City Council

Mayor Council President Councilors T. Scott Harden Bruce Nissen John Miner Jairo Rios-Campos Lynnea Amend WOOD VILLAGE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES APRIL 26, 2022 PRESENT Mayor T. Scott Harden, Council President Bruce Nissen, and Councilors John Miner and Jairo Rios- Campos, City Attorney Jeff Condit, City Manager Greg Dirks, Director of Public Works John Niiyama, Director of Finance Seth Reeser, Assistant to the City Manager Emeline Nguyen, and interested parties. ABSENT None. CITIZEN COMMENTS (NON-AGENDA ITEMS) Ken Fletcher commented that there seems to be full time camping at the park and other cities and counties have rules that don’t allow full time camping and have hours for park closure. Can we set park closing hours? Condit stated there are regulations regarding homeless camping. Rules have to be objectively reasonable; you can’t just punish people if there is nowhere for them to go. Miner asked if the camping is consistent. Fletcher said it’s been a few days in a row and clarified that the person is in a vehicle not camping on the ground. Niiyama mentioned that staff is aware, and the people do move around. Dirks also mentioned that they are in contact with the HOPE team and on a list for supportive housing. CONSENT CALENDAR A. City Events  34th Annual Easter Egg Drive Debrief Nguyen noted that the total amount spent was $4,727.20, not $4,729.57. Upon motion by Miner, seconded by Nissen and passing 4-0, the Consent Calendar was approved. City Council Minutes April 26, 2022 | Page 1 RESOLUTION 9-2022: PERSONNEL POLICY REVISION Dirks presented on Resolution 9-2022. There was a comprehensive update in January. Addressing Section 230: Sick Leave. Prior to 2012, staff members could donate any accrued leave time to another employee who was out on extended sick leave; but had used all their leaves like sick, vacation, comp. In June of 2012, that provision was revised to exclude donating sick time. The proposed change would enable employees to donate sick time with a cap of five days. The time would be donated hour for hour instead of based on the dollar value of the donation and the donating employee must also have at least 80 hours of accrued time after the donation. The fiscal impact is unknown or minimal. The donation would only be permitted if the recipient had used all available leave. Sick leave is not paid out at separation and a donation provision could increase the potential paid liability. Nissen asked if the 5-day cap is for the recipient or per donor. Dirks responded it would be per donor. Miner stated he is familiar with the donations and sick leave time and glad to see that. There are people who get sick and are off work for a long time. It’s good to donate the sick time and support them. Upon motion by Nissen, seconded by Miner and passing 4-0, Resolution 9-2022 was approved. RESOLUTION 10-2022: APP FY 22-23 ADOPTION Dirks presented the proposed annual performance plan for fiscal year 2022-2023. This is the work plan that the Council puts together for upcoming projects, priorities, and initiatives to fill the increment of staff time that is not operational. Goal 1 includes phase 1 of a multi-year community outreach process and will include evaluating service gaps and opportunities, conduct outreach and feasibility on 238th facade program, replace main city gateway signs, and review/propose revisions to the C/I, LM, and GM zones. Goal 2 includes participating in Regional Fire Service Discussion and bringing back SAFER Council and connecting with the new Multnomah County Sheriff. Goal 3 includes ARPA Fund allocation and project selection. This will help finance the high priority projects. Goal 4 includes reviewing budget performance metrics and how does it resonate to our operations. Goal 5 includes staff EDI training, all-staff safety training, all-staff team building, and all-staff compensation analysis. Goal 6 includes our regional partnerships: TGM main streets on Halsey, MTAC support, supporting the 2023 legislative session, EMCTC Support and USFWQ Support. Goal 7 includes tree and right of way plan Goal 8 also includes phase 1 of the multi-year community outreach focused on connecting with the community to hear their concerns and needs along with evaluating the free WI-FI in the park. City Council Minutes April 26, 2022 | Page 2 Miner commented that right of way maintenance especially along Arata was a problem. How are we maintaining the County public right away? Dirks commented that staff budgeted for a groundskeeper position but it’s hard to fill. The City is currently partnered with Cultivate Initiatives to help with the park and right of way maintenance. The cost is lower than paying for one individual. One of council’s priorities is keeping it maintained for the city. Cultivate Initiatives provides workforce training and a job for people that are or were previously unhoused, helping to address the homelessness/houselessness/jobless issue. Upon motion by Rios-Campos, seconded by Nissen and passing 4-0, Resolution 10-2022 was approved. PRESENTATION: TINY HOME & HB 2001 OPEN HOUSE DEBRIEF Harden mentioned Dirks had answered everyone who called or emailed regarding tiny homes personally and invited them to the open house. One person reached out to the Mayor’s Facebook page, Debby and Stefan were in opposition of tiny homes, and Ms. Nicholson submitted a public comment and photos. We’re a small city and don’t have a nuisance enforcement officer and the process is complaint driven. Encourage residents to call the city regarding issues or contact East County Resolutions for mediation. Dirks provided background on the tiny home/RV code. Exploration of a tiny home/RV code was on the FY 21-22 APP because of an interest in additional housing or habitable spaces, housing affordability, and need during the wildfire evacuations. Staff received a Portland State Graduate Student Capstone project to develop a concept. The draft concept define tiny homes and RV as habitable spaces, allows one per property in LR 7.5 and LR 12 zones using existing setback requirements, requires utility connections and must be located behind the home. The intent was to send notification to property owners in those zones with an invitation to an open house on the concept. Someone else sent two-page flyer with concerns. The City received about 30 emails from the flyer. About half were pre-made message against the concept, half added additional elements about the community along with being against the concept. There was one email in support, and one letter firmly against the concept. All emails received a response. The open house had about 45-50 guests plus staff, translators, and the PSU capstone team. Presentation boards were displayed that outlined the draft concept in English, Spanish, and Russian. A comment board was setup for attendees to write their comments. There was a total of 28 comments, 19 firmly against the concept, 5 cautionary, 2 tepid support, and 2 general comments not directly related to the concept. There were a lot of conversations asking why this was being considered and who is responsible. There were also a lot of comments about livability, safety, street capacity, and property values, along with comments on other items such as homeless/houselessness, crime, traffic, general safety, and community cleanliness. People have pride in the city, community, and their neighborhood and don’t want Wood Village to change. A lot of people came in upset, many left less upset, some are still upset and most seemed against the concept. Miner spoke with a neighbor regarding the open house. The neighbor said he was happy with what he learned but had expected a presentation first. There were several people that mentioned the process and that they didn’t know about. The flyer was inflammatory, but it brought people to the open house and provided a good community engagement opportunity. We need to do more open houses in the future. Rios-Campos heard more comments regarding enforcement. There seemed to be misunderstanding regarding the proposal. Harden thought the turnout was great and people had a lot of questions. Encouraged people to compare the existing code and proposed concept with the mailer. City Council Minutes April 26, 2022 | Page 3 Nissen asked if we have anybody specifically interested in siting a tiny home/RV on their property and how many RVs are currently residing in the City. Dirks responded there was no one specifically interested and there are maybe around a handful of RVs in the City. Miner would like more information before a vote. This is a great opportunity for engagement and outreach. Would like to know more about enforcement, city cost, environmental issues, etc. Dirks mentioned next steps to include a newsletter article and website page detailing the concept, both with a comment form. The deadline for comment submittal will be May 26th. There will be a follow-up meeting with Planning Commission/City Council on June 16th to review additional comments and discuss potential next steps. There will be no vote on the code at the meeting. RESOLUTION 11-2022: IGA SEWER LOAN & SDC REPAYMENT Reeser presented an update on the payment status for the wastewater treatment capacity purchase that was scheduled to be paid over three years. The SDC fund had capacity to make the first two payments but not the final payment. Resolution 11-2022 would establish an interfund loan between the sewer and SDC funds to allow future application of SDC revenues to the wastewater treatment capacity purchase, allowing for future financial flexibility. Upon motion by Miner, seconded by Nissen and passing 4-0, Resolution 11-2022 was approved DISCUSSION: CITY COUNCIL INTERVIEW PROCESS Dirks presented on the City Council Interview Process. City Charter Section 29 covers vacancies in office. The appointment is only until the end of the term. In the past ten years, the Council has appointed three replacement Councilors. Council discussed a draft interview process at the April 14th meeting and the interviews are currently scheduled for the May 10th council meeting. The interviews will be scheduled for 20 minutes followed by a discussion period. The application included name, contact info, length of time in Wood Village, occupation, volunteer activities, and a statement of why the applicant would like to be on Council. The application will be included in the council packet for the interview meeting. Based on feedback from the April 14th meeting, Council liked the following five questions. 1. What lived experience, skills, and background would you bring to the Council to aid in serving the community? 2. What is your definition of leadership, and how would you show your leadership style on the Council? 3. What do you consider important factors in the group decision making process? 4. What do you believe are the most important issues facing the community at this time? 5. Please describe for us your vision of Wood Village in the next year Additional questions for consideration are: • What else would you like to tell us about how and why you would serve the community? • If you could change only one thing about the City/community, what would it be and why? The Council is also able to ask questions about what is included in the application responses. City Council Minutes April 26, 2022 | Page 4 Nissen suggested replacing question 5 with the second additional question. Miner and Harden agreed with removing question 5 and using one of the additional questions. Miner suggested modifying question 1 to the following: What in your background personal and professional draws you to want to serve the City as a City Councilor? Rios-Campos concurred. Dirks presented a scoring/rating metric using the following criteria to either force rank or score:  Understands and is committed to fulfilling the workload of being a Councilor and will commit to fulfilling the term.  Understands and is committed to principles of good government, and all that means.  Willingness to listen and learn before forming policy opinions and positions.  Values diversity in geographic experiences, gender, ethnicity, and age in planning and providing for the present and future in our community.  Understands and is knowledgeable with Council goals, policies, and legislative agenda.  Will uphold the community mission, Council Goals, and organizational values. Nissen likes the metric but prefers a scoring system using 1 through 5 and Miner agreed. Harden commented that there would need to be a process in the event of a tie. Condit commented that you can break the tie in a way that is fair such as a coin toss, but Council would still have to vote for the official record. Miner suggested removing geographic experiences from metric four. Mayor agreed with the suggestion and suggested that a coin toss be used in the event of a tie. Miner and Nissen concurred. Dirks asked if the Mayor will be asking the interview questions or if it will rotate through Council. Harden responded that Council had determined at the last meeting to rotate the questions amongst the Council. Dirks recapped next steps to include finalizing the questions and scoring metric and providing the information to the candidates a week before the meeting. The framework will also be brought back to Council to finalize as a guide for process and timelines for future Council appointments. DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKS REPORT Niiyama presented the Public Works report. No major projects, continuing to support the Water and Wastewater Master Plans. Cultivate Initiatives has been maintaining the park and right of ways and will be planting the median tomorrow. Staff has received a lot of positive comments from the community. Robert received his Level 1 Water Distribution Cert and Erika completed the Backflow and Cross-Connection training. The Metro fatality report was included in the Council packet as requested. City Council Minutes April 26, 2022 | Page 5 Miner mentioned that EMCTC has gone through a lot of revisions and operating procedures over the past six months focused on safety. Along with that is equity, sustainability, and overall impact on the environment. That’s why Miner wanted the Council to have this report each month. This last month there were 17 traffic fatalities just in the Metro area. We are dealing with pedestrian walkways and want safety here in this community. Niiyama said the design for the crosswalks along Halsey is about 80% finished. Dirks and Niiyama will be meeting with the UFSWQD team next week to discuss funding options. Niiyama mentioned system water loss was 12.75% and staff is working on analyzing the data to determine if it’s system or data related. Public Works annual Appreciation Week is May 15th to May 21st. The City will have a lunch to recognize public works staff on May 19th at noon. DIRECTOR OF FINANCE REPORT Reeser presented an update on revenues and expenditures through March. Not much changed from last week’s Budget Committee meeting. Two items of note, first the 911 user board appointed a new community member to replace the person that resigned in January. Second, LOC is currently working with policy groups to inform strategy for the upcoming legislative session. Once the priority options go through the communities they will be presented to Council. CITY MANAGER REPORT Dirks provided an update on two items. Chief Snyder resigned effective May 6th from Gresham. He was the big change agent in trying to reimagine fire service for the four cities, including the possibility of a fire district model to elevate service levels and alleviate funding concerns. It looks like Gresham is going in a different direction now. The managers for the three cities are having discussions about what we need to do from a negotiation standpoint in the future. Hopefully we will be able to continue the partnership with Gresham or at least amongst the three cities. Staff is working on an overhaul for the SCADA system possibly through a different provider. There will be a large investment proposed for next year. The APP item for the SCADA upgrades is delayed while we work on a major overhaul and shift direction. Spent a lot of time with Metro on Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) initiative Climate for Equitable Communities. They are proposing the final rule consisting of over 200 pages on land use and planning regulations, published on May 5th with a vote on May 11th. Metro is very concerned with a lot of the prescriptive elements in the proposed rule. Metro is trying to do a carve out, so DLCD recognizes the climate work that has already been done in this area. Have also partnered with Fairview and Troutdale in a joint effort to describe to DLCD the potential impacts to our communities and the regulations that don’t make sense for our area. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT None. MAYOR & COUNCIL COMMENTS Rios-Campos mentioned the PlayEast fundraiser is scheduled for Thursday May 12th at 6:00 pm and will be virtual. Dirks said he would include the information in the weekly update. City Council Minutes April 26, 2022 | Page 6 ADJOURNMENT With no further business coming before the Council, the Council adjourned at 8:06 pm. T. Scott Harden MAYOR ATTEST: Seth Reeser CITY RECORDER City Council Minutes April 26, 2022 | Page 7