City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

all right we got six o'clock we got a couple counselors that need to come to the seats which they are um tonight we have a city council public meeting it is october 5th 2026 and we're going to start tonight's public meeting with an invocation kathleen do we have somebody to do an invocation yes i want to invite crystal almaden to the podium to kick us off thank you

thank you those who are inclined join for a moment of prayer lord we just thank you for this time in this space we thank you for this community that we all just dearly love i just thank you for all those who came to participate and share in one form or the other and i pray that you would help them to communicate in a spirit of collaboration and unity, that there would be intention in how they communicate, that each person would see your desire and how to convey it. I pray for those leaders here who are dedicating themselves on this counsel in one form or another to serving this community, that you would give them wisdom from heaven, to see strategy and ability beyond their own, to help to work in a way that benefits all, collaborate with the we over the me. We just thank you for this time. We dedicate it to you and your faithfulness to keep what's committed to you. We put it in your hands in Jesus' name. Amen.

Please rise for the flag suit. Remove your covers if you have them.

to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right. doing a quick roll call here we got Rob we got Indra we got Rick we got Victoria we got Seth we got Joel we got Kathleen so we do have a quorum and we will continue forward with a special recognition thank you mayor council members of the public if I can have the following people please come up and stand over here by the podium

From our facilities. Can I have Mike Fredrickson and James Grisham? Please come up And also there's a few individuals that we'd like to especially recognize also today from the police department From our community response team Josh Nimmin and Jason McGinnis. Can you please come forward? Also included in this recognition are a number of community service officers, including Dwight Alfied, Don Gumbert, A.J. Elzey, Sam Matos, Zeke Deguider, and Vahir Valdovinos, who is a cadet. And if we could have Chief Hintzman and Jason, our public works candidate, along with the mayor, please join your team. Council, members of the public, tonight we take a moment to recognize a group of individuals whose dedication, compassion, and perseverance played a vital role in one of our city's most challenging and meaningful efforts, the operation and management of the city's resting sites. Their work went far beyond routine job expectations. In the field, they face complex situations daily, supporting our unhoused community members while also ensuring safety and stability for the entire community. The individuals were recognized to demonstrate remarkable patience, empathy, and professionalism. They showed up with a willingness to serve even when circumstances were difficult. Their consistent approach was grounded in respect, a calm demeanor, and problem solving, which helped build trust, reduce conflict, and maintain humane conditions at our resting sites. Importantly, their commitment had a direct and lasting impact on our community's progress. The steady hands-on work they performed was instrumental in the city's success as establishing a fully managed facility for those experiencing homelessness. That facility and the stability it provides today would not have been possible without the groundwork these individuals carried out. To each of you, I want to thank you. Your compassion, your professionalism, and dedication reflect the very best of public service. The City Council, the administration and our community recognize the significance of what you have accomplished. Your work made a difference in people's lives and contributed to a safer, more supportive environment for all. We are grateful for your service and proud to acknowledge you here tonight. Thank you very much. And with that... And Chief and Jason, if you could please hand out the iValue cards for them. Thank you.

All right, then can you all just scoot down just a little?

Make sure you get the cadet in there. Right.

Thank you very much for everything that you guys did for our community. And we're going to move on to a proclamation for Lemonade Day.

Proclamation. There we go.

Proclamation declaring, at least I don't have that big long word I had last time. Proclamation declaring August 8th, 2026 as Lemonade Day in Grants Pass, whereas Lemonade is a community-wide program hosted by the Grants Pass and Josephine County Chamber of Commerce. that teaches youth how to start, own, and operate their own small business through the experience of running a lemonade stand. And whereas the Lemonade Day helps young people learn valuable skills in entrepreneurship, financial literacy, customer service, responsibility, and community engagement. And whereas Lemonade Day is made available at no cost to the participating youth thanks to the generous support of many business sponsors who invest in the next generation of local entrepreneurs. And whereas Lemonade Day represents everything the city and the city council stands for, hard work, innovation, giving back, and community pride. And whereas on August 8th, 2026, young entrepreneurs throughout Grants Pass will open lemonade stands serve customers, and contribute to the spirit and the vibrancy of our community. Now therefore, I, Clint Scherff, Mayor of City of Grants Pass do hereby proclaim August 8th, 2026 as Lemonade Day in Grants Pass and encourage residents, businesses, and community members to support and celebrate our young entrepreneurs. Thank you very much.

Yeah, I think Terry might have something to say. But yeah, if you want to go down to the proclamation, that'd be good.

As they're passing out lemonade, I just let everybody know that they're treating us better than we deserve. And it's really good lemonade.

Thank you.

That looks really nice.

Oh, you are so nice to me. Thank you. Wait a second. Yours is a different color than mine.

Stay up there, you guys.

No?

All right.

Did everybody get some?

Did you guys get some? Stephanie was a no. You don't want one? Stephanie, were you a no?

Okay.

The thing is, if I tuck and you don't... All right, thank you very much for the audience for allowing us to celebrate these children and young entrepreneurs. This is kind of one of the funner things that this council and myself get to do in this volunteer unpaid position, so thank you very much. All right, so we're going to proceed forward with public hearing. And first on the docket is the Dutch Bros Les Schwab Sign Code Appeal, located at 251 Northeast Agnes Avenue.

Am I going into a full length?

Good evening, Mayor, Councillors, citizens of the community. I'm Lori Middleton, Senior Planner with the Community Development Department.

I got to give a little bit more spiel because we are, this is a rehearing, but we do have to, we're taking public comments. So it's advised. We're going to reopen this again. I apologize. I wasn't prepared enough. So at this time I'll open the public hearing to consider as previous stated Dutch brothers, Les Schwab signed code appeal located at two five one Northeast Agnes Avenue. We will begin the hearing with staff report followed by a public comment, and then the matter will be discussed and acted upon under the council. Is there anyone present who wishes to challenge the authority of the council to consider this matter? Seeing none, do any counselors wish to abstain from participating in this hearing or declare a potential conflict of interest? Seeing none, in this hearing the decision of the council will be based upon specific criteria. All testimony and evidence must be directed towards those criteria. The criteria which applies in this case are noted in the staff report. important to remember if you fail to raise an issue with enough detail to afford the council and the parties an opportunity to respond to the issue you will not be able to appeal to the land use board appeals based on that issue we will now begin with the staff report thank you thank you um tonight we're considering you're asked to consider an amended appeal to the grants past municipal code regulating signs within the city

As a reminder, the Municipal Code Section 921-060A permits one freestanding sign per street frontage with a maximum height of 25 feet and sign area not to exceed 100 square feet per side. The applicant has amended their original request for an additional 20 feet of height totaling 100 feet and reducing the sign area to approximately 350 square feet per side. The existing sign is approximately 28 feet in height and totals approximately 62 square feet per side. A public hearing was held at the July 1st City Council meeting for an appeal. of the sign code to allow the construction of an 80-foot tall pylon sign with approximately 400 square feet of sign area per site. At the July 1st hearing, Council requested more information from the applicant to consider the request. The applicant conducted a flag test to provide counsel with additional information. As a result of the test, the applicant revised the request to add 20 feet of height to the original appeal for a total height of 100 feet, approximately 350 square feet of sign area, exceeding the sign code by 75 feet in height and approximately 250 square feet in sign area per side. These results in the amended request were scheduled to be considered at tonight's public hearing. This is the proposed pile on sign location in relation to other nearby businesses. Staff has received inquiries from nearby property managers about this case and the possibility of submitting an appeal for their clients. The request did not include a proposal to remove the existing sign. The proposal is for an additional sign visible from I-5 along Grants Pass Parkway and surrounding areas. as demonstrated by their flag test. These are the amended schematics for the proposed sign showing a reduction in sign area and an increase in height. The topography of the area shows the location of the proposed sign is at the same elevation as the Best Western sign and approximately 25 feet higher in elevation than the Applebee's sign nearby. Municipal Code Section 921-800D states that no appeals shall be approved by the review body unless all the criteria are found to be met. Section 921-010 states the purposes of the signed code. A copy of this section has been provided to each of you. That concludes staff's introduction. I'm happy to answer any questions for staff.

Thank you. I'll bring it back to council. Any questions from council? Rob?

Could you clarify? I heard you say that staff believes that no appeal should be granted unless all the criteria are met.

That's not staff's belief. That's in the statute.

Okay. So if that's the case, then a variance couldn't even happen, right? I guess an appeal can be or a variance can be granted even if the criterion are not met. Is that not correct?

No. So this isn't technically a variance. It's an appeal to the sign code. It's in the municipal code instead of the development code. These are the criteria for the review body, which is yourselves, to find that have been met in order to approve an appeal to the sign code. These are the criteria that you're required to consider to approve.

Thank you.

Further questions? I got Victoria and then Rick. Victoria?

Thank you so much for the information. Is this our municipal code or is this state law or is it both?

It's municipal code. It's the grants pass municipal code.

Okay. And would it be fair to say that council decides if the three criteria have been met?

Yes. This is your decision to make whether they have... to find whether they have met these criteria.

Okay. Thank you so much.

Sure. Further questions got Rick, Indra, and Seth. Rick?

Thank you, Laurie. Do you know the height of the Applebee's sign as well as the Best Western sign, how tall those poles are?

The Applebee's sign is 100 feet, and the Best Western I believe is 80 feet.

Thank you.

Further questions? I got Indra.

so in the um staff report it says the municipal code has not been met and the proposed this was when it was still 80 foot sign is not necessary to overcome a unique physical circumstance so evidently they feel it is how did the city come to that conclusion

staff reviewed the visibility of the existing signs in nearby properties from the highway from both directions north and south and they were not visible until the only one that was visible the Applebee sign was not visible from the NORTHBOUND OR THE SOUTHBOUND FREEWAY LANES AND THE BEST WESTERN SIGN WAS VISIBLE VERY CLOSE TO THE EXIT FROM THE NORTHBOUND LANE.

I GUESS WHAT I'M ASKING, IT SAYS THE PROPOSED NEW SIGN IS NOT NECESSARY TO OVERCOME THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND ALLOW REASONABLE USE. Did the city make that statement?

The city. So the adopted sign code provides standards that allow the reasonable use of the property. And that was decided as a community. It was adopted by the community. Those were the science standards that the community wanted to see. It was a community decision. And the adopted sign code standards allow reasonable use of the property. They don't, they don't, their existing sign clearly advertises their property according to, and complies with the sign code.

Thank you. So that was just based, that was based on the city council's repeal back in 2007 when they made it 25 feet. Is that what you're saying?

In 2005, they did repeal the freeway overlay. The community decided that freeway signs were contrary to the goals of the community to preserve the skyline and night sky. So they repealed the freeway overlay for signs which allowed 100 feet in height, which is why we have a few existing remaining freeway signs. That was an overlay that created a special area near I-5. The existing commercial sign development standards were already the ones that we have now.

Thank you.

Further questions? I got Seth.

yeah so if we were hypothetically uh as a council approved this request tonight how long does somebody have to contest that decision is there a time period a window can you repeat that what is the do you know what the um time period is to appeal this appeal i don't know that off the top of my head i'd have to look that up okay that'd be good because somebody could appeal it correct So what happens if we if we approved it and then they construct a sign and then somebody appeals it to that?

I mean, no, there's there's a definite period and it's it's probably I believe it's 12 calendar days after the decision, after the findings of that.

Further questions, I got Kathleen.

So could you tell me, is this sign lighted up at night?

they the schematics they provided are yeah it shows that it's internally lit further questions i got joel um i had two questions um one i'm ignorant and i should have done a little better homework and i apologize for that do you know of other communities i i traveled down i-5 yesterday or day before and i didn't notice any town that had signs that were obnoxious or gaudy or stuck in your face. But I didn't know the codes of the different towns and how high the signs were. So are you aware of what the other codes are for cities along the I-5 corridor? Are there cities that have 100 foot signs and they allow 100 foot signs?

I do not know the municipal codes of the other cities. I'm sorry. Okay.

So then the second question I have, because there was no place where I was offended by what I saw. Second question I had, it was, Given the legal aspect, the technical aspect, the legal aspect, if we wanted to implement the signs, there's two ways we could do that. One is we could find different than what the staff found with logical reasons, or two, we could change the code.

Correct.

Is that correct?

Correct. Not at this meeting, but yes.

I'm sorry, I didn't hear you.

Not at this, the, yeah, you could request that an amendment to the municipal code.

And then they would apply to everyone.

It would apply to everybody, yeah. Yeah, so it would be a level playing field. Unless you created a district, yeah.

Okay, okay. I just wanted to make sure that I understood that correctly.

Thank you. Further questions? I got Indra.

Along those lines, if the council were to approve the appeal and then at a future date had a workshop discussion and decided to make the code 50 feet or whatever, would that be grandfathered in that sign? We would not be able to take that offer.

No, the decision is final unless it's appealed.

Any further questions?

All right, thank you very much. At this time I'll open it up for public comment. Is there anybody from the audience that's participating that wants to speak in favor of this or in opposition of this? Please come to the mic and state your name. You have three minutes and you will be discussing this appeal of the sign code. Go ahead.

Rika Brown, Grants Pass. I just have to wonder what community was saying that they wanted to you know, stop people from having tall signs. And how did they make it, you know, make it clear to the council? There's, you know, we get to get up and talk and, you know, give our opinion, but to say the community, what community are you talking about? I mean, hardly anybody pays attention to what the council is doing. And you might have a few people supporting the idea that they can't have higher than 25 foot signs. But in the past, after that, after it was passed, the council gave variance to the council allow people to be able to have their sign seen. And it wasn't a big deal. It was showing 100 signs on top of buildings in Grants Pass when the staff had said that, well, you can't have a sign on top of your roof. Thank you.

All right. We are in public comment portion. Is there anybody else from the audience that would like to weigh in on this council action item in opposition or anything else? All right. Please step up the microphone and state your name and you have three minutes.

Spencer Holland, Grants Pass. I'm the manager of the North Store. Spoke a little bit last time. To answer your question, I think you asked about signs up and down I-5. Every Love's pilot travel stop you see as you're traveling north and southbound on I-5 is going to have a large sign. The signs that... We're proposing they're not out of the ordinary for the area, right? The reason for the amendment is for visibility, but the trees and everything else, I think last time we discussed the growth of trees over the years with the 100 foot signs, there's just more visibility. You can see it from the freeway. And once again, we're not asking for anything that's not already there in the area. on both the south exit and the north exit. The In-N-Out Burger sign is 100 feet as well, left over the old Shell Station sign. So it reflects the values of Grants Pass, I think. It's not obnoxious. It's not huge. It's not your face. We're not turning into Las Vegas here. I think that was brought up at the last council meeting. So clearly in support, and thank you guys. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Anybody else from the audience want to weigh in from the public in regards to this council action item? Go ahead. Step up, restate your name and you have three minutes.

Nick Johnson with ES&A signing on, the applicant. To address some of the questions, one of the items was the three criteria. Alleviating the unique physical circumstances. If you've driven the site, you can tell very quickly that there's a significant grade increase between the freeway and the site itself. And I did complete a flag test at our expense. We did set up a crane at 100 foot tall. 80 foot was not visible. It was blocked by the trees in both directions on the freeway. 100 feet was what we found to be the minimum height to be able to just clear the trees with both signs. It'd be great to be taller, but of course, you know, we're trying to minimize that impact and use the minimum allowance required to meet the need. And I did prove in the submittal that I sent in that you could see the signs from both directions on the freeway. The northbound lane, you can see it before the exit ramp. I took photographs. I sat on the side of the road and walked up and down and played Frogger for a while, trying not to get killed. But it was very evident that you could see the signs. You could see our crane up there. And when I traveled the southbound lane, it wasn't quite as visible. But as soon as you get on the off ramp or as you're entering the off ramp, you could in fact see the crane. And I've shown that in our additional submittals. So that is accurate. The additional footage would allow the sign to be visible. Minimum increase required. We tried to go with 80 feet initially. That wasn't going to work is what the flag test proved at Councillor Riker's recommendation last time. Thank you for doing that because otherwise we could have put up a sign if it was approved that wouldn't be as effective as we really had hoped. As far as granting the appeal, it would be amazing to grant this appeal and then potentially move into amending the code or doing, I think it was a text change was recommended last time or discussed last time, so that we could support growth in Grants Pass. I know this is a growing community and supporting a good sign, robust sign code would allow for that growth and help businesses on the southern exit advertise their businesses both locally and to the I-5 corridor. If there's any other questions regarding those parts, I'd be happy to take those on as the applicant to answer any questions you may have. Thank you.

Thank you. Anybody else for public comment in regards to this council action item? All right. Seeing none, I will bring it back to council for further deliberation and or action. Since this is I do have to remind you, since this is a land use that you need to tailor your discussion and your decision around meeting the decision criteria that is listed on the screen. Victoria and then Rick and then Kathleen Victoria.

So when I look at the criteria, I think that it's reasonable for the council to come to the decision that it meets all three. Uh, the first criteria, the unique physical properties are the trees. And that just makes sense to me under the second criteria, uh, minimum increase required. Well, they did the flag test and that was the minimum increase required to be seen, uh, the way that they needed to be seen. And, uh, for the third criteria, the proposal is not a substantial deviation from the standards outlined. Well, it's not a substantial deviation from the minimum increase required. And we do have other signs that are about that height or are that height. So I think there's kind of a precedent there as well. So I think for those three reasons, Well, for the reasons I gave on the three criteria, I think the council can reasonably grant this to the applicant.

Rick?

I'd like to elaborate a little bit further what Victoria was saying. I feel the criteria for the topography has been met because it's required to alleviate physical circumstances, conditions affecting the site. The property has a long history of freeway-orientated signage, previously approved under the former freeway overlay zone, with heights and sizes exceeding the current code allowances. Over the past several decades, the natural growth of pine, fir, and conifer, now commonly exceed 60 feet, has significantly reduced visibility of existing signs from I-5 and its ramps. Grant's past status as a Tree City USA reinforces The expectation that tall vegetation will remain a defining physical condition. This vegetation combined with the site's freeway orientation creates a unique topographic and visceral obstruction not present on typical commercial parcels. These physical circumstances render strict application of the current sign height and area limits impractical. The requested 100-foot site and additional signage directly address these conditions and satisfy the variance criteria. Under item two, unnecessary hardship, which represents minimum increase necessary to prevent unnecessary hardship. Freeway-orientated business rely on visibility for customer access, brand identification, and economic viability. When vegetation and topography obstruct signage, the business loses the ability to communicate its presence to freeway travelers, undermining its ability to attract customers and maintain financial visibility. A successful business contributes to the community through employment, tax revenue, and long-term stability. Restricting visibility through strict adherence to current sign standards would impose an unnecessary hardship by preventing the business from achieving the basic functional purpose of a freeway sign. The requested height and area increases the minimum necessary to restore visibility and avoid hardship. Third item, substantial deviation, I feel is also met, does not constitute a substantial deviation to the intent of the sign code. The requested sign dimensions are consistent with other freeway orientated signs in the immediate area as shown by Best Western and so forth. including legacy signs approved under the former overlay zone. The proposal also includes two tenant panels, one for Dutch Brothers and one for Les Schwab, providing shared use on a single pole rather than multiple competing structures. The 100-foot sign is justified by the need to rise above mature vegetation, maintain visibility with the tree city landscape. The request, I feel, represents a balance modification that maintains compatibility with the corridor's established character. And as we may consider, a long-term policy direction would be to consider the freeway over zone again. That would provide provisions for taller signs. And also, I would be supportive if those in that ordinance were considered to include two signs per pole. So I feel for those reasons, I would be supportive of this tonight. Thank you.

And that's how it's done. I would say drop the mic at that point. Jeez, thank you very, very much. Sorry for my outburst there. That was just impressive. Kathleen, further comments?

I don't have that much to say, but yeah, I would like to say that I'm in favor of the appeal just because the unique physical circumstances are the tree line. As you can see from exhibit four, all the pictures here, it's very difficult to see the sign from the south exit. And as we heard in the last presentation that trees grow five feet a year or five something a year, I think that we have to take that into consideration as a hardship and I would be in favor of this appeal.

Thank you. Further discussion and or action? Indra and then Rob. Indra.

Yes. I'm going to disagree a little. I think the staff was correct in that the criteria was not met. I think we could go around and round in arguing either way. There's a reason back in 2005 or earlier, there was a big push to make signs smaller so they didn't stand out as much. And the communities at that time felt like it beautified their communities more. So it wasn't that they didn't like business or didn't agree with Councilor Riker that it might attract more people. I've driven around a lot, too, and now I notice signs a lot more, too, and there are a lot of communities that don't allow those small signs. And I've talked, I've spoken with some, and also there are a lot of communities even within the city that have very short signs, and I'm sure everyone has seen that. So there's a reason why they did it, and I think to give the benefit of the doubt to the people that made that decision and the community at that time. I haven't really heard anything much for or against, and I'm not making a decision for or against. I haven't. Either way, I'm good with what I really feel strongly about, though, is that we're putting the cart before the horse and we're allowing an appeal and then as we learned if I think we need a bigger discussion on the signage and to make a code change so it's fair across the board Everyone knows what it is. This is the council that decided that change, and a future council can change it, but whatever we decided would be grandfathered in, just like the old signs were grandfathered in once that repeal was made, and that's why we have a hundred for signs. No signs that I know of have been that tall since that code was put in place. So I would really like to have that discussion. I think it's crucial and important, and I probably would be for that. You know, I don't know, but I would like more information on the entire thing before I would decide on an appeal one at a time as businesses come forward. And that's where I'm at.

Thank you. Further discussion? Rob?

I think everyone's made really good points. Um, just want to be clear that at the last meeting, cause this is a continuation, I guess at the last meeting, um, there were members of the public and they didn't, I don't think they meant any, I know they didn't mean any harm by it, but they, you know, made statements like, well, you know, Les Schwab and Dutch brothers are such great businesses. We need to support them. And I want to be really clear that that would not be my reason for voting yes tonight. Um, and it's not because I, I do agree that those are really good businesses and they're important to Grants Pass, but that wouldn't be my reason. You know, there's, I guess, a pretty famous quote at this point from a Peruvian dictator from the 30s who said, you know, for my friends anything, for my enemies the law. And, you know, I'm not interested in having different rules for different people depending on whether or not we feel that they're good businesses or bad businesses or whatever. any decision I make tonight has nothing to do with who is actually applying. Um, with that said, um, I'm going to vote yes tonight, but I'm also going to say that based on what staff has said with nearby property owners already requesting similar treatment or, you know, appeals, um, whatever we decide on yes tonight, I'm going to be, I'm going to offer to, uh, um, I'm going to support that in an amendment to our sign code with a freeway overlay district so that everyone's playing by the exact same rules. I think for the 1,500 feet that it might be, or we could make it less. It could be 1,000 feet or whatever. But 1,500 feet that it might be, I don't think that it's going to detract too much from residential views and night views and things like that. But whatever I decide tonight, I'm also going to be consistent um, a code change so that all the businesses there are playing by the same, the same rules.

Thank you for the discussion. I got Seth and then Victoria, Seth.

Yeah. Um, well, thanks Rick for doing all that hard work on everything that you read. Uh, I, you know, I mean, I do think that dust rose is a huge staple in grants pass. Um, I don't think it's, you know, the sole reason that I would vote yes on this, but it definitely is. Um, It's a big reason to me. I think it's a company that's given back. And also Les Schwab is great as well. But I just want to put that out there. But obviously Dutch Bros is homegrown and born and raised here. And they've given a lot back to this community. so you know i think this is something that i think we've all agreed on for the most part and i would be for you know looking at a amendment to our municipal codes moving forward to open it up to future requests but i'm going to make a motion to approve this appeal request tonight here at this meeting all right there's a motion on the table to approve the uh

REQUEST FOR APPEAL. WITH A SECOND? IS THERE A SECOND? SECOND FROM RICK? I'M GOING TO SAY KATHLEEN BECAUSE SHE HAD HER FINGERS UP FIRST. BUT WE DO HAVE SOME OTHER INTEREST IN CONVERSATION. SO FURTHER DISCUSSION. VICTORIA?

WOULD YOU TAKE A FRIENDLY AMENDMENT AND I AGREE WITH YOU THAT WE CAN EASILY APPROVE THIS REQUEST TONIGHT. to add to direct staff to put on an upcoming workshop looking into changing the code.

so or just just looking at the code let me interrupt you a little bit uh victoria which i was going to announce before you actually guys voted but um we do have it on the agenda already for september 14th for the council during a workshop to review the i-5 sign code overlay that was previously on our page i was going to save that before you guys voted but thank you for that so i wouldn't think that you needed a friendly amendment because we were already going to do that so um currently we have a motion on the table to a

approve the sign code appeal with a second any further discussion Indra yes since it appears that this council is friendly towards an overlay and changing that so it's fair across the board I would be in favor perfect further discussion

all right so you have amendment i mean sorry you have a motion on the dais to approve this sign code appeal uh with a second so if you and i believe that we have had counselors present evidence to meet the criteria for their um approving this sign code appeal so you will be voting on this motion to approve this sign code appeal with the caveat that the announcement is that the I-5 sign code overlay will be in discussion in a workshop on September 14th. Seth, how do you vote?

Yes.

Indra? Yes. Rick? Yes. Victoria? Yes. Kathleen?

Yes.

Rob?

Yes.

Joel? Yes. Thank you. Appeal passes. Thank you very much for your participation. All right, next on the public hearing is we are still in the midst of a public hearing. So we'll go into the second resolution, which is adopting the 26, 27 year two annual action plan for the community development block grant program.

Good evening. Anne Ingalls, City of Grants Pass. Before you tonight is the Community Development Block Grant 2026-2027 Year 2 Annual Action Plan. It is activities that are going to be funded in Year 2 of the 2025-2029 Five-Year Plan. And the purpose of the meeting is a public hearing pursuant to the CDBG citizen participation plan and then the resolution adopting the draft plan. It is, it meets, the plan meets all the council goals. The purpose of CDBG, of course, is to provide flexible grants to assist cities and counties in development of a viable urban communities by providing decent housing, suitable living environment, and by expanding economic opportunities principally benefiting low and moderate income persons. The major program areas are affordable decent housing, addressing and preventing homelessness, non-housing community development and public facilities, economic development, public services. Seventy percent of the award that we receive must go to predominantly LMI benefit. Twenty percent it goes to planning and administration. 15% goes maximum to public services. Our five-year goals are affordable and decent housing, homelessness, preventing homelessness, non-housing community development is supporting economic development and public infrastructure. We had a meeting back in April 15 for the needs and priorities. We did a survey for that in February. We had the public comment period for the draft two-year plan from June 9 to July 14. Tonight is the adoption hearing. August 14 is the last day I can submit the plan to HUD. October 1, the program year begins, and the program year ends September 30 next year. Before you have a large printout, of what the funding allocations are going to be. We've increased for our weatherization rehabilitation program a little bit more. We've also this year will be the first year in 42 years that we have not been able to give money to the small business development center since they lost their funding at RCC. So this outlines the public services we're going to help, and then also the funds that will be needed for public infrastructure. This is the second year of the 25-29 five-year consolidated plan. At the end of program year 24, we had $167,455 in remaining funds to use. Program 2025 added an award amount of $381,398, which gave the city a total of $548,853 to use for this current year that we're in. To date, the city has expended $189,429 for the weather rehab program. $100,712 of that was from program 24. 35,000 for public facilities, 42,583 for public services, 1,513 for microenterprise, and that leaves us in approximately 96,000 to end the year out. Within the remaining 2025 amount are public services and administrative activities that will not be complete until the end of this September. Any remaining funds from this year will be rolled over and used in our program 26-year. The revenue, of course, is CDBG funds. This year, the Congress gave us 312,469 which is for program 26. It's a little bit lower than last year. But if the award amount should change, then we will make those adjustments and reallocate it appropriately. I wanted to give you a couple thank you notes that we've received for the weather rehab. For one, the top one was for a roof. The bottom one was for insulation and ductwork. And then we also have, each year we receive a thank you card from the Boys and Girls Club and also from Maslow Project for the money and the funds that we give to them. Call to action is approve the resolution. Deadline for submittal, of course, is the 14th of August. You can approve the resolution as submitted, approve it with revisions. If you do that, it has to be done this evening so that I can meet the submittal deadline. If it's not approved, of course, the city does not receive the funding for the program year. and then you need to open it for public comment, for the public comment.

Thank you. I'll bring it back to council for any questions. Rob, you got any questions? No. Kathleen, you got any questions?

Thank you, Ann. That was great. So can you tell me a little bit about why there's so much remaining funds?

We have, if we don't have... Public facilities and we don't have any requests for funds then that money sits there until we have some requests and then also the With our weather rehab, sometimes we don't always complete them in the program year. So we will have some funds that carry over from that. So there are just, and then there's also public improvements for infrastructure. If we don't receive any requests, the money sits there until a project comes open or we're requested to help them.

And do we only take requests from the people that are designated on this?

No, anyone in the, in the city can request help. So there are also like through our parks, we've done some in the past years, we've, um, done granted money to the parks for some of their, um, handicap ADA and things like that.

Thank you, Victoria. Got any questions?

Yeah, that just made me think. Um, so the money that is rolled over, does it go into this specific slot? Like if it was allotted for weatherization, the next year it has to be. Or are they fungible? Can they be used and put into other areas that you're funding, like the welcome home or something like that?

The public services, we cannot. We're capped at 15%. But the other ones, I keep the money off to the side until something comes up. And then as they're listed on that spreadsheet that you have there, they must go into that category. and be used in that category. If I have to move them around then I have to do an amendment and I will, you know, in that way then I can move the funds to another category. Thank you.

Rick, do you have any questions? No. Thank you. Indra, do you have any questions? Thank you. Seth, do you have any questions? Joel, do you have any questions? No. All right. Last call for any questions. Seeing none, thank you very much. All right. We'll open it up to public comment for this portion. And now is your time. Anybody in the audience want to come up to the microphone? And you can voice your opinion in opposition or in favor. All right. Seeing no public comment, I will bring it back to Council for further discussion and or action. Victoria.

I'd just like to go ahead and approve the resolution as presented.

Okay, so you have a motion on the table to approve the resolution as presented. And do I have a second? Second from Rick. Any further discussion? All right, seeing none, I'll go into a vote. Victoria?

Yes.

Kathleen? Yes. Rob?

Yes.

Joel.

Yes.

Seth.

Yes.

Indra. Yes. Rick.

Yes.

All right. Resolution passes. Thank you very much. All right. That concludes our public hearing for the night. We're going to go into next on the agenda council action item resolution. revising the procedure for conduct of business by amending section 19, public testimony, adding a new meeting decorum section, and renumbering the meeting minutes section. We'll start with a presentation from Stephanie, our town attorney.

Good evening, mayor and council. We're here to, as noted, talk about some revisions to council procedures. this resolution would revise the procedures for conduct of business in order to better address meeting decorum as well as having establishing an actual process if there's a need to remove an individual from our meetings this would support council's goal of infrastructure regarding council's rules and protocols by ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in council proceedings currently city council procedures address meeting decorum within the public testimony section kind of consolidates things a little bit, and testimony is a little bit different from general public comment, and decorum applies across the board and not just specifically to testimony or public comment periods. It applies throughout the proceedings. In addition, the current procedures, there's nothing in there that discusses removal from meetings or what the basis for doing so might be. The proposed revisions in front of you tonight clarify those expectations and the procedures, and we're recommending that you adopt them in order to ensure more efficient and effective meetings. So I'm gonna briefly go over the proposed revisions. I would note that these revisions are the product of discussions and examples with other city attorneys throughout the state. There's been a number of discussions over the last couple of months. A lot of sharing of information and much of the language that you'll see tonight was taken from other jurisdictions. So we know that it's been vetted through from multiple attorneys. The first revision is in section 19 of the rules, which is regarding public testimony. The changes here are to remove the meeting decorum content from the public testimony section. We're going to make that its own separate section. And it would make sure that it's constrained to addressing only the testimony at public hearings or council action items, because that is a little bit different thing than when we're talking about general public comment. And general public comment does have its own section in Section 10. We're not touching that with these proposed revisions. It's just making sure that there's a clear delineation between those two types of public comments. The goal of this revision is to make sure that that separation is clear and that any testimony provided during public hearings and council action items is limited to the specific topic that's identified on the agenda. This would separate those and because public comment is only required to be relevant to the city. It's a much broader scope So the changes here simply is to add the word public when it comes to hearings just to make sure that we're being clear because we do have a public hearing section on our agenda as well as council action items and Then reference that restriction This proposal would also include a section 20 on meeting decorum. And there's three separate components we're going to talk about briefly. The first is establishing the expectations. This is a new section, but it retains some aspects of the current language. So the non-bold, non-underlined is existing language. The bold and underlined is new language. And it adds and revises to clarify those expectations. And you can consider these the guidelines of decorum. This is what we are asking people to do when it comes to making their public comment or being in the room. When you come to public meetings, there is a level of dignity and respect that we are asking people to follow. The second section in there would be subsection A, and that is regarding removal. And this is a new provision that would provide a process for doing so. Removal isn't just asking someone to leave the room. Removal would include cutting off a microphone. So silencing somebody if they are speaking or asking them to leave because they're being disruptive, that's what we would be calling removal. And one thing to note is that merely failing to follow the decorum expectations and the guidelines is not a on its own grounds for removal. And we'll talk about that in just a moment. But the process here would be that anyone who becomes disorderly, abusive, or disruptive would be asked to refrain from the conduct and warned that they could be removed if it continues. If it does continue, then the presiding officer would briefly consult with the city attorney. And we're not talking about having a lengthy discussion behind the scenes, more of a, looking at each other and saying no or yeah, go ahead, it's crossing a line. Just something to kind of back up whether or not the procedures have been violated. And then, if need be, we can have a person removed if simply cutting off the microphone is not sufficient. As noted in the third component we're going to talk about, removal would only be for disruptive conduct. And the proposal would, specifically describe what is disruptive conduct. So it would be anything that substantially obstructs the work or conduct of the business of the city council. So if city council is in the middle of a discussion and things get loud and interruptive and you have to stop doing business, that would be a substantial obstruction. Engaging in violent or threatening conduct such that a reasonable person exposed to or experiencing it could believe that they were in imminent danger of physical harm. Essentially, that rises to the level of a crime. That would be one where the chief and I would probably be looking at each other to see if we've got lines crossed there. Willful damage of furnishings or of the interior of the chambers or meeting facility or any other conduct that constitutes a crime under federal, state, or local laws. So those would be the grounds for why someone would have committed disruptive conduct that would be grounds for removal. It's not necessarily just, it's not the speech itself. It would be, especially if somebody's doing public comment, It wouldn't be what they are saying. It would be the conduct that rises to the level of being disruptive. That would be a grounds for removal. And then the final one, which I don't have a slide for, is just to renumber that last section of meetings to section 21. So our call to action tonight is at council's discretion. There's no cost to doing this. You can adopt the resolution, adopt it with amendments, not adopt it. We do recommend in order to, Ensure that we have procedures in place to address disruptive conduct We do recommend that council adopt the resolution and I do have a potential motion available for council Thank You Stephanie I'll bring it back to council for any questions, hopefully you guys are I Was pretty thorough.

So any question Rob?

Yeah, thanks Stephanie so section 20 There's an ambiguity. Well, maybe it's not an ambiguity. Maybe you intentionally wrote it this way, especially when we consider what happened at our last meeting. But in section 20, in the second to last line, it says persons in attendance at the meeting may address the council as one body during public testimony and public comment. So I would imagine that you intentionally did not use the word shall or must. You said may. Was that? Was that intentional, using the word may there? Yes. Okay, so that means that they do not have to address the council as one body. They could address the councilors individually. Is that accurate?

It is.

Okay, thank you.

Any further questions? Indra.

And then just to clarify, because everyone has different sensitivities. So you said whoever the presiding officer will look to you to get guidelines on if someone has crossed the line and you based on your expert legal knowledge would decide whether that line had been crossed.

Is that essentially whether or not, um, under first amendment law, whether it would be a supportable, uh, removal or not.

Okay.

It's basically providing legal advice to the presiding officer.

Okay. So yes. So it's not up to just the single person to decide. Thank you.

Any further questions? Kathleen.

So when we're talking about engaging in violent and threatening conduct, that doesn't, uh, speech is not included in that.

Correct. unless it's a verbal outright threat. If somebody says, I'm going to kill you, that would be an outright verbal threat.

But just- People have gotten smart in phrasing things in- Yes.

It's rare that you hear an actual straightforward threat like that. Normally it's agitated language, things like that where people feel threatened. Just because an individual feels threatened is not necessarily sufficient grounds. As noted here, it's reasonable person would believe that they were in imminent danger of physical harm. So reasonable person and imminent danger are the key components there.

Right. So even though, so but you will be taking that into consideration. Yes. That it could escalate. Yes.

Context matters.

Further questions? Joel?

So if I understand it correctly, the intent of the changes is not to suppress differing opinions or opinions that don't agree maybe with what actions even the council has taken. It only addresses the conduct and how those opinions are expressed. Is that correct?

That's correct. The goal is to make sure everybody understands what the rules are and that disruptive conduct is not acceptable

What what's being said and what's being conveyed is as long as it's being done in appropriate manner is acceptable And if I understand that correctly Stephanie Then Such conduct does not include disagreeing or presenting opposing viewpoints not by itself only if it's only if it's combined with some of the conduct that's

Listed on the screen.

Well, it's completely independent of that.

Okay, correct Yep, the words unless they rise to the level of this words themselves will not be considered disruptive unless it Qualifies as violent or threatening.

So just to be clear opposing opinions are not disruptive They're they're not public discourse.

Correct.

Okay Any further questions

All right, seeing none, thank you. And this is a resolution. So at this moment in time, is there anybody in the public that would like to express an opinion in regards to this council action item in opposition or in favor of this item? And we are talking about a resolution to amend our section 19 public testimony and meeting decorum section. You wanna weigh in on this? Step up to the microphone and you have, restate your name please, and you have three minutes.

I am your decorum hell. I can cuss at you, I can yell at you, I can point my finger at you, and I can name you. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it. And let's be real clear, my extended three minute times tonight is not about you violating my constitutional rights on the 15th last month. You have done this to retaliation tactic against thousands of other victims. You are not the boss. The people are. I am your boss. I never wanted to stand at this podium. I was forced to stand up for the thousands of constituents you scared into silence. I was forced here because protected speech, protected concern, redress of grievance were treated like misconduct instead of constitutional rights. And let's start with the truth. I already won my case to speak. I was given additional time because of your illegal actions. That time was not a favor. It was not permission. It was a correction for government misconduct. Government works for the people. Every elected official and every tax-paid employee in the room receives limited authority from the citizens they serve. The people are not beneath the government. The government is beneath the Constitution. and you're accountable to the people. But somewhere in this county and city, the basic structure got flipped upside down, claiming power over citizens while using public process to duly warn, silence, remove, label, punish, protected speech is crazy talk. That has continued disconnect of power in this room. The authority that was delegated by the people was not invented inside this building, and to duly warn me over criminal decorum rules for exercising constitutional rights is not public safety. To duly warn me for speaking the truth is not lawful enforcement. To duly warn me because my words bruised your fragile egos is not justice. That is retaliation wearing on name tag. That is decorum being converted into a criminal leash. I hope I don't ruin your name. Stephanie Nuttall called it prematurely cut off. I call it sanitized wordplay. My microphone was intentionally shut off and I was intentionally removed. That was not a timing issue. That was a viewpoint suppression dressed on decorum. I should never have to speak to the DA to defend constitutional rights already gave to me. This is how broken this process became. A citizen had to explain protected speech and the very system trying to criminalize it. Can you shut that off, please?

The Constitution does not protect only soft speech, polite speech.

Can you shut him up, Mr. Tal?

You are given parameters for your availability for speech on this.

The Constitution does not protect any soft speech, polite speech, convenient speech, speech approved by the public officials. It protects speech that challenges government power. If rights only exist when government likes the speaker, then they are not rights at all. In less than one year, I believe, a constitutionally protected activity was weaponized against me with the intent to permanently size a validated safety concern. Public comment, public records, record notices, safety complaints, and redress...

I'm going to go ahead and recess this meeting because you were given parameters or three minutes to speak and now you are disruptive.

I was invited here and given an extra three minutes.

Not in this portion. Not in this portion. We are going into recess. You can go ahead and stop.

The stocking order that did not fall out of the sky was manifested by people schooled in retaliation. Fed was to spulk narratives, scripted fear, and push through the course for what you could lawfully do yourself in silence. This is not justice. This is courtroom muzzle that is weaponized process pertaining to fee public safety. You could not answer the concern, so you attacked the speaker. You could not defeat the protestant speech, so you tried to re-label it. You could not erase the Constitution, so you attempted to bury it under police reports, trespass warnings, scripted alibis, and stalking orders designed to make me look dangerous. I don't feel safe. I'm just walking out. Get out. I'm talking to you. See, he cusses, too. Do I got to sniff like a crying little baby? The Constitution is not a pick-and-choose document. It is not a privilege for quiet citizens only. It is not a buffet line where public officials decide to get rights and who gets a criminal case delivered to the DA. My rights do not disappear because my words are public official uncomfortable, and this is better than me. I know too many people who are too afraid to speak out. I know people who fear for being ignored, labeled, punished, retaliated against, and telling the truth. That fear should shame every public official who took an oath to support the Constitution. Public officials should fear the Constitution more than the citizens for fear to figure it out. And when tax-paid officials coordinate, assist, encourage, or look the other way while protected rights are stripped from citizens, that is not personality in conflict. That is corruption under color of authority. You guys shut my mic off?

We're in recess. We're in recess. And we're going to bring this meeting back to order in less than 60 seconds. So if you want to get settled, we will start back up at 7-21. 7-21.

I apologize for jumping the gun. No, I don't care.

Anyway, he understands now why he was... Yeah, yeah, no, we can try to cut him off. No, I know.

Explain that to him in his freaking public comment if he sticks back to his public comment. It's like, we've got to understand. There's regulation. What the fuck am I supposed to do here if I'm not supposed to try to keep the... No, you did the right thing.

They...

it was nice to adjourn the meeting to just take a recess okay we're going to start the meeting up at 7 21 as i said um hopefully everybody's settled back in so we are in the middle of a council action item for resolution revising procedures of conduct of business by amending section 19 public testimony and adding new meeting decorum section and renumbering meeting minutes section We were in the middle of public comment. Is there anybody else in the public that wants to voice their opinion in favor or opposition of the council action item for this resolution at this moment in time?

Okay.

Up to the podium, it will be on this topic only. General public comment is later on in the meeting, so you can do whatever you want, but this needs to stay on topic. You have three minutes, and state your name, please.

Okay, Billy DeMota, Grants Pass Oregon. I just wanted to say thank you to Stephanie for your great motion, and I support it 100% because it doesn't infringe on free speech, because it doesn't infringe on the First Amendment, It doesn't infringe on any of the citizens in this town's ability to speak out and make their voices heard. What it does is it puts simple guidelines on behavior. And reasonable guidelines on behavior that have to do with safety, and have to do with decorum, and have to do with the well-being of as the woman said before, the we and not the me. So I appreciate what you did. I appreciate the motion. I support the motion. I hope it passes.

Thank you. We're still open for public comment. Anybody from the public want to weigh in on this council action item? State your name at the microphone and stick to topic, please.

Yes. I felt like my hearing was threatened. And I think that we should have a decibel limit to speaking to the council because being shouted at, you know, is not fun.

Thank you. Thank you. Any else from the public want to weigh in in regards to this council action item? Step up the microphone, state your name. You have three minutes and stick to the topic of this council action item.

Patrick Rooney, Josephine County. I basically agree, I think, with what you guys are trying to do. You're trying to establish some order here. I would only add that after what we just saw here, I don't understand, I think I've said this before, I don't understand why a lunatic like this guy is allowed to threaten people. I don't think he threatened anyone with words tonight. His actions and the decibel level that he spoke at was threatening. And to have to clear a room because some lunatic is here just doing whatever he wants is, to me, absolutely insane. And I don't want to knock the great work of the police department or anything like that, I have heard that this individual has threatened people before and nothing happens so we can do these things and I think they're great but if we do that but don't deal with the bigger elephant in the room here of actual threatening individuals and having some consequence to their threatening then I think it's merely a slap on the wrist and it's not not enough frankly thank you anybody else from the public want to weigh in on this council action item

All right seeing none we're going to bring it back to council for further deliberation and or action. Kathleen.

Yeah I guess I just want to reiterate also I don't think it's enough. I don't think it takes it far enough.

Anybody else for discussion and or action Rob.

So I think frankly the fact that nobody objected here to somebody calling someone else in the room a lunatic I think is a really interesting point, right? We're talking about decorum if Mr. Fitch or when he has come up here and screamed at people and called him a lunatic or whatever, well, we're all about what a bad guy he is for doing that. Somebody else says it because we happen to maybe like him more than maybe we like Mr. Fitch, we're okay with him calling him a lunatic. Well, keep that in mind. Free speech is free speech and it works both ways. And that's actually the biggest issue in the room is the First Amendment. I think that largely this just codifies what we generally have understood. And I actually think that in one way it actually gives whoever's at the podium morally way to exercise free speech. in the sense that what our council rules used to be was that the person at the podium wasn't supposed to mention any councillor by name, and that was just completely arbitrary and completely against someone's free speech rights. Now someone at the podium can actually say, gee, I think Councillor Pell did a terrible job. Well that's great for the councillors next to me because they don't have to worry about, no one was referring to them, they were referring to me specifically. So we've actually given somebody more free speech rights, I believe here, but we have basically just codified what we had agreed to, most of us had agreed to. But I also want to make it clear that I am very uncomfortable with members of the public being able to call somebody else in the room a lunatic and expecting us to remain calm and expecting no repercussions and no one else to yell back. Okay. Okay.

And I also... And I also... Okay, we're in the middle of discussion and can you... Our public comment portion is done, so we need to have decorum and silence from the audience so we can continue on.

Yeah. interesting point that again we break down again the same person who called someone else a lunatic not good in my opinion so I'm okay with passing this as it is there may be other shortcomings to it that we may find out in the future but to go much beyond this I think we would be completely trampling somebody's First Amendment rights and the fact that we don't happen to like that person or that they're too loud or that we don't like his message I think really doesn't doesn't apply here because the First Amendment is about protecting the speech that we don't like right speech we do like that's easy you know the speech we don't like is what's protected okay so I'm in favor of approving this the way it is I do have to clarify your statements there because there's nothing in this that is talking about whether people call people names or anything this is about keeping decorum and disruptive behavior within

So there is nothing in this resolution that you're talking about that has anything to do with stifling people's speech or verbiage. It is mainly centered around the decorum and the business order that happens during these public meetings and keeping distractions and disruptions at bay.

Are you responding to me?

I'm responding to you because you basically insinuated that we're trying to stifle public speech. That's exactly what I just heard come out of your mouth. Because I didn't shut one person off because he called somebody else. That person said the same exact thing. This resolution has nothing to do with what people actually say. That's my interpretation. Thank you. Further discussion. I have Indra, Victoria, and Joel. Indra?

Yes, I just like to say America is the greatest country on earth because we have freedom of speech in the Constitution and that freedom there's a high high bar so Even in a business not even a meeting you could be yelled at cussed at we all have different levels of tolerance for that I don't curse in my house or try not to, but some people do it. So it's not offensive to them, but it's offensive to me. So we have different levels of sensitivity. And so that's why it's a high bar. What bothers me might not bother Councilor Riker. And so there's a people have a right to vent. We make huge decisions regarding our community that affect people's lives. And you are We are your you're our boss. I mean, we represent you. So people have a right to address their grievances. And some people do it in, you know, a vulgar way, a loud way. And and we need to learn to deal with that. And I'm learning to deal with that. And so thank goodness we do have freedom of speech. This resolution only talks about how we will address if someone needs to be removed from the room. So that's mainly what the change is here. It's not changing the other things because a lot of it's subjective, abusive behavior, what's abusive to you or, you know, so there's a lot of kind of wishy-washy words in there and that's why there's a high bar. So I am for freedom of speech. I'm not obviously for violence or threatening, but that rises to a different level that I think we would all recognize.

Further discussion, Victoria and then Joel, Victoria.

Yeah, our meeting was recessed tonight and it was recessed due to meeting decorum. There was, I just want to vehemently disagree with what Rob said. There is a great deal of difference in the two behaviors and it has to do with that word decorum. It's in our potential motion. And I would like to point out that there were really adorable children who were going to come up and give these 50 cents. It's the Freezy Lemon, 50 cents off of one lemonade. And they were promoting their lemonade day that's going to happen this weekend. Adorable kids. They did it outside because our meeting decorum was disrupted. Me personally, I didn't care about any of the adults in the room, but I was looking at those two adorable little children, and their mother had to take them out of the room because of the behavior. So there is a great deal of difference when it comes to using your free speech to call someone a name that you believe to be accurate and doing it in a way that makes mothers take their children out of the room. So I am for the changes, but I just had to point out, I wanted to take the opportunity to help people come to the lemonade day. because those two children had their free speech rights limited this evening, that's my opinion, because the parents were taking them out because they didn't feel like their children were safe here. So there's a great deal of difference between the way you say something, and people should probably pay more attention to that. But again, I am for the changes, and I'd just like to go ahead to make a potential motion TO MOVE TO ADOPT THE RESOLUTION REVISING THE PROCEDURES FOR CONDUCT OF BUSINESS BY AMENDING SECTION 19 PUBLIC TESTIMONY ADDING A NEW MEETING DECORUM SECTION AND RENUMBERING THE MEETING MINUTES SECTION.

WE HAVE A MOTION ON THE TABLE TO ADOPT THE RESOLUTION AS STATED. IS THERE A SECOND ON THAT? Second from Rob we are going to continue with discussion because there's people on the list But I just needed to get procedure through so there is a motion on the table to approve the resolution as stated with a second continuing discussion Joel It's been said with truth that civilization is a thin veneer over a lot of Raw things

And without such decorum, the chief knows that. Our speakers know that. And without proper decorum, it intimidates some of our citizens from wanting to participate, which probably isn't appropriate. And they may have dissenting opinions that we need to hear. And so, you know for those folks that are coming, please continue to come express your opinion And we'll hear it We won't always agree with what's being said by any of you. I hope you don't agree with everything I say because that could be dangerous And we move forward but I don't think we want to remove that veneer of civilization from our meetings. I

All right, we have a motion on the table to approve the resolution as stated with a second. Is there any further deliberation? Yes, Indra.

I would just like to add that decorum and dignity and respect starts with us up here on the dais. And so I would really like to see counselors treat each other with dignity and respect. And that means some counselors not calling other ones horrible people or gross behind their back or calling them an idiot. So I think we need to start up here Yeah, you can smile. We need to start up here with being professional, treating each other with dignity and respect, and saying what we want to say. We have freedom of speech, but not being derogatory towards each other. We can all be professional, and we can all get our points across in a respectful manner to one another. Thank you.

we have a motion on the table to approve the resolution as stated uh with the second any further discussion all right going to a vote uh victoria made the motion how do you vote yes um kathleen no um rob yes uh joel yes seth yes indra yes and rick yes all right motion passes so the amendment of our procedures has passed thank you very much for your participation all right Next on the agenda is public comment, general public comment. This is an opportunity for the public to address the city council on items not related to a public hearing or council action item during tonight's public meeting agenda. The intent is to receive information that is pertinent to matters within the city's jurisdiction. Each speaker is given three minutes to address the council as one body, not two individuals. At the conclusion of the public comment, council will have an opportunity to respond. Public comment will proceed in an effective and courteous manner. Citizens and council members may state their opinions without disruption. Threatening conduct, violations of law, signs or placards, outbursts of applause, campaigning for public office or other disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Individuals who engage in disruptive conduct will be warned before their microphone is silenced and they will be asked to leave the council chambers. If you have a question regarding any government, Provided service or a currency policy, please contact the city manager's office in an attempt to resolve the matter So we have a list I have a questions first for you Aaron or Stephanie.

Okay, so it's my understanding and correct me if I'm wrong anybody that Fitch was Promised an extra three minutes tonight because he got cut off last time and again correct me if I'm wrong. I wasn't at the last meeting and And it appeared to me that he thought he was gonna get his extra three minutes commenting about that issue, and it appeared as if the staff thought otherwise. So before we get started and Fitch comes up for what's supposed to be normally three minutes, are we offering him six minutes, Stephanie, or three minutes, or can you basically give us the expectation that you offered to him and maybe what his expectation would be at this point because I think he believed he was getting his extra three minutes prior and everyone else was so upset about that. So can somebody explain exactly what our expectation is here?

YEAH I WOULD IF YOU'D GIVE HAVE A LITTLE TINY BIT OF PATIENCE AND ALLOW ME TO ACTUALLY PROCEED FORWARD WITH THIS MEETING BECAUSE THERE WILL BE AN OPPORTUNITY AND IT WILL BE EXPLAINED IN A FEW SECONDS ALL RIGHT I'M GOING TO EXPLAIN IT AS I AM GOING TO PROCEED FORWARD We are in the middle of public comment. I've given the disclaimer. We have a list of public comment people. At this moment in time, I would like to publicly apologize to Mr. Fitch for cutting his public comment time short at our last meeting. We acted prematurely without ensuring it was consistent with our city policies. A little bit of misunderstanding on my side, a little bit of misunderstanding on the staff. I would like to invite Fitch back to the podium at this moment in time during general public comment and allow him to reiterate his three minutes from last week and then give him an additional three minutes as he's put in a public comment request card. So at this time, Mr. Fitch, if you would take presence at the podium, you can continue your speech from last week and then you can proceed forward with your this week's request for three minutes. And I do apologize if there was a misunderstanding earlier. We were in the middle of a council action item.

I'll accept that as responsibility. And it's all about accountability here, gentlemen, ladies. Appreciate your comment. I appreciate your comment, pal. I don't give a crap about your feelings. I don't give a crap about the audience feelings being feared for their life. I don't care about your children's children's unborn children feared for their lives. I can cuss, I can yell, I can direct my comment to any dang one of you, and I can even turn my back to these individuals that don't know the Constitution. If you don't know the Constitution, you don't deserve to sit in those chairs, you don't deserve to sit in these chairs. You are an embarrassment to the Constitution. And Eric Schlegel is an embarrassment to being a Marine, a Marine that has his lady balls, sit there worried that he's feared for his life, that I said something here in public comment, that he had to go through a social media to find a bullet that was sent to me by David Daniels' employee with my name on it, nobody else's. So your fabricated fear and your BS that you threw at me the past two years, is coming to an end. You're gonna listen to the boss. I am your boss. You don't have any right to cut my mic off. You don't have any right to say this, that, and the other thing. If I'm elevated, it's because you pissed me off.

Next time I'll be calm.

Thank you. All right. Next participant. Participant in tonight's general public comment is Martin Tice.

I'll go up first.

Oh, sorry. It's okay.

I thought we had this in the right order. They wanted me to go in a certain rotation. No problem.

If you would restate your name, sir, tell us where you live, and then you'll have three minutes. Thank you.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I am TJ Tice. I'm from 1947 Portola Drive. Today I'm here regarding a vehicle crime that ravaged through our neighborhood. on July 15th by Anthony Jacob Yates. I sent this whole panel an email earlier today that showed all the crime scene photos and the destruction that took place on our quiet little street that the DA is trying to dismiss as a car accident. Yates' so-called accident started at Riverside Elementary where he barreled down Harvey Lane straight into some trash bins and sending them airborne. Did he stop? No. Next, he crashed into a Chevy Silverado with his parking brake on and shoved it 120 feet across the street into my neighbor's yacht fence. He did not stop. He continued full speed ahead, blasted through three more fences and three more people's properties. He did not stop. This is a hit and run at this point, a serious crime. He continued on. Next, he jumped into my driveway, like literally jumped. He drove through the west wall of my detached garage, tearing a huge hole in it. clipping my Mustang on the side, spinning it 90 degrees. And then he damaged my antique Jeep that was also parked inside. He destroyed the whole building's foundation from the east wall to the west wall, and the only thing that stopped him was when his van got wedged in between my Mustang and the east wall. Under normal car accident circumstances, a wrongdoer will stop after the first impact, but not Anthony Yates. Yates was driving on a suspended license with no proof of insurance and showed signs of intoxication from a school. So I went to the DA's office and unfortunately got a clerk who told us that the whole case was dismissed by Lisa Turner. How is a hole in my garage and four wrecked vehicles on the scene a lack of evidence? And at what point is a car accident accident become a car crime. So Yates reportedly had a .01 alcohol level, despite having two open bottles in his front seat. This does not excuse anything. How many hours later was this test done? Was he excused? He could have sobered up. Let's suppose Yates was sober during this entire massacre. This would mean his actions were intentional, not accidental. Yesterday, we learned that because the DA dismissed the case without any charges, the toxicology report is now canceled. And Yates is free to do this again. What RDA considers an accident I see as crimes of vandalism, reckless endangerment of another person, open alcohol containers, excessive speeding, hit and run, trespassing, breaking and entering, driving impaired, and first degree criminal mischief. Records show that this is not Yates' first rodeo. He has an extensive arrest history. So how many second chances does Mr. Yates get before he kills one of us? Thank you.

Thank you. Next up, Martin Tice. Go ahead and restate your name and you have three minutes.

Martin Tice. I wanted him to go first to kind of explain what had happened in case you hadn't had a chance to see it. It was a pretty amazing event there. I'm here to try to raise awareness of the public of a problem that I see. The police probably understand it. The perpetrator, Yates, was arrested and charged by the police, but the charges were dropped. I suspect that happens more often than we want to agree to. We received a report in the police blotter in the paper. It says these people were arrested, yada, yada, and you assume that there are consequences. Well, he was released from jail shortly after he was arrested. committed another crime within 24 hours. He has no consequences. It's not going to change. So we as a people need to do something to change our policy between the police and the district attorney as far as prosecuting these cases. My neighbor, Dr. Barry Hammond, asked me to Read this to you. It's a letter he sent to me. He says, I am very disturbed if it is indeed true that the DA will not be pursuing any charges against Anthony Jacob Yates and has dropped all charges related to the damages caused to me and my neighbor's property related to his recent intoxicated state, which started at Riverside Elementary School. He has had prior charges for driving under the influence as well as a theft charge since the accident, as I mentioned. documented in the public record. The police officer on the scene specifically said that he had seen fatalities in situations far less extreme than this case. This unlicensed and uninsured driver is clearly a threat to public safety. It is completely irresponsible for the DA office not to pursue charges in this case. Do we have to wait for a vehicular manslaughter to occur before justice is served? It is not an exaggeration to predict that the next time the outcome of his actions will lead to the death of himself or a fellow citizen. In my estimation as a medical doctor, it is likely that his intoxication and erratic rampage was due to more than just alcohol. I have been told that a toxicology evaluation will not be done if the charges are dropped. If this is indeed the case, a great injustice is being done to the citizens of Josephine County and the competency of our local Justice Department is in question. Thank you.

Thank you, Martin. All right. Billy?

He's gone.

He's gone? Okay. I apologize. We're so long in the tooth that he wasn't able to speak. Looks like he wanted to speak on the same topic as you guys. Okay. I met you earlier, but I'm going to butcher your name. What was your first name again? You? Yep. Miss Hill? Suzanne. Suzanne. Suzanne. It doesn't look like Suzanne. It doesn't look like Suzanne. I'm sorry. Suzanne.

What's it look like?

Yes. Really? I'm sorry. It's my fault. I apologize. Could you restate your name for us? And then you have three minutes, ma'am. And then if you want to put the microphone a little bit in front of your face, then we can hear you better. Thank you.

Yeah. Go ahead. My name is Suzanne Hill. I live on the corner of Long Bridge and Midland. And I really don't want to be here, but I'm here because I'm desperate. I mean, really desperate. My anxiety is over the roof. I live in a 100-year-old, beautiful, iconic Grants Pass home. Approximately two and a half months ago, I filed a complaint at the police department against the property owner for neglect negligent fire. I wrote this, I scribbled it before I came here because I know my brain would, you know, be emptied out. So anyway, bear with me. Um, anyway, there was a grass and weeds growing seven feet high all around my three bordering fence lines on my property from this three and a half acre parcel. And so that was two and a half months ago. Okay, since then I have spoken to two officers, one at the site of this property who was investigating a homeless person camping in the bushes. And two weeks ago I spoke with an officer on the phone and was told bids have gone out. Really? This is two and a half months later. I have neighbors also who have complained about this. Okay. So transients park and sleep along Washington and they hang out in the old park and do their drugs. About a month ago or a little over, a trash can caught on fire. I'm not the only one. Okay. So. Um, well, I'm only here because I want everybody to know why isn't the city taking care of this? Why? Two and a half months, hot, dry. Everybody drives by there. They see it. The fire department's two blocks up. They drive by, they see it. I've had so many policemen around because of Ogle Park. And the transients. Thank you. I'm not done.

You have three minutes, ma'am, and your three minutes is up.

Well.

Thank you for your participation.

As of this date, it is negligence on the part of the City of Grants Pass.

Thank you. Next up, Dale. Wow.

Dale Aldridge, Grants Pass. Realize it's been over four years I've been coming to this council meeting, and boy have we made some progress. You know, when they moved the transient people over to the J Street, what a disaster. Neighbors, businesses, crazy. Then you move to downtown, worse than I've ever seen. Zombies walking around downtown. Then you get this brilliant idea to move it down to Parker's place. And I tell you what, I had everybody telling me, it ain't going to work. They're going to run that near. Go down there now. It is beautiful. The police have just stepped up to the point that I cannot believe. I mean, I've had people two minutes there for someone that is higher than a kite. You know, I mean, it's just amazing. The parking lot at the frog parking lot there. I know you guys know this, but the public doesn't know. There's five businesses there. Four are owned by women and they turn around and cleared the parking lot. There is no place to hide. There is not a place in that parking lot where a drug deal can't be made, where it won't be on our cameras or your camera. Awesome. They have gotten the word. Across the street, there was no signs up. And then suddenly they put one sign up saying you can't lay on that little greens patch between. Now there's four signs. Nobody parks there. And then the businesses up the road, they gave up. They stopped reporting. They just said, I can't get this. I said, call it in. Now they're calling it in. It's becoming a beautiful part of town. Chief, your guys need to be Medals on every one of them. They have really stepped up the whole process. It is amazing, and I'm just, I cannot believe how many times I've been up here yelling and screaming, and now I'm just happy as can be. We have a beautiful business that we celebrated five years, and these people are respecting that we're good neighbors. Bernie and I talk on text all the time. I get their supervisors or their managers, whatever, the guys in the yellow shirts. They come down there. How are you doing? What can we do? Eventually, they're going to come to our cleanups. And we're actually doing three cleanups a week now, only because of the intensity of the people. I can't believe people are yelling at us for filming a drug deal or drug person in the park. We get bashed on that. And then I got, the biggest one was, oh, those ODs, they're not deaths, they're just near deaths. I said, no, they're deaths. My wife lost her brother to overdoses, to addiction. My brother-in-law died two years ago from a 30-year heroin act. The drugs are affecting everybody. But thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. All right. Rika Brown, you're up.

Rika Brown, Grants Pass. Saturday afternoon, we had fire climbing up Beacon Hill. One house burned. It stopped at the first ridge top, thanks to the work of our firefighters. On Sunday, 600 homes and structures burned in Spokane, Washington. MSN wrote, the fires exploded in size over the weekend amid strong winds, hot temperatures and critically dry conditions. Strong winds and hot temperatures are caused by critically dry conditions. Fires like these have been far too common in recent decades. Up to the mid-80s, fires didn't start anywhere near cities because cities were being watered by sprinklers every weekend of the growing season. We are told sprinklers evaporate half of what they throw before it reaches the ground. I heard that in landscape management in 2001, and it is true in most cases. Air also evaporates any water that doesn't soak into the ground, plants, fences, sidewalks, and streets. This does not waste water. It is used for beneficial purposes. It cools the area being watered. Water vapor rises up to cloud level and makes clouds and rain. It spreads sideways as well, humidifying the area around cities, farms, and gardens. With every city, farm, and resident watering with sprinklers, every city was protected from wildfires, which happened only way out in the wilderness. In 1985, we had thunderstorms nearly every weekend of that summer. The exceptions were when people didn't water because they thought it would rain. On the other hand, in 1986, we were told before it happened that we were headed into drought, so don't water your lawn or wash your cars. That summer, we had 103 days without rain. If we had been watering as usual, we would have had rain regardless. We never heard of dried lightning storms causing fires near cities in Oregon in those days. We didn't hear about cities being torched by firebugs. Gravity winds were mild or non-existent. I remember one such wind event in Tillamook, Oregon in mid-winter. We had a foot of snow that melted away overnight, causing flooding in the flat land.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Patrick Rooney.

Hello again. Patrick Rooney, Josephine County. I was going to talk about something else, but I just wanted to answer one of the, a couple of the council people made, were commenting on free speech. The council members, you know, you guys own businesses. If I was to go into your business and maybe I was having a conversation with someone and called somebody a name or something like that or stated exactly what they were or what they were doing, it probably wouldn't be a big deal. But if I came in there and yelled at the top of my lungs and was someone known to have made threatening comments to people with nothing really being done about it, and then clears a council room, has to be leaving with kids in here. This is not about the First Amendment. People can stretch the First Amendment to be whatever it wants to be, but it should at least start with common decency. If you have to clear a room because young kids, they shouldn't have to be subjected to hearing anybody speak out at the top of their lungs and be cursing and things like that. I mean, I think a lot of you probably know that the quote from, I think it was John Adams, who said that our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. As soon as we lose that, you know, we're toast. So I know that in your business, you wouldn't want this guy to come in and act like a crazy man. I'm sorry I said a bad word. or act inappropriately, or, you know, I know you have a business as well, counselor, and I know you guys. I think you guys are decent people. I have nothing against you, but I think if they went into your business and did that, you would rightfully want to get them the hell out of there. So I think we have to make distinctions here, and I just think it's kind of obscene what happened with this man and treating him with kid gloves. And I think it's indicative, as much as the hard work that's being done, and the police has been doing great with Parker's place and all that, but it does worry me that this kind of attitude is what has created a lot of the problems that we have to begin with, where we have a slap on the wrist kind of idea when people over and over and over again show themselves that they shouldn't be out in public, but yet they're let back out on the street over and over and over, and it's really, really disgusting. We have a great city. We have a lot to be proud of. You guys do some great work, but I think we need to close some of these loopholes here and get real about some of the serious things that are going on and some of the serious behavior. At some point, we have to call it what it is and take the actions necessary, and if we're not doing that, I think we're kidding ourselves. Thank you, guys.

Thank you, Patrick. All right. Bradley Jackson? Bradley? All right. Holly Christensen? Holly? All right. That is all the blue cards I have for tonight. So thank you very much for your participation in general public comment. Next on our agenda is the consent agenda. Can I get that put on the screen, please? All right, we have a consent agenda. ITEMS A THROUGH Q. DO I HAVE A COUNSELOR THAT WOULD LIKE TO READ OFF THE CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS FOR TONIGHT? ROB SAID HE CAN DO IT. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, ROB.

item a resolution authorizing city manager to enter into a contract for FY 27 overlays project number TR 6372 a resolution authorizing city manager to enter into a contract for the water restoration plant waste scale installation project number WA 6447 c resolution authorizing city manager to enter into a memorandum understanding with adapt integrated health care d resolution amending the comprehensive fee schedule for parks fees downtown all plaza fees and other revisions e motion approving the minutes of the city council meeting of july 15 2026 f motion approving the minutes of the city council special meeting of july 22nd 2026 G motion acknowledging the minutes of the bikeways and walkways committee meeting of June 9th 2026 H motion acknowledging the minutes of the tourism Advisory Committee meeting of June 2nd 2026 I motion acknowledging the minutes of the urban area planning commission meeting of june 24th 2026 j motion acknowledging the minutes of the development code review task force meeting of may 21st 2026 k motion acknowledging the minutes of the small business task force meeting of may 13th 2026 i l Motion acknowledging the minutes of the Small Business Task Force meeting of May 26th. M, motion acknowledging the minutes of the Small Business Task Force meeting of June 24th, 2026. N, motion acknowledging the minutes of the Tourism Advisory Committee meeting of June 2nd, 2026. O, motion acknowledging the minutes of the Committee on Public Art meeting of June 9th, 2026. P, motion acknowledging the minutes of the Urban Tree Advisory Committee meeting of June 8, 2026. And Q, motion acknowledging the minutes of the Parks Advisory Committee meeting of June 11, 2026. And I make a motion to approve all those.

Thank you. There's a motion on the dais to approve the consent agenda as read, with a second from Seth. Any further discussion? All right. Rob, how do you vote? Yes. Kathleen? Yes. Victoria? Yes. Rick? Yes. Indra?

Yes. Seth? Yes. Joel? Yes.

The same agenda passes. Thank you very much. Next on our agenda is matters for mayor, council, and staff. Bring it back to the council. Is there any matters that the council members would like to bring up at this moment in time? Just start down the list here. Rob?

Yeah, a couple things. So I've got, I guess, a question for staff. The woman, Suzanne, who came to the mic today, I mean, I've passed by her property and that lot, and I'm sure that our fire chief has seen that lot. unbelievably potentially hazardous situation thick as could be dry as could be etc etc and I she wasn't overstating it one cigarette and her house could be gone so I'm just wondering what can the city do in a situation like that not to cite the property owner and wait for them to get in line what can we do to take care of that like right away

Appreciate that counselor on the in the context of the law I can't go on to private property and just do what I want in terms of How they're taking care of their house and the perfect example is this is the defensible space grant that we have I can't just go on there and say you need defensible space and then utilize even that with that grant money to Adjust certain things to make it safer so without that owner taking the time to partner with us then there's unfortunately there's nothing that i can do with that and um under the immunity code and stuff though there is there is ordinances and stuff that can be handled through the police department and their team but that's only so far and i'll let the chief speak on that

Yeah, counselor you bring up a good point. I'm actually gave myself a note to check on it tomorrow And I I have a lot of these that I have to check on we're really really really busy our CSOs are here tonight They do a lot of what we call notices of violation And there's a civil process before you can do an abatement on somebody's property. You just can't go on somebody's property I was recently asked a question about going on somebody's property to clean it up and Technically it's trespassing and you have similar civil issues. You just can't do it. So we follow the process We typically issue a notice of violation give folks time That's called the gentle push to fix it without providing a citation I'll do some research tomorrow and see what we can do Didn't we have a situation on Lincoln Road where you guys took care of something fairly quickly with a similar situation?

But it wasn't as dry as it is now we weren't in the fire season yet But you guys took care of that like a day, right?

I'm not your counselor.

I take your word for it.

If you say we did, we did.

We do a lot of really good work. So we probably do get out there really quick sometimes. And other times I'm not out there to assess why something might happen quicker than another incident. So I'll take a look at it. Worst case situation.

Because we can all agree that that's just an incredibly dangerous lot, just looking at it. Worst case situation, if we cited them, cited the owner, like how long could that take to force action?

You can cite an owner. They don't have to do anything at all. So if the homeowner doesn't want to do anything at all, we have to go through an abatement process to get onto their property legally to cut the grass.

I don't believe there's any home on that lot, but I could be wrong. I can't see it.

Whoever the owner is. So there is a process. I'm good at following up, and I think you all know I answer my emails almost immediately, and I'll check this out tomorrow. I've already taken note. I think it's Ms. Hill is her name, and we'll try to get to the bottom of it.

We'll send we'll send counsel an update on that specific case I want to reiterate to like every time that we put in or complain or something comes in PD Continues to work with us in this as fast as possible because this isn't just a one-house incident This happens all the time and we work together seamlessly to make this as fast as we can within the law the confines of the law and

Yeah, I appreciate that. And for people that haven't, you guys have seen that a lot. That's not a common situation. That's one of the most extreme situations I've seen inside city limits. And when we watch our hillsides burn, obviously, you can see why this woman might be really upset and anyone who lives anywhere near her. So anything you can do to expedite it.

And there was a situation previously about a year ago where there was neighborhood complaint about an abandoned building on a piece of property. And I actually worked with Bradley in regards to notifying that landowner of, you know, basically to kind of bring it to his attention that there was one of his abandoned buildings on his property was being used as kind of a drug house and all that stuff. And that was very effective because that homeowner or that landowner who wasn't RESIDING HERE DIDN'T ACTUALLY EVEN KNOW, SO THAT COULD BE ANOTHER COURSE OF ACTION THAT WE COULD WORK WITH PLANNING TO REACH OUT TO THAT HOMEOWNER AND JUST HAVE THEM AWARE. SO THAT'S ANOTHER COURSE OF ACTION WE CAN DO. BUT AS WELL AS I HAD A CONVERSATION WITH SUSAN EARLIER TODAY, AND I BASICALLY GAVE HER MY CARD AS WELL AS AARON'S CARD AND ASKED TO FOLLOW UP WITH HER TO MAKE SURE THAT SHE WAS BEING ATTENDED TO. KATHLEEN.

Yeah. We hear you loud and clear about what the DA is not doing. We are equally probably discouraged that not more is done. Don't know exactly why, but I want to tell you from the city's standpoint that we have made a request with the state to repeal SB 48, which is the catch and release law. AND THIS GIVES US ALL THE MORE REASON TO ADD A MUNICIPAL COURT. SO THERE ARE DIFFERENT ASPECTS THAT THE CITY IS WORKING ON, AND I'M SORRY THAT THIS HAS HAPPENED TO YOU. I'M SURE YOU'RE NOT AN ISOLATED INCIDENT, AND THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS TO OUR ATTENTION, PERSONALLY AND LIVE. I wanted to talk about some meeting minutes from the AMPAC meeting, which is the Addictions Mental Health Public Health Advisory Committee. I was at their meeting, and it sounds like they are enlisting. Most of the agencies there are enlisting their mobile crisis 24-7 to get to Parker's Place and connect with the residents there and get them make them aware of the resources and to get them assessed and signed up for services. So I think they are working to with Mint to get this done which was really encouraging to hear you know on track and choices and a lot of the services that are and mental health that need to be there. They also reported that they wanted to invite Bernie to speak at their next meeting and talk to them about how he sees things and how they can better work together. The prevention and treatment services have applications in for the opiate funding and HIV Alliance is getting money from that. Mental health is getting money from the opiate funding and Grants Path Sobering Center. Also, I think OnTrack, which is now called Continuum, behavioral health not on track anymore. So that's just a little update from that committee. And then we did have a committee meeting with the homeless oversight which Seth can add to this. By mart did the manager from by mart did say that they're having a lot of car campers in their back parking lot hanging out in the lot and doing things that are not permitted in the shelter. So that has been brought to everybody's attention. Bernie said he's aware of that and he's putting his supervisors on note to keep extra watch there. They have housed now 124 people. They've had six people placed in drug treatment so far. They've had to remove a couple of residents for stealing, such as at Bi-Mart. or doing drugs and alcohol on the property. I guess eight people have gotten housed. Bernie is working on the pallet shelter to house the rest of the 20 to 30 people for phase four opening. A captain that comes to the meeting from the police, De Kruger, thank you. Captain de Kruger said that every morning the police have a briefing in the mornings to attend to the things at Parker's Place, so that's really encouraging. We're really happy to hear about the cleanup of the vegetation in the frog lot and with the cameras. Trash is a big concern, but it's being addressed. Their enlistment, I guess, is hiring concierge services for searching through possessions and having nighttime oversight of Elk Island. Cameras are going in, and they named the person that is putting them in. As of August 1st, Mint is supposedly taking over Elk Island operations, and Bernie is moving on to other projects. Let's see. Do you want to add anything, Seth?

I think the only thing I was going to add is that they did open the remaining beds, I think, was it today? I think it was this morning I saw. So, and I was actually curious if I can, I don't know who can answer this, but is there a timeline on the Seventh Street camp and what the next step is there?

Yeah, it'll be closed on Friday.

Okay, cool.

All right, Victoria.

Yeah, I think we all had from the people who spoke tonight a lot of the same things to talk about. So Mike, I was wondering as they were speaking about the, this terrible incident that happened on their property if, and I don't know if you can answer this, but I was thinking as they were talking, would a municipal court have helped that? Would there have been any recourse for those people to go there? I don't know. That was what I was wondering and that's what I was going to ask.

Maybe, it depends. Maybe. This was, there was a lot that happened with this case. I'm as surprised as the homeowners, frankly. I did get a briefing on this earlier today, and I'm disappointed. But without knowing all of the details, there's only certain things a municipal court can deal with. Property damage at that level, probably not. There was houses, fences destroyed. A lot of destruction. And then there was a Dewey involved so we could do the Dewey side of it depending. So there's yeses and there's noes within my answer is my point. But I'll end with saying I'm also disappointed.

DIRECTOR RIVERA- Thank you. Thank you for speaking about that. And so and I'm really glad to hear. Thank you for when you said you were writing down the Suzanne's concern. because I know you guys do do do that. So thank you for that as well. And then the last thing that I was going to say before the other people in the public spoke was just thank you again to the fire and police for the second fire in a row that you just protected our town from. It's amazing work that you do and we are so lucky to have you. And so I just wanted to lend my appreciation and thanks for that fire down at Tom Pierce. I don't know if how involved, I don't know any of the parameters but I imagine you were all involved with it so thank you.

Any other councillors? Indra and then Seth, Indra.

I'll just go through these really quickly. as you are, Chief, horrified with this Yates incident. And is there anything we as the city or council can do to encourage the DA to press charges or turn that around? Is there anything?

So I certainly can't speak for the DA's office regarding their charging decisions and their matrix and their rules and policies and procedures. But I did encourage one of the homeowners that he should reach out to the DA. He's a good man and just talk to him. There could be specific reasons as to why they didn't file that I'm not familiar with. Case law is a monster these days. The Oregon rules and case law and Supreme Courts and Oregon Supreme Courts and DUI laws, it's very, very tricky and cumbersome. So there may be some things in there that even I'm not familiar with regarding their decision matrix But I did recommend that they reach out to our DA who is a in my opinion a good man and We'll talk to them.

We'll talk to them about the process Thank you, because just let us know if there's anything we can do as a council because It could have been a fatality could have killed a child or an adult and and we don't obviously know We want prevention, not just reaction all the time. Suzanne, so my concern with that is going forward, but also she said two and a half months. So specifically, have we already contacted the homeowner? Where are we in that process? And why did it take so long?

Yeah, I don't know exactly where we're at in the process. What I think I heard from the homeowner is it sounds like she might have spoken with a community service officer who may have, and I'm speculating because I don't know, but I'm just thinking the process. He or she has probably reached out to a vendor to cut the grass, cut the weeds back. We don't have the equipment just to run in there and do it. So we have to outreach a vendor and we use solid waste dollars to mitigate

those types of properties so I don't know the ins and outs I apologize but I will look into it tomorrow and we'll we'll figure out seems like if there's an agreeable homeowner and it gets done for free for them they would be all for it and we could have done it much more quickly thank you for for getting on that and letting us know

No, I don't think you do.

Kathleen, I just wanted to thank you for that thorough report. That was really good to hear. And I'm very happy that Dell is happy. So that was awesome to hear. Patrick, so I wanted to address that. Yes, as business owners, they do. They come in and vent. And sometimes people just need to vent. And you just need to listen. They just want to know that you're listening to them. So that does happen. And we'll just go from here. But I feel like we're going to be doing better. Thank you.

Seth.

Yeah, I just have two quick things. Uh, I did a ride along last Wednesday night, uh, cause I originally thought we had a council meeting, so it worked out. Um, and it was great actually. I think we're out there until midnight. Um, and I think we arrested five people in that time span. Um, so we were, we were going all over town. So I just want to give a shout out to, um, the police for that and all the hard work they're doing. And there's a lot going on out there, especially in the summertime and at night. But you know, most of it was, none of it was really around Parker's Place. We did go down to Tussing at one point, but it was good. And you know, a lot of drug related arrests and things like that. So I just want to give a shout out there. And then secondly, I just want to give a public shout out. I may have gotten brought up at a council meeting in the past, but the Parkway Fire Station needed to be repainted. And so some community local businesses and nonprofits stepped up. So I just wanted to shout out, uh, Sherwin Williams. I think they obviously put it together and donated some of the paint, um, good neighbor painting grants, past painting, legendary painting, and you turn for Christ painting. Um, they all showed up, I think it was a month or so ago. Jimmy might be able to speak on it more. Um, but, uh, yeah, I just wanna give a shout out to them. I think they finished most of it, uh, but they're gonna come back. Um, and so, you know, this is just, they're donating this back to the community.

I can add to that right now if you like.

Sure, go ahead, sir.

They did a fantastic job. They all came out together. Steven Edwards from Grants Pass Painting, John, Good Neighbor Painting employees, Elizabeth Randall, Shawn Temple, Legendary Painting, U-Turn for Christ brought a whole team out on a bus. which was awesome, Michael Anderson, plus Jaylee Trulio. If I'm saying your name wrong, I'm sorry. And then John Valentine, Hannah brought her husband from Sherman Williams, too, and put him to work. They did an amazing job. They actually left paint there for us, too, to touch up. And they did all this in a day. We fed them. We got to hang out with them a little bit. and they came and did it completely volunteered. They brought all the equipment, the ladders, the spray guns, everything, and it was an amazing job. And it was a community partnership that they reached out and we were able to work together. So we thank them. There's gonna be some pictures coming soon with everybody too, to just recognize them and all their hard work that they did.

Thank you. Any other counselors? Seth, and then Joel.

I'll take my two minutes, hopefully less. First off, the decorum associated with that is no different than the decorum in our meetings. It's no different than the decorum of taking care of the fuels around your house. It's a community culture that we need to encourage. And it's a very powerful one. It doesn't have to be negative that culture is, and it isn't just these meetings. We're an example as leaders of the community that the rest of the community looks at. So we need to make sure we give them a good example and there's wonderful things that happen. The other quick thing is I've administered a lot of wildfires in my career. I don't know, probably, and some of them big, like the Biscuit Fire, Silver Fire, a lot of lightning strikes. But anyway, this town can burn down. And I think everybody saw evidence of that last week. So don't be surprised by that. Public I don't know where the camera is but Take care of your house take care of your neighbor have a good Process that you not only respect yourself and your own belongings with your neighbor and that Community sense of community that we're talking about here at our meetings applies to how you take care of your house and your neighborhood and And it will happen already. I mean, it's happened in Paradise. It's happened in Talent. All we needed was a different weather condition. The chief will tell you if we had a different weather condition when that happened. Hopefully people can be in control, but I've been having a lot of fires where I wasn't in control of what happened because of the weather. So be prepared and don't be surprised.

Thank you. Seth?

Yeah, I forgot. Last thing I'll say is we had Cruise the Rogue a couple weekends ago. It was a successful event for year one. We had, I don't know, 350-ish cars, I think, that registered. The long table dinner that we held on Thursday night, we raised some money. And so Monday at our board meeting, we gave $2,500 to the Children's Advocacy Center, and we're also donating another $2,500 to the Grand Spouse Marching Band for helping out. on that long table dinner because I think they had 60 volunteers or something crazy like that. So yeah, great event. Dennis Collins came to town. He put a YouTube video together as well. And I think that got shared out. So just all around a good event for Grants Pass.

Yeah, the videos upwards of 400,000 views at this moment in time. Um, the wild thing is if you do get a chance to look at the Dennis Collins, uh, coffee walk, I think is what it's called. Um, he does. I mean, he just promotes grants pastor the whole video. It's just absolutely crazy. So. we might get a huge influx of tourism and new citizens because of it, because it was just amazing how much he promoted our city and how much he loved it. So, and he was not shy about talking about it on camera. Cool, okay. I'm gonna finish up here with some items. I want to apologize if anybody felt that I offended them tonight in my conversations about our last council action item. I just really wanted to reiterate that we were not talking about free speech or anything like that. We were talking more about decorum. My job as the mayor is to uphold the decorum within this, these chambers. There are procedures and regulations that we have set forth that I am acting upon to keep everybody safe and keep business meetings progressing in an efficient undisruptive manner. So, Our public meetings are set forth to do business. Each council action item resolution, public hearing, everything, ordinances are set forth with public weighing in, providing opinion before the council actually discusses or makes a decision on any council action items. So we are very transparent to the public. The public is involved in every single action that we do before you guys actually vote on that or even discuss that action item. So that is our public comment is very robust in that aspect. What we deal with at the end of our meetings is what we call general public comment. Now that public comment is not related to the council action items that you guys were voting on that specific night. This is open primarily for the public to come and express their opinions or bring up things that are within our purview or our jurisdiction that we can actually have an effect on, that we can actually control, that we can actually do something about. I believe all the people that spoke today about the horrifying car accident, that's very tragic and all, but the theme of their complaint was that the DA was not doing their job or the DA wasn't doing the job to their satisfaction. We, again, do not have jurisdiction over the DA. The DA is county. So that's another item that's outside of our jurisdiction. It was very sympathetic that we were able to listen to them and try to help, but realistically, that's outside of our jurisdiction. I would like tonight to encourage the council to, in an upcoming workshop, to have a robust conversation in regards to the actual effectiveness of general public comment to the actual action items in the business that we do. I think it's prudent with some of the actions that we've seen in the last year and a half or greater, previous to that, and then the examples that happened tonight, I think it's prudent that we actually dive down and have a very robust conversation in regards to our general public comment that we put at the end of the meetings. So if council has the appetite to have that discussion, I can put that on an upcoming workshop. If you want time to think about it, that's great. But I think it's, you know, more than time that we, I think it would be good time for us to have that conversation. With that aspect, that's all I had to say. I want to say cruise the rogue was great. It was a great event. I think it brought a lot of tourism and, and, in economics to our city before the event was even kicked off. I got notice from participants from Main Street that all the hotels were full and they actually had to start diving into Airbnb. So we had more people here that four days than we have in a long time. And that's just positive because it's just it's a huge economic driver for our city. The kids, the lemonade stand, participate. That's coming this weekend. It's great. It's so cute. They gave me a pink lemonade, and it's real lemonade. It's super tart. I can't even finish it, but it's awesome. Thank you very much to all of our public servants and thanks for Chief Sanchez for protecting us. I don't think we could have had a better chief now because he seems to be on top of everything for the fact that we've had in the last week and a half two fires that we're touching and within our city limits and that we're done and And we've been protected. I mean, I want to thank him and everybody that's participated. I mean, they're here. They're putting their heart and soul to protect our city so that they deserve our praise and our admiration. I don't have anything else to add, so I'll bring it over to staff. Anything from you guys?

Yeah, I just had like two budget items I wanted to mention to council. During this year's budget process, the budget committee made a recommendation to utilize some of our rental agency dollars to help offset some funding, some bond debt funding in the wastewater treatment plant. DURING OUR DUE DILIGENCE PROCESS OF MAKING THAT HAPPEN FOR COUNCIL AND TALKING WITH OTHER LEGAL COUNCILS TO DETERMINE THAT THAT WAS NOT A PERMISSIBLE USE OF THE FUNDS. SO ALTHOUGH I KNOW COUNCIL GREATLY APPRECIATED THAT RECOMMENDATION AND STAFF DID IN WORKING WITH THE BUDGET COMMITTEE, UNFORTUNATELY THAT'S SOMETHING THAT WE'RE NOT ABLE TO DO. SO IT DOESN'T MAKE ANY changes into the the adopted budget it just that those those two hundred twenty two thousand dollars would not be allocated towards that that that goal the other is level of service budget discussion I sent an email to Mayor Council staff is needing some additional clarification from you so we can make sure we're hitting the target for you we have coming up on August 31st a discussion of level of service slash budget discussion That's very broad, and we want to make sure that if you want to hit it broad, that's wonderful. Do you want to talk about water, our enterprise funds, our capital funds, general fund, or do you want to focus on general fund first? That in itself would be a good direction for us to go if we had knowledge of do you want to do all three major funds, or do you want to do just one fund to look at? Do you want to look at when it comes to level of service, what would $250,000 do to this budget if they got an additional $250,000? What would happen if they HAD TO REMOVE 250. WE CAN GIVE YOU SOME HYPOTHETICALS. JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT FROM A CONVERSATION PERSPECTIVE WHAT COUNCIL'S LOOKING FOR IN THAT DISCUSSION SO WE CAN GET YOU SOMETHING SO YOU CAN DISCUSS WHERE YOU'RE WANTING TO GO WITH THAT. SO JUST SEEKING SOME ADDITIONAL DIRECTION. NOT SPECIFICALLY TRYING TO CALL YOU OUT TONIGHT ON IT, BUT IF YOU COULD EMAIL ME SOME IDEAS THAT YOU MIGHT HAVE TO HELP US FRAME SOMETHING FOR YOU, WE'LL TRY TO HIT THAT TARGET FOR YOU.

Do you guys have any questions in regards to Aaron's request? Okay, thank you. Anybody else?

Just a quick comment. I didn't mean to be short when I think Councillor Benham asked about the 7th Street Camp closing, but it will be closed on Friday, which also means that I expect some issues probably over the weekend. We'll have some more displacement. And it's a reminder to the community to please call us. If you don't call us, we don't know. We can't help. We're pretty busy, but we focus in on community when they have specific problems like Dell mentioned that the frog a lot for example crime prevention through environmental design works It's not that difficult You just have to get after it and we have the right people in place to get after problems We will see more problems in our community period but I think we've weathered quite the storm and we're in pretty good shape my folks are prepared and And it's just another shout out to community. Just please call us so we can help out together because this is a team. I hate to say team sport, but it is. It's a team. We need community to work with us.

I just want to add from an enforcement perspective, one of the things we talked about was the vegetation and the issue that Susan mentioned. And it was talked about funding that we would go in. We may have to go in and debate some of that. But that's not free money. It's not the property owner doesn't get that money. It was maybe interpreted or I heard from council that, oh, well, why would a property owner not want to do that if they get to do it for free? No, it's not free. We have funds to do it, but we'll put a lien on their property to make it happen. So we're not giving away money for people to clean their brush up if they've got a code violation.

No, that's why it kind of behooves us to work with the planning department. Brad worked with me in regards to this abandoned shed that was in the end of this guy's property. He did very, very well. And all it was is a simple staff's time to produce a letter to inform that out-of-town landowner that this was a nuisance, that the neighborhood and the surrounding businesses were citing this other thing. And I think it took one or two letters, and it was fixed, and it was all good to go. It's just a simple reach out from planning department from that is to kind of start the process which I will follow up with Brad later and so will Aaron, thank you. Anybody else?

I just want to thank you guys for the recognition, but it really is a team, and I know the Chief just said a team sport, but it really is a team, and it goes across with all of our firefighters. We're actually upstaffing this week with the critical red flag weather, so we have three extra firefighters on our OSFM Type 3 truck as well. It has been on every fire, which makes a huge difference in order of getting around that fire. The Tom Pierce fire, the Highland fire over on I-5, and then also the fire that everybody was talking about on Beacon Hill. It is a team effort between all of us, including ODF and Rural Metro. And we even called a task force in from Jackson County. So we are responding as quickly and as fast as possible, even our PD going up and helping evacuate and saving lives. So really, when that 911 is called, we all show up and we come running. And I just want to thank the team as a whole because they are away from their families. They're working extra hard right now. This is an abnormally hot, dry season for us, fire season for us. So if the community continue to you know, take the warnings, understand that we are doing the best we can to keep them safe, but also that a lot of it has to go with them too. And fire safety, making sure they're not burning anything, making sure your chains are not dragging, making sure you're not throwing cigarettes out the windows. That would really help us out a lot. And thank you again.

Thank you, Karen. So we had a successful GP jeopardy fair booth. We had 998 people go through. And our busiest shift was staffed by Councillor Cronin or Julie Hall. They had 95 people go through their booth. Thanks.

Perfect. Thank you very much. I want to end on this note. I want to talk to the public directly. Just as Chief Sanchez and our chief of police has said, this is a community effort at this moment in time. The city has done very hard work, staff, counselors, myself, to get the structure in place to help with our homeless population. to help with cleaning up our streets. So now it is incumbent on the community to help out. Park Watch says the same thing. If you see something, say something. You need to report something. If we have a nuisance in your business, you need to report it. Yeah, Chief's phone's gonna be ringing off the hook, but it's incumbent on the community to do their part and help clean up the streets by announcing and reporting. So that's all I wanna leave you guys with. And with that, I would look to entertain for an adjourning motion. I motion to adjourn. Kathleen motions to adjourn with a second from Rick. Everybody in favor say yay. Good night, thank you for your participation.