City Council - Regular Meeting

I'll turn it over to city manager.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, uh, and council. Tonight, we have a work session on, uh, the jail levy. Basically, what we want to present to you tonight is, uh, the two one pagers that we've drafted. Um, and they're they're sitting at each of your seats there. Uh, kind of want to go through those. Um, talk about our website. We'll have the website up and running. Um, timing to start the website. We're thinking right around the first part of June and uh to get these in all city buildings. Um Julie's got some other information in terms of you know responsibilities and and that type of stuff. And also we've got some uh timeline stuff to go over with you as well. And then just go over the clear delineation and expectations between staff and council. And I believe our consultants are online as well. Betsy and I think Sean is here too. So they'll be able to answer questions and go through that stuff too. So, I guess let's start it out first with the two one pagers that we um when I say we, I wasn't involved in that we I think Julie has done the lion share of the work here and uh had quite a bit of input from everybody. But what uh what is everybody's thoughts on what we've got here for a one pager uh just as anformational for uh putting in all of our buildings, you know, for people to uh just get factual information about the jail and and what what we're trying to accomplish.

I personally like the the visual of the K9 one. Yeah, I was going to say I like the dog. I don't necessarily like the highlight of the 106 per thousand so aggressively, but that's just me. Okay. I like the subtlety of the funding. Unless there was also a a bullet point with that that said we're also expiring the other levy. Good point. Let's go slower on that. Can't do that. I think I can remember what I said. He likes the dog. I like the visual of that one. That one's attractive to the eye, but I don't like the aggressiveness of the bold 106 per thousand and those numbers.

So, do you want us to just kind of leave that in regular print? Well, the the other one over here, it kind of just mixes it in with it. Or if there was a bullet point to counter that that said we're also losing a $1.17 per thousand by expiring the the be really helpful if I had different glasses on to see exactly what you're talking about on the back. That'll make them turn over the page. Yes. Oh, I thought it was a one page or like only one page. Yeah. So when we we we we put a lot of information into the one and tried to pair that down substantially. It's too much information on the front and back. Yeah. The dog in the back.

Why does the dog do I Okay. So this is your guys's time to let us know what you think. So, uh, as you can see, the 106 is a little bit higher than what we originally that comes from some insurance talks that we've had here lately and dealing with our medical, uh, just making sure that we've got the appropriate amount. We feel comfortable with this right here. So, is it proper to put another bullet point in that says while expiring the $1.17 for a net savings? I know it's not I don't want to misillate anybody with a sale sign or anything, but we talked about that internally and I don't know uh Betsy, do you have a thought on that?

Yeah, absolutely. So, once this is finalized as much as you all are comfortable with. My plan was to send this to the Oregon Government and Ethics Commission to review. They'll do preemptive reviews for bodies such as yourself just to make sure that it's in compliance. And so what we could do is is have two versions. One with the more aggressive language that we'd like um that we could submit first and see if they would clear that and then the next one we could our fallback position could be where it wasn't called out quite as specifically you know in that you know immediate next to each other space. Although I do think it makes sense to include it on the one page or one one way or the other. Um we'll just have to see what they allow us. But that way then um you have the most um the most yeah aggressive language but that it's approved by the ethics body and we can have a little note at the bottom that this has been reviewed by them um just so that the public knows that this isn't just made up by the city but it was reviewed by an outside entity.

Okay. Thank you. Because I know that the the measure itself as it comes on the ballot is has to say hey this is an increase of it can't say anything about hey we're expiring an extra amount. So the the biggest point that was negative in your polling was that it you have to pretty much say that hey it's going to cost you more. I'd like the information somehow as ethically as we can to also explain that we did this fiscally responsibly as our mayors said to wait until we expire the debt already against the building to actually use it. Okay. Um Julie uh or Betsy um can you take this and and craft that language into this?

Absolutely. Yes. Okay. Great. I I agree with that stance very much. Okay. What else do you like and don't like? Well, I'm I'm looking at I'm looking at the u average assessed value of homes at 242. Did you get that number off the county tax roles itself or where did you get that number? Yes, we got it off the county tax roles. That seems low.

Yeah, it's a it's an average of all all assessed property within the city of Lebanon. So, we could try to whittle it down to just residential. That That is all residential property. Um, so I think it Well, it's nice. It comes out to $25 a month. Yeah, it's also an assessed value, not real market value. Right. So, they're very different for tax purpos and real market value. Yeah, I know that real market value is probably closer to 400,000.

Yeah. I'm glad I don't have to pay tax on what they think I could sell mine for. So, I I appreciate the effort to provide information here, but some of the information I don't think people in their decision-m whether they're going to vote for this really care. Uh, for example, the difference between a love and a bond. Um, I I I think that if if we wanted to have a single page um format, so you don't have to turn it over, look at the back or whatever. I I I I think some of the more detailed information uh should be struck out and either put on a back page or or on a website or or or someplace else. Sure.

In as much as we legally can do that. So when you say that, leave it as one page or have a second page with the more detailed information. So honestly, the average person, unless they're really interested, is is not going to turn the page over. And and so I didn't the the the front page is is the most important. Sure. Don't don't disagree at all. and and so I I I would like to omit from the front page any more supportive type information and and and just stick to the bullet points that are going to help people decide to vote for it or vote against it.

So if you were taking something else off of here on this single one pager that we have, what would you take off? Um the levy versus the bond. Okay. Levy versus bond for sure. Um,

well, if the levy does not pass, probably doesn't need to be on there because it is an obvious point. If it doesn't pass, it stays closed. Yeah. Yeah, I I'd agree with that. Okay. I mean, we can whittle this down. I'm not sure that the you know mo a lot of what you see in the the two different drafts is just verbiage of the same stuff right so and I think we can keep this to one page without have unless there's additional information that you want to add into it I want the additional information but I want it on the web page and I feel like there needs to be a QR code or a reference to a web page on this actually both a QR code and a web page um good idea QR code for the youngers and

web page for those that want to input every word into their uh browser. Okay, those are easy things to put on. And I would I would say so in the uh since closure in 2023 when we say calls for service, I I I think we should make it explicitly clear that we're talking about police service or or or emergency service or or or something so it's not like, you know, mentally I'm ordering a hamburger here or something, you know. So calls for police service. Yeah. Okay. make sense.

Is there any way to Well, there probably not. Is there a way to quantify in that same section how much we we've got increased warrants, how many we never get anything from? It's just the revolving someplace. It feels like the revolving door feel that we have in the in the courts now should be in this. I don't know how to word that, but I mean really this is really good stuff. Thanks for repeat. What's your guys' thoughts on that? Trey, Frank, if we had something else, your mics are off too. Come

if we were somehow it feels like in that same since closure section, there should be some way to quantify how many people we just turn and no, we we get a ticket, we send them back. We get a ticket, we send them back. And I don't know how that number works, how that math works, but it seems like that should be the waste of time that the courts and the police go through should be more obvious in that little section to me.

I think we are working on some information that would get us uh farther along that line. In fact, that's exactly what we were talking about. Um I just don't think we have some of that information yet. For example, property crimes versus violence crimes and the increase in those. And I have a feeling that the unpaid uh unpaid uh fees have gone way up too since they're not going to get thrown in jail if they don't pay on a uh on a uh probation violation.

And on on that note, I think you are seeing that in the court issued warrants increased by 52%. But that is that is our mechanism at this point for if if somebody does not make their payment plan, does not follow through on on the judgments. That that is the next step is we issue either a show cause warrant or um Yeah. And then they get a warrant, they come in, they get cited and released, and then they are gone until they get another warrant. Yeah. So that is money there's money that we're losing out of this somehow that it'd be nice to be able to show how we could get some of it back. And I understand that's a little I'm I'm getting a little granular here for a one-page thing, but

that's all stuff that we can definitely put on the website. I think if we could focus hone in on this, we can put as much information on our website as we want to. But if we can get the one pager down to where it's something easy for somebody to come pick up and go, "All right, what's the city up to?" Um, oh, they're talking about the jail. Oh, and just give them the basic facts of the jail. Um, I don't know if we could get

Well, and some of that's going to be walking a fine line between uh uh campaigning and and facts, right? So, that's that's why we have to be a little bit careful. And I think that, you know, facts like the number of warrants and stuff, that's just that is and you can draw a reasonable conclusion as to why that is. But being on there, I think if you go to the next, you know, if you go out to the campaign part of it, you say and this, you know, this is why. Okay. and you know and and we have to get that message out there as part of the campaign. That makes sense. And trust me, I'll give you some great quotes. What about uh re repeat offender statistics? Is that something that is gleanable easily?

Yeah, that that is what we were just talking about. It's just trying to glean that information. Is I think we have a majority of it. It's just a little bit more uh to gather the rest of it. But yeah, there is there is statistical data on repeat offenders. Basically, you could go 100%, right? I mean, almost the number is pretty high. Yeah. A and do you have data pre jail closure that you could compare to? Yeah, that's Yeah, it's exactly what we're just gathering is I think we requested three years before and three years or since like something like that.

Yeah, there's a difficult period in there. COVID was, you know, somewhat difficult because we were closed and open and closed. We're just trying to draw from that. But understood. So, is that the kind of information you'd like to see basically on our website or I I I think um we don't want to get too data heavy, but I I I think we need to have some of the uh high points printed here on on on the flyer like like I probably not more than five or six bullet points, but for for you're talking about court type stuff

total as far as like since closure, But um uh I I I think it's worth um adding a few more bullets there to uh strengthen the uh the argument to to to provide some some extra data. Okay. Um let let us see what we can because we're going to have room over here on this side it looks like once we take out a couple of those things. Um and then keep this as basic. I don't want to say basic. Basic is probably not the right word, but as simple to read as possible. Yeah.

With just the very basic facts. And I really like the idea. I didn't even think about that. A QR code um leading back to our web page and we can really beef up the web page with a lot of all. Yeah. Yeah. And whatnot. So, I think those are all all things that we can definitely do. Could we compress the supervisor and the six corrections officer so it's one number? We talked about that. Yes. Um we did talk about that as well.

Well, so we've we've talked about the uh careful role the city has to play as far as what um what information they can provide, not provide on on the website. Um, would there be an opportunity to provide a space for community uh input or or uh testimonies or or or things like that to support or be against or or anything like that?

I I don't think we could do that. No. No. We what we what we can do is put out as much factual information as we have and not necessarily gear it towards say we're pro jail or we're against the jail. that's what we can do. Um, so that's where that's where this body and if you form a pack comes in. And Betsy, she can probably speak more to that when we get to that point as well. I I think a web page with community feedback would be helpful. At at the same time, it's I think it's unfortunate it can't be linked to the city website. Yeah.

Yeah. I don't I don't know how we would do that. Well, and one of the things I'm not sure if we could quantify um but I think is important is the uh is recognizing the limited number. You know, technically we can send people to jail over in Lynn County if they'll take them. Um but the reality is is that you know uh jail beds for misdemeanor level crimes are seldom if ever available. But how to put a number on that I don't know. I mean maybe we could say uh you can Yeah, I don't know if you could. I mean, you could say there uh jail beds for misdemeanor crimes, you know, due to shortage of beds at Lynn County are seldom available. That would be completely at least from what I hear almost never available.

Almost never. But I mean, they there's there's times. So, you can't say never. Well, look, we we all know that the city's going to present. Can we if if we uh if I I've talked to police officers, can police officers give their opinion of this? Is that walking a a bad line? Not if they come to a town hall and want to give their opinion on their on their own time on their personal time. They can on their own time like at a town hall or something. Just not when they're in uniform. I would appreciate but their union can if they choose to. Yes. Union stuff.

Okay. I just I know we're not to it yet and I know there's some concern about the a quorum and those but it seems like this body should be able to be together at the same time discussing this because it's something we've all publicly decided on. We unanimously and I want to thank you guys did the right thing when I was gone at the meeting. Of course I wanted you to vote yes for me like I was going to say no. Duh. That's not going to happen. But it seems like we should all be able to be together in a situation like that and not have we're not trying to sell anything. We're not trying to get We're not We've already voted on this and I know that that's going to walk on somebody's toes and Trey's going to tell me I probably can't do that, but it seems like we should all be able together to get together for that.

Julia, have you handed that out? What you had? Um, I mean, Julie's prepared something based on like what a lot of other cities have done in situations like this. And I'll be honest, she takes a much more conservative and safer angle than I would. I still get upset when when people try to interpret a law in a way that doesn't it doesn't they're applying it in a way that is completely different than what it actually says because I can read the law and I know what it says. And if you're not deliberating towards something that is is going to or likely to be uh in front of the this council as a body to make a decision, you guys can get together. Now, it's the appearance. Oh, there's five of the counselors in there having a secret meeting. You're not talking about you, you know, you could very well keep have somebody keep mints, make sure, do whatever. You know, you're not talking about city business. You're doing something that under your constitutional rights you're allowed to do and and and and you're fine. But, you know, the way this the way that some of this has been, you know, uh, interpreted and attacked uh throughout the state, you know, anytime you get, you know, three three people together off of a, you know, or four people together off a seven person board, they think it's a secret secret meeting. And it's not. I mean, you know, you see other cities, they they send out a notice when more than a certain number of people of the of the bo board or body are going to be at a at a public meeting. And I, you know, I've never recommended that and I think it's ridiculous because, you know, one, they all usually they want to be so careful they don't even sit together, you know, and and and two, there is absolutely nothing wrong with them sitting at the same table in a in a social event. You don't have to notice that. Now, I get airing on the side of safe, being safe and proactive and, you know, we don't want to raise anything, you know, and all that, but again, I I don't know. It drives me crazy because that's just not what the law says.

Well, I've just looked I'm we went to the all went to the ethics thing. We know what a string meeting is. We know we we can't get together and say, "Hey, let's do this." But this has been decided. It's been very publicly decided what we want to have happen. And I just don't see a lot of danger in it all being at a city c a town hall talking to everybody and letting them question us all. So they see it's a unified thing from all of us. But that's just my opinion. Well, if you're at a town hall, it would be a public meeting. So there wouldn't be a problem. So we could all be at that sit. Oh, yeah. I think I I think I trying to make sure I understand what we can and can't do.

Yeah. I think if you guys gathered in the back room of the corner kitchen, what used to be the corner kitchen and you know were back there with the doors closed, I think that's probably maybe a little bit different situation, right? With if you're all back there, but if you're at a town hall, yeah, I mean that's that's publicly noticed anyway, right? Okay. So by your pack.

So So back to the one pager, what what else? We've got some pretty good input here. um which we can we can work on and get it prepped for the first part of June and then we've got some more input to put on the website and the website can be updated as we go you know I mean we'll get it we'll get it live and we'll keep adding to it or you know take things out that don't make sense as we we're going through it. So,

I do like on this longer one the u the if passed the proposed levy would and then it lists things out in in bullet points there. Um I I I I think that's a a pretty clear direct uh explanation. Um it it might be maybe longer than what fits on the other one pager it but uh if we could retain that I think I mean I like it. Yeah, I want to retain everything on this. Just it needs to be this size, the shorter size. Yeah, let us see how that all all uh comes together with uh making it look decent. But I mean, definitely definitely be on the website.

Yeah, for sure. But because by the time you put a QR code on here and a few more bullet points, it's going to it's going to get busy. You know, we don't want to make it to Could it could it swap the if passed for the proposed five-year? Aren't they giving kind of the same information, a little different format? I mean, same feel

because I like the if pass thing, too. It catches my eye and gets me into a little more than proposed fiveyear local levy, but it's kind of the same information. It does say the same thing because it says if pass and then this one says if approved. It's just the titles is where they give you that information of if it passes. Yeah, I I think it's it's basically the same kind of split in hairs. I know.

I mean, we could we could use the title of that. I I think I think also that we should have a special phrase that we all use and this is my experience in in marketing in the past is uh we should all be saying the same thing like for example um you can't put a price on security or uh an open jail is essential to enforcing our laws. You know, we need to all use those same phrases. Yes. I think and I think that's where

price on our safety. That's where it's going to be tricky for us to come up with those kind of things without looking meeting because we're going to have to we're going to have to be have something of a committee of some kind to handle this. There got to be a leader. We've got to have the same message. You're absolutely correct. And I'll be glad to lead it. I'm not I'm not shying away from that, but I'm not a genius at it and I don't want to step on some legal bounds I'm not supposed to. I'd like to be able to contact people so we can have a a a not necessarily a canned message. It's exactly the same, but we're all talking singing on the same music as they say. And there are certain things that we're going to have to go out and get outreach to different people in the community to try to get involved in this. And I don't know how to make that happen without stepping on the pack.

And just so we're so so we're clear, I I most likely can't I wouldn't be like the attorney representing the pack once it gets going. I may be on the pack. I may be supporting it. Um but there's probably going to be uh other resources that we'll look look at for what is is and isn't allowed and that kind of stuff. But I just want that be that that clear that city attorney doesn't move over to the pack in in charge of promoting this. Well, and Dave, I I appreciate your uh your your comments there. Um I I I do think that we're all pretty much on the same page here, and I think that's going to come out in what we say. We we we might say it slightly differently, but um some sometimes having uh different voices saying the same thing can also be helpful. So, uh some some of that marketing stuff I think is maybe more more of a pack type thing to get the slang. Yeah, I was just going to say when when I heard the word marketing that that's where you're trying to sell your point and this is just to give just the basic information. Um I don't disagree with with the fact of having some type of slogan, but that would be more the the campaign side of it than this.

Yeah. And our our whole goal with this is to not only get the community the the the factual information is so you guys have it at your fingertips, right? So then what you do with it after that, then you can you can market it after that, right? However you you see fit. So well, I think that's how we need to approach it. Okay. from a marketing. I mean, we're trying to we're trying to sell something. Agreed.

So, let us work on this one pager and get that kind of cleaned up. Um, I've got a lot of notes on this and we can work with Betsy and and Julie and we can get that cleaned up. QR code and your website. Yep. I do appreciate the effort that all of you, Julie, put into all of all of you. It looks great. I appreciate that. No, she's she's put she's put a lot of work into this. So, thanks, Brandon. Brandon did stuff. I'm kidding.

Uh, so, okay. So, um, let us work on that. And so, um, as far as timing, um, do you want to have us bring this back at the June meeting, look at it one more time? you want to just take with what we've got here and run with it. Um, I'm kind of looking for timing when we want to go live with the website and that type of stuff. Betsy, do you have thoughts on that? Are you still on with us?

I am. Yes. And we had we yeah we had talked about um just to not confuse the community and also to give staff time to get all of the data that I think is really important waiting to roll this out until the 1st of June. Um just so that yeah we can get all the ducks in a row get it approved by OG and all of that. Um and yeah start start with a more public facing component of it in June. Okay good. And do we would with that said would we lose anything if we came back and approved it June 10th to get this. So what we're saying is we want to start June 1st. We can't approve this at a June 10th meeting if that's the case. Got to have something with that.

I I think you're okay. I think in all reality by the time we get through OGAC and get this this all lined out is probably going to be that time frame anyway. So I' I'd feel more comfortable if we brought it back. So you crack at it. I would too, but I didn't want to slow anybody down

since I already blew it the last meeting when I Okay. All right. Um, so we'll look at that. We'll get everything up and running. Um, you guys kind of got a hand out from Julie on this. Is there other questions about the different how we do this? Obviously, uh the different uh roles for staff and council. If there is, let me know. I think it's pretty well defined. I mean, we're going to be the fact base of this and you guys are going to be the cheerleaders of this. I mean, essentially is what it kind of comes down to. So,

well, I'm I'm well, I guess we it's a hard thing to work out, but if anybody has ideas for me, send them to me and let me see if I can help with them. I'm not trying to not trying to do anything behind doors, but I'm not going to know everything to do, but I'll be glad to take the reigns and try to do them. I have the time to if people give me their input so everybody knows where I am. I think all you have my cell phone number just call me and give me your ideas so I can try to put this together because I'll miss something. I've never done this before.

Okay. Um kind of got uh some key dates. Um August 14th is when we have to have the have it filed with the uh L county elections. um ballot title change option period opens in mid August um and then August through basically October is your probably that's your hit it hard campaign time. Um any questions about that piece of it? Okay, Betsy, what else do you have? Betsy and Sean, fill in the gaps for me. Yeah, this is a super helpful discussion for me. Um, just what I would run through is um just from the the proposal that you approved back when we started working together in February, the budget for that included the two telephone town halls as a way of getting to folks who might not actually come out and about to the town halls that you're planning on doing. So, what I think would be helpful to me, and I my apologies. I wasn't sure which counselor was speaking last about um getting ideas to to him, but if there would be a possibility of kind of having an appointed captain of the council to to for me to coordinate with and kind of come up with maybe a recommended schedule of events, we could work with what they know of the community, what else is out there, and we could come back with that um recommendation for you all. So, it's not happening outside outside of, you know, the the public process and all of that, but um doing this by committee can be a little bit problematic. So, if that's something that um would be okay, I would love to be able to to do that. And then perhaps at your June meeting, being able to lay out sort of a a suggested calendar for you all for different types of events throughout throughout the summer. Um, and then, um, one of the other things as well is just that we had talked about with the chief was the possibility of

doing a an open house event at the jail sometime this summer. Um, which I think could be kind of kind of fun if you were able to make it. I've seen other communities do this, not when they're doing um, levies necessarily, but, you know, it's kind of a family-friendly event. there's kind of either some, you know, uh, police, uh, cars or other things for motorcycles for kids to get into and play around on and maybe have a vendor there that has hot dogs for sale, you know, kind of make it sort of an event. And I don't know if there's already a community event that we could pair that with. So, it would be there would be more people out and about anyways, but that was just something that I was kicking around as a possibility. Um, so I think there's a lot of opportunity. Um, and I can lay out again like a a suggestion that obviously can be built upon as well. And I'm also happy to have other offline conversations um not in my role uh with the city but in my role as uh as an outside campaign consultant. I I do um you know initial consultations with folks groups that are starting packs to just kind of lay out what you might want to consider. Um and that would be obviously a separate conversation.

Gotcha. I I would think I would probably be that point of contact for you Betsy. And if you need my direct number or anything just let me know. Sounds good. Thank you. At least I'm volunteering to be and I'm pretty sure nobody's going to fight me for it. So So Betsy, I have one quick followup on that. So the telephone town halls, if that's something the city's paying for, that's got to be just factual based. Correct. Yes. So that couldn't be tied into uh a town hall that the pack was going to put together. Correct. Correct. Okay. Yes. I just want to clarify that.

Yeah. Uh, and it would be something that I when I'm sending information to OG, I would want to ask them about because I do think um like in any public meeting as is happening in this meeting right now, you have counselors, you're in a public meeting. This is a public city paid for meeting and you're also able to give your own personal opinions about your support for something. So I believe that counselors themselves even on a city paid event are able to talk about why they personally support or don't support something. I would want to get clarity just to make sure that we were all we were all on the same page about what was what was appropriate and what was not. But I do think there is a difference between the counselors themselves what you can say in any capacity in any location and what city staff and city resources can be used for.

Makes sense. Yeah, I I'm I'm trying to figure out how we we Well, let's let's let's get an opinion from OG and then let's let's figure out how we navigate that a little bit. Realistically, a telephone town hall is just a Zoom call, isn't it? You send everybody that kind of how that would be. You could have a telephone town hall that wasn't city back. I I think I could even figure out how to send a Zoom call invites out to people, but yeah, we'll we'll walk through that um for sure. Um, so as we go a little bit deeper, is there anything else, Betsy, that you can think of that um may help the council here?

I think this is it for for me for now. Yeah, getting the feedback on on these edits will be super helpful and I can coordinate with Julie. Uh, she's very capable. So, I I'm not sure what all I will I will need to do. I I am very impressed with all of your staff. I know that you guys are as well, but um from the from the outside coming in, they've been wonderful to work with. So, you're in very good hands. Okay, Sean, what what do you have for the good of the order,

right? Just my grateful appreciation for the work that's been done thus far by Julie and everybody else. I think um we're off to a really good start. This is kind of the moment where um council and uh the city kind of sort of separate with regard to this project and council kind of takes over with the message development, strategy, timeline and execution. And I'm excited to to see that happen and will help however I am allowed to to be to be clear. Okay, thank you.

You're welcome. Thank you. Uh, any other questions for either the consultants or us as staff? I would just like to thank Julie for this guidance activity sheet. That's helpful, especially to me. Okay. Well, we've got marching orders. We'll get this and we'll bring it back in June. Um, we'll start getting the website. I I know we've got a page already drafted um with information on it. It's not live by any means, but uh we'll get that set and uh start figuring out where we need to go from here. Great.

Okay. All righty. Well, thank you. Uh with that, the work session is adjourned at 5:36. Please rise for the flag salute to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all. All right. Thank you. Uh will the city or city recorder please call roll? Mayor Jakola

present. Council president Steinhel here. Councelor Ki here. Councelor Angelford here. Councelor Salvage. Councelor Mlan here. Council Workman here.

Council Savage has informed us he's on his way. Just so you know. Move on the consent calendar. The following items are considered routine and will be acted by one motion. There will not be separate discussions on these items unless a council or so requests. In that case, items will be removed from the consent calendar and considered separately. Agenda Lebanon City Council agenda May 13, 2026. Appointments for the library advisory committee and the parks tree trees trails advisory committee. Board meeting Lebanon advisory committee February 10th, 2026. Council meeting 2026-04-08 city council regular and executive session easement on 13000 South Main Street and rightaway dedication at concert Stotz Hill subdivision. Is there a motion?

Move to approve. Second. Motion was made to approve the consent calendar. Has been second. All in favor? I. All oppose. Motion passes. move on to presentations and recognition. I am just going to call up Chief Stevenson and he has some uh very impressive awards to uh to uh present present. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor, City Council. Uh at this time, it's my honor to uh invite Officer Wesley Parker and uh Officer Wyatt Billnap up. These guys just love the limelight. So, aren't they supposed to stand in the well of the Yeah, if you guys could just stand out front here.

I think we need the pre I can see people want to already applaud. So, let's just do it right now. So, I am here uh tonight to present a citation for Medal of Valor to both Wesley Parker and Wyatt Bellnap. On March 29th, 2026, at approximately 6:42 p.m., Officer Parker was patrolling near the apartments on South 7th Street when he observed a male subject leaning against the exterior of the complex. His instincts led him to believe something was off of the subject's behavior, so he turned around to investigate. Upon returning to the scene, Officer Parker noted the male subject had vanished and that a window on the wall had been broken. He then walked to the front of the apartment and found the male subject leaning inside the open driver's door of a vehicle. He approached the male and observed a substantial amount of blood running down his right arm, covering his clothing and pulling to the ground near his feet. The male told off officer Parker that he had locked himself out of his own apartment and cut his arm inadvertently while breaking the window to gain access. Officer Parker requested medics to the scene and immediately rendered aid. He recognized the bright red oxygenated blood as an arterial bleed and quickly took appropriate action by by applying a tourniquet. A few moments later, officer Belnap arrived on scene and applied a secondary tourniquet which completely stopped the bleeding. Throughout the incident, both officers demonstrated proactive instincts, a calm demeanor, decisive action, and unwavering commitment to preserving life. Their quick response and immediate

medical intervention were critical and directly contributed to the saving of the man's life. A quick note, the Medal of Valor recognizes exceptional courage, extraordinary decisiveness, and perseverance of mind or unusual swiftness of action regardless of personal safety to save a human life. In recognition in recognition of these efforts, I am extremely proud to present both officer Wesley Parker and Officer Wyatt Bellnap with this medal. Congratulations you guys. Our photo Thank you so much, Chief. Thank you officers for doing a great job out there. We're going to move on to Lebanon Museum Foundation Project 150 presentation by Paul Ziz, former mayor of Lebanon, and Gary Marks to give their presentation.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Um, I'm Gary Marks. I'm a member of the museum board. And before I start my presentation, I just wanted to recognize uh the members of of our board. Um uh and they are Pauliz who's our our president, Linda Zikrich, which is she's out here in the audience. Uh Julie Root, uh Tony Moriawa is out in the audience. I know. Uh Wayne Dystra may be out in the audience. He is.

And uh Chamilleia Jeepson. I just wanted to recognize those folks. So uh with that, we'll just get going here. So, uh, we're here to talk to you about our proposed project 150. And we'll start off with that first slide. There we go. Sorry about that.

Uh, Jeremiah Rston uh planted his roots in Lebanon in 1847, which is where the restaurant gets its name. Uh, after crossing the country in a wagon train on the Oregon Trail with his family, he named the site for his birthplace as well as for numerous cedar trees along the South Sandam River. which made him reflect on the biblical cedars of Lebanon. By 1870, the population of Lebanon and the Lebanon precinct, as they called it back then, was 515 people. The city was incorporated uh in 1878 with the town's original charter dated October 17th of that year. So we looked up the actual back then to uh be incorporated as a city the state legislature had to pass a law and part of that that law the the final uh paragraph of that we found interesting. It says in so much at it as it is of great importance that the town of Lebanon be supplied with a municipal municipal organization without delay. This act shall take effect and be in full force from and after its approval by the governor. Uh approved October 17th, 1878. And then subsequent to that, there was a vote of the people here in town and they adopted a charter. So October 2028 marks the 150 50th year since Lebanon was incorporated. Uh to honor this historic milestone, the Lebanon Museum is planning a communitywide celebration worthy of Lebanon's rich history and heritage. Throughout 2028, we will be coordinating special events and activities to celebrate Lebanon's Cesque Centennial, that's 150 years, and bring our

community together in recognition of 150 years of history, progress, and community spirit. A dedicated committee will be formed to coordinate and serve as the central hub for Lebanon's cesque centennial celebration in 2028. The committee will organize and support events throughout the year culminating in a major founders day celebration in October 2028 to commemorate the 150th. Community involvement and participation will be essential in making this historic celebration a success. This here is a uh painting I completed recently and donated to the Chamber of Commerce. Um it's hanging in their office now, but it it shows uh a train from the what the railroad back from the 1880s, which was called the Albany and Lebanon arriving at our station. And I'm sure you'll all recognize that station, but I just thought that would be a fun thing to do uh as our uh cesque centennial is approaching. And I'm going to try not to pronounce cesquisentennial too many times because I have had a difficulty. It rolls off his tongue. It is a difficult word to say. So I apologize. That's why I named it project 150 by the way. So makes it a little a little easier. Uh the Lebanon 150 celebration committee members will consist of one member from each group. Uh we want to go to the downtown association and get somebody for businesses in downtown. We want to have the school district involved. We want to have the strawberry festival involved. uh with the school district. Just jumping back, uh we want to make sure that the kids are involved because that's part of what we want the museum to be is an educational tool for the school district and we want to have them involved. It could be uh maybe there's a contest that they draw something or they get involved in uh writing. So, there's all kinds of things we can do with the school district. The strawberry festival, uh we would really like to

work with the strawberry festival committee and try and get that as a theme for that year. Uh so it would be the 150th anniversary. We'd like to get a member from city council, mayor, uh somebody on the group from there, from here. Uh public at large. We'll have one person and we'll have two museum board members on the committee. Uh, the foundation respectfully requests that the council make a motion or a consensus to designate the Lebanon Museum Foundation as a primary coordinator and central clearing house for the information planning organization of the project 150. We'd also like to request a volunteer from the council to serve on the project 150 committee. The committee will provide regular updates to council regarding the progress of the celebration planning efforts. The Lebanon Museum Foundation would also like to remind the council that the foundation remains in need of a permanent home to preserve and share Lebanon's history. I couldn't get away with not presenting this to you. As the city evaluates surplus properties, the historic former hospital and library building present a unique opportunity that aligns naturally with the museum's foundation's mission and the building's historical significance. With a 150th anniversary approaching in 2028, establishing a permanent museum location would create a lasting asset and provide a meaningful place to celebrate and showcase Lebanon's rich history for generations to come. And that's a 1948 picture of the hospitals just as they were changing over and the new Samaritan Hospital was built. Any questions from council? We're excited about this. I I would like to see the council uh encourage this and that we would the city uh we understand both Gary and I understand intimately that the city only has so many resources. So, we wanted to take this on as the historical body in our community

and make sure that this is something that's celebrated and it's going to be a great community spirit with all the things going on in the world. This is something that we can all get together and enjoy and celebrate uh and give, you know, homage to our uh heritage really, our community. I'm pretty sure we all support this. I mean, you're looking for a consensus. I think you have a consensus from us to help. Anybody particular want to volunteer to be on it right now? I will. Dominic, don't want to leave them hanging. I was I was going to keep ironing until you said you do. I can be I can be a public person, too.

Okay. So, you guys want to fight it out? Dominic will be your counsel. Okay. Excellent. We will contact you. Thank you. Appreciate it. And thank you so much for your time. I know you guys are busy, but we appreciate it. And we just want to make sure that Lebanon is not forgotten. Paul, just a quick question. Do you have any prospects on a building or a location to to do this? any prospect on a building?

No. Uh, everything that's come has come and gone that we've looked at or that we've tried to acquire. Um, the the last one was the LBCC annex which was originally created to be the museum for the mill or actually it was going to be the museum and then the building next to it was going to be the museum. Uh, and then that ended up turning getting given to the college. So, that was one and I tried contacting the community college and they weren't interested in in helping that out. We also tried the Lebanon Express building when that was available. We tried the Elks building. Uh we were looking at the uh I don't know what the historic term is, but the store that's now the liquor store uh downtown. So, there's all these buildings that we have worked on, but we don't have anything right now in in in the works. But those are the ones we've looked at and tried to acquire. It's just it's difficult with the price of property, and there's just not a lot of it available right now.

Can we put their request for um the designation on the agenda for the next meeting? Of course. Thank you, Dominic, your mic's not on. Okay. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you so much.

Move into public comment. Citizens may address the council by filling out a testimony card prior to speaking and handed to city recorder. Each citizen will be given up to five minutes to provide comment to the council. Council may take an additional two minutes, ask clarifying questions. City recorder will accept and distribute written comments at speaker's request. Can I get five the five minute clock, please? Nuclear countdown. Can I get the Okay, thank you. What is going on out there?

Okay, first up tonight is Wendy Ferrero. Oh, you get it knocked out and come on up. Right. Right up here. You get it knocked out first and you don't have to worry about it anymore. Well, that takes away my saying. I reiterate whatever.

So, um, my name is Wendy Fiero. I live on the, um, 14th Street end of Vine Street here in Lebanon. I moved here eight and a half years ago and it was a nice neighborhood. We were starting over, my daughter, my granddaughter and I. Small place, attached homes. Uh landlord had divided up the duplexes to sell them independently and we bought one and it was a nice neighborhood. It is now looks like a slum. The end of the street towards 12th Street has a house that was burned out. They are finally starting to work on the yard, but it still collects cats that get pregnant. All the units that are still rented down at that end of the street, park 10 or more cars in front of duplexes that sometimes are parked on the sidewalk, on the yellow curb, in the street. It presents itself as an extreme danger. I live there. I go down that end of the street at five miles an hour because there are small children who run out between the cars at any time. They may or may not be watched. The garbage is thrown out onto the onto the front lawns and makes its way all over the street into the street across to the parking lot. It's not safe for my 10-year-old to walk through that neighborhood. I don't like it. Um, when there was a complaint made about the cars, they started moving the cars over in front of all of our homes and there was somebody camping out in a van across the street. They were there several days. I went out. I took a picture of

the car and shortly thereafter, just by coincidence, there was ramen spilled all over my front windshield. My daughter, my granddaughter, who is 10 and is very brave and very resilient and irressible. When she sees those kids, the 2-year-old running out in the street, she will say, "Go back to the street. Where are your parents?" I myself, going down the street to go to the mailbox, have stepped in front of cars coming through the neighborhood who are going too fast so that the 2-year-old and the other kids can be gotten out of the street and have to yell, "There's a baby in the street." Now, none of this should even be an issue in any other town. There should be some sort of legislation or laws that say if you are of an out of town um landlord, there are consequences for not maintaining the neighborhood that you choose to rent in. the they should not be able to come in and just trash the neighborhood. And when they move them out, they have to gut the houses, redo the landscaping, they rent them out to the same kinds of people. I'm sorry, picking up your garbage doesn't cost you one damn scent. There should be some sort of requirement that should maintain some kind of some level of appearance, some level of safety for neighborhoods, for people who do invest in the neighborhood. We bought, we invested, we plan to stay here. The

landlord that I understand lives in Berkeley. I've been to Berkeley. They have standards. should not be allowed to buy here and just rent to anybody they can with no consequence. When I got divorced and I had to rent in California for the first 5 years, my rent included a landscaper. Doesn't cost the city anything. The safety should be there for people who live there. and and vicious dogs aside, the hundreds of pregnant cats, not hundreds. There's at least 10 pregnant cats at the end of the block now. And it's very discouraging. I've gone down to city hall. They've said that they would paint repaint the yellow curbs yellow, but that just sends everybody across the street and it is not a safe place and we need help. It doesn't cost you anything. Just attention

because I don't I can't picture where this is. Do we know what ward this is in? I don't even know what ward I'm in. I don't know. They're all question marks on it. So, if Julie, if you could, please. Okay. Cuz I'd be glad to go by there. I just can't picture where you're talking about to be honest. Uh, it's Vine Street between 12th and 14th out here. Okay. Thank you so much. Um, I hope to thank you. Thank you.

We're I'm going to do a little bit different because all the all the people that are commenting tonight I think are going to be talking on the same issue. So I will have um some others give some input on this too. So uh Debbie Shapton. My goodness. I've spoken to Julie Debbie Chapen. I've spoken to Ron Debbie Chapen. You and I tried to get together a million times and Lieutenant P. No.

Yeah. He said just call him Lieutenant P cuz it's too hard. He came out for you one night. So, you're right. This is on West Vine Street. Um, I'm going to go into some other things. any time of the day or night. Any one of you can come out to that little section between 12th and 14th and find multiple cars parked on the yellow curb. Multiple cars parked the wrong way on the yellow curb. Cars parked in front of fire hydrants. Cars parked off of the grass areas that they are allowed to park, but they put two wheels in the street and two wheels on the grass. I don't know why that is, but it is. This allows these small children and children on bicycles to not be seen because of the way everything. Now, I know you're not babysitters. I know it's not your responsibility, but these people's parents, these little people's parents don't attend to them. So, it leaves Wendy and me and the other people that live in the neighborhood. We're also afraid if we ran over one of

those children. We have grandchildren. Can you imagine if any of you ran over a baby and you'd called the police and they said, "Well, you know, we're not babysitters." Who's got to live with that? We do. You would. That's not right. This is our city. We bought our half of our duplex for our forever home. We're in our retirement years now. And this is a disaster. I went to Albany to the landlord and spoke to him about what was going on. and he said, "I don't need you in here with your condescending attitude. Do you know what condescending means?" and told me to get out of his office. So, that's how far I got with that. Um, I talked to Commander Sheets the other day and I said, "You know, I've called the police so many times that they no longer want to talk to me." They'll say, "Well, now Debbie, we told you we'd come out and everything was found to be okay." Um, I thought all these folks back here were to say hi to me, but I guess they were here for the medals. I've talked to them all at least once, if not more. Now I'm being ignored. I don't appreciate that. Protect and serve, I

think, is what the police department is about. I can't get him to do a small street here in Lebanon. That's uh that's scary to me. It's very scary to me. So, I don't know. I I I've told you what there is. Biting dogs. Uh my partner was bit going out to get the mail. We did go to the hospital. A report was written up. A small boy was mauled recently that lives in the neighborhood. We're not sure which one of the neighbors dogs it was or what happened to the dog, but had it been, we saw the pictures, had it been one of the littles, it would have killed him. Now, this is going on in broad daylight. You guys, can somebody help us, please? That's all I'm here for. I thank you for your time.

Thank you so much. Excuse me. Can I get your name again? Debbie Chaffen. C H A F as in Frank I N. Thanks, Debbie. Thank you. That's my card. You're in my word. Oh, thank you for the same thing. Anybody in that area needs to get Thank you.

We have Kenneth Denny. I guess uh hopefully I can add a little bit to what they were saying. Uh first moved there about maybe six years ago in it and looked like it does now. It was a nicer neighborhood. And then after some people moved out, different kind of people moved in, started moving in, they would take over the street. You know, they consider it their street. Uh I've heard of even they've even parking blocking the street sometimes at night to have their little get together out in the middle of the street. I was one that was bit by a dog. I believe it was a a pitbull. Uh now another thing that they do there, don't know which ones, but it's somewhere down there. They do burnouts on the road there. And we have plenty of marks to prove it out there. is for one thing, is there any way you can have those cleaned off? But another thing is put some signs up, maybe a yield sign or on 13 13th. We had an officer lieutenant there this talking with us one night and we almost watched an accident. Um, in fact, our neighbor here was coming down coming back home on 13th and somebody came around third uh not coming on Vine and coming down 13th Street and came around the corner too fast and they just about collided in front of a police officer. A He told him about some cars that were

parked. One was blocking the corner there to move them. They pay no attention. Oh, we're going to get it. We're going to get it. They learn to ignore the police department. It's like they got a connection or something. So one yeah that the curds be pay yellow will help but we've been told that's coming in July. Um but some signs I've lived on a oneway a one sided one street side where you couldn't park before and nobody parked there. Yeah, you might have the occasional person might stop there where whatever it's not a big deal, but when they stay out there, they almost block the street sticking out and both sides and it's been cars worked on, trucks worked on over there. The sidewalks basically almost useless to us a lot of the time. Uh I don't take the sidewalk to the mailbox. I cut over long before, but some signs says no parking. Where somewhere else I lived, they had some signs said no parking. Little signs. We didn't have the problem. But 13th Street with at least a yield sign off of that thing because there's no stop sign, no nothing. And some will come around fast. Uh I guess I don't know if God just like I said it was used to be a good area and but starting with another bunch people who live there before they kind of take over the street and you know we got no say so and nobody will do anything and it's just kind of been building up and building up and we're

tired of it. Can't afford to move and they'll move eventually, but I don't want to have to die first to tell they move. I was going to wonder if I had to take a baseball bat out to the mailbox to guard against the the dog ran out. I I had to stand there in the middle of the road. I nothing I could do. Uh I they said they were they had had shots, but it's it's I don't know. It's we're just fed up all of us on that street. And I appreciate if some little signs up there. They can't cost the city a whole lot of money. Couple three signs you can even put down on our end. Signs to say no parking. Not just down there and I don't slow any kind of signs to help that says you're not supposed to do that. They don't understand the yellow curb what it means and it's there. They know it's there and and on that corner house there's a trailer of trash. It's been there for I don't know it's gone into years I think now. Uh anyways, thank you for your time.

Thank you. Thank you. And just a quick question. Um is this one particular family or household that's making all this? Sometimes it can be related from one place to another. We don't never know who's related to who. Right now it is not. Right now it is not. It is several families. In the No, in the past it was

multiple you know, the husband, the ex-wife, the girlfriend all took up three and they all went back and forth. It seems to just be that whoever is managing the property does not have any kind of commitment to who they rent to or what the rules are if you're going to rent. We're not objecting to people what they pay for rent or what they do if they're section 8 or not, but Regardless of how they're there or how they're paying, certain behavior and certain practices, upkeep, etc. are not unreasonable expectations.

Let me let me let me get the city manager to to to brief the the council on on the city side of this so we fully understand the situation here. So, yeah, I've talked to Mrs. Chaffen several times. Wow. Mike's hot, huh? Aggressive. That is aggressive, wasn't it? Um, so we've talked several times. We are going to paint the curbs and we are going to put signs up, but we're not going to paint the curbs until we get our paint machine out because there's a long story behind that. But, and we will get the signs up on that. And Chief, I don't know if you want to address maybe the parking issue. I don't

Yeah, I mean, yeah, it there there is some issues out there that are parking. The times I've I've driven through that area, which I have. I did for about two weeks straight, both in the mornings and at night, and I honestly didn't see, not saying that it doesn't happen, but I didn't see what it was that you guys were reporting. Uh that doesn't mean it's not happening. Uh I do know that, um city city ordinance and city code, um we've sent them out there a handful of times. um to address some of these issues that have come forth. Um and we are limited on what we can and cannot do. Um but there is um things that we are doing that are trying we're trying our best to address the issues that you guys are bringing forth. I don't know of the dog bite that you're reporting. A lot of times I do know of dog bites. I don't know if you've called us on that.

Yeah, we uh we went we went directly to the went directly to the police station. Okay. they sent us to and they sent us to the hospital and they filled out a report. Well, I that's something I can look into. A lot of the times if especially if you know the owner, we can address that issue. Um, so there are there are things that we are addressing as as we can. Um, but please understand, you know, we're limited by what the law can allow us to do. Um, as far as parking and the garbage um that you're talking about, I'm going to look into that um and see what is being done, if anything on that aspect of it. And I realize that you are limited.

Ma'am, you're going to have to come back up to the mic if you want it on record. We got to pick you up on the microphones and we only have two you only have two minutes. I understand that you are limited and so is everybody else and it's frustrated. Sure. You're limited by what regulations and laws the city has put in place. I can complain. I We could take pictures. I could get my car stuff thrown on my car all the time. Yeah,

we could take pictures. Literally car on the lawn, car on the sidewalk, car in the driveway, car into the road and the garbage cans on the outside with kids running in between. Somebody must have said something because all at once somebody a landscaper showed up and mowed all the lawns and everything was clean for about two days and now it's all rolled back into the street. But uh it comes down to the city. It's what you want and what you expect. You've got a medical school coming in here. A medical school. I grew up in PaloAlto. We had Stanford. PaloAlto had dirt roads. Actually, when I was a little girl, there's a couple dirt roads. But um the influence of that medical school on the whole community is amazing. Those those houses were having those duplexes that look like trash. Literally could be student housing for people that are going to be doctors that are going to want to stay in a community that presents itself as a wonderful place to live. And this town has some really wonderful things. I mean, this is a big advantage. You could get your medical school to do a lot of stuff in the community. The police, they could build your museum. That's I mean really Stanford did amazing things for Palo Alto. Vice versa. And I know this isn't California, but some things don't change.

All righty. I'm glad that you guys came in tonight because I I meet with the city manager every week and we talk about a array of issues. Um, this one is was not on my list, but it is now. Um, I know the counselors have reached out to you. So, we will council councelor Mlan and I are your represent your ward. So, I gave you my card. It's got my cell phone number on it. I'm not going to say I'll answer it every time you call. I'll try to and I'll be by there tomorrow. I've never seen the area, I'll be honest. So, they'll they'll they you have their attention nows and I will tell you with this council, once you get their attention, they usually go and try to affect change. So,

I lived in one of those duplexes about 25 years ago. I don't know exactly what you're talking about. So, so thank you. Thank you so much. We got to move on to to the first public hearing tonight. I'll be talking with you on on that whole subject. So, um public hearing tonight is for community development block grant Lebanon capital improvements. Public hearing is now open at 6:41. Will the library director please present your report?

Yes sir. Thank you everyone. Um, so yeah, we are applying for a specific type of grant and this public notice is required to be read out. So, um, I'm going to read um the English version and my friend Emma will read the Spanish version. My grandfather was an auctioneer, so I'm going to try to do this really fast. Uh, public notice and notice of public hearing. The city of Lebanon, Oregon is eligible to apply for a 2026 community development block grant from Business Oregon. Community Development Block Grant or CDG funds come from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant can be used for public facilities and housing improvements primarily for persons with low and moderate incomes. Approximately 11 million will be awarded to Oregon non-tropolitan cities and counties in 2026. The maximum grant that a city or county can receive is 1.5 million. The city of Lebanon, Oregon is preparing an application for a 2026 community development block grant from Business Oregon to add approximately 1,200 square feet to the public library at 55 Academy Street. The addition will expand the children's area and provide dedicated space for storytime, STEM programs, crafts, book clubs, and other youth activities. It is estimated that the project will benefit at least 66,156 persons, of whom 59.6% are low or moderate income. Public hearing will be held by the Lebanon City Council at 6 PM on May 13th at the city of Lebanon Public Library, 55 Academy Street, Lebanon, Oregon. The purpose of this hearing is for the city council to obtain citizen views and to respond to questions and comments about community development and housing needs, especially the needs of low and moderate income persons as well as other needs in the community that might be assisted with the community development block grant project and the proposed project. Written comments are also welcome and must be received by 5:00 PM on Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 925 Main Street. Both oral and written comments will be considered by Lebanon by the city of

Lebanon council in deciding whether to apply. The location of the hearing is accessible to persons with disabilities. Please contact Julie Fiser if you need special accommodations to attend or participate. More information about the Oregon Community Development Block Grants. The proposed project and records about the city of Lebanon. Past use of community development block grant funds is available for public review at 925 Main Street, Lebanon, Oregon, 97355 during regular office hours. Advanced notice is requested if special accommodations are needed. Please notify Julie Fiser at 2584264 so that appropriate assistance can be provided. Permanent involuntary displacement of persons or businesses is not anticipated as a result from the proposed project. If dis displacement becomes necessary, alternatives will be examined to minimize the displacement and provide required slashreasonable benefits to those displaced. Any low and moderate income housing that is demolished or converted to another use will be replaced.

Here we go. Could you say that again? Was it fast? It felt fast. Did it seem fast? It was your granddaddy that was the opportunity.

Yes. Not sure I can meet that fast. I will try. Community development subsid grant, US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Metropolitan Community Development Block Grant. Business Oregon Street. Academy Street.

Community development street. Julie Fisher. Development block grant. Community development block grant. Foreign Thank you. Public hearing will now be open for public comment. We're going to I'm going to turn over to city recorder. She has uh a uh submitted written comments that she is going to read.

Lebanon City Council. I am in total favor of seeking of the city seeking the community development block grant for the expanded area of the children's area for the expanded area of the children's area in the Lebanon Library. As a teacher for over 30 years, I believe promoting the love of learning and reading are one of the most important gifts we give to our children. The dedicated space for story time, STEM, crafts, and many other programs will be invaluable to all of our community's children. This project has my full support. Signed, Dr. Barbara Moody.

Thank you. Is there any other public comments? Please come forward. Thank you for for reading. Um, I my name is Laura Fosman. Uh, I've lived here since I was 5 years old and uh when we moved here, my family didn't have uh my dad worked in Albany and we only had one car and my mom was raising two kids and so anywhere anything she wanted to do with us had to be nearby and accessible. and the library has been such a huge part of my life. Um, having accessibility to reading and learning resources. Um, I actually wrote my college admissions essay about how important the library has been in my life. Um, yeah, it's just been um, such a huge force in my life and I couldn't imagine denying more children access to it.

Thank you. Could you repeat your name again? Uh, Lauraai Fossilman. Laura. Lauraai. Thank you. Thank you. Is there any other public comments, please?

State your name for the the record.

Uh, yes. Hi, I'm Benjamin Falsamman. Uh, as may be obvious, I have a very similar upbringing to the previous person here. Uh, but I would also like to attest to the profound impact that the library has had on the family and the community here in general. I've been going here for a while. It's been a big help in cultivating my reading abilities and arts and crafts. I remember back when I was like seven or eight, I came over here to build with Legos and whatnot and ended up in the local paper once just as a random interview. And it's uh it's just been an incredible experience and I don't think that we I phrase that weird. I think we should be able to give that to as many more people as we can.

All righty. Thank you so much. and and good job on coming up and speaking. It's hard for people to come up and front of a group and and uh give give their thoughts. So, good job. We welcome you. Any other comment public comments? Please come forward.

Again, state your name for the record.

My name is Helen Roosevelt. I have lived in Lebanon for all of my life and I've been within walking distance of the library and most of my fondest childhood memories have been spent here. I was able to spend so much time here with the crafts they would provide, the many amazing child focused events, their summer um programming was something that really supported me through my childhood. I was able to really grow my love of learning and reading here through the amazing resources they provide. And it's really supported me as I've grown up. I've been able to um just have so much access to so much knowledge and in such a supportive space. The study spaces allow for um just an amazing place to study for classes, but the children's learning area is really an amazing spot for kids of all of Lebanon to be able to grow and learn in a safe environment, and I heavily support the expansion of that.

All righty. Thank you so much. Again, any more public comments, please? My name is Cass Dunn. I've been a volunteer here for about 4 years, I think. And anyone who has volunteered here or works here can attest to the fact that we don't have a lot of room to do things. Um, we've been trying to run a ton of children's events and I've, my friends and I have been in charge of running a lot of teen events in the last few years and it would just be extremely helpful to have even just like a little bit of extra room to do those things. Let kids be kids, not have to be so quiet all the time. Yeah, it would just be really helpful. I support this entirely.

All righty. Thank you so much. Uh, is it hard speaking and seeing yourself on TV? I kind of I I I seen one of you look over here. So, don't worry. All your friends are online watching this. So, anyhow, no, good, great job. Thank you for your uh comments. Is there any more public comments? It's hard to understand people are speaking to you and we're back here. about the rest of it's not clear. Well, I'll remind people to speak into the microphone a little bit more. So, thank you. Thank you.

Um, if there's no other public comments, the public hear will be now closed at 6:54. Move on to the regular session. Ordinance number 2026-05. Um, city recorder, please present the report.

Thank you. Um, this ordinance is primarily a housekeeping update um to the municipal code related to candidate filing procedures for elective office. Um, the proposed amendment creates a dedicated section within chapter 2, so all candidate filing timelines and requirements are consolidated into one place. Um, this amendment came to be because the um state recently changed the laws that incumbents now need to file 7 days prior to non-incumbents. So when I was looking at our current filing window, that meant that um non-incumbents would have 18 days to file. Incumbents would only have 9 days to file. So, the recommendation is expanding the filing window by allowing filings on the first business day of July and ending on the last business day of July. Um, the amendment also defines uh filing hours as 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays. Um, the proposed language clarifies standards for both in person and allowing electronic filings. um and it also clarifies individuals appointed to file an elective office um are not treated as incumbents if they've been appointed. And that is all I have. I'm happy to answer any questions.

Questions of staff from council? Is that a nope? Not me. All righty. Will the city attorney please read the title of the ordinance? A bill for an ordinance amending section 2.13 of the Lebanon municipal code titled candidate nominations for elective office and creating a new section 2.13.025 titled candidate filing period and hours ordinance bill number 2026-05 ordinance number 3047. All righty. Is there a motion? Motion to amend. Second. Motion's been made to amend. It's been Motion to approve. Motion to approve.

Motion to approve. Is it still second? I only motion to amend it. I motion to approve. The motion's been made to approve the the change in the ordinance. It's been seconded. All in favor? I. All opposed. Motion passes. Sometimes it can get difficult up here and you just got to roll with it. Anyhow, we're moving on to resolution number 2026-06. Uh, city manager.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, City Council. Uh, we have before you tonight a resolution to accept the Oregon lottery revenue bond proceeds for our wastewater treatment plant. Uh in 2026, the legislative uh body uh through Senate Bill 5701 uh awarded the city 11 and $2 million for the wastewater treatment plant. Uh in order to accept these funds, we will have to do a contract with them. But this the initial intake form requires uh it requires either the mayor's signature or my signature. So it's just easier if we do a resolution on this. And so we're recommending uh the attached resolution be formally accepted. and allowing me to sign the document so that we can start the process to go through contracting for the $2 million. More than happy to answer any questions.

Questions from council. What kind of requirements are there attached to this?

Uh about everything you can think of. Um, so not any more so than uh like our CWS, our um CWSRF, drawing a blank on CWSRF. Uh SRF funds are are loan funds that we get through the state. Um and they've got the same environmental requirements. So same same type of stuff. So we're already going to be bound by all those rules anyway. So it doesn't doesn't change anything that we're doing there. Um, so shouldn't shouldn't be any different than what we're doing. Now, I can tell you if this was strictly just city funds. It's a much simpler project than when you start involving state and federal funds. But there's nothing wrong with free money.

No, exactly. I think probably for the people we we've been awarded this money. This isn't something new. I'm not sure if everybody realized that we're not asking for money. It's money that's already been given to us. Correct. We're actually getting our money back.

Correct. Anyhow, um is there is there any uh other questions or comments? I just a lot of new faces in the crowd. So, I I always do this when I see new faces that a lot of these these items that we're talking about have been talked about in in discussions before and other council meetings, big packets. We get a uh a packet every council meeting that explains all the stuff, gives all the documents, and it's all public record. So, um, sometimes it seems like we're going through this stuff pretty fast up here. Um, it's been deliberated for for quite a while. So, um, is there where am I here? Yes, I I do have to read off some of this. So, will the city attorney please read the title of the resolution? A resolution accepting Oregon lottery revenue bond proceeds uh district legislative award for the city of Lebanon wastewater treatment plant bioolids project and authorizing the city manager to execute the associated documents resolution number 20266-06. Is there a motion to approve? Move for approval.

Second. Motion's been made to approve. It's been seconded. All in favor? I. All opposed. Motion passes. Okay. Now, my favorite one for the night. We're going to move into the uh city attorney contract renewal. And I'll turn it over to city manager for his report.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh Mr. Kennedy's uh contract is ending with us in June 30, 2026. Uh what we've got before you tonight is a proposed amendment to the existing contract. Uh some changes with a new three-year term contract. Um, Mr. Kennedy would continue to remain as our primary contract, city attorney. Um, some of the language we changed, we we changed some u backup legal coverage, uh, additional continuity of service, um, retainer still includes attending all city council meetings, planning commission, legal advice and consultation, document preparation, municipal court, uh, and general legal support to city staff. Uh, additional language regarding attendance at extra meetings. Uh, emphasis on consistency with Oregon professional standards. Um, work outside the retainer increased from $200 to $250 an hour. Uh, outside retainer work does require written approval. So, we'll make sure that that happens. I think that the most important thing of the um is the monthly retainer, which uh Mr. Kennedy's agreed to do pro bono. Um,

can we s Can we seek a better option? I couldn't say that with a straight face. Um, no. You'll read in my memo. My memo is incorrect. My memo was his original terms of contract. What it it actually is is correct in the contract. Uh, starts out at 18,500 this year on monthly. uh that is uh CPI uh basically is what that did from his previous which is 18,000 is where it ended. Uh and then for each of the consecutive years it's a CPI increase as we're moving forward. So uh much more in the contract if you want to read it. But those are kind of the highlights and I'm happy to answer any questions and I'm sure he would be as well.

That's when they make it here. So are you looking for a motion to approve this motion? Motion to approve the contract. Yes, he actually works he works for you all. So, I'll leave that up to you. And what what's pro bono mean again? Uh that means he's doing it for nothing for free, right? Yeah. Okay. I'm okay with that. Yeah, that's what I thought too. That is not the case. No, it is not. Uh is there any other uh questions or comments? I'm just curious, uh Trey, how long you been doing this for? Trying to remember when really I'm trying to remember when Judge Mc Hill got appointed to the bench.

That's been a long time. 2012, maybe. No, not that long ago. 2015 or 16. No, it was before that. All right. I think so. Yeah. Main Street was a dirt road. Not quite that long. Firm is going on like 50 years or 60 years. I remember at the Western U Comp Northwest event and I said something to him like, "Good to see you, judge." And his wife laughed and I was like, "Well, he's a judge now." So, it was before then. Yeah. It wasn't funny with her when I walked in and said, "I'll rise."

Any other questions, comments? Is there a motion to approve, deny, or or table? Motion to approve. Second. Motion to approve. Motion's been made to approve. It's been second. All in favor? I. All oppose. Motion passes. Congratulations. Did Did you have any comments you wanted to add? Speech. Speech. You good? Seriously? You good? Okay. Usually I quit talking. He's got a little tear. He's got a little tear.

The secret to being in court is to know when to shut up. Thank you. Thank you for those uh wise words. Uh we'll move on to department reports. Uh city manager.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um couple of things to note. Uh we have switched insurance agents. Uh we used to be with hub. We are now going with WHA. Uh they did some presentations with the a couple city staff, uh Brandon, Julie, myself, uh to go over the services that they provide uh to uh and can provide to the city. Um, after looking at what we have with our existing carrier, uh, we're still through CIS. Uh, this is just an actual agent that acts on our behalf. Uh, we decided that we would switch and go with them. I think there was about a $2,000 a year increase, but I think one of the things that really drove us to them was their knowledge of municipal jails, um, and being able to guide us through that so we make sure that we're the city's covered as we're going through. So, uh, we we did that. Um, we closed on the Sanam Travel Station. In fact, we have a check in the bank. Checks in the bank. Um, so that was taken care of. Uh, that was 514,000 and change. I don't remember the exact amount uh once we paid the uh half of the uh realtor's fee. Uh, so we will be coming back uh at the budget committee. uh that will be included in the budget committee um on what we want to do with those funds. Uh staff will have a couple of ideas um for you all to look at during budget committee. Uh so we can make sure that that money is appropriated. It doesn't have to be appropriated this year, but um in case there is the need for that, we'll we'll basically do that at budget committee. Um and last uh speaking of budget committee, budget committee meeting Monday here at noon. So that's our first one and potentially another one on Wednesday at noon. So with that, I don't have anything else unless you have questions for me.

All righty. Just to let you know, 2010. The end of 2010. All righty. Is there any items from council? No. I I would just like to say that I I'll be driving down through your neighborhood. So, is there uh any uh press comments? Any additional public comments? We have one thing we want to clarify before with the city attorney before we close the meeting. Okay.

Right to work. Yep. as part of

the public hear.

Mr. Mayor, thank you. Well, you had a public hearing. I just need a motion. Uh so there was a in the uh in that item uh it probably does need a motion to approve application of the grant. Approve the application. Yes. Well, you don't have to open up the public hearing uh because we've already had the public hearing. We just need to uh I think you can just do it by motion. I can just freely do a motion or

Yeah. As long as we're still on the record and we're we're still meeting as a city council. Okay. Well, is there a motion to approve or accept the public hearing of or wait the development community de development block grant uh for the Lebanon capital improvements. Is there a motion? You mean the application? Yeah. So, we're asking that council approve that we proceed with the application to approve that you proceed with the request. I'll second motion. These are motion been made to to move forward approve the moving forward the application's been second. All in favor? I all post. Okay. Okay. Motion passes. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Um next schedule council meeting will be June 10th, 2026. And I don't