City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, citizens and staff. I'm Mayor Kara Westfall, hereby call to order this council meeting on Monday, June 1st, 2026. The time is 7 p.m. Roll call, please.

Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I have a statement I would like to read. I was deeply saddened to hear the passing of our former mayor, Todd Kallstrom. Todd devoted so much of his life to serving Klamath Falls and his impact on this community cannot be overstated. For decades, Todd was a constant presence in local government and a dedicated advocate for the people of Klamath Falls. His commitment to public service, his passion for this community, and his steady leadership helped shape the city in a meaningful and lasting way. He truly cared about Klamath Falls and worked tirelessly to support its future. Todd was more than a public official. He was a pillar of this community. whose legacy will continue to be reflected in the city he loved so deeply. His years of dedication and service leave behind an enduring mark that will not be forgotten. On behalf of the City of Klamath Falls, I extend my sincere condolences to Todd's family, friends, and all who knew and worked alongside of him. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time. I'd like to take a moment of silence right now. OK. Public comment. Public comment. Ron Johnson, please come on up.

Good evening. I'm Ron Johnson, commander of the VFW post-1383, and with me is Cori Wiesenhunt. She is the parade coordinator for the July 4th celebration. We are here with a dual purpose, for a proclamation in support of the Klamath Falls Independent Day Parade, which will honor the 250th anniversary of our nation. a proclamation enhancing the significance of this historic celebration, and an official invitation highlighting the rich heritage of the Klamath Basin and the American experience. This event is an important opportunity for our community to come together, celebrate our shared history, and recognize the values that have shaped our country. It is a milestone as a country, but more in context to the past Memorial Day, the debt of gratitude to the generations of men and women of the armed forces who protect and secure this country and the sacrifice of them that have given us freedom and peace. Cloud Falls is home and a part of the American legacy, home to Kingsley Field, the Marine Barracks, the lumber mills, the potato fields, the vast farm and ranch lands, upper and lower Klamath Lake, Crater Lake, the Klamath, Modoc, and Yathu tribe, and the exceptional Klamath scenery and landscape. Klamath Falls is an integral part in the making of a flourishing America. The cost has been substantial, however, a reminder we live in freedom. The event is a special celebration of a nation and its heritage. It is a tribute with a profound debt to the past and a credit to a promised future ahead. There is a reason for America's longevity and existence, the 250th anniversary of our great nation, the United States of America, and the reason, the American people. Finally, you are invited to a unique Memorial Day celebration again, but a memorial, a parade as an adventure. But thank you, I appreciate the opportunity.

Thank you very much. At this point, I don't have any more forms.

Thank you very much, sir.

We'll wait for your form for public comment. Can I do it? If you hurry.

Okay.

Mike. Mike's got it there.

I appreciate the grace.

And Ren, you're up.

Thanks a bunch, I appreciate the grace. I really briefly wanted to talk about hunger and specifically some changes with DHS that I think the city should be aware of and reacting to. There are new DHS guidelines coming out for people that are able-bodied adults. Thankfully, I'm not affected by this, but a lot of people are going to be. I think about 3,000 or 4,000 people in this county who are low income and use things like food stamps in order to help pay for groceries for their families, there's a new requirement that people are going to be required to do 80 hours of community service a week, 80 hours of, you know, uh job training or employment a month sorry 80 hours community service a month in order to keep their benefits and if not they're going to lose it for three years that's a lot different than how it normally is if somebody were to become ineligible normally it would be a period like 12 months or something like that three years is a lot more difficult for people because you know if something bigger happens in the economy and it's harder to get work somebody's still ineligible because of something 24 or 26 months ago that's tough here's what I think the city should be doing about this so I've seen in other cities and I know that we're not like other cities where they have an app or something to show people where they can do community service or where there are opportunities for them to get their 80 hours in a month I think that The city can't really do that, but it would be very nice if the city were to be able to make the community service that we already do as a result of things like traffic court and this and that. I think it would be nice if the city were to maybe make a post and say, hey, if you would like to do some community service to help get your 80 hours, if you're short on hours for something else this month and you're trying to keep your eligibility for whatever reason, I think it would be nice to give people the opportunity to do community service, whether that is cleaning up trash from their neighborhood or doing other things that improve the community, because there's plenty of work to be done. There's lots of stuff that needs to get done, and there's certainly going to be a lot of people, about 3,000 or 4,000 in our county, who are in the next six months as they're getting their benefits renewed with DHS going to have 90 days to get 80 hours a month or they're going to lose their benefits for three years. It's just food for thought. The city, if they would like to do something like that, has probably about two or three months to react and still have a pretty big impact on people. But yeah, I think people should be open to exploring that option.

Thanks. Very good, thank you.

OK. And seeing and hearing that we have no more forms, we will close public comment. The approval of the consent agenda, meeting agenda and prior meeting minutes provided under separate cover. How would you like to do that?

That's just approved. Yeah.

Motion to approve it.

I would move to approve.

Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Number six, land use public hearing quasi-judicial, no item. Number seven, land use public hearing legislative, no item. Number eight, general public hearing, 8.1. The authorization of a liquor license recommendation to the OLCC for the Sunbird Kitchen LLC located within the Watershed Row, 320 Suite D and 330 South 7th Street. and Manager Joe Wall reporting.

Good evening, Mayor, Council. We have a long anticipated project here. I think we've all probably seen construction over time at what is being called Watershed Row, really the whole scale transformation of a historic building in downtown Klamath Falls to feature a number of different uses. Councilor Angeli, I know of course you're very, very, very familiar with the space. Kind of. Yeah. And what we're talking about mostly this evening would be what I'd refer to as more kind of the rear of the space, but at Budding South 7th Street, so across the street from the post office. Number of different uses that are proposed, whether it be kind of bakery, cafe, bar, different retailers, food vendors. Not even counting, again, those front portions of the building that may still be utilized for climbing and or gym purposes. I'd almost call it, at least in my experience, something akin to a food hall or public hall and market. So really excited for something of this nature. With that, thank you for bringing up the visuals because it is a little bit unique, both from, I'd say, an addressing perspective. with the multiple different public doors and entries and then from an olcc licensing as well so what we're looking at this evening would be a liquor license recommendation for sunbird kitchen llc that would operate both a bakery cafe which in this image kind of highlighted in orange i believe that's across the street from i think it's maybe adora salon now Used to be a veterinarian space, but on the corner, 330 South 7th Street. So that is slated to be a bakery cafe, open earlier morning to kind of mid-afternoon. And then also for a liquor license recommendation would be Suite D, which is kind of upper portion of Image, which is to be a bar. Again, addressing a little bit unique, but the thought is during cross hours when both bakery cafe are open and bar are open, that people would be able to order beverage. and then kind of consume it as they have different food options throughout the space. As it's tentatively planned, the bakery, I believe, is to be open from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. and the bar area from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m., maybe five days or so a week. As I always share with city council, we'll open it up for a public hearing. We send out notice to neighbors and property owners and have not received any disconcerting, any negative information or feedback. And then with that, I also do have the business owner here this evening to answer any city council questions or to share additional remarks. So thank you all. And again, something I'm excited to present after really a multi-year renovation effort.

Very good. Any questions or comments? I will open it up for a public hearing at this time. Anybody wishing to speak on this agenda item can do so.

Thank you. Good evening. I'm Alex Froome. My wife and I own Sunbird Kitchen, LLC, and we're going to be one of the tenants at Watershed Row. Watershed Row is a different entity. They're really the developer and landlord, and Sunbird will be one of the tenants among the retail and gym and other food vendors. yeah thanks for the opportunity we're excited to get this project open this summer at some point we're doing a thousand things working our butts off trying to get open excited for the Klamath music festival this summer they're gonna be there and some other smaller events so happy to answer any questions you have and again thank you It's beautiful remodeled.

Thank you. Any questions or comments?

I just thank you for investing your time and your resources. This is an exciting thing to have go and just expand that downtown corridor.

Very good. Go ahead, Councillor Angeli.

I'd just like to say thank you for purchasing that building for one and taking it into the next century because it's coming up on its 100-year mark pretty soon. So it's pretty neat to see it continuing. So thank you.

Do you like to do the motion? Sure. Let me go ahead and close public comment. At this point, with nobody else wishing to speak, I will close public hearing.

I move to make a positive recommendation for a full on-premises liquor license to the OLCC for Sunbird Kitchen, LLC, excuse me, located at 330 South 7th Street and 320 South 7th Street, Suite D. Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Very good. 9. Legislative Action 9.1. The authorization of a construction service contract with Bogota Construction Inc. to construct the Wesco Water Fill Station in the not to exceed amount of $449,864 plus an additional contingency allowance of $44,986. And Robbie West reporting.

all right thank you mayor city manager and council uh back again with the phil station hopefully for the last time um i'll just touch on a few things we've talked about this so much but obviously you guys know we had already designed this uh went out a couple weeks ago uh for rfp for the or excuse me for rfq for the the build out of it. We did our standard non-mandatory pre-bid, had everybody come in, gave them an opportunity to ask questions, opened the bids last week. Obviously you can see Bogota got this. It's pretty straightforward as far as what's going on. Two things I did want to highlight was the financial part, just to make sure you guys saw that and were aware. This is coming out of Water CIP up front, but this is the one that will be reimbursed from grant funding through the county. So all costs will be by the city, but then we are getting reimbursed fully for the project. And then the other thing I just wanted to make sure was on the record that you guys remember is when this does go open, it will be open to select users and not open to the general public. I thought that was beneficial. Make sure you guys remember it as well. Other than that, if you had any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them.

Questions or comments? I will entertain a motion.

I'll move to authorize the city manager to execute a construction services contract with Bogota Construction Inc. to construct the Wesco Waterfill Station in the not to exceed amount of $449,864 plus an additional contingency allowance of $44,986. Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? 9.2. Authorization to accept a Safe Streets for All SS4A grant from the Federal Highway Administration. Public Works Director Mark Woolwright.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council. So it's been just over two years that we stood before you and asked for permission to submit this grant for some intersection improvements. listed below Main at 3rd, Main at 5th, Pine at 11th. We swapped out a couple new ones to put in, one at 6th and East Main and Chest and Avalon. These were intersections that have a high crash rate and injury rate in our city. And we did submit the grant, and as noted here, in September of that year, we actually got the grant. And it's taken us the next, you know, past almost two years to work through the contract with Federal Highways. And that is before you now. So with your approval, we will get going and get started on the design and eventual construction for improvements at these intersections.

Nice. Very good. Questions, comments? Great job. Yeah, that's good. I know. Thank you. I'll entertain a motion.

I would move to authorize the city manager to accept the SS4A grant and sign the required documentation from the Federal Highway Administration.

Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

Thank you. 9.3, a resolution authorizing the City of Klamath Falls Park Division to apply for a grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for the ULona Pump Track project. located at 1820 Leroy Street and delegating the grant signing authority to the city manager. And Mark Wilbert reporting. Thank you.

I'm sorry you're stuck with me for one more. I will attempt to fill John's shoes on this. He unfortunately couldn't make it tonight. But I think most of you are aware that we are working to try to get a pump track put in up there by Yolanda Park. And one of the key components to this that we need is a grant from Oregon Parks and Rec District. a bunch of things we have to submit, maps, exhibits, and et cetera. But one of them also is a resolution that the council has supported this project. So what we'd ask for you tonight is support of the grant itself and then also support of the resolution itself. So thank you.

CHRISTIE WOODARD- Questions or comments?

It would be great to see it move forward.

CHRISTIE WOODARD- Yeah. CHRISTIE WOODARD- Entertain a motion.

I'll move to approve the grant submission and introduce the resolution reading by title only.

Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? City Manager, please read the resolution.

A resolution authorizing the City of Klamath Falls Parks Division to apply for a grant from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for the Ululona Pump Track Project located at 1820 Leroy Street and delegating the grant signing authority to the City Manager.

I'll move to approve the resolution.

Second. Roll call, please. 9.4, an ordinance approving community development ordinance text amendment 1-TA-26-residential code updates, second and final reading. And if we have any questions, Joe Wall is here. Entertain a motion.

I'll move to pass the ordinance for second and final reading by title only. Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed?

An ordinance approving community development ordinance.

City manager, please read.

An ordinance approving community development ordinance, text amendment 1-TA-26, residential code updates.

I move to adopt the ordinance.

Second.

roll call please number 10 other matters 10.1 city manager Jonathan tyker tyker reporting City Council oh go ahead

Yeah, I said thank you, Mayor, Council. Looking for some direction. Under a separate cover, you've received proposals for this historic building. The city issued an RFP for acquisition or lease of this facility. The city received one proposal, was submitted by the Southern Oregon Education Service District. In that proposal, they propose to either purchase the property for $450,000 with a 20% down payment or lease the facility for $3,500 per month for a 15-year term, 1% annual escalation. Southern Oregon Education Service District intends to use the building as a regional hub for educational services, professional development, community meetings, and family engagement events. They anticipate approximately 19 personnel working from the site and express strong support for continued city council use of the chambers. They also commit to preserving the building's historic character and maintaining public accessibility. I believe the proposal aligns with city goals. It preserves the historic community asset. It provides significant downtown activity and public benefit. It ensures continued civic use, offers financially viable purchase or lease options, and it comes from a stable public service regional partner. Staff recommends that the council accept the proposal for the 500 Klamath Avenue building and authorize city manager to negotiate and return with finalized agreement consistent with council direction.

I'm going to step away from this decision. It's not a conflict for me, but I do have a relative that works for that program, so just so that there's no perception of favoritism, I'm just going to step away from the decision and have a vote.

Okay.

Do you need a motion or you just need consensus?

Consensus? Either. Okay.

I have a couple questions real quick. Sure. Are you feeling like it's more advantageous to move in the direction of selling the building or leasing the property?

My recommendation would be the cell. Okay.

Is that what was in there? Because I didn't hear that part. Yes. And then does it, so they're still willing to let us utilize this space, whether they're a leasee or owner? They've indicated so. Okay.

And I'm sure that's for a length of time, just a certain amount of time. Has that been stipulated as far as how long?

No. And I'm sure there will be some further discussions, too, that I can bring back to council.

That would be good. Just to plan for it and see.

I think it's a positive move forward and it keeps the motion of our real estate fluid so we're not stuck and it's within the plans of what we've been talking about so I'm fully in favor.

appreciated that they cared about maintaining this building and and the way that it looks historically and and it's something that they aligns with them like that's what we wanted yeah I think that's good yeah so motion motion or consensus I give the consensus. I give the consensus. I will read a motion if you'd like.

Then I would need to state. So Councillor Rousseau. Yes. Councillor Angeli. Yes. And Councillor Dunbar.

Yes.

OK.

Very good.

And that is consensus to everything that he stated in regards to the documents. Yes.

Yes. OK. Thank you.

Very good.

Thanks. Anything else under other matters that everybody would like to go ahead.

Counselor, just, just brief. We've had two great parades last week and really proud of our town being known as a parade town. We had a great Memorial day parade and we had a great, um, graduation sensation parade and miraculously, uh, they made it through before the storm of 2026 hit and annihilated all our trees and everything. So it was meant to be, they had a great parade. I'm thankful to live here for that.

How wonderful. City Manager?

Yeah. I'd just like to take a moment to address some of the social media commentary surrounding the recent City Fest event that was held in the downtown Klamath Falls. There has been some misunderstandings circulating online that suggested that the city sponsored, organized, or funded this event. And I want to clarify that the City Fest was not a city sponsored event, nor did the city provide any financial support for it. The City of Planet Falls routinely issues permits for a wide variety of community events, cultural, recreational, commercial, yes, sometimes faith-based, provided that they meet our requirements and our safety logistical needs. In this case, the City's role was limited to a standard event permitting process, and that applies equally to all organizations. We continue to support a vibrant and active downtown where multiple groups, businesses, community partners can host events. But it's important to be clear CityFest was organized and funded entirely by a private organization, not by the City of Klamath Falls.

Thank you for the clarification.

Anybody else for other matters? Okay. Motion to adjourn.

Motion to adjourn. Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Council, we have one more thing. Tara, you needed to go? Yeah, unfortunately. Go ahead and go.

I got called to work. Okay. There's an issue, so I'm the only one with a key that needs to go up there. I'm sorry. I'll touch base with you afterwards.

So we're on down from 5 to 3.

Yeah, I won't even have to change business cards. You just scratch out the 5.