Park last summer. I attended it with my daughter. I was asked to judge it. It was a very amazing bonding moment with me and my daughter. I think I told you guys about that before. But what I do want to say is because there were so many cars, it was almost shoulder to shoulder people walking through there. So it is a huge... Any... EVENT LIKE THIS IN RIVERSIDE WILL BE A HUGE TURNOUT AND BRING PEOPLE TO OUR COMMUNITY. FURTHER DISCUSSION AND OR ACTION? KATHLEEN.

I JUST THINK IT'S WONDERFUL THAT THE CRUISE IS BEING BROUGHT BACK AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PUTTING EFFORT INTO THIS. I'VE SEEN IN THE PAST THAT THE 50s CRUISE IS WELL ATTENDED SO I EXPECT THAT OF THIS TOO AND I'M IN FAVOR OF WAIVING ALL THE FEES.

ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION AND OR ACTION?

Okay, I move to approve the resolution allowing commercial activity and to grant a waiver of the park reservation fees at Riverside Park for the 2026 Cruise the Rogue event.

Thank you, Kathleen. Do we have a second on that? Second from Victoria. Any further discussion? All right, seeing none, I'll go into a vote. Kathleen? Yes. Joel?

Yes.

Victoria? Yes. Eric? Yes. Rick? Yes. Indra? Yes. Seth?

Yes.

Rob? Yes. All right, resolution passes. Thank you very much. Okay. Continuing on with tonight's agenda, we get into the portion of general public comment. This is an opportunity for the public to address the city council on items not related to a public hearing or a council action item for the council. The intent is to provide information that is pertinent to the city's jurisdiction. Each speaker will be given two minutes to address the council as one body, not two individuals. At the conclusion of public comment, council will have an opportunity to respond. This meeting will proceed In an effective and courteous manner, citizens and council members will be allowed to state their positions in an atmosphere free from slander, threats, and other personal attacks. Signs or placards, outbursts of applause, campaigning for public office, or other disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. If you have a question regarding any government provided service or a current city policy, please contact the city manager's office in an attempt to resolve that matter. All right, so I have two blue cards here and it looks like we got someone online and someone in the, Mike's gone, okay. He actually got his time, that's good. So the only blue card I got is for Rika. If you wanna go fill a blue card out and give it to Karen. Go ahead Rika, whenever you're ready, you got two minutes.

Rika Brown grants pass. Going back to what works for all. When city manager Aaron Kubik was giving his presentation for sewer units, he said that everyone should pay for every gallon that goes down the drain in winter, which at that time was three months. Because people supposedly don't irrigate in winter, so it must all be going to the sewage plant. It didn't take... Everyone who isn't rich suffers from our city utility rates. Before that council passed units for sewage, everyone was treated the same, proportional to the size and number of their sewage pipes. Before 2006, everyone paid the same unit rates for water, regardless of how much their water pipes could deliver. Since 2006, our city discriminates using higher water unit rates for businesses than for residents. It discriminates using tiered rates, with families paying more per unit the more water they use. It would be simple for sewage to go back to only base rates, which based on proportional pipe size, which for over 80 years, which is what Grants Pass did for over 80 years. Likewise, we need to pay for water overhead with base rates only and use only one unit rate for the actual unit costs of cleaning and delivering water to houses and businesses.

Thank you. All right. I'm going to get your first name right. Mrs. Wilde? You repeat your name because I'll probably butcher that one. And then you have two minutes after you. Tell us who you are and where you're from.

Hi. I am Tresia Wilde. I actually live in the county, but my husband and I use the Reinhard Allsports Park pretty much every day. First, I want to tell you how much I appreciate the work that you're doing in making the community pleasant and safe for people to use the parks. I appreciate that. I'm here because I'm increasingly concerned about the growing number of motorized bicycles and electric motorcycles using our pedestrian walking paths. Many of them travel at speeds far above walking or jogging speed. often in areas that are crowded with families, children, and seniors. Recently, this concern became very real for me. My 77-year-old husband was jogging on a path in Reinhard Park when a motorized bike approached rapidly from behind, teenager. As he reacted to avoid a collision, he tripped and fell, suffering severe skin tears all the way down his arm. Later that same day, I observed a very young child about six or seven years old operating a motorized bike at high speed through a crowded softball spectator area. Unfortunately, communities across the country are already seeing a tragic consequence from this trend. In a recent LA Times article, an 81-year-old Vietnam veteran died after being struck by a teenager riding an electric cycle, bringing national attention to the public safety risks posed by these vehicles when operated recklessly around pedestrians. I respectfully ask the Council to direct staff to review current rules governing motorized bicycles and electric motorcycles on pedestrian pathways

determine what steps can be taken to improve pedestrian safety thank you for your time and consideration thank you all right uh patrick you're up restate your name and where you're from and you got two minutes sir uh patrick rooney county um well yeah i like that you guys have taken care of some of these loopholes to make things safer here i think it's great um And I think it's time to turn the page and then ask also what some other people have been bringing up, what we can really do about the catch and release type of situation we have in the county jails. So they get arrested, they get sent over there. The courier prints that somebody was arrested numerous times last year. And they're arrested and put in, and then they go back out. So the solution, or one of the big solutions, which I don't hear talked about hardly at all, and I'm going to keep talking about it, is SB48. There is a petition across the street at the Republican headquarters to amend SB48 severely so that it's just not a catch-and-release revolving door situation. And I'm wondering why... Officials you guys are officials leading the city The chief of police the district attorney of this county why they can't all of you can't get behind this idea this petition Whatever it is to change SB 48 all it would take was would be it's not it's gonna end up failing unless some big names get behind it and I don't see any reason why it can't be done the the the district attorney of this county is, I don't know how many of you know this, but is paid by the state of Oregon, not by the county of Josephine County. Oregon is one of only two states in the entire country where the district attorney is paid by the state and not by the county. So maybe that's part of the reason the DA maybe doesn't want to deal with the situation because you don't want to bite the hand that feeds you, being the state paying his salary. But whatever it is, I think we need to put the safety of the citizens first above anything else. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, that concludes our general public comment for the night, and I appreciate all your guys' participation. Next on the agenda is the consent agenda. Can I get that posted on the screen? We had a request to start item A. Did we actually get clarification on information? No, okay. Okay. All right. So that proceeds us forward with the full consent agenda.

I did want to, I did have a question.

Okay. So you had a question. Go ahead with your question.

Okay. So it says, it says here that, Okay, LIDs would normally have been, there could be bonds involved that says, okay, the financing mechanism is you pay through biannual billings, property knowledge. LIDs formed and completed have been of insufficient dollar value to warrant public sale of bonds. So when it says formed and completed, what does completed mean?

So we've had other LIDs come in and be formed based off of a developer putting in something and then other people join off this. This is way before my time, by the way, and will show that I'm not an expert on LIDs. But way back when, we used to bond them and finance them another way. That discontinued in 2003. um from what i know we held about 1.5 million dollars of a balance owed from other lids and today that balance has now been drawn down to uh about 456 000 so over time these people have paid back what the city has fronted for that lid

Right. Okay, so when it says completed, does that mean basically everything's been paid back?

No, everything has not been paid back. The actual installation of the infrastructure.

Okay, so basically that means it's been formed.

Yes.

Okay, but it says formed and completed, so I'm just, I guess it's not worded very well then. The word completed probably shouldn't even be in there.

That's the confusing part. There's probably some more financial things that we'll get into. It's on my list to dive deeper as to why we've kind of let that hang out and let the solid waste projects backfill or pay for these LIDs because that money obviously is owed back to the solid waste projects fund.

typically the loan repayment happens when enough people would tie in or use whatever it was right and that instead of uh it being bonded basically we're loaning that money and it gets paid back as people tie in right that's correct that's okay i guess it's the word completed is just kind of not i shouldn't be there i guess because if it's been completed it's off the books

Correct.

I think completed means more of a construction completed. Because if it's an infrastructure, so yeah, it could be misplaced word, but I think that that's how I would read it.

Well, that would be the form part.

We'll make a note and make a language change for next year. Right. Thank you.

Okay. If there's, I'd be looking for counsel for a motion to approve consent agenda. Seth. Seth. And our new protocol, Seth, is that you get to read all of them aloud.

Thanks, Ward.

Because counselors were concerned that they weren't getting enough to read

I THINK THAT WAS WARD THAT BROUGHT THAT UP. I MAKE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS FOLLOWS. ITEM A, RESOLUTION REAFFIRMING AN INTERFUND LOAN TO THE BANCROFT FUND FROM THE SOLID WASTE CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND FOR INTERIM FINANCING. Item B, resolution authorizing the Josephine County assessor to place delinquent sewer charges for the city of Grants Pass on the tax rolls for collection. Item C, resolution authorizing the Josephine County treasurer to include city property tax receipts in their investment program. Item D, resolution amending the procedures for conduct of business sections one, rules of procedure, 10, public comment, and 18, motion to reconsider. Item E, motion approving the minutes of the city council meeting of May 20th, 2026. Item F, motion acknowledging the minutes of the small business task force meeting of April 15th, 2026. Item G, motion acknowledging the minutes of the bikeways and walkways meeting of April 14th, 2026. And item H, motion acknowledging the minutes of the committee on public art meeting of April 14th, 2026.

do i have a second for that motion second from kathleen any further discussion in regards to the consent agenda seeing none i'll go into a vote seth yes rob yes kathleen yes joel yes victoria eric yes yes yes indra thank you consent agenda passes All right, next on our to-do list tonight is matter for mayors, council, and staff, starting with matter for mayors and council. Anybody have any comments? Rob?

A couple things. I appreciate the member of the public tonight that brought up the need for regulations on e-bikes and e-scooters and things like that in our parks, and I know a lot of other cities are struggling with that, And the examples that you gave happen every day. So I'm hoping that we can direct staff to basically look at what we have and correct it as needed, because it is needed. I mean, it's legal for some of these vehicles to go 28 miles an hour. And 28 miles an hour is not consistent with what should be on our pedestrian paths in our parks. So we need to look at that. I'm hoping that, can we have, I guess, at least three councillors that would, or two other councillors that would join me with asking staff to look into our regulation on that? Yep, you got more than three. Okay, great.

I put it on the back of my agenda.

The other thing I wanted to bring up, today I actually had the privilege of participating in something that only happens once every hundred years, and for real. It was the 100th anniversary of the Gas Pass Garden Club. And it was pretty awesome. And I'd like to generalize one thing is that from what I can tell and the research that I've done is that the Garden Club can really be characterized as a group that is just really embodies incredible civic generosity and civic pride. They don't ask for hardly anything from the city, but they give back a lot and have over the last 100 years. And at today's gathering, I just wanted to say also that the Garden Club really appreciated any interactions that they've had with our parks department and Josh Hopkins, the superintendent, and also Kaylin Wilson, who I guess is the Riverside Park kind of specialist within the Parks Department, they were both giving a standing ovation by the Garden Club and they really appreciate how responsive our Parks Department is to the, not necessarily the needs, but when the Garden Club notices that there's a need or there's a problem or something that needs to be corrected, I guess our Parks Department is right there and they got a standing ovation. So I just wanted to make everyone aware of that.

Thank you for the comments from counselors. I got Victoria and then Kathleen Victoria and then Joel Victoria.

Yes. Really great comments from the public tonight. And I'm glad Rob brought up the motorized vehicle. I would like to bring up the bringing forth a resolution for the city council to support the resolution to change and modify SB 48. Uh, there's precedent for this on council. We were asked to, um, endorse, I actually forgot what it was, but it was fairly recently. So we have done this before. So, uh, I would like to, if there are hopefully at least two other counselors look into having the council, um, endorse the, um, the, changing SP 48. And so I don't know, hopefully there are a few other, at least two other counselors who would like to do that.

Okay. I have it on the back of my agenda.

Thank you. And then the next thing that I have I wanted to make sure to bring up, we had a vote on the OWL parking lot, the pilot program. And I don't think that that has been finalized, but I wanted to bring up to make sure that we're probably going to need to take another vote on that, on the pilot program, because there it'll be a different makeup of people voting on that. Uh, so I just wanted to make sure to get it into, uh, tonight to say that we need to reconsider, uh, the owl parking lot vote. However, it's kind of modified because I don't think we have taken the final vote on that. Um, I, I sort of saw Aaron nodding his head. So I think you understood what I meant by that.

Yeah, staff does have a few questions with regards to that and needs some additional clarification to begin the pilot project. We wanted to make sure that we're both on the same page. And so staff is working right now to provide you with a memo that sort of tells you where we need additional clarification. And it'll likely move to a workshop, I'm guessing.

Oh, okay, thank you.

Yeah, because your council action was to actually direct staff to produce the pilot program. But yeah, no, it hasn't been kicked off because staff does have questions before it can be modified.

Okay, so it will come up for another vote.

Yeah, I think staff's going to present that in a memo form first off to start the conversation with their concerns. It's not concerns. I guess it's major questions and clarification. So you guys will be seeing that memo come out shortly.

Okay, thank you. And then one last thing. Thank you for the memo on the Beacon Hill Park survey and my question was will the public see the Proposed Questions like council is or will we just approve it and then the public will see it So we're looking at you, too We've developed this survey and when I say we it's been the parks Commission and staff have worked jointly to put this together This is now in front of you

IF THERE'S NO OBJECTIONS TO THE SURVEY OR MAJOR COMMENTS, THEN WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS WE'LL GET THIS OUT. IF COUNCIL WANTS TO PROVIDE A WORKSHOP DISCUSSION ON THE SURVEY, THAT'S FINE. IF COUNCIL JUST WANTS TO PROVIDE ME WITH SOME INDIVIDUAL COMMENTS, THAT'S GREAT TOO. BUT WE ARE PREPARED NOW TO GO AHEAD AND PUBLISH IT. ONCE IT'S READY TO BE PUBLISHED, YES, THE COMMUNITY IS GOING TO BE ABLE TO UTILIZE THIS SURVEY AND PROVIDE YOU RESPONSES THAT WILL BE USED FOR YOU TO MAKE A FUTURE POLICY DECISION ON BEACON HILL PARK.

Okay, thank you. So we can just email about this saying it's good to go or... Yeah, that would be helpful. Okay, thank you.

All right, further comments? Kathleen?

Yeah, I wanted to give an update on the Homeless Oversight Committee that met last week. Some of the things that we discussed were some concerns by the officer that participates on that committee. And I guess there's been some... Homeless that wanna come here from Medford, giving up their resources in Medford to come to a low barrier shelter where they don't have to pay rent or any kind of, so that's going to be triaged. We're gonna be talking to Rogue, or Bernie and his committee is gonna be talking to Rogue Recovery over there because that needs to be nipped in the bud. Yeah, otherwise it sounds like they didn't have enough money to build the restrooms and the shower units. So it sounds like there's going to be a big grant given or money given from the Mormons. And Dr. Nelson was working on that donation. Then they also said that car campers are more than likely gonna have to be going to the county, because they are not gonna have room for car campers. And yeah, it looks like they're making great progress otherwise. It's good to hear about them starting to take people within this first week of June, and so we're looking forward to that. Otherwise, I wanted to ask, is there a possibility to have a workshop on removing tree fees on new development?

Removing what?

Tree fees.

Tree fees. The tree fees or the landscape fees during development?

So I know landscaping, and Bradley can maybe touch on this some more, but we do have that subcommittee that's been working through things, and we did work through the landscaping codes. But we can definitely have a conversation on our landscaping requirements if that's where you're wanting to have a discussion.

yeah i read somewhere that there were tree fees and i just wondered how maybe the the uh development code task force would have something to say about that i think they're looking at landscaping right now or they have in the past i think they're done looking at landscaping part portion of the code if you have specific questions about that we would be happy to address those if you want to give us a call we can reach out to you and talk to you about that okay that'd be great okay

Yeah, I would start with a one-on-one just to make sure that you're getting the proper questions and information before we present that back to council, if you wouldn't mind. Okay. Thank you. Joel. Hold on. So I got Joel, Eric, Rick, and Indra.

Joel. Just real quick, the Chamber of Commerce is looking for sponsors for Concert in the Park. So if you'd like to become a sponsor of that, and they're also looking for sponsors. They do a great job developing young entrepreneurs to sell lemonade and cookies. And if you'd like to donate to either one of those causes, the Chamber of Commerce office is up on the north end of 6th Street by the interstate. And they're certainly looking, and it's a very worthy cause for both things. Thank you, Joel.

Eric.

I just saw this article, and I wanted to mention it because it's pretty shocking, actually. Homelessness declined nationally in 2025, not in Oregon. Oregon leaders say that they collect more accurate and better data than the rest of the nation, but the homelessness crisis will continue to be a main political issue. After years of consistent increases, the country saw its homeless population decline by 3% in early 2025. But that pattern wasn't replicated in Oregon. According to a report released Friday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, roughly 27,200 people experienced homelessness in Oregon in January 2025, a 19% increase from the previous year. That's the second largest increase by any state in the US trailing only North Carolina, which was forced to open thousands of emergency shelter beds in late 2024 in response to Hurricane Helen. The article goes on, but it essentially highlights the poor leadership that we have in the state for the laws that are passed. SB 48 was brought up, causing more addiction and homelessness. It's no accident, and the cities throughout Oregon get to pay the price for this. The cities get to pay, or the taxpayers get to pay more taxes for all the various things that are happening that they are forced to do by state laws. So essentially, I guess what I'm getting at here is be careful who you vote for come November, because if you want more of the same, giddy up. That's all I got.

Rick. I want to say I watched the YouTube presentation by Josh Hopkins, and I just want to compliment him on a great presentation.

Oh, I ditto that. I watched it. That was amazing. The boy did us good. Indra.

Yes. I'd like to bring up a little bit of a sensitive issue. I'm a liaison on the Tourism Advisory Committee. And at the recent meeting this week, there was a little bit of an uncomfortable situation. And I don't want to make a big deal about it. I'm not blaming anyone. I don't think anyone, it was intentional at all. And the committee does some great work. But there was political bias, let's say, a brief moment of political bias in a joking format at the meeting, which I found very unprofessional and totally inappropriate. And I was uncomfortable. And so I'm guessing that perhaps other members of the committee might have been uncomfortable or someone watching, which is why I bring it up. because a comment was made and then there was laughing and snickering and I just found it just inappropriate because our public committees have a responsibility to conduct business in a way that's respectful of diverse viewpoints and we should be focused on serving the needs of the entire community. And the reason I bring it up really is to prevent a future situation from occurring. So I'd like to make two recommendations, especially going into this political season and voting elections in November, local, state, and national. So I would like to recommend that city staff remind committee members of the expectations of professionalism, professional conduct and respect during meetings, making it welcome for everyone of diverse viewpoints. And I would also like to say it might be helpful for the committee chair or committee chairs of all of our committees to reinforce to members the importance of maintaining a welcoming environment and a professional environment without political comment or bias in any way at all of our public meetings. Thank you.

Anybody else? All right. Steph.

We do have an update on Parker's Place, and Stephanie's going to be able to provide that for you.

So as of today, emergency access has been paved. There more conics containers have been placed. I believe according to Bernie. We're at 148 units are The conics containers are therefore there are two things. They're still waiting for there was a delay on door delivery That's expected tomorrow and then the anticipation is that there will be a phased opening with the first complex of about 40 units including 12 ad a units and That's coming early to mid next week depending on when the occupancy permit can get issued It kind of depends on how those things play out over the next couple of business days When they do get that Certificate of occupancy at that point. We will start issuing notices to start closing resting site capacity So we're tying it to that and they anticipate to start accepting guests as soon as that occupancy certificate is issued and that's going to be at a rate of filling those spots that mint can handle so mint's going to start bringing people in at our to make sure that they're not overwhelmed in the provision of services thank you stephanie anybody else

I just had a quick comment to answer Councillor Pell's question from earlier, just a quick review on a Class C misdemeanor for second degree criminal trespass. It's if convicted, you could get up to 30 days and the fine could be up to $1,250. But I don't disagree with Councillor Pell's comments about just being there for a short period of time anyway.

Go ahead.

Councilor Marshall raised the OWL pilot project. And I just had one clarification on that. Assuming that we're going to continue the completion of the OWL project in Fifth Street on time, we've been talking about a grand opening. If that grand opening does not include food trucks, and if that grand opening is only basically a ribbon cutting, some speaking, some kind of a celebratory The timing in order to get on to the council agenda talk about the pilot project Get all that. We're still of course doing the memo as the city manager mentioned, but I We had begun, you know the putting in place the the grand opening event that would be fairly soon and so I guess I just am asking for confirmation if there's any concerns if we continue with that if we put out a date and SO THAT WHEN IT IS READY TO OPEN, WE DO THAT RECOGNIZING THE CONCERNS THAT THE COUNCIL HAD AT THE LAST MEETING ABOUT THE FOOD TRUCK.

THE GRAND OPENING IS SPONSORED BY THE CITY?

YES.

THEN YOU ARE OUTSIDE THE PURVIEW OF THE PILOT PROGRAM. THE PILOT PROGRAM IS INITIATED FOR OTHER ORGANIZATIONS TO UTILIZE THAT SPACE, CORRECT?

DANA PRESENTED AT YOUR WORKSHOP A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO. SO WE WOULD BE FOLLOWING THAT. BUT WE JUST WANTED TO GET CLARITY ON THAT IF POSSIBLE.

Go ahead, Victoria.

Well, I think couldn't we go ahead and do a grand opening and then revisit the pilot program so we could do and so what I was asking for earlier isn't going to jeopardize the grand opening.

Okay. Okay. Just want to make sure.

Oh, yeah. Thank you.

I interpret it the same way.

Anybody else?

I already went through council. Can I let, okay, go ahead.

So Brad, I would encourage you in that grand opening to have some music. And I don't know if you can get Willie Nelson, probably not, but if you could get something there that would mark the special occasion and draw even more people in, I think that would be good. Even if it's a local group that they're just playing for the exposure.

So we're diving into the details of that. And we could potentially do that, but that usually costs money when you bring artists in. So if council's comfortable with us spending money for a grand opening, then we can try to look into that and make it more of an event. But we were thinking about just a general ribbon cutting at this time.

Hot dogs and ice cream?

Council can just tell, if you've got specific, if council would like to have the grand opening look and feel a certain way, please let us know.

Okay, I guess individually reach out if you so desire to weigh in on that topic. If not, I'm going to leave it to Brad to take lead on that. I'm going to take the mic away from you one more time because I have another counselor over here chewing on my ear. Seth, go right ahead.

Yeah, I mean, I was just going to, real quick, considering some of the information we just received, if we could DEFER OR JUST COMPLETELY REMOVE THE EXECUTIVE SESSION THAT WE HAVE THIS EVENING.

SO WE ARE MOVING THE EXECUTIVE SESSION BACK TO THE END OF THE PUBLIC COMMENT. I MEAN, AT THE END OF THE MEETING BECAUSE WE'RE GOING TO GO INTO THE URA. I'M JUST SAYING DEFER.

NOT HAVE IT.

OKAY. SO WE HAVE A COUNSELOR THAT WOULD LIKE TO DEFER EXECUTIVE SESSION TO A LATER DATE OR COMPLETELY? REMOVE IT. THERE'S A MOTION TO REMOVE THE EXECUTIVE SESSION WITH A SECOND FROM INDRA. ANY FURTHER DISCUSSION IN REGARDS TO THIS ACTION, VICTORIA?

WELL, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT I ASKED FOR AND I HAVE THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DISCUSSED DURING THE EXECUTIVE SESSION, SO I WOULD ASK THAT WE KEEP IT.

Okay. Well, we have a motion on the table, so we'll go through a vote and go from there. Any further discussion? Rob?

Well, I'm not 100% sure what is involved in this particular executive session. Well, I just know the broad brushstrokes, and I understand, I guess, the sentiment or the feeling that Seth is presenting, but I'm just not 100% sure of what is even being planned for the executive session and exactly what the discussion points are gonna be. So it's hard for me to vote one way or the other on this, because I'm not 100% sure what's being planned for the executive session.

It would be an opportunity to discuss the attorney-client privilege memorandum that came out earlier this week.

Kathleen, further discussion?

I just want to say that I think we should respect a councillor's desire to have a special meeting if they feel that it's necessary.

Okay. We have a motion on the table to cancel the executive session for this evening with a second. Any further discussion? So if you vote yes, then we will take this executive session off. If you vote no, we will keep this executive session on. Again, saying if we do have an executive session, it will be at the very, very end of tonight's agenda. Any further discussion? All right, we'll go into a vote. Seth, you made the motion, so you start.

Yes.

Yes. Hold on. Rob?

No.

Kathleen? No. Joel? Given Stephanie's memo, yes. And Victoria? No.

And then Eric?

No.

Okay. And then Rick?

No.

And then, Indra. Yes, okay, so we have five to three executive session stays. It is again scheduled for the end of the evening after our URA. So I'm gonna give it back to Jason. I almost forgot you, thank you very much.

I JUST HAD TWO QUICK ITEMS TO NOTE. WHEN WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE ALLENWOOD DRIVE, WE TALKED ABOUT SPEEDS ON WILLIAMS HIGHWAY. I DID WANT TO LET YOU KNOW A WHILE BACK WE HAD REQUESTED THAT ODOT REDUCE THE SPEED IN THAT SECTION OF ROAD AND THEY DID. IT ACTUALLY HAS BEEN REDUCED AND THE 40 MILE AN HOUR ZONE HAS BEEN EXTENDED OUT PAST THE ALLENWOOD DEVELOPMENT. SO I JUST WANTED TO REPORT BACK TO YOU ON THAT. I THOUGHT IN THE BACK OF MY HEAD THAT IT HAD BEEN DONE, BUT I DIDN'T WANT TO SAY IT AT THAT MEETING IF I WAS WRONG. I FOLLOWED UP ON THAT AND THEY HAVE REDUCED THAT. THE OTHER ONE WAS WE PUT OUT A MEMO FOR YOU ON THE ELEVATOR PROJECT. IF YOU HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON THAT, PLEASE GET THOSE BACK TO AARON OR MYSELF. OTHERWISE WE'LL PUT THAT BACK ON YOUR NEXT AGENDA FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. WE BELIEVE THAT WE ANSWERED ALL OF THE QUESTIONS THAT WERE PUT UP TO YOU. SO IF YOU HAVE ANY FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE GET THAT TO US.

OKAY. THANK YOU, JASON. AND I HAVE ONE MORE COUNSELOR. ROB?

So Brad, I know you and I spoke about the bollard situation downtown. And you had made the offer of possibly meeting me down there. I'm hoping that either you or Chris could meet me down there maybe tomorrow at some point. Because there's some engineering shortcomings there for sure. And there's at least one that's really obvious to me. So I'd like to point it out to you.

Sure. We'll get a hold of you to figure out a good time.

uh what's tomorrow um yeah tomorrow i'm actually pretty free from pretty early morning through most of the day i'll be i'll be at the store so okay will do yeah you can call me at the store thank you yeah i'm not even going to give you guys a last call

Okay, at this point, we're done with matters for mayors, council, and staff. I would be looking for a motion to adjourn the regular city council meeting and reconvene in urban renewal agency meeting. I would be looking for a motion. Victoria.

Yeah, I saw a motion.

All right, we have a second? Everybody seconds. All right. So we're going to, we have motion to adjourn regular council meeting and reconvene as urban renewal agency. Rob.

Yes.

Seth? Yes. Indra? Yes. Rick? Yes. Eric?

Yes.

Victoria? Yes. Joel? Yes. Kathleen? Yes. All right. Regular city council meeting has been adjourned. We are reconvened as urban renewal agency meeting. First item on the agenda is public hearing for grants pass urban renewal agency approved FY27 budget. And Aaron will proceed forward with presentation.

Good evening, Mayor, Council. This is the second aspect of adopting the budget. We also, you serve as the board for the Urban Rural Agency. And a public hearing is required, which is the city council, for us to adopt the 27 budget. So the strategic plan and the Urban Rural Agency really focuses on a number of our goals and the majority of our goals. In order to accomplish those, the Urban Rural Agency is an excellent tool. Just as a reminder, the criminal agency and the overall budget process started May 5th, and on June 3rd, which is today, the board, which is yourselves, are looking at adopting the budget. Here in front of me is the budget and what was approved by the committee. So I want to point out that this change does include in the budget this $222,000, which the budget committee recommended. So that goes into your contingency to the wastewater fund. And then ultimately we'll have a discussion later on with regards to how exactly you want to credit the wastewater fund with this urban renewal agency contribution. The Urban Oil Agency, as you know, has done a lot of wonderful things for small businesses and business owners in the community. We've got a great North Star project that's happening. You now are also including the wastewater debt as part of the Urban Oil Agency responsibility up to 18%. But it is an excellent economic tool for removing blight within the community, creating economic opportunities, bringing state resources and money to Grants Pass and the Culmars County Council and community goals. So there is a public hearing. We'll need to hear from the public and provide an opportunity for the public to comment on this. There's two council action items, and the first one is in front of you, but before you take that, we do need to have public comment.

Any specific questions from councillors? Seeing none, I afford the opportunity for public comment in regards to this URA council action. Anybody in the public want to weigh in on this topic? Seeing none, I will go into the first council action item, please.

Yes, first council action item is to approve the resolution that adopts a fiscal year 27 budget, making appropriations, and there's a potential motion in front of you.

Thank you. Any specific questions? Joel, question? I'm going to make a motion. Hold on. Specific questions? None? Any public comment to council action item one? No public comment? I'll bring it back to you for discussion or action.

I move to approve the resolution to adopt the fiscal year 2027 budget, make appropriations and authorize the full amount of tax increment collections.

Thank you. We have a motion to approve resolution with a second from Rick. Any further discussion? seeing none uh going to vote joel yes uh victoria yes eric yes rick yes indra yes seth yes rob and kathleen yes all right resolution passes thank you next council action item this council action item is a council action to approve the resolution authorizing joseph county treasurers to include the grants pass a rural agency property tax receipts in their investment program okay Any questions from council for this council action item? None? This time we have open for public comment for this council action item. Anybody from the public want to weigh in on this? Seeing none, back to council for discussion and or action. Rick.

I'd like to move to approve the resolution to participate in the Josephine County's tax investment program.

All right, so we have a motion to approve resolution as stated with a second from Joel. Any further discussion? Seeing none, Rick, how do you vote? Yes. Indra? Yes. Seth?

Yes.

Rob? Yes. Kathleen? Yes. Joel? Yes. Victoria? Yes. Eric?

Yes.

All right, resolution passes.

Thank you.

Thank you. And that concludes our business for the URA. I would be looking for a motion to adjourn URA and go into executive session. Be looking for a motion. Victoria.

I motion to adjourn URA and go into executive session.

Second from Joel. Victoria, how do you vote? Yes. Eric.

Yes. Rick. Yes.

Indra. yes seth yes rob kathleen yes joel all right we have adjourned the urban renewal agency and we'll go into executive session in one second please the council will now meet an executive session for the purpose of discussing those