City Council

^.. Mayor Council President Councilors - CHYOT^Qod John C Miner JairoRios-Campos LynneaAmend Mark dark Dara Tan ?e WOOD VILLAGE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 13, 2023 PRESENT MayorJohn C Miner, Council President Jairo Rios-Campos, Councilors LynneaAmend, Mark dark and Dara Tan, City Attorney Jeff Condit, City Manager Greg Dirks, Director of Public Works John Niiyama, Directorof FinanceSeth Reeser, and interested parties. ABSENT None TRIBUTE Miner read the tribute for Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Elder Kathryn Harrison. Miner noted that a tree will be planted with a dedicationplaque in herhonor CITIZEN COMMENTS (NON-AGENDA ITEMS) Dirks noted a resident stopped by City Hall in response to a code compliance letter for parking on the grass. The resident wasvery upset and planned to come to the Council meeting. The resident stated there were other properties with more detrimental code violations in the neighborhood and that the City should not be telling property owners whattheycan and cannot dowith their property. Staffwill let the resident know their comments were relayed to Council and see what options are available to resolve the code issue. dark noted that the response was very positive when this code was enacted. Dirksaddedthat the codewasimplemented in responseto communitycomplaints. Miner added that codes are designed set to protect property, safety, and livability for everyone in the community. PUBLIC SAFETY REPORT Lt. Hemsworth presented the public safety report. There were three hit and runs involving parked cars and three stolen vehicles during the month. There were 189self-initiated calls, slightly higherthan average for the year. There were a couple ofMCSO missions focused in WoodVillageduring the month. There are ongoing patrol missions in thejurisdiction each month. The missions will befocused on a dedicated livability issue. Amend asked if there is a briefreleased afterthe missionsarecompleted. City Council Minutes June 13, 20231 Page 1 Lt. Hemsworth responded that there is a debrief that covers what was found with basic statistics and tools that would have helped. Amend asked if the debriefis accessibleto the public. Lt. Hemsworth responded that the statistics are but the debrief is internal only. This past month the focus wason trafficstops. dark asked if there are reports when missing people from welfare checks are found. Lt. Hemsworth noted in this case the person was found within a couple of hours. He noted that welfare checks in general can befora variety ofthings, notjust missing and sometimes the person is gone before deputiesarrive. Amend asked if all the deputiescarry Narcan. Lt. Hemsworth responded affirmatively and noted they are also trained in its use. CONSENTCALENDAR A. City Council Minutes . March 28, 2023 . April 11, 2023 . April 25, 2023 B. City Events . Community Cleanup Day Debrief Rios-Campos asked what outreach method doubled the attendance at the Cleanup Day. Dirks responded that there had only been about 100 people attending for the last several years and we are notsurewhythe attendanceincreased. Tan asked if anything was done differently this year. Dirks responded that the weather was better the day of the event and the days leading up to it, but everything else was about the same. Amend said it was a great event and was a lot of fun. She added there were things thrown out that could have been used by others. Dirks noted there was a reuse area in previous years, but the items ended up in the garbage because used stores would not pick up. Tan asked if we could donate the used items, Dirks responded that we have tried that in previous years, but it was not successful. Upon motion by Rios-Campos, seconded byAmend and passing 5-0, the Consent Calendarwas approved. City Council Minutes June 13, 20231 Page 2 RESOLUTION17-2023: MT. HOODCABLEREGULATORYCOMMISSIONBUDGET Scott Harden presented the MHCRC budget, The budget includes a slight increase in staffing and provides capital support for Metro East Media, Open Signal and grants to government agencies, schools, and non- profits for technology. In the coming year, we're going to kick off a strategic planning process with the member jurisdictions to develop a strategy for the Mount Hood Cable Regulatory Commission going forwardand howwe'll continueto serve the Community. Kristi Manseth presented the research results oftheTechSmart Initiativeto showthe impactofthe grant fundingon the teachers, students, and districts. Thegrant provided 15 million to help teacherschange instruction process through technology, with a focus on validating effective instructional strategies, Six districts and 2 projects at Reynolds School District were funded. The program focused on the middle and highschool levels. Teacherswere able to try newtechnologies, instructional styles and were ableto purchase newer technology devices such as 3d printers. TechSmart was at the forefront ofdigital equity and these schools were really prepared forthe pandemic, The program focused on high need schools, digital access during pandemic, classroom versus comprehensive distance learning, and student-centered learning. Reynolds school district TechSmart students showed more overall math credits by 7th grade compared to historical and the historically underserved subgroups also did better. Harden noted that technology coaches were required to be hired for the grant and studies pointed out the disparityofdevices and broadbandaccessissuesacrossthe students. Tan asked howthe data fordevice and internet needs wasobtained. Harden respondedthatthedatawascollected by survey andfocusgroups. Theschools received devices from Comcast and Frontier for some of the students. John Lugton and David Elkin-Bram presented the MetroEast budget. MetroEast has moved to a shared leadership structure with a new board more reflective of the community. The mobile media lab funded by MHCRCenabled us to takefilmmaking, podcasting,digitalstorytelling out into the community. We partnered with the library for a couple ofYouTube and TikTok camps which were very popular and successful. Training attendance has increased, and programming is still about the same. We're working on adding closed caption capabilities to the programming that will enable edits for any errors. Minersuggested holdingthe welcometo computers class again. Dirks responded that the computers for that class were purchased by the city, however staff can explore resources availableforthe program. Rios-Camposaskedwherethe fundingforthe TechSmartInitiativecamefrom. Harden responded that the funding was from franchise and technology fees. Upon motion by dark, seconded byAmend and passing 5-0, Resolution 17-2023 was approved. City Council Minutes June 13, 20231 Page 3 RESOLUTION18-2023:GRESHAMFIREINSPECTIONFEES Niiyama presented Resolution 18-2023 Gresham fire inspection fee update. The fire fee schedule IGAwith Gresham Fire approved in 2022 stated a 5% increase would occur each July 1st. Upon motion by Tan, seconded by Rios-Campos and passing 5-0, Resolution 18-2023 was approved. USC FIRE SERVICE STUDY Dirks presented the results from the USC Fire Service Study, The three cities used to be part offire District 10. As the rates started climbing, Gresham stepped in with a proposed fire service at a better rate. The agreement started in 1995 and has been renewed every 10 years. Forthe 2015 renewal, Gresham pushed for a very large increase and the three cities were not planning to renew the contract. They contracted for a PSU study in 2014 that noted Gresham had some value as a fire response however most ofthe calls were medical in nature. The 2015 agreement had an initial fixed rate that was adjusted annually with a floor and a cap, The current IGA expires June 30 2025 and Gresham has expressed interest in increasing the cost allocation. The Safer Council was set up in 2020 and was looking at creating a fire district for the four cities. This effort was paused by Gresham and in 2022 they released a report indicating they need an operating budget of about 30-32 million a year for fire operations. This would be about a 70% increase for Wood Village. Greshamthen wentoutforan operating levy this year, but it failed. The USC Study utilized the 2014 PSU study as the base and Grafted an update. They looked at call load, type, and response basedon availablereports from Greshamcompared to nationaltrends. They also reviewed other agencies' approaches and developed a series of options and a soft recommendation. About57% of all calls are medical. Thatincreasesto 80%when cancelled calls are excluded. On average there is about one fire related call a month in Wood Village. Gresham fire is geared and staffed for fire not medical. Greshamfire is viable and potentially cost-effective provided there is more control administratively if the price is increased. A three-city service would cost approximately 10 million a year, which is similar to what Gresham's analysis indicates the cities would be paying. A fire district would relieve the City's general fund, but property taxes would increase about $2. 6 or $2. 8 per $1000. The average single family home property tax increase would be about $550 a year. There is also an option to renew the IGA with Gresham but modifying the agreement to allow the three cities to have some control over the day-to-day operations, which impacts costs. Rios-Camposnoted that a fire districtwould also require an oversightcommittee. Dirks responded affirmatively, Ifthe four cities re-joined District 10, the existing board would hopefully be expandedto allowa representativefrom eachcommunityon the board. Re-joiningthedistrictwould also require a public vote. There are other considerations, including Multnomah County's control and oversight of the AMR contract and Measure 5 and 50 property tax constraints. Tualatin Valley is a combined fire and rescue so they can transport on medical calls and bill the insurance. Right now, ifthe ambulance is 15 to 20 minutes out, Greshamfire is sitting there and can'trespond to othercalls. Sometimesthe ambulanceis understaffed, and one of the fire crew must go with the ambulance which leaves that crew unable to City Council Minutes June 13, 20231 Page 4 respond to anyothercalls, There's alsothe question ofthe priorities and approachesofthe othercities and the evolution of the fire service overall. dark noted that AMR has too much control over transport, Miner responded that is a longer-term problem to deal with AMR and response times. Dirks recapped the next steps. Gresham is evaluating several options and has given indication of significantlyincreasingthe cost. Troutdale isjust starting its explorationofoptions and we are not sure what Fairviewis doing. Whatdoes Council wantto do? Minernoted thatpricingwill go up regardlessof the method picked.This is a lot of information to go through and we probablywouldn'tbe ableto build ourown fire serviceeven withthe othertwo cities. The outreach will be important, and we need to starteducatingthe citizenswith information on whatwe are dealingwith forfire and medical. Therearethree proposals laid out in the report and the othercities maygo theirown direction. Rios-Campos asked if there were concerns aboutjoining District 10 as they have a lot of capital needs. Dirks responded that Gresham also has capital needs. Minerasked if District 10only has 1 fire department. Dirksrespondedthattheyown 3 but 2 are currently rented out to Gresham. Rios-Campos asked if there has been any discussion of revisiting the Safer Council or using the TVA fire approachfrom the newleadershipat Gresham. Dirks responded that Gresham had several options, and they are not committing to one option at the moment. All the potential options are complex. Minernoted wedon't havea lot oftime to convert to a fire districtand it mightnot be feasible. We knowwe wantmore inputon Gresham'sfire budget, especiallywith large increasesin cost. Amend noted the increaseseems excessiveespeciallywhen mostofthe calls are medical. There are a lot of items that need to be addressed includingwhetherthe updatesarefunctionally required. Dirks noted the SaferCouncil had a wholesection forcapital needs and some were needed, but other thingswere excessive. Amend addedthatthere areothersimilarsized cities aroundthe nationthat are supported by volunteer fire staff. Rios-Campos asked whatwould happen with the billing ifwe don't come to an agreement on the IGA before it expires. Dirksrespondedthathe asked the question of USCand the team saidthere mightbe some consequences if wedidn'tsignthe IGA. We have about4 or 5 hotspot locationsthataccountfor 1/3of all calls. That's anotherareato look at, howcould those services best be provided. City Council Minutes June 13, 20231 Page 5 Miner noted that medical calls need to be separated from fire and paid for differently. We have to figure out whatkind ofservice wewantand whatwould be a fairprice. Reeser noted that according to the study the quick response vehicle is the most cost effective for responding to medical calls, butthat's whatGresham cutfrom the budget. Wedon'tget to advocate for cost-effective solutions or service models. Miner suggested a work session to review the report in depth. Dirks responded that the former Gresham fire chief might be able to come to the meeting and provide some additional information. The second meeting in July does not have a lot on the agenda and we could schedule the work session for that date. CITY MANAGER EVALUATION Dirks presented his reflection on the evaluation. Whilethis is the hardestjob he'sever had, hedoes believe it's an honor and a privilege. He tries to encourage and foster an organization focused on serving the community and couldn't be happier with the team. The period ahead will focus on developing a meaningful staff feedback tool and maintaining a balance between efficiency, accountability, and partnership with organizational partners. Professional development will focus on some areas for improvement and personal skill building to be an effective leader including conflict management and negotiation. Rios-Campos noted that professional development is important, but so is self-care, Dirks recognizes that while he promotes self-care for staff, that is one area he could improve. Upon motion byAmend and seconded by Tan and passing 5-0 a 5% step increase forthe City Manager was approved. DIRECTOROFFINANCEREPORT Reeser presented the finance director's report. Auditors are in this week for the initial review. Minernoted he reviewedthe bottom line overthe lastseveral years and property tax is not increasing enough to cover the increased expenses for public safety, especially given the potential fire contract increase. Reeser agreed and noted thatthe last revenue discussion included increasing franchise fees and charging our own utilities franchise fees, however that might not cover all the public safety increase. OTHERITEMS Conditcan provide more details on the creation ofa fire district. There is a lengthy statutory process before it goes to the voters and the City would likely need at least a short-term agreement with Gresham. Minernoted Chris Damgen is nowworking forthe Portof Portland foroutreach in EastCounty and there's a meeting scheduled. Dirks noted the Grand Ronde would like to hold a Council to Tribal Council meeting in September. City Council Minutes June 13, 20231 Page 6 ADJOURNMENT With no furtherbusiness, the Council adjourned at 8:26pm. Joh C. Miner MAYOR ATTEST: CITYRECORDER City Council Minutes June 13, 20231 Page 7