City Council - workshop

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A call to order the work session on the Wilsonville City Council of August 3rd, 2026 at 5 p.m. I will start by asking council members to review the agenda and items on consent. Are there any comments? Are there any councilor concerns? Okay, turning now to our pre-council work session. First up is the 2027 legislative preview in League of Oregon City's ballot. Mr. Wilde, take it away.

Thank you, Mayor. Let me get the presentation going here. All right, good evening, Council. I'm Everett Weil, the government relations manager for the city. Joining me tonight are Ryan Gleason and Zach Reeves from CFM Advocates, who are our consultant contract lobbyists. You'll hear from them a little bit later, or they can introduce themselves if they would like right now.

Good evening, Council. Ryan Gleason with CFM Advocates.

Thank you, Council. Zach Reeves, CFM Advocates.

So we are here tonight to do a couple of things. First thing is to just give you a preview of some major issues that we are expecting to come up in the 2027 session and some context around the legislature in January through June. In 2027 will be the long session, so it's constitutionally limited to 160 days. The big thing that the state tackles in the long session is the budget. They set the biennial budget. for fiscal 27-29. This is all under the shadow, of course, of a gubernatorial race. So there could potentially be a new governor. And there will definitely be some new faces in the legislature. There are 13 legislatures that did not run for reelection. They retired or ran for a different seat and then couldn't run for their seat. And then there were at least one legislator that got primaried, and we'll see some new faces, so at least 14 new faces. The exact composition won't be known until after the November election, but wanted to give you a little snapshot of what it looks like based on what we know today. So the Senate has 30 members. Seven seats held by Democrats and eight seats held by Republicans are not up for election. They're four year terms, so it's the off year for those individuals. There's a couple of seats that have no Republican opponents, so unless a large write-in campaign is performed, the Democratic nominee from the primary will be presumed to get that seat. And then a number of seats up for contested election in November. Same thing in the House. You'll see there's a few seats where there's a Democrat with no Republican opponent or Republican with no Democratic opponent that are kind of presumed. But the vast majority of seats in the House are up for grabs. And like I said, the gubernatorial race as well. So that's kind of the context of the legislative assembly. And then I will turn it over to our CFM folks to talk about some of the major issues that we are expecting and have heard early rumblings about.

Thanks, Everett. So one of the first issues that we know is coming in 2027, of course, is dealing with the state budget. This is a constitutionally mandated, balanced budget that the legislature is going to have to deal with. One of the big issues, they are still dealing with H.R. 1 blowback and managing Medicaid issues, so I'm just gonna tackle one of the other items on this list, which is healthcare. We know there is a $400 million hole in the state, in the healthcare budget space, so that's just gonna compete with other priorities, and so as we're looking at bringing projects forward, like infrastructure projects, we wanna make sure that those are consistent with some of the themes of session that we'll continue to talk about, and I'll hand it over to Zach to talk about transportation.

Sure, thanks everybody. So I think everyone in this room is aware there was a transportation package passed in a special session in 2026 that was referred to the voters and then promptly shot down. So we are back to square one for transportation funding in the state. historically have been every 10 years or so, and the last one we did was in 2017 on a large scale. About a $5 billion package was House Bill 2017. And there are several projects. Some of the cornerstone projects of that package are still not completed. I think anyone in the metro area is aware of that. So it's going to be a heavy lift to get a transportation package done. It is no longer as simple as simply increasing the gas tax and away we go. There are going to have to be additional sources of revenue for any sort of comprehensive, sustainable transportation package. For local governments, for cities, for counties, the single biggest issue in a transportation package will likely be the retention of the 50-30-20 split of state transportation dollars. That has in recent years routinely been on the chopping block as the state looks to kind of maximize when it brings in a dollar, it wants to spend the entire dollar on state resources, which leaves local governments up a creek. the folks at this table and elsewhere throughout the state will be advocating very hard for a retention of that 50-30-20 split so that that 20% continues to come to cities throughout the state. Part of this, and this is kind of all tied in with the Prosperity Council, a repeal of the Climate Protection Program or reform of that program is possible. as part of larger negotiations, but we are, it's August 2nd right now, and we are very much in the early days of any sort of specifics around a transportation package. So more to come on that, but will be a big issue this session. Moving on to tax reform, also part of the Prosperity Council recommendations, which Ryan's gonna touch on here in a second. Tax reform generally is a long-term goal of the legislature. You know, there's interest at the local government level as well for certain types of tax reform. It's a heavy, heavy lift. I think that's an understatement. So likely a multi-session effort to get anywhere with that, but I'll let Ryan talk about the Prosperity Council and how that ties into things.

Yeah, absolutely. The Prosperity Council, as many of you have probably seen, began their work back in January and came out in June with about 10 recommendations. There are some sub-recommendations in that, but a lot of those recommendations have been pretty bare. They are pretty high level. And we are expecting a lot more detail once we know the results of the governor's race. Just to be frank, we're gonna see a lot more specifics around the industrial site readiness, which is one of the recommendations, reforming business Oregon, which is one of the recommendations, and then speeding up agency permitting, which was another one. And so those are all things that we're gonna be tracking really closely. But again, those have been really detailed lists, and we're expecting to see a lot more detail moving into November. What we do know is going to be a really hot button issue is data centers. There have been a lot of updates regarding data centers over the last week, and this is something that is impacting local governments. The city of Hillsborough saw a four month moratorium on data centers. THAT WAS TO MOVE THROUGH THEIR LOCAL ELECTIONS. WE ARE SEEING CALLS FOR DATA CENTER MORATORIUMS IN EASTERN OREGON, SALEM, THE CITY OF WOODBURN BOTH MOVED FORWARD WITH DATA CENTER MORATORIUMS AND YOU ARE PROBABLY FAMILIAR AND IF YOU ARE NOT, GOVERNOR KOTAK DID ADVISE DAS TO REVERSE moving forward with a land sale about 32 acres that would have been for a data center campus in Salem. And so we do think that data centers are going to be, and that's on the land use side, on the tax abatement side, all the tools to bring them here. And it's going to be the hot button issue for the legislature in 2027. And so that is something we're gonna be tracking really closely on behalf of Wilsonville and of course, I think all of our clients are going to be caring about that one.

Housing obviously continues to be a priority statewide as well, and that will continue to occupy a lot of time during session. The governor set a target of 36,000 new units every year. The state has not been hitting that target. I don't think it's particularly close, but it will continue to be prominent as we look for ways to house people and house people affordably. Still TBD on what specific proposals will look like in the 2027 session. Again, even agencies are very early in their process of developing concepts, We have seen, local governments have seen some challenging policy proposals being put forth and passed in recent sessions and so you all, the staff behind us are constantly playing catch up on a lot of these proposals that have been passed and the policies that have been put into place. So at a bare minimum we'll be asking for a little bit of breathing room to implement what has been passed in recent sessions and then move forward from there. More to come on that, obviously you'll be hearing a lot about housing as session gets closer.

One of the next issues is water not listed on here, but there was a pretty massive water rights transfer bill in the previous long session and we're going to be ensuring that local governments maintain their, they were excluded from that bill. And we're hoping to, if the governor's office does intend to bring that legislation forward in 2027, that local governments are not included in that legislation.

And then finally on that list there, not necessarily as much of a local government issue as it is more of a statewide issue, but education and finding sustainable funding for that. Oregon's education outcomes continue to be towards the bottom of nationwide rankings, which is a challenge for everybody across the board. Raising revenues as an increasing revenue collection mechanism is likely off the board given the financial challenges that the state has and the political challenges associated with that. So school funding formula changes are likely to be the solution as they look for kind of the cost continue to increase with the K-12 education budget statewide. So that's a brief summary there. I'll hand it back to Everett.

Any questions from council before we move on to the second half of the work session today?

Relative to housing production and streamlining the housing production and the policies coming from the state, is Oregon on par with other states in the country? Are we ahead of the game? Are we behind the game in terms of general production and policies set to get us from point A to point B, to get us more into where it should be?

I think we've been lagging as a state for a long time, and then there have been a number of policies over the past, gosh, almost decade now, but certainly in the last few years to really try to be more aggressive in construction. In terms of how we compare with other states, I would have to look that up and get back to you unless you guys know.

And I guess further into that question is, are our policies equal to or more restrictive? I mean, there's a lot of talk about that all the time, and is it more restrictive here than it is elsewhere, or are we catching up? So I think it's from, my question goes from a production perspective in terms of what's happening, but also from a policy perspective, and the things that we should do or maybe consider from moving forward.

I think Oregon has some structural things that are very different than other states, urban growth boundary being chief among them, that that constrains how we grow and there are advantages and disadvantages to that. But it changes the value of land. It changes the ability to kind of go into new green fields rapidly. So I think that that's probably the biggest structural difference between Oregon and other states. I'm sure there are others as well. Okay.

Thank you. President Perry.

Thank you for the report and thank you for always coming to our meetings and for you showing up to this one. So in the past for transportation issue, the tolling was a really big issue and I haven't heard anything about that. Do you expect conversation to continue on tolling?

I do, yes. I believe that tolling is going to be an issue that comes up around transportation every time there's talk of a package. So I think that's something that we're going to continue to have to be on our toes for.

I don't disagree. I will say, though, I think there's still a bitter taste in a lot of people's mouths after what happened last time. So I think that restarting the conversation will be challenging. Doesn't mean that it's not going to be restarted, though.

Thank you. And then, of course, one last comment for Wilsonville. One of our transportation concerns and issues would be the Boone Ferry Bridge. So we'd like to have that promoted.

Councilor Sheva.

Thank you. With the exception of Council President Berry, I believe the rest of this Council is new since the last long session. I was just curious as to how we will receive updates from you, Everett, as the session begins. Will you be emailing or reporting out at the Council meetings or a variety of some of that?

Variety, yes. So I will come back in November or December with a legislative agenda that we adopt every year. FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION, THIS IS REALLY JUST KIND OF HIGH LEVEL PREVIEW OF WHAT WE'RE EXPECTING TO SEE. SO WE'LL COME BACK WITH A LEGISLATIVE AGENDA WHEN WE KNOW MORE AND HAVE SOME MORE CONCRETE IDEAS AND EXAMPLES OF WHAT WE COULD ADVOCATE FOR OR AGAINST. AND THEN DURING SESSION, YES, LIKE I DID DURING SHORT SESSION, I'LL PROVIDE WEEKLY EMAIL UPDATES ON FRIDAYS.

and then asking for support from us on particular topics that we may be able to impact, I presume. All right, thank you very much.

Anybody else? Any direction you want from us?

Yes. So turning to the second half of our work session here is we are a member of the League of Oregon Cities. They do a biennial legislative agenda. So they ask all their member cities every two years to participate in policy committees. So they've got a number of committees on different topics, water, transportation, broadband and cybersecurity network infrastructure. So they establish these policy committees, which are comprised of a combination of elected officials and staff from various jurisdictions, and each policy committee puts forward one or more recommendations for policies that they would like LOC to advocate for. There are 27 policy proposals in your packet. There's a list of all 27 proposals. Cities then receive a ballot, and we vote on our top five priorities, and the city's votes get aggregated by LOC, and that informs their legislative agenda. SO I'VE REVIEWED ALL OF THE 27 POLICY PROPOSALS AND HAVE RECOMMENDED THAT WE SUBMIT OUR BALLOT FOR THE TOP FIVE POLICY OPTIONS THAT I BELIEVE ARE MOST RELEVANT TO WILSONVILLE, SO MY ANALYSIS WAS LOOKING AT EACH OF THE 27 ISSUES, DOES THIS RELATE TO OUR CITY? WHAT IS OUR POSITION HISTORICALLY IN ALIGNMENT OR OPPOSED TO WHAT LOC WOULD WANT TO DO? AND WHAT'S THE IMPORTANCE OF LOC'S INVOLVEMENT? IS THIS A REALLY SENSITIVE OR COMPLEX ISSUE THAT'S SOMETHING BIGGER THAN THE CITY COULD TACKLE ON OUR OWN. WE CAME UP WITH THE FIVE RECOMMENDATIONS YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN. THIS WAS ATTEMPTED IN THE SHORT SESSION. THERE WAS A BILL PASSED OVERWHELMINGLY IN BOTH CHAMBERS AND THEN GOT VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR AFTER SESSION HAD CONCLUDED. THERE ARE WORK GROUPS AND OTHER CONVERSATIONS HAPPENING OFFLINE DURING THE INTERIM, BUT GOING BACK TO LOC AND SAYING WE REALLY NEED TO GET THIS ACROSS THE FINISH LINE. AS ZACK POINTED OUT, 2027 TRANSPORTATION PACKAGE WILL BE A BIG ISSUE. WE KNOW THERE WILL BE FUNDING QUESTIONS, POLICY QUESTIONS, OVERSIGHT AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF ODOT, SO ALL OF THOSE THINGS KIND OF CONTAINED WITHIN A 2027 TRANSPORTATION PACKAGE. infrastructure funding for utilities, for bridges, roads, strengthening workforce and economic development, going back to how Oregon has kind of fallen in some of those national rankings in terms of unemployment, workforce development, new jobs created. So supporting opportunities through economic incentives, business incentives, and other policies that could boost workforce readiness and jobs in the state. And then the last one, the Administrative Procedures Act reform is fairly technical, which is why I think it would be appropriate for LOC to manage it. There's a law from, I believe, 1971 that establishes how state agencies develop and issue rules. And since the bill was passed in the 70s, there have been court cases that have broadened the authority of state agencies There are examples where rules from one agency compete or conflict with rules from another agency. And so just trying to do a reset and make sure that there's consistency and clarity, that there's opportunities for local governments to be on rulemaking panels, that kind of thing. So very technical and in the weeds, but I think an important update for us to have. So those are my recommendations. I'm happy to take any questions on those. And then yes, I would seek direction to submit the ballot with the top five that you select.

Thank you. Any questions or comments? Councillor Cunningham.

Yeah, I would just say that Thank you, Everett. I concur with those. I think those are important to Wilsonville. Definitely some issues that should have been solved a while ago, especially the public meetings stuff. It shouldn't be that difficult, but somehow it is. But definitely the infrastructure being a hot button topic here in Wilsonville with our recent rate increases for sewer and storm water. Having that help from the state to fund those systems while having these mandates for housing and things pushed down our throats, which is putting the strain on the system, which is requiring those upgrades and expansions of those systems, are driving costs up for our users. And it's a difficult pill to swallow to do that to our residents while having to manage those mandates and spend our local taxpayer money. The other big one obviously is protection of 50-30-20 to make sure that we are getting that money from the state. I'd hate to see them not even give us money for infrastructure and then also just take away other money too while they're at it. I know things are tight at the state level but they're tight here at the local level as well. They're tight everywhere. Uh, and they're very tight for our citizens. And so, um, we're going to need some, some good common sense solutions to come out of those. But I, uh, I appreciate those selections. I think those are, uh, represent Wilsonville. Well, thank you. Thank you.

The other comments. Okay. I'll just say I concur with councilor Cunningham and all aspects. As a lawyer, I can tell you that the last priority about reexamining the Administrative Procedures Act, or Administrative, excuse me, what's it called officially?

Yeah, Administrative Procedures Act, yeah.

Is long in coming. As a lawyer, I saw very much of a disconnect, depending on what agency that you're dealing with. But I think those top priorities are good for me. I'm assuming in silence means we concur, so I think we have direction.

Excellent. I will submit our ballot to LOC. Thank you all.

Thank you. Thank you for coming as well.

Thank you.

Next is the Development Review Board appointments and terms.

All right. Good evening. I'm Kim Reibold, Senior Planner with the Planning Division. And also with me tonight on this is the City Attorney, Amanda Gail Hinman. And we are here to talk with you about appointments and terms for the Development Review Board beginning in 2027. As you'll recall, the Housing Statutory Compliance Project that City Council adopted back in June had a consolidation of the Development Review Board from two panels of five members down to one panel of seven, with that update taking place beginning in January 2027. This was done in part to reflect the number of changes that were taking place with the residential development review process and the anticipated volume of applications that would be expected to drop for the DRB. When we did outreach with the DRB, we heard that the canceled meetings really had a negative impact on their feeling of preparedness, and they were hoping that the consolidation would provide a more meaningful volunteer experience. So the adopting ordinance indicated that new terms for the Development Review Board consolidating into one panel would be brought forward to the City Council later this year. So our goal tonight at this work session is to share a recommendation for how these terms could be set up with you and get feedback and answer any questions you have. So this is just a graphic that summarizes the current DRB positions and the terms. This is also included within your packet, but I tried to add some color here to make it a little easier to read. Essentially you'll see that most of the DRB members are in a current term that ends at the conclusion of the year. Somehow we got a little lopsided. So only three of the positions are actually in a term that began at the beginning of this year. These are color coded in terms of each position and whether or not the holder of that position is eligible for any more terms based on a three term maximum that is currently in city code. So to go from a total of 10 members down to seven, I've highlighted a couple of these rectangles in a thick black outline. That is one position that is currently vacant and has not been filled, and a second position where a member is on their third term that concludes at the end of the year. So essentially, I think one of the questions that was raised during our conversations with you when we were working on part one of the housing statutory compliance project was how do we get from ten to seven. The good news is there's really now just a matter of going from eight eligible members down to seven. So, with that, our recommendation is to try to get the terms back into more of a balance, so we would recommend staggering the two-year terms, starting in 2027 with three of those terms assigned to be just one year so that at the conclusion of 2027, those then would go to a full two-year term. and be able to stagger back and forth with four of the new terms starting in 2027 to be two year terms. And we would note that in that resolution, any current development review board members, any prior terms, so if you're on the second term, we wouldn't wanna reset the clock and so we can include language in there that any prior terms will count towards that three term maximum. It's a three consecutive term maximum that is in city code. Our goal is to bring this back to you via resolution in October and that will coincide with your application period for board and commission member positions that is open throughout the month of October and this way the new established terms can be taken into account during that reappointment process. So with that, we're happy to answer any questions you have, and in particular, we want to know what feedback you have on this approach, if there's anything else you want us to look at before bringing forward that resolution, and also if there's any additional information you need from us to help guide the process. Thank you.

Thank you. Councillor Shevin?

Thank you. Of course, I reviewed the packet, and I appreciate the fact that you mentioned met with the DRB members, both groups, who had an understanding of the reason for the change and gave them an opportunity to have some dialogue about how they wanted to move forward. I believe the process that you have presented is fair, given the fact that we have to be in compliance, and that it is well thought out and balanced. I appreciate the work that has been done. I don't see the need for any changes. Thank you.

Councillor Schell. I too thank you for reworking this and realigning it from two DRB boards to one. Just a quick question on, just clarification on the terms. Why would we have three at one year and a balance at two years?

So essentially what we would propose is a reset at the beginning of 2027. And so to ensure that we're not having to replace or potentially replace members every two years at the same time, The three members that are appointed to the one-year terms, they would serve throughout the year in 2027, and then those positions would then shift to a normal two-year term. So it's to help create that initial stagger.

All right. I understand. Thank you. You're welcome. Council President Berry.

Yeah, thank you for the report. I also read the packet. And I think that it is well thought out and fair. And I like the concept where you're staggering the terms so that you have some people that have been sitting on the board, and then you have new people come on, and then they rotate. I liked that. So thank you.

Anybody else? I have a quick clarification. I just want to make sure. So as we sit now based on, can you go back the slides on our current DRB folks? Are we, without doing anything at the end of the year, Are we reduced to seven automatically, assuming we keep the one vacant and those two have no additional terms? Is that what I'm understanding?

So the clarification is the column that's on the right side, that member serving on their third term would technically be in the middle of their term had it been a normal two-year term and we weren't doing the reset. So they would not have served a full third term, so could still be eligible. But unlike the other two positions, the one that's vacant and then the third term, that's somebody who's no longer eligible. But the position on the right side would not be eligible for any future reappointment.

I guess my follow-up question with that is, Is there someone that, but for our changes now, who may have wanted to continue to serve, is gonna lose their seat prematurely? Does that make sense?

Potentially, yes. To get to seven, if there were no other changes, the two position holders on the right side would still retain their seats, and to get to seven, one person on the left side would not be able to continue.

Okay. I thought that's what you're saying. I just want to make sure. Okay. Thank you.

You're welcome. Any further comments or questions?

Okay. I concur with what you've proposed.

Okay. Well, if there's no other questions, we will bring that back forward to you in October. Thank you. Okay.

Thank you very much. Next up is proposed Smart Service Extension.

All right. Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Dwight Brashear. I am the Transit Director for the City of Wilsonville. And joining me tonight is?

Good evening, Mayor. And my name is Diana Codler. I'm the Transit Operations Manager for the City of Wilsonville and Smart.

And this is Diana's show. I just thought it was important that I give a little bit of background why we're here tonight. Last year, TriMet decided that it was going to cut services. They have a major service cut coming up in August. But going back to last year, they approached us and asked us if we could help cover some of the service that they were eliminating, particularly to a development in Tualatin, just the other side of Wilsonville. We were looking at it. Diana was engaged with them, and I think at some point, When Tualatin found out, the city of Tualatin found out about these cuts, they asked TriMet, what's your solution? What are you offering in the way of solution? And I think they kind of threw SMART out there as we're working with SMART, we're hoping that SMART can pick up the slack. And so, At some point, I spoke with Mayor Bubnyk briefly and I basically turned the mayor over to our mayor and said, this is above my pay grade and this is a discussion that needs to happen between the cities of Wilsonville and the cities of Tualatin. So you've got two mayors involved and two city councils. And so we're here tonight. We want to make a presentation. We've done some work. Obviously SMART is in the business of moving people, and so we're looking at that. We're prepared in August, end of August. We have what we call a driver bid. We do this about four times a year. And so we've done a run cut, which I won't get into what all that means. We've done a run cut with the changes and without the changes. And I think tonight we're just looking for a little bit of direction, some dialogue between us too, so that we can understand what the council, how the council feels about this. All right, Diane, I'll turn it over to you.

Thank you, thank you Dwight for this introduction. So when we look at the city of Wilsonville and the services that we provide in the direction we're seeking today, we're particularly looking for in-town services. We have worked for the last 12 months on expanding services for our express routes. So we added services to Woodburn, to Clackamas Town Center. We, in concert, we opened our Wilsonville Transit Center and the Welcome Center. So we feel the express services are pretty much set in stone for quite some time. Later this year in October, we're planning to come to council with a recommendation and overview on our on-demand services, both in-town and out-of-town dialer ride services. So the purpose today is truly to look at the backbone of our operation, and that's our in-town services. In evaluating ridership, frequency of services, and what TriMet is proposing as part of their service changes, our recommendation is to take a look at our Routes 4, 7, and the one that Dwight mentioned with extension to Tualatin is Route 6. We will go briefly through each route and provide you with an overview of what the thoughts are. But the bottom line theme is to create continuity and simplicity for our transit operations. And that can be achieved with 30 minute headway services, so every route operates on the same schedule. There's consistency, there's ease of operation, and ease of using the service because it's every 30 minutes, every route. Also for Route 4, we wanted to make sure that we continue to meet the needs of our educational facilities, Wilsonville High School, Meridian Junior High, high ridership routes, kids and parents and teachers and everybody who lives along Wilsonville Road depend on that service frequency. We also wanted to make sure that that route goes all day to the Wilsonville Transit Center to provide connectivity to those regional destinations that our system serves. For Route 7, hold on, sorry about that. Just a little bit of a delay. Let's see if I can, sorry about that. For Route 7, which is our service to Kim, I don't know what I did.

I think you went past.

I think I passed it. Here it is. I figured it out. Thank you. For Route 7, we operate two different services there, two different routes. Again, we service a very vulnerable population at Villevoir. And the proposal is to consolidate those routes, create simplicity, add services because we're consolidating, and potentially look at the future developments in Villebois and to make sure that our services serve not only what exists there today, but will open there in the near future as the construction completes in the downtown area of Villebois. And again, connectivity through Wilsonville Transit Center. to provide options for individuals to go anywhere from Salem all the way up to Clackamas Town Center. The route that is in question today is, it's just not cooperating with me, I apologize. Beginner's luck. There you go. Is route six, which we're proposing to extend to the state of Tualatin to accommodate Palemba Gardens. Palemba Gardens is an affordable housing community. It is literally half a mile from our city border, so it's literally just across town. Again, service every 30 minutes, but the point of that service is to make sure that the residents of Blambeck Gardens come to Wilsonville, and they continue to support our business community, our business establishments, and through that, we also provide them with the connectivity to the Wilsonville Transit Center. As White mentioned, we're ready to provide that service on August 24th. Tri-med service changes begin on August 23rd, so it will be Monday that we'll be ready to operate the services if the council concurs with our recommendation to extend our service to the city of Tualatin. Be happy to answer any questions you might have.

If you don't mind, I'll go first this time since you dragged me into the conversation with the other mayor. Yes. Which was merely a quick call saying we really want you to do this route and I said I'll get back to you and I've been waiting for staff to sort things out and I appreciate you bringing this to the council for us. Installation of the stop.

Mm-hmm.

Is that an expense and is that something that Tualatin will contribute to that? I'm just asking.

For the installation of this stop, we met with the city of Tualatin. They have approved the location. So the only expense for the city of Wilsonville will be the blade and the pole and some staff time to come in and install it. They conceptually approved the proposed location.

Okay. Yeah, and I think the expense there would be minimal.

Okay, I'm trying to picture what we're talking about.

Yeah, we do it every day in our service.

and you answered my other question is that we have a substantial amount of the at least in that area of a workforce that comes to wilsonville so this would actually help us and making sure our local businesses have that workforce is that my understanding absolutely that's the goal is to bring those residents to the city of wilsonville okay thank you counselor shevin

Thank you. I had a similar idea. I really support the transit route to and from Planbeck Gardens. Thinking ahead to our town center, this will be a population of non-residents, but people that we want to have in our city that will be enjoying town center, whether it be shops, whether it be restaurants, also perhaps employed in our town center sometime in the future. very pleased with the idea that that will reduce traffic by using, of course, public transportation for these particular incoming people. There wouldn't be a need for parking. So it really is a win all the way around when we envision the situation for Town Center and some of the ideas that we are trying to incorporate in making sure that we use transit, that it doesn't increase traffic for these particular people that are coming in. So I welcome them, and I look forward to perhaps meeting some of them sometime in the future. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you for the report. Um, I think the concept sounds good. It sounds like, um, we already have a route there that that ends at the city and then this would extend it just half a mile, right? Or where's the end point right now for the route?

Well, that would be the, the end point in Tualatin and we wouldn't, it's only going to operate from, plan back into Wilsonville, so we don't continue into, I think Tualatin would like us to pick up the folks and bring them into Tualatin, but we're gonna bring them back here.

Right, I guess what I meant was where does the route end right now? Like how close to the northern boundary of Wilsonville? Currently at Commerce Circle?

Yes, Commerce Circle, right. And it terminates, I think it also goes through the transit center as well. Correct.

Correct, it goes on that end.

It's really kind of a circulator route throughout Wilsonville, mainly the industrial area. And it had really good ridership some years ago before folks started working at home and other things, COVID and other things changed. So I think this will be a shot in the arm. It also services Siemens, goes right through Siemens. It goes right through the college there. And so we're hoping that this addition will increase its ridership.

And it's only increasing in residential. It's nothing to do like where we could collect more taxes or anything because we're serving employment areas. Yeah.

It already services the industrial area of like off of 95th and all through there. So yeah.

And then this might be off topic, but in the past we've talked about where we're working with TriMet, right? About figuring out where our boundaries are and who's collecting money for what. Is this like if we do some goodwill here, are we hoping we're gonna get goodwill back?

Well, there's always that hope. But yeah, I mean, we are doing them a favor. I mean, they've asked us to do this. It kind of became political because we weren't responding quickly enough. They wanted us to just say, because they asked, they wanted us to just say yes. But we had to go through a process. And part of it is this process. But we also looked at the planning. What would it look like? I think they had a different route in mind.

They did.

We said, that'll never work for us. It was a 2X, which you're familiar with, which we use the shoulder. We could continue north, but instead of using the shoulder, we could go through to Walton. We immediately said, that's not going to work for us because our customers enjoy that shoulder, and the shoulder has improved the on-time performance for the 2X considerably. And taking it off of I five would, uh, reverse all of the work that we have done with ODOT. So, uh, we found a route that we thought, uh, would benefit the city of Wilsonville. Cause at the end of the day, that's what I was looking for. That's what we were looking for is how can we do this so that it benefits, uh, the residents of Wilsonville, the businesses of Wilsonville. Um, and so we think we've come up with a solution.

Do we know what the cost is for the city of Wilsonville?

It's there's no more cost than what we're doing. It's it's like instead of making a left at the intersection We're making it right and so it I mean it doesn't really add any cost to that particular route Thank you, that's very my questions.

Thank you councillor skull You've answered a lot of the questions are that I have but I do want to ask kind of a future question here is a This is a start with Tualatin, with TriMet reducing services and all that, with the idea of development in Basalt Creek, and then I don't know what the areas are in South Tualatin, but I know there's residential and some commercial that's going to be on the north side of Day Road there. Do you foresee Tualatin coming back to us and saying, can we kind of grow into this and help that? help the transit between the two cities?

I think the answer to that is probably yes. I think there is some interest in having SMART provide some of that service on the kind of outskirts, if you will, of Tualatin. But there is, as Councilor President Berry talked about, there's the discussion about the Salt Creek that we're talking to TriMet about and what that might look like in the future. Because again, my biggest concern is that the city would invest in the Salt Creek and TriMet would reap the benefit. And in the world that I live in, that would be so wrong, extremely wrong.

Yeah, I like the idea. Thank you.

Yeah, yeah.

Councillor Cunningham.

Yeah, sure. Council President Berry's thoughts and concerns about TriMet territory. It's been historically very difficult to get them to cooperate with both providing service and taking the tax revenue out of certain areas of our city. Um, hopefully this is a show of goodwill that, uh, we'll pay some dividends, um, and some conversations. So, um, thank you.

I agree. Counselor. I do. It's been a struggle, but, uh, I think, uh, I think we have leverage at this point, and we're certainly going to use that to our advantage. And I think this is just what it is, a goodwill gesture, but it is one that benefits, we believe, the city of Wilsonville, its residents, and the businesses here.

I'll only give one final thought. I think we established very much strong goodwill with Tualatin, which I appreciate if council, it sounds like we're all in consensus here. on this moving forward. The other thing is that I think TriMet, if we're talking about some sort of good will or good faith gesture, I think right now they're broke, and so that's the good will that we'll generate as they and the leverage we have right now is that they're broke and anticipate to be broke for the long term as far as I'm concerned, but hopefully that will give us that leverage.

As I explained, the call we got was from TriMet, not from the City of Tlaloc. The initial call for help was from TriMet, and we didn't say no. We said we'd look at it, and it had to make sense for us. But just so all of you know, SMART is in very good shape and we have become the envy of the region for the ease of use and the quality of our service. So we're all very proud of that and a lot of the effort goes to folks like Diana and her team. So like I said, I couldn't be more proud of this group.

Okay, one last thought from Council President Berry.

So this is kind of a segue, since you're here.

Can you give us a little bit of an update?

on how the transit center's working with the Welcome Center.

Yeah, Diana's running that.

Yeah, well, thank you. Thank you for asking. It's actually going great. Extremely proud of that facility. It's fully staffed. We just did a report this morning. So we started tracking the number of individuals that use the facility at the end of June. So it just took us a little bit of time to set that up. almost 900 people either called the facility or entered physically into the facility. We've also accommodated approximately 80 individuals in trip planning, so they're actually coming to ask those questions, how do I get from point A to point B? We worked diligently with our other departments, the library, community services, to make sure that all the infotainment screens in that facility provide valuable information and allow residents to not only see events that we have in the city, but how do we get to those events in the city? We established very close relationship with WALA property management to make sure that the residents as they move in and move out and move around our city know about our services and have access to them and they come in daily to ask those questions. So very thoughtful process to get the facility established where it is and I couldn't be prouder to operate it on your behalf.

And I think our ridership, I looked at the numbers and it's up about close to 10% when you look at it from 2025 to 2026 over that same period, adding WALA into that calculation as of January of this year. It's up about 10%, so it's not bad. So we'd like to see it continue in that direction. So I think some of the moves that we've talked about today will certainly increase ridership. Do you have everything you need from us? I think so.

Thank you so much for your presentation.

Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you for listening. We appreciate it.

The City Council will now meet and we're adjourned. The city council will now meet in executive session pursuant to Oregon Revised Tatutes section 192, 660, subsection 2, paragraph H, legal counsel slash litigation and consult with counsel concerning the legal rights and duties of a public body with regard to current litigation or litigation likely to be filed. Members of the public outside of representatives of the news media, please exit council chambers. We'll be adjourned until 6 o'clock. That works with everybody.

Thank you. Thank you. you you you Thank you. Thank you. .

Thank you.

Thank you. Hello. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm sorry.

I'll call to order the meeting of the Willsville City Council for August 3rd, 2026 at 7 p.m. Will the city recorder please call the roll?

Councillor Shevlin.

Here.

Councillor President Berry. Here. Councillor Cunningham.

Here.

Councillor Scholl.

Here.

Mayor O'Neill.

Here. Please stand and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and City Council President Berry can have a motion to approve the following order of agenda.

I move to approve the following order of the agenda.

Is there a second? Second. Motion's been made and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. The motion passes 5-0. Good evening, everyone. Before we get started, I want to welcome everyone joining us tonight. We have a full agenda, including the graduation ceremony for our civics academy participants. I complete mayor's business report is included in my mayor's agenda that I will provide to the city record at the end of the meeting. However, I wish to address a few things. First, if you haven't made it down to the Wilson farmers market or the rotary summary, a summer concert series, I encourage you to do so. They have been a tremendous success again this year and are a wonderful example of our community coming together. The final concert is this Thursday, August 6th at 5.30 p.m. in Town Center Park, featuring Band After Midnight and ABBA Tribute Band. The Farmer's Market will be open during the concert, making for a great evening in our town center. Next, I had the opportunity to testify before the Land Conservation Development Commission on behalf of the League of Oregon Cities regarding the state's proposed model ordinance housing rules. While we all support the goal of increasing housing opportunities, many cities across Oregon have serious concerns that these proposed rules are simply not practical as written and don't reflect the different needs of communities throughout our state. One example of how the rules do not represent the on the ground reality that cities face is the garage setbacks in the proposed rules do not accommodate the full length of many larger vehicles, which could leave shorter driveways with vehicles hanging out over the sidewalk. I think we all agree in Willsville we don't want that. My testimony focused on the importance of giving local governments the flexibility they need to meet state housing goals while still addressing the realities on the ground in our own communities. And next, I had the privilege of joining Congresswoman Andrea Salinas last week for a visit to the Boone Bridge Geotechnical Investigation. We actually hiked beneath the south side of the bridge to see firsthand the drilling and soil testing that ODOT is conducting. Those investigations may not look exciting, but they are an essential part in the first step forward in replacing one of the most important transportation links in Oregon. Later, we were joined by Senator Courtney Niren-Mislin and Representative Sue Rickey-Smith as ODOT briefed us on the project. While there is still a long road ahead before we see a new bridge, it was encouraging to see real progress taking place. I want to thank the Congresswoman Salinas for her continued leadership in Washington and also our state representatives for supporting us in Salem. Finally, I want to remind everyone that tomorrow, August 4th, is National Night Out. This annual event is a great opportunity for neighbors to get to know one another and to spend time with the police officers, firefighters, and the first responders who serve our community every day. One of the things that makes Willisville special is the relationships we have between our residents and our public safety professionals. National Night Out helps strengthen those relationships and builds a sense of community that makes our city such a great place to live. I'll be joining City Manager Gina Troha, Police Chief Jed Wilson, and other officers in visiting neighborhood gatherings throughout the evening. If your neighborhood is participating, I hope to see you there. I also want to take the moment to thank the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office who provides our police services and Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue and all the first responders who work every day to keep our community safe. We appreciate your service and your commitment to Willsville. Can we give them a round of applause? With that, I'll just note that our next city council meeting will be on Monday, August 17th, starting at 7 p.m. Turning to communications, tonight we have the pleasure of recognizing the graduates of this year's Wilsonville Civics Academy. We have 26 community members who have dedicated their time to learning more about how their city works and how they can become more engaged in our community. Before we recognize this year's graduates, I'll ask assistant to the city manager Zoe Mombert to provide a brief overview of the program.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'm Zoe Mombert. I'm the Assistant to the City Manager for the City of Wilsonville, and I have the privilege of managing our Civics Academy program, which is in its 12th year, and we've had nearly 300 community members participate. This year, our 2026 program was sponsored in part by PGE. This evening, Meredith Armstrong, PGE's Senior Manager of Local Government Affairs, is here to recognize our graduates. Before we begin the graduation, I would like to take a moment to describe the program. The Civics Academy offers participants the opportunity to learn about the city's programs and operations, meet city staff and our elected officials, and get to know their fellow community members. The Civics Academy graduates have joined the city staff for three hour meetings once a month, which is about 20 hours to learn directly from our city leaders and our partner organizations. The program is designed to prepare our community members for roles in local government, boards and commissions, as well as nonprofits. If this sounds appealing to anyone in the audience that has not participated or watching at home, this is offered annually free of charge and the tentative meetings for 2027 are live on our city website and the registration will open on September 21st. To graduate from this program, participants can only miss two meetings. I would like to acknowledge our participants who had 100% attendance in this year's Civics Academy, Anai Kennan, Ann Quigley, Chris Hiedemann, Karina Abbey, Jim Warren, Jason Herron, and Nicole Noel. Can we give them a round of applause? All of our graduates will receive a personalized street sign for completing this program. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss this program and highlight our participants' achievements.

Now I will go to the podium. Point of clarification, if I mispronounce anybody's name, first, you still graduate, you still get a certificate, and I deeply apologize. First one is Corinna Abbey. Is it Abbey or Abbey? Abbey. Oh, thank you. It's okay. Joe Cerny.

Jennifer Constantine.

Melanie Cottle.

Congratulations. Next, Terry Dunn.

James Ralia.

Susan Hamilton.

Jason Herron.

Chris Heidemann.

Chris Hoffart.

That's all right, no problem. Thank you.

Okay, these get complicated as I move forward. Donna Entile. This is a shared sign. Joe Entile.

Anani Keenan.

Elizabeth Lee. Audrey Mickelson. Nicole Noel.

Carla Oberst.

Ann Quigley. Miranda Shockey Dunn? She's absent, okay, excuse me.

Ariel Stewart.

Blake Stewart.

Millie Stone. Jim Warren.

Matt Wurst.

Lastly, Ali Yee. That concludes the presentations. Now the effort to get us in a group photo as designed by Bill Evans. I often wonder if we have a disclaimer that you guys can't tear down your existing signs and put your names up. I've always been tempted to. But anyway, where do you want us?

Sure, that's fine. So everybody who just got their sign, please head up into the middle.

With or without our sign? With your sign.

Holly's in the back. Yeah, we might need a row of kneelers.

I can barely see you, Tim.

Okay, can you two scoot a little more toward the group? All right. Perfect. Perfect, okay. Great, that's great. And step forward a little bit. All right, now.

I'm gonna take some and then we're gonna stay, so anyone else that wants to come up can take some, okay? So if anyone else would like to come up and take a picture, you're welcome, but not time. All right. All right, one. And all eyes open at the same time. A lot of times, that doesn't work. So I'm gonna take a few. One, two, three, four,

Thank you. Thank you.

Folks, we're adjourned for 10 minutes. 10 minutes to enjoy refreshments.

Yeah.

The more you give those, the likely I'll finish my brownies. Oh, we are?

Okay.

Okay, we're resuming the city council meeting at 7.34 p.m. We'll now move to committee input and announcements. This is an opportunity for members of the public to address the city council matters concerning city business or other matters within the council's authority, including items not on tonight's agenda or agenda items that are not scheduled for public hearing. Please limit your comments to three minutes. When speaking, please address the council as a whole. You may use the podium or the table in front of council. whichever is most comfortable, but please speak into the microphone. If you wish to speak in person or virtually, please complete a speaker card or use the raise hand feature in Zoom, and the information is provided on the screen. When you begin, please state your name for the record and your address, or indicate that your address is listed on the speaker card. Community input is a time for the council to listen and receive feedback from the public to ensure every speaker is treated equally, council members generally do not respond to individual comments during this portion of the meeting. If follow-up is appropriate, staff or council members can connect with you after the meeting and councilors may also choose to address topics later during councilor comments. Finally, we welcome differing opinions and recognize that people may feel strongly about the issues before us. I simply ask that comments focus on the issues and decisions before the council rather than personal attacks on anybody. We can disagree passionately while treating one another with dignity and respect, and that standard applies to everyone in this room. And I know a lot of people want to speak to the ballot measure that we're considering later, so I'm going to take Two people, they're unrelated first, so they don't have to wait to the end. So Jeremy Borders-Baldwin.

JEREMY BORDERS- Hello, my name is Jeremy Borders-Baldwin. My address information has been on file. I don't mean to take a lot of time to actually address the situation. I think you got my notes. Um, I would just ask everybody to take a moment to find that document. Um, I don't need to bring it all out in public, but I think, uh, I would like to have an appointment with the city attorney. And ironically, this is kind of the easiest way for me to ask for that. So thank you.

Thank you very much. Next, I'm going to turn to someone online if they're there. They're not there yet. Okay. Could you let me know? Okay. Okay. Next is Doris Whaler.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Doris Whaler and my address is on file. I have lived here for 60 years and watched many, many city councils in action. I voted yes to require a public vote on urban renewal. Let me tell you why. Because I think it matters tonight. I did not vote for it because I hate or want to stop development. I voted for it because I want a say And I want the city to be honest with me when it asks for my vote. My neighbors expect the same. So you can imagine how wrong your proposed ballot title feels. We ask for neutral language. The caption still reads like a sales pitch. We ask for financial and other disclosures. Now your plan is not even to place them in the explanatory statement for fear that voters would actually read the important details. I'm not a lawyer, but I know what it looks like when someone agrees to the rules and looks then for every way to get around them. You were supposed to be working for us. It is our tax dollars that pay for polling, the consultants, and staff time. When those resources are used to shape how a question is asked, so it is more likely to pass. You are spending my money to work against my own vote. This council has an opportunity tonight to do the right thing. Give us the neutral caption we voted for. Give us the disclosures outlined in the charter amendment. Honor our May vote, not because you agreed with it, but because 58% of our voters passed it. This is how a council is supposed to work. Thank you.

Brad Williams. Sir Brad Williams here. Okay.

Your Honor, Mr. Ryan Shekhar has now arrived.

All right. Ryan, so we'll go online to another topic. Ryan Shera with Schnitzer Properties. Ryan, you can go ahead.

Good evening, counselors. Appreciate you taking the time. Yes, I'm speaking this evening in regards to the Basalt Creek master plan that is coming up. And the mayor asked last hearing, is there something impacting our ability to develop Coffee Creek? And The answer to that is yes. There are some development standards actually multiple development standards that are do not allow for industrial development to want to acquire and develop in Coffee Creek. And those same standards are being proposed in Basalt Creek which Basalt Creek will become and have the same turnout as Coffee Creek. As part of the attachments, we have conducted an economic study of the impacts of what typical industrial standards in the Portland metro area afford in terms of development as well as job creation and tax revenue and compared that against the development standards of Coffey Creek and Basalt Creek as proposed. And as you can see there's a significant decrease in property tax revenue that will come out of the standards as proposed. And what we'd like to do is take a moment to reset and have stakeholders have a seat at the table to pull together a working group to develop standards that work for industrial users and operators and businesses. What's been developed to date is very non-functional and there are a number of owners who have developed who are very upset with the developments that they've ended up being forced into. With that said, again, we would like to be able to meet with staff and council and would appreciate a special work session similar to Frog Pond in order to talk through and work through these and or a working group composed of industrial operators, employers and developers that can come together and have a set of standards that are endorsed by everyone. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next. Oh, okay. Okay. Brad Williams.

I guess you called my name earlier. Sorry. Late. So, good evening. I'd like to speak to you about what I believe is the bias in Resolution 3279 for Proposed Ordinance Number 905. I believe that this document is saturated with bias, which doesn't really surprise me because we hired a public affairs agency to help create it. When I look at this summary and explanatory statement, it visually looks like an argument in favor or opposition that you would find in the voters pamphlet. This is not a neutral document. When you use bold type and underline and use bullet points, you place importance on those words and phrases and elevate them above the rest of the text. That is bias. There is positive framing throughout the text. It repeatedly highlights benefits such as improvements, economic development, small businesses, gathering spaces, and infrastructure enhancements. Blight is an emotionally charged term. It is also a legal term. There are many people in Wilsonville who would disagree that the area is meaningfully blighted. There is a repeated assertion that TIF is not a new tax. The ballot language states, TIF is not a new tax or tax rate increase, and the measure would not establish a new property tax or increase existing property taxes. While technically accurate, this statement highlights only one side of the financial discussion. The $152 million debt figure is being softened. The summary states $152 million, or $85.5 million in today's dollars, and structured as smaller borrowings over time. That is biased. Where you place information on the document can also be biased. All the shiny stuff is emphasized up front. streetscapes, plazas, outdoor dining, food carts, small businesses, and economic development. The biggest part, 68% of the development district, is the 2,381 housing units, but we don't learn about that until near the very end. That's bias. Proposed Ordinance 905 needs a full rewrite, and you don't need spin bot doctors to help you do it. Just keep it as dull and plain as possible and let the voters decide what they think is important. Thank you.

Steven Benson.

Hello, City Council and staff. My name is Steven Benson. I live in Daydream Ranch. I have since 1987. I want to talk about urban renewals that work in Wilsonville. And I want to talk, because of time, just about one, the year 2000 Urban Renewal District. It started in 1990. and it terminated in 2023 i want to talk about the projects that were created and developed and completed because of that urban renewal district let's start with wilsonville road improvements including underground utilities boone's ferry road in old town memorial drive Canyon Creek Road North, Courtside Drive, Fifth to Kinsmen, Beckman Road Corridor Project, Beckman Bike Ped, Pedestrian Improvements, other streetscapes and signals. The Bougier-Morassi land acquisition was part of this project. Town Center Park, City Hall Site Acquisition, Morassee Plaza, Wilsonville High School Gymnasium, High School Public Facilities, High School Girls' Field Improvements, I-5 Underpass Enhancements, City Hall, Creekside Woods Senior Housing, Sewer Plant Upgrades, Town Center Concept Planning, $107 million were spent on the projects in this, and the valuation of the property at the end increased by 1165%. THIS AREA IS NOW A MIX OF DEVELOPMENTS WITH PUBLIC AMENITIES AND PARKS. 225 ACRES HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE URBAN RENEWAL DISTRICT AND MILLIONS OF ASSESSED DOLLARS ARE NOW IN THE TAXABLE RETURN TO THE TAX ROLLS. THE MISSION IS ACCOMPLISHED AND I'M SORRY I'M GOING TO USE THE WORD BLIGHT BECAUSE IT'S BEEN USED SINCE 1990 BY MR. JOHN LUDLOW. Critical blight issues were addressed, including long-term water supply, wastewater treatment capacity, water delivery systems, comprehensive storm drain systems, street transportation systems. Private sector could not afford the cost of these blighted issues to solve. Projects could not be built unless these issues were addressed. Urban renewal agencies that include Back then it was mentor graphics provided for many high-tech and well-paid jobs and where could they live in? Villabaugh another project built on the back of another urban renewal district Every renew urban renewal district in Wilsonville has been successful So I support them in general because of that and I trust the people that are involved in building them these the districts and Time's up, that's fine, thank you.

Kristen Roche.

Hi there, my name's Kristen Roche. I've lived in the Wilsonville Meadows neighborhood for over 30 years, prepared to listen. Last week, I sat here and heard from three of you use the word transparency over and over again when you were talking about the ballot language that was to be put in front of voters. So I guess tonight I'm channeling Iago Montoya from Princess Bride. You use that word, but I do not think you know the meaning of that word. Transparent communications do not hide or obscure what is at stake. And here's what is at stake, you are expanding urban renewal into town center, authorizing 152 million in new public debt, and building the whole plan on an assumption of 2,381 new apartments packed into town center. That is the measure. That is what voters are deciding. You are not willing to say the two facts that matter most in the caption at the very top, urban renewal and debt. These are left off the one line that every voter is guaranteed to read on the ballot. So you can sit there and you can say transparency, but the only thing transparent in this process is your willingness to hide the truth from voters. And it doesn't stop at the caption, the financial disclosures, the debt, the interest, the 2,361 new apartments this plan assumes to make the numbers work. You have decided not to put those where every voter would be able to see them for free. Instead, you would spend extra money to mail them off in a throwaway postcard where fewer people will read them. You are spending public money to make the disclosures harder to find. Here's the irony, with every move you make to obscure this from the voters, your real intentions are exposed. You have made yourselves perfectly clear to our community. Be the thing you keep saying you are. Name urban renewal and the debt in the caption. Put the financial disclosures including how many apartments this assumes. Real transparency is not complicated. You tell the people the truth and you let us decide. That should not be inconceivable. Thank you.

Christy Corno.

Hello, Mayor, it's Council. My name's Christy Corno, and my address is on file. And I just want to share about what I've observed since being involved, which has been about a year and a half. I've observed a bias and an agenda from city staff that I actually don't condemn. I think it's okay. I think it's okay that they have a certain bias. They very much grabbed a hold of the governor's housing agenda very much have a regional sense and a regional focus, and that's where their priorities and that's where their projects and their plans have gravitated towards, and that's okay with me, but what your job is as the five elected officials is to remind staff and to check staff and to make sure that they're keeping a thought of the current residents in town and what they're asking and what they are wanting. So if a plan is way too far for bent towards people who don't live here yet or is, you know, leaning towards some state mandate, which we've all talked about that we kind of are annoyed with from time to time, or leaning towards a regional agenda or metro, it's your guys' job to kind of pump the brakes or to remind them, like, are we sure this is what our citizens actually want? So I don't mind bias. I don't mind a plan. I do count on the five of you to steer the ship for the citizens, for the current citizens of Wilsonville. So that's kind of what I've just observed over the last year and a half. And so I ask you right now that the biggest, I think, heartache about the current plan is the amount housing it seems to be the the biggest trigger and it does seem like a lot and the type of housing like we are a city per capita with the most apartments in the entire state of Oregon. We already have so many and it's nothing against apartments, it's just math. It's just what we already have and so the right balance would be to temper, to pump the brakes on how many apartments we should pack into this town center plan. We all want it revitalized, we all want that area refreshed. I don't know if we need to build new roads, but we all do want it to be revitalized and nice and uplifted, but please keep in mind of who you serve. Thank you.

Michelle Dempsey.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Michelle Dempsey and my address is on file. I have lived in Wilsonville for many decades, long enough to know the difference between being served and being sold. Let's start with what this measure actually is. It authorizes the city to borrow money, up to $150 million of it paid back out of our property taxes for the next 28 years. That is the whole ballgame, and yet nothing in your caption and nothing in your question says the word borrow or debt. Now you may add urban renewal to the question tonight, fine, but watch where you put it and where you don't. The caption is the one line that every single voter is guaranteed to read and the caption still won't say it. Over the last year, more and more people in this town figured out that urban renewal is just a way to borrow against our own future property taxes. So now, right when voters finally begin to understand the trick, you tuck the words into the question and keep them off the caption where they belong. That is not disclosure, that is hide and seek. In the captions place you put development district a phrase no one previously used for town center that exists nowhere in Oregon law Invented to sound pleasant you paid for that you spent public money to poll test which words would go down easiest Wishful thinking and make-believe build to the taxpayers this from a council that just raised our sewer and storm water fees and You are bleeding money out one door and spending it out the other to figure out how to flatter us into more debt. The May vote should have told you something. Voter trust in this city is already cracked. Instead of repairing it, here you are, ready to rubber stamp another round of spending to gaslight us about town center. I have been married 31 years. It's been a while, but not long enough to forget the lines that desperate guys used to try on me at the bars. This ballot title is misdirection dressed up as flattery. If it slid onto the stool next to me and started talking, I would put my hand over my drink. Put the truth where voters read it, urban renewal and debt, in the caption, then trust us to make up our own minds. Thank you.

John Goodale.

John Budayo.

I'm John Budayo, and my address is on file, and that one is a hard act to follow. That being said, most of my thunder has already been taken. I'd just like to say some of the Over the years, some of the deceiving heads titles that go into our ballot system are misleading at best. Just consider your audience here. We all want the same for Wilsonville. We all want city town center to be built out methodically with families in mind. I am not for taking my kids to the water fountain, to the concerts, but we want more of that. That's why I find it hard to believe, as it was pointed out, we have an inordinate amount of apartments. I lived in a cul-de-sac. I lived in an exclusive neighborhood. And now I live next to a golf course. And I can honestly say that Wilsonville is the attraction that most people used to come. I used to say, oh, I live in Wilsonville. They used to say, oh, where Fry's is. Now it's not even fries. You live in the twilight zone of a traffic hazard on the bridge. And I don't know how to get out of that. I do tell them that Wilsonville is an awesome place. I remember deploying in 2018. I told people what my community was like, and then I thought, well, I don't want them moving there. So I had to remind them that it rained quite a bit. But Wilsonville is as green and as lush and as family-oriented as possible. That is why I don't want to lose that. I'm not saying apartment complexes are the bad thing. They may be an answer in the future. But how much traffic can we withhold? This past weekend, my wife and I were picking up a couple pizzas from Papa Murphy's. And we drove around the parking lot. I was like, what the heck is going on? And we forgot about the Thursday concert in the park. And this is just one element as a party for Wilsonville. It didn't even account for the brew fest or some of the other events that would happen. But it made me think, if we had a five story apartment complex and two people are living in that one apartment trying to make ends meet as roommates with two cars with very little parking, where are they gonna go? Literally, where are they gonna go? We take two lanes and we make it down to one with 0.3% of our people even biking. I see families here and there. I've taken scouts on 10-mile bike rides, but it's very rare. Let's not forget, we live in Oregon. Rain is constant. But think about the future. Please name your ballot measure appropriately. Talk about the money. We're not like little kids or teenagers. Give us the hard part. Let us as citizens make our own decision. Thank you.

Eric Winters.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. My name is Eric Winters. I've lived in Wilsonville for 21 years. My address is on file. I was the chief petitioner to require voter approval of Irwin Owe. Last May, voters approved that measure by a decisive margin, even though our side was grossly outspent by outside money. The final result wasn't close. Voters wanted two things. No new urban renewal plans without their approval and honest, neutral ballot language when you decide to ask for it. Tonight I want to focus on the caption of the ballot title because it is the one line that every voter is guaranteed to read. Under the law that governs ballot titles, the caption has one job, to reasonably identify the subject. The courts have said a caption cannot get away with naming only a measure's most appealing effect. And a reviewing court will look past the drafter's words when those words hide what the measure actually does. So what is the subject here? Two things define it. This is an urban renewal plan. and it authorizes public debt, borrowing repaid from our future property taxes for 28 years, up to $152 million. Those are two facts a voter most needs. Your caption names neither. It does not say urban renewal. You know the term. It's in your ordinance. It's there repeatedly. but you left it out of the caption. You used development district instead, a phrase found nowhere in Oregon law and never used here until your consultant tested it and it polled highest. And it does not say debt, not debt, not financing or borrowing, not one word telling a voter this authorizes the city to borrow in their name. The whole purpose of this measure is to approve that borrowing. But your caption will not say so. Watch the pattern. You will come up with a name for a place. And if pressed, you might even say urban renewal. But you will not name the debt. Every edit runs away from the borrowing. This is not identifying the subject. That's hiding it. Some will say this subject is development, not debt. But a caption that names the goal and hides the financing fails that same test. An honest caption names both, what it is and how it is paid for. So I wrote one for you. It's 10 words. It uses town center, it uses urban renewal, and it names the financing. Here we go. Authorizes town center urban renewal plan with tax increment financing. 10 words. My question then states the maximum debt allowed. So no voter is surprised by the debt that they would approve. If a resident with no consultant and no poll can fit the truth in the same 10 words that you had, so could you. You just chose not to. So adopt this caption, put the debt in the question, name it in the caption, and let the voters decide with their eyes open. Thank you.

JANI HILL.

Hey, mayor and counselors. My name is Jenny Hill and I've lived in Wilsonville for 16 years. Um, last fall I had the opportunity to participate in one of the town center master plan focus groups. Um, the folks selected represented a variety of ages, backgrounds, and political perspectives. And we were all undecided on the topic of the town center plan. While there were differing opinions on many topics, one thing stood out to me, everyone in the room wants a true town center, a shared destination for shopping, dining events, and building a stronger sense of community where we live. At the same time, everyone also shared concerns about traffic infrastructure and how the project would ultimately be funded. Very few people in the room had a clear understanding of how urban renewal works. or what its long-term implications could be, making it difficult to fully evaluate the proposal at that time. What I did not hear that day was any desire for a town center that prioritized high density housing. In fact, several participants questioned whether adding more housing would increase traffic congestion and place additional strain on city services. Today, the proposed plan includes almost 2,400 units, high density housing units, representing 68% of the planned development by square footage. To me, that feels fundamentally different from the vision shared by our town. I personally love the idea of a vibrant town center. I believe Wilsonville deserves a destination that brings us together and strengthens our community. But I also believe that if we're asking voters to support a project of this scale and complexity, that the proposals should clearly reflect the priorities residents have consistently expressed. And they should have a complete understanding of both the benefits and the trade-offs. before making that decision. So I'd also like to speak to the ballot measure itself. Regardless of where any of us stand on the proposal, I believe we should all agree on one principle, that voters deserve clear, factual, and transparent ballot language. A ballot title and description are not campaign materials. Their purpose is to explain what voters are being asked to approve, not to persuade them to vote one way or the other. This measure asks voters whether urban renewal should be used to help fund the Town Center project, and that should be stated clearly and plainly. I was concerned that earlier drafts did not even include the words urban renewal in the title, despite the fact that that's the central question before us. Whatever language ultimately appears on the ballot should help us understand exactly what we are voting on, including both the opportunities and the long-term commitments involved. I believe that we can make thoughtful decisions when we present the facts honestly and allow our residents to weigh the tradeoffs for themselves. Just a final note, I think that if the measure is strong on its merits, it doesn't need persuasive wording. It needs accurate wording. Thank you.

My name is Michelle Seal. My address is on file. As many people have spoken, it is my understanding the majority of the council is in support of the town center plan as it stands now and is eager to use urban renewal funds up to $152 million to make it happen. While most people in Wilsonville would love to have restaurants, food carts, and shops, it is not at any cost. Every month in the Boone's Ferry Messenger, there is another explanation of how urban renewal districts don't increase property taxes or the more recent strategy to sell the CCDP without use of the phrase urban renewal funds. Now that the citizens of Wilsonville can vote on such projects and it has become a buzzword. The proposed language on the ballot measure is a very orchestrated and premeditated way to confuse and trick voters. Bringing us to a recent reality, there are thousands of us in this city that do not trust this council. This council and previous councils have allowed the following. Parks in Vaux-le-Bois are no longer paid for by the homeowners in those neighborhoods through HOA fees. Instead, the city agreed to take over the maintenance of those parks. This council supported tripling sewer and water fees until the community spoke up. That is terrible planning, foresight, and leadership by people we are supposed to trust with the growth of our community. Past councils with the same political persuasions as this council voted in favor of eliminating height restrictions on the buildings in the town center plan. This is so builders that don't live here could make pockets full of money because the money for the developers and builders is in the housing units, not the creation of the business space. The council supported a free bus to and from Clackamas Town Center for the 12 people that work out there. Whether the money came from the state or grant from the government loses sight of the fact that it is our money. Government does not produce anything. It's our money. The lack of transparency and cronyism displayed by this council has been brought to your attention many times, bringing people onto the council or commissions whether they are qualified or not with no transparency or shared decision-making continues. Lots of flowery languages used to tell us how well our city is doing preparing and managing the growth in this city. I think it should be required for all members of the Planning Commission and this council that support outing thousands of more residents to our city to try and leave the Fred Meyer parking lot at 5 p.m. every day for a month and make a right-hand turn onto Wilsonville Road. A last and recent example, the building going up at the Sherry's has 114 to 120 living units and 64 parking spaces. This must be the new math. Make it make sense. Which brings me to my third and final point. We currently have 54% of our housing made up of apartments. West Lennon Lake Oswego, 10 to 18. Cambian Malala, 15 to 22. Sherwood is 17 to 18. Tualatin is 38 to 40. Not close to the 54% here in Wilsonville, but we should definitely build more. The TCDB proposes to add another 2,000 plus apartments or multi-unit housing. The way our city code, 4.132 reads, in order for us to add business development, which is actually what the residents want, we are required to add 40 housing units per acre. Whose idea is that? This plan developed in 2019 needs a complete redo to actually meet the needs and concerns of Wilsonville residents and take into account the poorly managed growth that has happened here in the last seven years.

Thank you.

Wade Keenan.

My name is Wade Keenan. Thanks for letting me speak a little bit. I didn't prepare any remarks at all. The address is on file here. I was hoping to kind of respond to some of what I heard here tonight, and I'm dismayed by it, you know, to be perfectly honest. We've been talking about this town center plan for a long time. It's been kicked around, it's been kicked to the curb, it's been kicked down the road. There isn't anybody in this city that's interested in this issue that doesn't know what it's about. To talk about the bias, this alleged bias, it's really kind of rich. I was here during the spring when we all went through this thing about the measure to require a vote. There was incredible bias in the way that that thing was written. The people who are talking and complaining about the bias alleged here just want to have it rewritten to have their biased views gone. Let's just stop this. It's time to just get on with it. Let's have a vote. The people who are for it will vote for it. The people who are against it will vote against it. It's time just to put a stop to this going around and around and around. I'm all in favor for it, by the way, and I tend to vote for it. And lastly, I want to say this. There are thousands of people in the city that do trust the city council, and we trust what you're doing. And we're all for it. So don't let all these naysayers abuse you and convince you to just go against your best interest. Thanks.

Bill Bagnell.

Good evening. My name is Bill Bagnell and my information is on the card. Excuse me. Before I say this, I'm finding it interesting what I'm hearing about bias and information that is omitted and information and how it's shared. And with that in mind, I provide this testimony. I want to make sure that our city council, especially those that are not on social media, know that Kristen Roach has been posting false information on community Facebook pages that she directly controls with the apparent support of Councillor Cunningham and others who are openly and actively hostile to town center plans and our right to vote. Just before your most recent work session last week, finalizing the town center ballot measure, Kristin Roach posted in all caps that the number of housing units has been buried on a page three. She knows because she's been intimately involved in ballot measures.

Are we supposed to have personal attacks here?

No, we're not. Ballot measures appear on a single page, not three.

Mr. Bagnall, could you, first of all, if you guys could just keep it down. Be patient. Could you please redirect? Okay, gotcha. Thank you.

I believe the rules are known, but some people fell for it and submitted testimony that was then perpetuated at your work session as proof of an alleged transparency problem. So we had misinformation shared to create an alleged transparency problem. And this isn't the first time that this rage baiting has been used to intentionally stoke anger. And this is actually why I'm here. This weekend on Facebook, someone took aim at city staff. These are hardworking people that live here, whose kids are here, whose friends are here, posting that her followers need to, quote, clean house and hire staff that listens to her. Make no mistake. These are maggot dog whistles to fuel distrust of elected officials, dedicated city staff, and to tear apart civic engagement. We are seeing this across the country from Washington to Wilsonville. It's unacceptable and gross. I submit these printouts.

Guys, a couple of things. Um, I did say no direct personal attacks, so please speak in general. Wait, I know we all have feelings. Okay. One of the problems I have as mayor is we also have people's first amendment rights, which I can infringe upon. So even though I direct these things, I have to be careful on stopping testimony that someone has a right to say, otherwise we trigger litigation upon the city. So listen, you know, we all live here. Okay. And I'm in that line on the Fred Meyer traffic just as much as everybody else. Okay. We're all, we all have concerns. I understand that, but we have a long evening and I have a stack to go through and we give everybody, let everybody be heard. But if we could direct the issues, and not specifically identify anybody, I would really appreciate, you can comment in general statements and comments without identifying people. That would be helpful, okay? Otherwise, it's gonna inflame people one way or another. Does that make sense? Okay. All right, you can go ahead.

Thank you. These attacks on city staff are unacceptable and gross. I submit these printouts as records for the records. And finally, I support the updated town center plan with the revisions that have been requested and thoughtfully invoked and urge that this be put to voters to decide. It is time to vote and end the town center blight. Thank you.

Paul Fruin.

Hi, I'm Paul Fruin. My address is on file. I'm a 25-year resident of Wilsonville and have addressed you guys before. Particularly, one of my big things is making sure that we ask all citizens and find good ways to seek all citizens' views. When I hear these things about that this is anti Urban renewal, 3-632 is not anti-urban renewal, and I don't think what we're talking about here is anti-urban renewal. It's the transparency that you guys talked about wanting to have at last Thursday meeting. Over 3,000 people in this city voted for that measure, and we're just wanting to make sure that we're transparent in terms of how we present this to the city. It is important how it's presented. It's not, you can't just allow everybody to understand this without a clear idea of what's going on with it. So, I'm just wondering how how this ballot measure is going to go ahead. I mean, I'm hoping you guys haven't made the decision yet and you're listening to some of this testimony, but the ballot title is important. It needs to include a written renewal. And then the information that goes out to the citizens also needs to be accurate. They need to know how many units are proposed, how much parking is proposed, how much parking is proposed for both commercial and residential because it's going to really impact our city. And then also a caption that clearly states In a few amount of words, and I think Eric's was the best one I've heard tonight, about succinct 10 words or less, but showing exactly what that measure's all about. And please don't use taxpayer money to promote something that's a sales job. That's been mentioned here several times tonight, and I don't want my tax money used in that way. I just want to have an honest statement, honest, up-forward, upfront statement of what this includes and Maybe what it doesn't include if you have to do that, but but just say this is what it's all about and we'll go on Simply explain what you're proposing in terms of density how many units height of buildings the number of parking spaces and Finally this area of our city is important for the whole community So develop a plan that you know all people are gonna be happy with at the end of it, and good luck on that. I mean, that's a challenge that you guys have, but that's why we elected you as city council, because we knew that you were able to do that. Then residents will probably approve it, and then we can move on with the new Wilsonville way. Thanks.

Deborah Arthur.

Good evening, Mayor O'Neill, members of the council. Thank you for your time. My name is Deborah Arthur. My address is on file. I really don't want to be here tonight. I had a really long day at work. And I have stuff to do at home. But I love Wilsonville. And I don't know every detail. But what I do know is that I drive by the area that is urban blight. on a daily basis, and I looked up the word blight while we were sitting here, because there's some debate about that. It means blemish, blotch, defect, deformity, a deteriorated condition, and it spoils the appearance. So you can use any of those terms in the thesaurus, but that's what's going on in town center, and it needs to be addressed. For context, I come from a family that we are a hunting family, we are a fishing family, my husband born and raised in Oregon, true Oregonians, we are a conservationist family, we are a small town family. We love Wilsonville, we love the state of Oregon, and we love our country. Okay, but the blight, the deterioration must be addressed. and there's been a number of comments. I feel like people are afraid of the apartments or just not wanting that additional development. Our opinion is that if the trade-off is that we get to develop that vacant space with shops and restaurants and other revenue generators, then so be it. We need to address this problem. I support the updated town center plan I support putting it on the ballot. The spring ballot measure was billed as let everyone vote. So I'm a little taken aback at the debate we're having now. Let's let everyone vote. Thank you.

Valerie Boucher.

This was the first academy graduation that I've had an opportunity to attend and I have to say it was quite lovely. In fact, I rather liked the presentation of the street signs. In fact, I might even take the academy course myself just to get that. And then we will be officially the Bouchers who live on Luzon Street in Villebois. Good evening, and thank you for pronouncing my name correctly.

Sorry it took so long.

Oh, that's okay. Third time's a charm. So my name is Valerie Boucher, and my records are on my residence on file. Each of you council members has been elected. and staff, each of you has been hired as stewards. Stewards acting on behalf of the citizens of Wilsonville. Stewards of public trust. It's important to emphasize that word, trust. Tonight, council will be taking a critical vote. Numerous times through a variety of avenues, you have heard voices in Wilsonville regarding to town center, including a change to the city charter as a result of the May election. Your directive comes not from Metro, not from builders, not from a PR firm, not outside interests, but from us, the people you serve. At the beginning of each work session and in your packets, is written the council mission statement, and it reads as follows. To protect and enhance Wilsonville's livability by providing quality services to ensure a safe, attractive, economically vital community while preserving our natural environment and heritage. Please be not foolish, but wise in your decision choose transparency, choose full disclosure, choose truth. Thank you.

Rick Wallace.

Hello, my name is Rick Wallace. My address is on the speaker card. I'm just here to say that I strongly am in favor of approving or referring to the voters voting for using urban renewal for the town center development. And then I just wanted to say, while I was listening to testimony, I heard a lot of folks saying that one of the costs of developing Town Center would be having apartments built. And while it doesn't necessarily say that in the Town Center plan, specifically apartments, I would just say that this might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't have a problem with apartments. When my, at the time, boyfriend and I moved to Wilsonville after we met in college, we moved into the Domain at Villabois apartments because it was affordable for us. And I still remember October 5th when we got our keys, how happy we were, and we took selfies with our keys to our apartments and moved in there in Villabois. and when we were putting together our IKEA furniture way too late at past 10 p.m., listening to music and the next day we got calls from the office saying, hey, you got a noise complaint from your downstairs neighbor, you need to keep it down. And I immediately thought, okay, I'm gonna go to war with this person. But it was Christmas time and so I decided, you know what, I just grabbed a Christmas card from the rack at the UPS store and wrote, hey, sorry, we messed up, we're your neighbors, we're new, here's my number, call me if it happens again and we'll shut up. And, uh, sure enough, she called us or she texted me and she said, shut up. And we did. And so, um, I just think, and then in the three plus years that we lived there, um, before we bought my dad's house, we were very privileged to be able to do that. Um, but we met a lot of our neighbors and I have a lot of good memories and I still miss those years. So, um, yeah, I like, uh, apartments. And I would just say that, yeah, it says in the town center plan, which is out there, it's free to look up, that it can be town homes, houses, and all other kinds of things, condos. So it doesn't have to be apartments, but I don't have a problem with apartments. Also, fact check, it does say still in the town center plan 1,600 houses, so not the 2,000-plus number that people say is in the plan. So please just check out that plan. And, yeah, thank you.

Thank you. Susan Reap.

Good evening. My name is Susan Reap and my record is on file. I'm expressing my support for the updated town center plan and for sending it to voters on the November ballot. Changes have been made to the plan to bring it up to date after the long gap caused by COVID. Polls have been conducted to make sure the current updates conform to input gathered from residents. The revised plan includes urban renewal as a funding mechanism, reduces the footprint and dollar amount of the plan, lowers housing density and building heights, eliminates the pedestrian bridge and adds a food court, and adequate parking actually is accounted for. So it's time to stop talking and start building. It's time to eliminate urban blight, it's time for fair play and team play, It's time for one small group of citizens to stop hostile, uncooperative behavior, to stop moving the goalposts, and to stop asking for constant changes, and to stop spreading untruths on social media. It's time to work together. We're fortunate to have a mayor and elected officials who care deeply about all citizens and this city they represent with dignity and knowledge. We're fortunate to have a city staff with deep knowledge and expertise in their specialties. When citizens continue to comment on how they know better on how to do what the mayor is doing, it doesn't make anyone look good. And let's say this, there seems to be a huge concern about numbers of apartments. The plan does not specify apartments, just housing, yet opposition to the plan always refers to apartments. It is true that we're not living in the days of single family homes anymore. Not financially, not environmentally, not in the space single-family homes consume, and that's not a pleasant thing to think of sometimes. People with lower-income jobs need to live in housing with less expensive rents. They need to live where they work. That could be apartments. It could be duplexes. It could be tiny homes or any number of housing solutions. Could it be that the real concern is more low-income and maybe non-Caucasian residents will move in. If we're honest, maybe this is the elephant in the room. It is something to think about. It's time that we work together as a team, talk out problems in good faith, accept the richness of diversity and the value and contributions every one of us brings to the table, and move forward. The current situation is counterproductive to making Wilsonville what it can be.

Wayne Hickey. Wayne Hickey.

My name is Wayne Hickey. My address is on file. Tonight, I want to go on record by telling the mayor, the city council, and city staff that I'm very disappointed with what I perceive as duplicitous and disingenuous behavior carried out by some or all of you in your effort to less than honestly depict the content and essence of Resolution 904 that is intended to go before the voters in November. The citizens of Wilsonville elected you to work on behalf of its citizens and look after our best interests, not your own interests. And city staff who draw their salaries from the hard-earned tax money paid by Wilsonville citizens should always be looking out for the best interests of this community and not following any private agendas or whatever it seems that they're doing lately. However, from all I hear and read, it doesn't look like this has happened. You have all found it more important to spend our money on outside PR firms to come up with wording that will hoodwink the voters so that they will approve your urban renewal resolution, not realizing the full merit of their vote. Hoodwinking the electorate is not transparency. It's not looking after the best interests of this community. I don't know why you are so intent on overbuilding this small community with high-rise apartments with little or no parking. From my research, there are no firm requirements on the local, state, or federal level that would force Wilsonville to do this. Wilsonville currently has more multifamily units and apartments than any other city in the state of Oregon. You also continue to show us artist renderings designed to give us a warm and fuzzy feeling about strolling around the revitalized town center. Unless you plan to bulldoze all the stores in the town center shopping center and start anew, that's not happening there. There are many creative ideas about how to improve this community, and you seem to dismiss them and push for more density. I will tell you I am a big supporter of using urban renewal funds to revitalize the general town center area, but I no longer trust you. I'm about to advise all of my friends and neighbors and anyone else who will listen to vote to defeat Resolution 904 in November. Hopefully some new blood will decide to run for the council and that will give us a few new council members who will work over the next year to come up with a town center plan that truly is in the best interest of this community.

Thank you. Paul Sheraldsberg. I hope I got the name right, I'm sorry. Yeah, Savilsburg. Savilsburg, I'm sorry.

Yeah, my name's Paul Savilsburg. I'm a 23-year resident of Wilsonville. My wife and family and kids live here. My address is on file. Much has already been said, kind of stole my thunder from Christian, Michelle Seal, and others. I wanna know who approved the $75,000 for the PR firm, and is the PR firm here tonight? You know, that's one of the things that I, you know, was left on my agenda to talk about tonight. And then also, I want to know what's in it for you guys. You know, what is driving it for you and you, Mr. Skoll and Shevlin? What is driving it? for you to have this town center plan with 2,300, I've seen these numbers, even if it's 1,600, it's too many people, too many houses. I'm for apartments, I'm for a town center plan. Right now it's 70-30, I wanna see it flipped, 30-70, 70% amenities for the city of Wilsonville, not this massive apartment complexes. And I reject the notion that it's a magna group that's behind this, or someone that has a, I personally, I like everyone. Every creed, religion, everyone. I don't really care. As long as they're nice people, I want them here. But we don't need 2,300 apartments, 1,600 townhouses, whatever, in that downtown area. Where's the infrastructure for this? Until the bridge is fixed, until these roads are fixed, I think you need to pump the brakes and then think about it. And that's all I have to say. Thank you.

Rick Peters.

Good evening. My name is Rick Peters. My address is on file. I'd like to approach this a little differently. I was a paramedic early in my career. My field internship was in Watts, District South Central Los Angeles, one of the most dangerous areas in the country then. I was assigned to Fire Station 33, which was division headquarters. As part of the emergency rescue crew, I work side by side with firefighters, police officers, and other emergency responders. Looking at this vital ballot title tonight, I'm still concerned. In its present form, residents will have no idea how the ordinance will impact public safety. When an urban renewal district is created, the growth in property taxes inside it is diverted for the life of the district. In this case, that's 28 years. For those 28 years, Tualatin Valley Fire and Rescue and the city's public safety budget don't receive their normal share of that tax growth, but they're still expected to serve a growing population. Maybe that's the right trade-off, maybe it isn't. When I call 911, and I have, I expect someone to respond. 28 years is a long time to redirect funding from public safety. This is exactly the kind of decision voters said they wanted when they passed measure 3-632. They want transparency and full disclosure before they vote. Instead, I hear that the explanatory statement won't disclose the debt or impact on public safety funding. Nothing I've heard tonight said anything about being anti-urban renewal. But what it looks like right now is that maybe you folks don't mind because we don't matter. What does that hurt? Well, the voter who doesn't attend meetings, they're hurt. Who doesn't read ordinances, they're hurt. Who simply wants to know whether this affects public safety before casting a ballot, they're hurt. Public trust has already been compromised Using public funds to promote this plan while buying important, I'm sorry, while burying important facts erodes that trust even more. The voters do matter. Let the voters decide. Show us the numbers. Thank you. Andrew Engel.

Good evening, Mayor and Councillor. Thank you. My name is Andrew Engel. My address is on file. I support Resolution 3279 with inclusion of urban renewal in the title and caption. You've done a lot of work to derive responses to building height concerns, requests for specific amenities like food courts, and reducing the plan cost and development forecast in terms of housing units to determine this plan financing level. Susan stole my line about goalposts moving, but the goalposts do keep moving. Now writing a summary that lists a basic description of urban renewal along with the costs and benefits of development constitutes favoritism. I respectfully submit that those folks who demand you only talk about what they see as cons are not asking for neutrality. I LEARNED BY WATCHING THE WORK SESSION LAST WEEK THAT APPARENTLY IF YOU USE THE MECHANISM INSTITUTED BY 3-632, WHICH THEY ALL VOTED IN, TO MAIL EVERY CITIZEN A POST CARD WITH AN ERIC WINTERS APPROVED CUTSHEET OF POINTS COMMONLY USED TO CRITICIZE URBAN RENEWAL PLANS, THAT'S NOT NEUTRAL. Folks are demanding that you allocate strictly limited space to portray one side of the question. Did they not read the measure that they voted in in May? They and every other household in town will get a dedicated mailing that will focus on exactly the details they want. But that's not neutral enough, is it? Was that ballot measure not written well enough? And you are responding well to answer to these concerns. But what new critique will Councilor Cunningham have delivered to him next week to hem and haw over? I guarantee you the goal is to keep attacking every possible angle of town center until it's dead. To dominate the airwaves and social media cesspools with negative portrayals, not just to the plant itself, but the people who've worked on it and the people who publicly say that they are in favor of it. I should know. People have spread lies about me on social media. I suggest using the term urban renewal in the title caption and summary of the ballot measure referring 3-632. But I warn you, that won't be enough. The goalposts will move again. And so I would ask all of you to reflect that this is a plan arrived at through collective work of city staff, private citizens, elected representatives, professionals, and more. That it is time to vote. And it's above all time to decide if Wilsonville is a town that works together or a town that doesn't. This sudden redefinition of what neutrality means is not about transparency, it's about bias being coded into our codes. What, are people disturbed by the possibility that somebody sees something they like in a ballot summary? You've also heard tonight about apartments, again, repeatedly from several people, and traffic, that there are too many. You've been reminded who you serve, And there's a subtext there as well, that you should serve some citizens more than others, shouldn't you? But my extended comments about that are all submitted via email. Thank you. CHRIS HEIDELMANN.

Good evening, Mayor, council members. My name is Chris Heideman. My address is on file. We've lived here in Wilsonville for coming up on 11 years. I do want to point out, despite what some have claimed, that arguing against this urban renewal funding on the November ballot is, in fact, arguing against the town center plan. And you really can't have it both ways. Because without this ballot, there is no town center. We won't move forward on town center until May 2028 at the earliest. That's what 3-632 requires of us, right? Primary of an even-numbered year. There we go. That's May 2028 So we got a year and a half of sitting on our hands I guess that gives us lots of times to find out where the goalposts will go and move to that point To suggest as one speaker did that there's something in it for the council is absolutely abhorrent. Why don't you just Why don't you just ask who's, you know, where the box of cash is that they're getting? That's what the implication is. That's incredible. I also have to point out that the housing is over decades, okay? Two or three decades. Everybody is acting like 1,600 units or 2,300 units are going to show up tomorrow and add to the traffic on Wilsonville Road. It's over decades, and then only if there's demand. No developer is gonna put up condos or townhouses or even apartments if there isn't demand. I'm sorry, what?

Hey, direct your comments here, please.

No, yeah, you're right, you're right. We're exactly like the Chinese, and we're gonna put up all the empty apartment buildings and just leave them there so that we can tear them down later. That's what's gonna happen here. Yeah, anyway, coming back. The housing is over decades. And the city's website certainly has to have information about how these housing estimates were arrived at and why they're being used here. It's not just somebody came up with 2,300 units. Finally, let's talk about blight. From ORS 57010, blighted areas means any areas that by reason of deterioration, faulty planning, inadequate or improper facilities, deleterious land use or existence of unsafe structures or any combination of these factors are detriments to the safety, health or welfare of the community. I'm not gonna read the whole statute, it's like seven pages of that text. But it fits what we're facing. So the question now is do we want to continue to drive by that blight? Do we enjoy going to neighboring communities or even downtown Portland for food or entertainment? Or do we want antique stores, galleries, interesting shops, eateries, entertainment right here in Wilsonville like our neighboring communities have? That's what's in it for the council. That's what's in it for them. Thank you. Dana Brenner.

Give me just a moment. I'm Dana Brenner. My address is on file. I'm here tonight to share what I know are the sentiments of many, many of my fellow Wilson villagers. We've been waiting since 2019 for that village feeling to come to Wilsonville. Since 2019, when the town center plan was approved, we the people have been waiting for this. The only thing missing was funding. Urban renewal is by far the best way to avoid raising taxes to bring this vibrancy to our community. We know from public polling and diverse focus groups that the majority of people in our city support both the town center plan and funding it through urban renewal. Let's talk a little bit about numbers. Talking about serving the people, less than 20% of the people who voted for the ballot measure, it was less than 20% of our Wilsonville residents. And many of those residents were swayed by misinformation and disinformation that is all over social media. A vocal minority regularly insists on forwarding change out of fear of progress, diversity, and the kind of people who live in apartments. They rabidly spread misinformation, disinformation, and engage in nasty character assassination, threats, and harassment. I have had false reviews of my business. I have been threatened personally. The tactics that are used in this town are abhorrent. They cry out that taxpayer dollars are being wasted by informing the public. They constantly seed propaganda about local government being untrustworthy and unethical in order to get their way by any means necessary, and let's be transparent, that is a national strategy. It is this very vocal minority that wastes our money by keeping you, the officials, elected fairly and clearly by Wilson villagers from doing your jobs. They slow down the operations of our city, creating excessive bureaucratic red tape and waste. I have watched as the city has bent over backwards to consider their requests and constantly moving goalposts. The town center plan has been thoughtfully and substantially modified in numerous and significant ways in response to feedback about density, traffic concerns, and more. It is time to stop bargaining with people behaving like terrorists taking our town hostage. It is time to move forward. Wilson villagers are counting on you to do what has been proven over and over again to be what the majority in our city want to bring progress and vitality to Wilsonville through the actualization of the town center plan. This group has cried out before to let the people of Wilsonville have their voices heard through a ballot measure and through the right to receive information. Why now are they trying to thwart that exact thing? Let the voters have their voice.

Susan Hanson.

Good evening. My name is Susan Hanson and my address is on file as well. Thanks for the opportunity to be here tonight and talk to you. I am in favor of moving the town center plan ahead as planned and discussed by the city council. It's important to have a plan to end the vacant weed choked properties we have and turn them into vibrant businesses, parks, homes, that contribute to the town center area, and this plan does it without raising taxes. We need a central downtown with mixed uses, parks, food carts, and a variety of businesses. Our city planning staff has the forward thinking that our city needs to help the community grow sensibly and responsibly. Having been a participant in the Citizens Academy, I was impressed by the public servants who work on our behalf and make good decisions. The bottom line is it's time to vote. Substantial changes have been made to the center plan as requested by residents. Let the voters have their votes.

Kate Johnson.

Kate Johnson, 30-year resident, plus yours. Name is on the speaker card. Good evening, Mayor and Councilors. My name is Kate Johnson, and I'm a Wilsonville business owner. My business serves other local businesses, so I spend every day listening to entrepreneurs who invest in their own capital, create jobs, and make long-term decisions based on the needs of this community. Tonight I want to speak about the growing disconnect between regional mandates and local priorities. From my perspective, Wilsonville already has more than enough rental housing, yet it feels like we're continually being asked to accept even more apartments because that's what fits a regional planning philosophy, not because that's what residents have asked for. What troubles me just as much is the way that the plan has been presented. Why aren't residents seeing realistic visual representations of what Town Center is expected to become? If the vision is primarily four and five story residential buildings with thousands of additional housing units, then show that. Let people evaluate the proposal based on what it will actually look like, not idealized renderings that minimize its scale. And please, stop trying to sell this plan by adding attractive features late in the process, whether it's an enhanced food court concept, revised boundaries, or other amenities, and then telling residents the plan reflects community priorities. Whose priorities? Is it the broader Wilsonville community or the views of a relatively small percentage of residents who participated in planning surveys? Many people in this community still feel that they have not had a meaningful voice in shaping a project that will influence Wilsonville for decades. From where I stand, we have a planning process that is being driven by regional mandates, state metro requirements, preemption laws, and the concern of losing funding if Wilsonville doesn't comply. Whether or not those pressures are real, the result is that many residents perceive the city is advancing someone else's vision for town center rather than Wilsonville's own. I also reject the assumption that simply increasing density automatically increases affordability. Packing more apartments into a smaller footprint does not, by itself, make housing affordable. Affordability depends on many factors, including construction costs, land values, financing, and market demand. So my call to action is this. Put Wilsonville first, give residents complete transparency, present realistic visuals, broaden public engagement, so more households, not just a small segment, have a meaningful opportunity to participate. and make sure future planning decisions begin with what is best for the people who live, work, own businesses, and pay taxes here. Regional cooperation has its place, but local government exists to represent local residents. Your ballot title is intentionally opaque. The caption should tell everyone that they are voting for new public debt for Town Center. Urban renewal is that debt mechanism, not some development district masquerading as a fountain of free money. Thank you.

Christine Porter.

Good evening. My name is Christine Porter, and my address is on the speaker card. This is my first time speaking here. This is not my first time in this room. I've lived in Wilsonville for over 20 years. My mother, who is soon to be 99, lives here. My husband and I live in a home. I hope to someday live in a condo here, but I'm not sure I'll live that long. My son and our grandchildren also live here. We have over the years been to many wonderful activities that this city has planned and sponsored, and the staff has done an A1 job, I must say. My current passion is playing the ukulele with the Wilsonville Ukulele Player Society that the Parks and Rec Department sponsors. I have great appreciation for all the hard work that is performed by this council, this mayor, former mayors, and former councils who have worked very diligently to plan ahead for a city that I love. They have an excellent staff who has just done a barn burner job, sorry to say, and in my opinion have gone above and beyond with task force, meeting, committees, surveys, polls. It's time to move forward. What brings me to my feet tonight is the negativity. I am not here to tell you which documents you should use and how they should be filed, although I have expertise in that area. I am not here to tell you what verbiage you should use and get out my Roger's thesaurus and pick something that would be either my bias or non-bias. That is not my job. My job as a citizen, I vote for people who I give that decision to and I respect this council. You know, as a young adult, I feared change greatly. I hated it. I anticipated it. But it didn't take much change in my life for me to realize what I would have missed had there not been change. I would ask those people who say, we are in favor of town center plan, but then in capital letters say, but. to please take a breath. Think about what you can do to promote this moving forward. Let's see this on the ballot. Let's have our vote. Thank you.

Julie Rustrum. There she left. Oh, she did? Okay. Judith Dunn.

Good evening.

My name is Judith Dunn and my address is on file. I am not a long-term resident of Wilsonville. I've been here less than two years but in that time I have been able to appreciate the loveliness of this community and I wish to give my appreciation for the hard work of the council. I wish to give my disdain for the cruel comments made by a number of the speakers here about the duties that the council has been performing so well for us, and even the foul language that I heard back there during this meeting. It's so uncivil. I wish to provide an upvote for the urban plan. And I do think it's a dandy project, but you got a lousy title. So hopefully it will be on the ballot with a slightly clarified title in November. Thank you.

Nancy Anderson.

Good evening, mayor and council. My name is Nancy Anderson and my address is on file. I want to just say that I support the mayor and the council and all the hard work you've done. And I want to go forward with the town center that was voted on seven years ago. That was agreed on seven years ago. And it's time that we enjoyed it because it's a great city.

Thank you. John Obendorfer.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the council. My name is John Obendorfer and my address is on the speaker card. Forgive me, I'm very nervous about speaking in public. I've been a resident here for 13 years, but my history with Wilsonville goes back considerably further. My first experience of Wilsonville was in 1984 when, as a young college student, my third-hand Chevy Vega threw a rod about 200 yards short of the north Wilsonville exit. At that time, Wilsonville had, I believe, a truck stop and a hotel at the north end of town. There was a neighborhood, a small one, at the south end of town. There was a Tektronix plant on the east side of town. Much of the rest of what is around us now were farm fields. Over the years as I went through college and then later into my profession, I watched Wilsonville grow and I was somewhat cynical and surprised that The leadership of 35, 40 years ago made a bold decision. They brought in the light industry first before they started building housing developments. This made Wilsonville what it is today. It is not a bedroom community. It is a place where a person can live and work. I know I'm one of them. I'm very lucky. I have an arduous commute of two miles between my home and coherent where I work. That came about because of foresight and vision. And as leaders, one of the things that is asked of you is to weigh off long-term and short-term priorities and thinking. Okay? It's a hard job. Man, I wouldn't want to do it. I'm not good at that kind of thing. But I believe that now you should be bold in the way that your predecessors were bold, I think, The town center plan has been in debate for a number of years. It has recently gone through a round of major review. It's been done and dusted. It's time to put it in front of the voters and let the chips land where they may. Thank you. That's all I wanted to say. Thank you.

Paul Diller.

Good evening, mayor and council. My name is Paul Diller. I'm a 12 year Wilsonville resident and my address is on file. I was a member of the original town center task force from 2017 to 19. And I was also on the town center building height waiver task force this past spring. Overall, this town center plan has been in the works for nine years. As anybody can see, the town center is not in good shape. It's blighted by any reasonable definition, at least in many parts. We deserve a thriving town center. Unfortunately, our town is at a competitive disadvantage with respect to other towns, especially regarding amenities that this town center plan could provide. When I moved here, we had a movie theater. Now we don't. When I moved here, we had an old school bowling alley, not Bullwinkle's, which is great, but it's a different kind of bowling alley. The old school bowling alley also had pool. We don't have that anymore. We've gained some things, but we've lost some things. And people would like to spend their money here and unfortunately are spending more of it elsewhere because they're looking for some of these amenities like movie theaters, et cetera. that we don't have. I also think that's hurting our real estate values. I see anecdotally, haven't done an empirical study, houses in my neighborhood, some of them sitting a long time on the market. And I wonder if that's partly because we don't have a thriving town center like we should. So to get these amenities, to get the thriving town center, we need a plan, and a good plan, and we have a good plan. The process was very thorough. It's essentially been taking nine years. It's had some changes already As I understand that the plan needs housing over time not immediately But over time to get the shops dining options entertainment, etc That people in Wilsonville so clearly want and they will also build community when they come And housing is a good thing in and of itself whether it's single-family middle housing or apartments um traffic is a valid concern if this goes through if the voters vote for it it is incumbent upon all of you to continue to lobby the state and federal partners of ours for major improvements to the traffic in this area it's in a lot of ways more than a local problem it's a regional national and even international problem with i-5 being the major thoroughfare on the west coast but putting 2,000 apartments or 2,000 units right near the highway over 30 years. I don't think that's gonna be the major cause of our continued traffic woes, but we do need to focus on solving them. As far as the ballot language, I have not dived into it the way some of my fellow citizens have. It's great we have such a concerned citizenry who dive into the weeds of this sort of thing. But ultimately, it's your call. It's a representative government. We can't have a ballot measure on what to put in the ballot measure on the language. You have to make the call, all five of you, hearing what you've heard tonight. I'd like to be able to vote on it and move this plan forward. Thank you very much.

Cornelia Gibson.

And while Ms. Gibson is coming up, I'd ask the city attorney to remind me when we get close to the witching hour where we need a motion. Thank you.

Good evening, Mayor. Good evening, City Council. Thank you for letting me speak here briefly. I don't want to say much because it has all been said already. I have to agree with what Paul Diller just mentioned. I also had Susan Reap said some very important things as well as Mr. Heidemann. But what I wanted to address is that the Measure 3-362, the campaign signs in May, what did they promote? I think the signs read, the right to vote. So I support the updated town center plans and I support the city in fulfilling its commitment and providing voters with the right to vote this November on this ordinance 905. So it's high time that a majority of the voters get to vote on the future of town center. I moved here 30 years ago hoping we get a town center. Please let's vote on it. Thank you.

Justin Diaz. Mayor, you left too.

Oh, you did? Okay.

David Mock.

My name's David Mock, and my address is on record. Thank you for what you've done tonight. It's not what I expected when I walked in the room a couple hours ago. Since it's baseball season, I'm going to use an analogy to it and I'm going to be very brief too. The city is a proven hitter with a 300 batting average regarding urban renewal and tax increment financing. Solid hits that scored many runs in one game after game. They have a proven track record. And that is also my personal experience with the members of this council and the city staff. They have a high degree of integrity and they have proven to be highly professional. We've seen significant due diligence regarding the town center. The town center vision is a game changer. Producing new revenue for the city without raising citywide taxes and that is how it works folks whether you believe it or not Call it what you will but our city has areas of blight the single biggest solution to that is urban renewal The need is there The city's urban renewal track record is outstanding Billions were added and assessed value for investments there were only a fraction of that and There's no time clock in baseball, but there is in seizing opportunity. This is a generational opportunity for our city and its citizens. Thank you, council, mayor, officials, for providing a prosperous, positive vision for Wilsonville. Thank you.

Greg Gahn, I might have misread the writing, I apologize.

It's Greg Gahan, my name's on that.

Oh boy, I really missed that one.

That's okay, that's fine, that's fine. I was only across the hall from you in the office building for eight years, but that's all right.

Well, the writing was a little hard for me, sorry.

That's okay, it is okay. God darn it, Sean, now you got me sidetracked. So I think that I've been here for 27 years. And it's so funny. We talk about urban renewal so much. And I know that something has to be done over here. And I'm just not sure if everybody in the town even knows what's going to be done. I come in here and I listen to what we call the mega dog whistleblowers. Then we got the vote blue, but never who or whoever what crowd. And I don't think either one really knows what... the ramifications of this town center plan might bring. And I do agree with the comments about the funding sources, I guess not existing, the way you guys say it, there'll be no new taxes. It's the one primary thing that I wanted to kind of discuss. I brought my property tax statements for the last 20 years. Every one of them but three has urban renewal, Wilsonville urban renewal on it, anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars. So I think it is, I guess misleading or just not written well that you're not really educating the group as to how this really works. The incremental amount that you guys capture and somebody, one of the people did touch on it is already gone. Cause like the, the property gets developed or improved. It requires more services, but you guys get to come in and take those funds to repay the bond that you'll take out based on the urban renewal vote. But then we have to pay more to cover the services that would be covered by the other tax money. You guys come and grab it. I don't know why there's always this push that the public has to do all these improvements. That piece of property is just a plum, it's a gem sitting over there. I don't know if it's just the planning paralysis that came into the city when you guys did Villabois. You can look at the increase in the number of public employees. There's a huge planning group. You guys got to do something. So I think this has been laid out to do it. And I don't know if you guys are maybe the best ones to take it on. Maybe there's some outside influence or something you guys could bring in that maybe could educate us all better as to why it's so important. listen to some things about we don't want all this housing or the type of housing that you guys are talking about. I just don't think that either side really knows what's coming their way. 155 million? I go, it's 100 acres, and this is what I do for a living. 155 million? Are you guys going to build everything? I mean, but you talk about there's just going to be some infrastructure. Nobody really knows what's going on, and I think you guys should do a way better job at letting the public know what's coming. It's just not simple. It's just like voting on it. It's going to be a 20- or 30-year thing. And talk about blight. As you guys begin to tear this down, for 20 or 30 years, we're going to build whatever this thing is going to become. I just think it's just too bad that... the people aren't a little more united in wanting to do it one way or the other. I think it's just a sign that nobody really knows what's going to happen. So you guys should please do a little bit better, educate some people, and get a little bit more of a, not just black and white groups for either side. I think I did OK. Everybody else was such better speakers. I just put this together while I was eating dinner.

MARY CLOSEN. Okay. Tristan Roland?

I'm Tristan Roland. My address is on file. I will start by saying I'll reiterate some of the mayor's comments. It would be illegal for him to shut me down. It would be illegal for you all to shut me down. You guys like freedom of speech, right? So I'm gonna continue on with my statements, okay?

Can I just say one thing generally, and I don't, I'm gonna, I've been in this office now almost two years. And any time an attack is made, no matter who it's against, in the council chamber, it does two things. I'm just letting you know, and you can agree to disagree. If it's attack against me, well, that doesn't make me feel so good, right? If it's attack on another counselor, well, that doesn't make me feel good either. Here's why. Because most of the time, believe it or not, This council agrees on just about everything. Believe it or not, we have these issues, okay, but they're not as many as you would think. And it's just those ones that everybody gets emotional on. And it doesn't serve us well, even though the First Amendment may allow it, that you do these attacks because it impacts our ability to work together. Why? Because we assume one or the other counselor had something to do with it. And most of the time, I'm just as shocked at what I hear. And I know about the social media attacks by people that are directed to every member of council. Here's the thing, this isn't social media, it's a city council meeting. And the minute you attack, we shut off listening. I will just tell you, if someone attacks me, I'll sit there, but I've lost the listening capacity. So if you truly want to communicate for us to listen, okay, then attacking, in my personal opinion, is not a good idea. I'm going to try to explain to everybody the law does not allow me to shut people off. So when people get mad, why did I do this? I've been advised by the city attorney that I will be infringing on someone's first amendment rights. It's not any disrespect or preference for one person or another. I'm stuck. But I tell you, I don't respect any attacks if it be directed to me or anybody on council, because I have to work with these people and they have to work with me. And so it really doesn't serve our community well. We're all grownups here. We wear the big boy pants, as my dad used to say, and we can talk and support our issues without attacking. With that said, Mr. Rowland, go ahead.

Okay. I will respond. How about that? I would love to hear a proposal from the opposition. I have yet to hear one. It's just criticize, attack, attack, attack, and then I don't hear any detailed points or proposals from them about how they would like the city, what they think about the future of the city. I mean, I heard some earlier points about transparency. This is coming from people who wrote measure 3-632. We did have, we had almost none, very, it was a very small portion of the language on the actual ballot. So how are we supposed, I mean, I don't really want to hear about transparency from them. I heard someone mention this plan is bent towards people who don't live here yet. Isn't that what we want? If we want the economy to grow, if we want this city to have a good future, it should be bent towards people who aren't living here yet. I think what we can conclude is certain people are just not gonna vote for the plan whether it is no matter how we adjust it, they're never gonna vote for it. And they're gonna keep moving the goalpost so we can never get anything done.

Mr. Rowland, I'm gonna give you more time because I took a lot of speaking. I think the timer was... It was stopped? Was it stopped? Okay. Yeah, I think it was. I'll be... All right.

So finally, let's just move forward with this plan. And in Blight, in Wilsonville, and as one of the greatest living philosophers of our time, Taylor Swift said, haters gonna hate.

Thank you. I can't read the writing. Forgive me. Uh, Alex, uh, youth, youth Kins. What? Oh, I don't even see the w sorry.

Yeah. My handwriting is like a two year old or less. My name is Alex Watkins. I've been here for eight years. Um, I don't have a problem with the urban renewal project. What I have a problem with is just the wording of it. Just keep it simple. Where I work, we have a saying called, make complicated simple. That's it. That's all most of us are trying to say. I think 90% of us agree on the exact same thing. I think 50% of us agree with the wording. 50% of us don't agree with the wording. And I think that's where the rub is. Because I haven't heard anybody come up here and say, scratch the whole urban renewal. It is literally the ballot title and what's going in there. That's my take and that's my issue tonight. That's it, thank you. Oh, I also apologize for the outburst. Thank you. Thank you.

Becky Frommhart. Frommhart.

My name is Becky Fromhart, and my address is on that card. I guess I'm a little confused about what we're talking about tonight, because I thought we were talking about the ballot. And I'm for urban renewal, and I have thoroughly enjoyed attending the civics academy and attending meetings and stuff, but I'm just concerned about the words. I think there's three things that are particularly concerning about the words. Money, title, and descriptors. And I'm speaking for voters who are probably busy and work and don't necessarily have time to do all the research that has been done. The first read on it is basically not to worry, TIF is not a new tax. Reading a little further, the city incurs debt. But there's an unmentioned possibility that frozen services, the safety services that they mentioned, police, fire, and schools, can and might each ask voters to fill the money gap during the 28 year freeze. The title, What is a development district? Urban renewal has been used up until now and many times tonight. And the city has expended significant effort to explain it to the citizens. The annual report that we got a few weeks ago, page 12, understanding urban renewal. Boone's Ferry Messenger, page four, what is urban renewal? the recent may election measure talked about urban renewal even our property tax bills mentioned urban renewal but what is a development development district the descriptors ballot descriptors as currently written are the nice words like shopping eating, community gathering. Actually, most of the proposed plan is designated for housing than for shopping. There's no mention of even mixed use, which is the term used to mean dwellings above businesses. Note, housing is not a bad thing. But citizens should be aware that housing does mean increased residence and their vehicles and thus increased need of those services. On a side note, last week, There was a comment that certain pockets of very engaged people who make their feelings known speak or send emails and that these pockets are not expressing concerns of other citizens who work and don't have time to attend meetings or have their three minutes or more. I suggest that the council and staff respect any and all citizen participation and not discourage or mock those who show up. Thank you.

Melissa Swaggerty?

Are they, okay.

Is it okay to hand these?

You can get the city recorder.

Perfect. Thank you.

I'm not one... Oh, hi. I'm Melissa Swaggerty, and I do live here in Wilsonville. I'm not one who usually comes to these kinds of events. I don't really do what's happening. I just... I put out a thing, and on the... what's up Wilsonville Facebook page. And I just was trying to get some positive feedback about what is happening. It's been a lot, at least in that particular realm, it's been a lot of negativity. And so I just was like, well, what would people be interested in? What would make people happy? And so all I really have for you guys is just some results, but basically looking at some things that even a small sample of people were interested in, it's just a little bit jarring how different it is than maybe the perspective that has been presented as an option. And I just thought it was worthwhile to at least bring it to your attention and your viewing.

Thank you. Thank you. That's, I think, all the comments I have from the community. Nothing online? OK. turning to councilor comments, liaison reports, and meeting announcements. But before we begin, I just want to give you a heads up that I'll be asking for a motion to extend the city council meeting at an appropriate time. And I would like to break after, if I can, after the consent agenda, if council's okay with that. Because I think most of our work and conversation is going to be on new business. Is that okay with folks? All right. All right, with that, Council President Berry.

Well, thank you everybody that participated tonight and took your time to either come here and share your thoughts or listen to what other people have to share. And for all the emails that we have been receiving, To me, because my background is urban planning, that's one of the things that I really enjoy is thinking about the future and how can we make a nice community for not just the people that are here now, but for future generations. That's what this discussion's been all about. It's just a lot to take in. I'd really like to see the vote on the ballot. I hope that everybody will understand what the vote is about and that we've had a lot of work and a lot of participation. for the town center plan over many years. There's different places in the literature that says we've had over 100 meetings. We've had public meetings, we've had task force, we've had planning commission, we've had city council meetings. just a lot of input but i think overall what i'm hearing is that people do want to see a thriving community that's the heart of our town where people can gather and enjoy their friends and their family so those are my comments for now thank you thank you counselor cunningham

Thank you. First off, and I was thinking about this before, the Mayor's comments during public input, which I very much applaud and appreciate. Last week, I walked away from the meeting and I went back and I was watching the video and I used the word atrocious in response, talking about being fiscally responsible or not being fiscally responsible. And I was just going off the cuff, and I don't think that word was appropriate. I think that I was disappointed, I guess would have been a better word. But all of us up here, we all, come to the table with our own views our own positions and We are going to look at things differently and approach things differently and the word atrocious was the incorrect word to use there And I apologize to my fellow council members for the use of that word with that I'd like to Throw out props to one of our speakers tonight Miss Judith Dunn I appreciate what she said we We do need to have better, more civil conversations around this. We're gonna have passionate positions on it. We all, for whatever reason, whether it's a desire for something better, whether it's fear for something worse, we all come with different baggage and backgrounds. I come from working as a police officer in a city down in Southern California called the city of El Cajon. If anybody knows it, It reminds me a lot of Wilsonville or what I see Wilsonville could become as it is today. But it started as a small suburb. The big city creeped into it. It's not a real great place to live anymore. And so when I think about these things, I have that. I have that built in where I think about what does that mean to urbanize our suburb? And I can tell you that I approach it with an idea of fear of what could happen to our small town. That's where I come from on it. We all come from around a different place. But I appreciate the citizen input. There's a lot of it tonight. But I appreciate Ms. Dunn's comments that she's in favor of the plan and that she believes it's a bad title. And I heard that on both sides. That's the funny thing, too, sitting up here. I try to be very neutral. I try to listen from a neutral perspective and listen to what people are trying to say. The funny thing tonight was is that every time somebody came up to speak, I could tell exactly which side they were going to land on because which side of the room they were sitting on, except for that one little person back there in the corner on that side. And I already know where you come from, Mr. Engel. I read your comments before. But we all come from a different place. But we're sitting here with a room that's divided. And we're sitting here with a community that's divided. And maybe there's more work to be done on this plan or on how we present it or how we educate on it. But I appreciate everyone's passion on it. And I do believe that, I don't believe that any counselor up here is on the take, by the way. I think we're all up here just doing the job because we care about our community. So with that, we'll get to the deeper conversations on this issue in a little bit, but thank you.

Councilor Shevlin?

Thank you. I'm just going to make a few comments about some upcoming projects. opportunities for you in our city. And then I'll make just a few personal comments. Movies in the park coming up August 7th and 14th. Super Mario Galaxy movie is August 7th. Hoppers, August 14th. I have no idea what Hoppers is, but I'm sure it's a good movie. So that is in the Town Center Park about 8, 15, about dusk. Bring your blanket or your low lawn chair. Mayor made comment about the Wilsonville Rotary Summer Concert Series. That one is over, but we also have the Wilsonville Parks and Rec concert on Thursday, August 13th at Town Center Park. Come listen to the Latin music of Sobroso. And lastly, on events, there's a short story contest happening through the Wilsonville Library. Three winners from each of six different age groups, so it could be young kids all the way to adults and retirees that like to write a short story and you could win a prize. So it's just part of the beauty of our city is we have so many things to offer. And I agree and I appreciate, excuse me, Councilor Cunningham's comments. We all just want the best for our city. Sometimes that best is defined a little bit different, but I believe we are in support of Town Center. How many housing units It's gonna take a while for that to be developed over a long period of time, but I believe we all, everyone here on the dais, each one of you want a vibrant council, or a vibrant city. What I did wanna comment on was my experience in my career and how that shapes what I try to do on city council. I believe that our city staff have listened to our citizens. They've listened and we've heard, okay, we're worried about building height, we're worried about density, we're worried about parking. What's going to bring people in to attract them? I don't think a food cart pod adding recently is a bad thing, that's listening to you. We hear you say, every other town has food cart pods, why can't we have one? So we want to put in an incentive program to enhance that idea. And many of us have said, let's get that in first. And some of you might have heard me say, let's not only get that in first, but protect it as the building goes on around it so that we can still get to it. No, don't block it off. So get that food cart pod going as early as possible. We have talked about adequate parking and realizing that we need to make sure that there is parking and that parking facilities are part of the town center plan, part of the urban renewal plan. That is part of what can be funded. That is so important. We have heard that. And we've also, lastly, from my comments, removed the funding through the urban renewal plan for the bike-ped bridge across I-5 because we heard that, uh-uh, first of all, we may not need it for a while. Perhaps there's another way to find funding, but take it out of the urban renewal plan and reduce the overall maximum expenditure. So we've heard you. Now we're just trying to come together. I believe, and what I learned in my career, because I was a union member, I was a contract negotiator and a hospital administrator. It's all about compromise. So I believe the city has done a good job compromising, listening, lowering those building heights, decreasing that density. We don't always get everything we want, but I ask you out here, where's your compromise? Don't move those goal posts anymore. I agree we need to have clear, concise language for the ballot measure. I support that 100%. I thought we were pretty close at the work session titles that we asked our city attorney to, or the wording we asked our city attorney to consider. So I believe we're close, but there has to be compromise on all that we're deciding for our city, including the details of the town center and the details of the urban renewal plan. You voted, you want it, I support it 100% that you wanted this you wanted the ability to vote. We're not on the take. We're here trying to make the best decisions that we can for all of you. So I really appreciate everything that everyone has said tonight. You come with passion, you come with conviction, each and every single one of you. We have all of that here as well. So we want to continue making the best decisions we can for you. There's more to say, more to discuss. So I'm just here to let you know that compromise is the only way to go. Thank you.

Thank you.

I'd like to reiterate what everybody said and also thank them for their comments, from the mayor to Councillor Cunningham, Councillor Berry, and Councillor Shevlin. And I'm not going to repeat their words, and I could. And also thank you all for your testimony. The testimony is very valuable for both sides and everything, and I truly believe that what we need to do is we need to get your testimony and get to a vote and let the community decide. I'll submit my schedule and everything in for the record. Couple comments. First of all, I'd like to congratulate the Civics Academy graduates. It's a great program. For those who have not attended, I would encourage you to attend and learn more about the function and the operations of the city. And last but not least, and most importantly, I'd like to say a big thank you to the staff. After many months of working through some exceptionally complex and challenging issues, I want to express my sincere gratitude to the city staff. Your professionalism, expertise, patience, unwavering commitment to serving our community has been evident in every step of the way. Even when faced with difficult decisions, tight timelines, and differing perspectives, you have remained focused on providing thoughtful analysis, clear communications, and an outstanding public service. As a city councilor, I have gained even a greater appreciation for the dedication and hard work that often takes place behind the scenes. Thank you for everything you do to keep Wilsonville safe, a welcoming and well-managed community. All the staff, your all efforts have made a difference every day, and our city is stronger because of their service. Thank you.

Thank you. Next item is our consent agenda. Will the City Attorney please read the items on consent?

Minutes of the July 20, 2026 City Council meeting.

City Council President Berry can have a motion to adopt the consent agenda.

I move that we adopt the consent agenda.

Is there a second?

Second.

The motion to adopt the consent agenda has been made by City Council President Berry and seconded by Councillor Skoll. All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

The motion passes 5-0. City Council President, can I have a motion to extend the City Council meeting to 11 p.m.?

I move to extend the City Council meeting until 11 p.m. tonight.

Is there a second? Second. Motion has been made and seconded. All those in favor say aye. Aye. The motion passes 5-0. I declare recess until 9.50. Is that enough time for council? Okay.

Okay. The city council meeting is now resuming at 9.52 p.m. We're now moving to new business.

Tonight, council will consider resolution number 3279. I'll ask the city attorney to read the resolution summary.

Resolution number 3279, a resolution of the city of Wilsonville referring to the qualified electors of the city, the question of approving the town center development district plan, approving a ballot title and explanatory statement, submitting proposed ordinance number 905 to the electors, and directing the city recorder to take such actions as are necessary to conduct the election.

Before I ask staff to present the report, I want to invite council to consider the following. I'd like to allow staff to present an initial report and then we defer making a formal decision until another date, certain city council meeting, uh, before August 14th, um, a date that will rely on staff to schedule us. Is that okay with everybody? Because I think there's going to be some important conversations. And so is that something you would support that idea?

I think that's a good idea, especially as it's getting late and we're tired.

Counselor Cunningham. Is that okay? All right. So what I'm going to do is allow staff to present their reports now. And then after that report, I will formally ask for a motion to move the balance of this item to a date certain for a city council meeting. That work for everybody? To the attorney, I want to make sure I'm proper.

When you say date certain, just to be clear.

Before August 14th.

So are you wanting to set it tonight to figure that out tonight or just set it, if you're just wanting to continue it, you don't need to do to a date certain, but if you want to pick a date tonight, then you'll do it to a date certain.

I just want us to all agree that we're going to be doing this before August 14th. Is that fair enough as a council? Okay. Okay, great. All right. So to the extent we can have staff help us to make sure we do it before deadline I appreciate it so and Kim thank you in advance because usually the one doing the survey monkey and helping us and Kaylee so okay with that I would ask staff to present the report Mr. Lorenzen

Thank you, mayor O'Neill, um, city counselors, council president Barry, um, here. And, uh, I've appreciated some of the levity in the meeting this evening. So I'll see if I can add to that. Um, I have very little to say tonight. Can you believe it? And that's very true. The council staff report is very brief and what it notes is that we have taken what the council decided on through consensus in our previous meeting to adapt the question language to now read should the city adopt proposed ordinance number 905 establishing the Wilsonville Town Center Development District an urban renewal district. With that, you recognize this slide from our previous meeting. I'm joined by the city attorney, Ms. Amanda Geil-Hendman, city manager, Gina Troha, and we're here to entertain questions and guide any conversation that ensues from this point forward. That's the extent of our presentation.

Okay. Council, any questions at this time? I would assume when we if we agree to formally defer this, that staff will be back to answer our questions then. Is that fair enough? So can we reserve our questions at that time, or would council, would you like to ask questions out? Sure.

Councillor Cunningham. Just so that all of council and the public is clear on exactly what our plan is, Can you outline exactly what our actions as a council will be from now until that next meeting?

Yeah, at this point, we're not making any decision tonight. No decision can be made until another city council meeting has been scheduled. The goal is to have a date certain to be determined before August 14th of that meeting, where that meeting will decide formally and we'd have inquiries. I hope Not of your head, community, especially Mr. Winters. Does everybody understand? Okay, so with that, staff will help us coordinate our schedules. Okay. All right. With that, um, do we need a formal motion to set this over?

So you would just need a motion to continue the item to the next scheduled.

Understood. So can I have a motion city council president to continue consideration of resolution number three, two, seven, nine until the next, uh, city council meeting to be set by August 14th, 2026. So is there a second second, any discussion? Okay, all those in favor say aye. Aye. The motion passes 5-0. We have one more thing that I think we can address. Continuing business. Tonight we were to consider on second reading, ordinance number 904, A public testimony was accepted during the public hearing, which was closed after the first reading, but I'm going to turn it to the city attorney to kind of update us where we're at and recommend what council should consider at this point.

Yep, and I'm going to do, officially read the title, just for the record. Oh, excuse me. Because you will be, we're going to ask you to at least consider a vote on it. So this is the second reading of ordinance number 904, an ordinance of the city of Wilsonville approving a zone map amendment from Future Development Agricultural Holding, FDA-H Zone to Plan Development Industrial, PDI, regionally significant industrial area RSIA zone on approximately 33 acres located at 26120 Southwest Parkway Avenue for a Cisco facility expansion and master plan. So council, you have an email on the dais from the authorized representative of Cisco who has instructed city staff that their plans have changed. They're still trying to kind of figure out what they're going to do as next steps. But they would like to, they are not moving forward with the land use application that was approved by DRB and this zoning, this zone change that was approved on first reading by city council. And until they are in a position to figure out what they'd like to do, they are, for all intents and purposes, withdrawing that prior, this land use action. And so with that, the recommendation for city council is to go ahead and vote no on a motion to vote down to basically deny ordinance number 904. So the motion would be that you would move to deny approving ordinance number 904 on second reading. And again, that is at the request of the applicant.

So with that, I still should go through some of the preliminary comments and statements I have to usually make anyway. Yes. Okay. So thank you for that.

Sorry.

That's okay. I asked once again, do any members of the city council wish to abstain to clear a conflict of interest report, any expert take contact or any information gains outside the hearing? Okay. At this time, the staff have any followup information present, I assume. They don't? None additional. And I'll just, well, I'll wait until after we have a second. Council President Berry, can I have a motion?

I move, let's see, I move that we deny the ordinance number 904, do I say on the second reading?

On the second reading.

On the second reading.

Is there a second?

Second.

Any discussion? Okay. I will discuss I just for the record, everybody, we got the email this afternoon, I believe. Correct. And so I'm as baffled as many of this. And so we're kind of and I'm disappointed, but I'm assuming what staff would tell us is that just because we're doing this, we're forced to do this because of what's happened. but we're keeping the door open to work with Siemens. Cisco, sorry, got my companies mixed up. The witching hour. Cisco, to hopefully solve those issues, maybe consider something later, I guess, depending on what they're gonna do.

Correct.

Okay. Any other discussion? Okay. With that, a motion has been made to deny on second reading ordinance number 904. All those in favor, say aye.

Second reading is a roll call vote. And I just want to note that voting yes means that you are voting to deny. So turn it over to the city recorder.

Even though we're still going through the process of roll call vote. OK. Sorry, guys. I'm really tired. With that, we have a motion for roll call vote to deny on second reading ordinance number 904. Will the city recorder please take roll?

Councilor Shevlin?

Yes.

Councilor President Berry? Yes. Councilor Cunningham? Aye. Councilor Scholl? Yes. Mayor O'Neill?

Aye. Okay. Thank you.

You you need to read you need to read there.

Oh if you desire to appeal the decision Whoever that would be to the Oregon land use Board of Appeals You must file a notice of intent to appeal stating the grounds of the appeal in the form and within the time prescribed by state law Okay. Thank you.

Thank you mayor.

Okay with that I city manager business i have nothing this evening okay city attorney business nothing tonight okay we're adjourned at 1002. okay