Springfield City Council — March 9, 2026

0:08 I'm going to call the Springfield City Council work session to order with roll call. >> Mayor Van Gordon >> here. >> Councelor Weber >> here. >> Councelor Mo >> here. >> Councelor Rodley >> here. >> Councelor Buck >> here. >> And councelor Stoutton >> here. Thank you. >> All right. We have a couple of items for work session tonight, but the first one is Arts Commission applicant interviews with Mindy Linder. All right. Good evening, Mayor Van Gordon. Good evening, counselors. Um, this evening I bring to you Arts Commission applicant interviews. The Springfield Arts Commission currently has one vacant position because unfortunately there weren't sufficient applicants during the last recruitment in 2025.

0:54 Um, the city received two applications for the one vacancy during our most recent recruitment for the arts commission, which closed on February 26th of this year. The current vacancy is one partial term position with an expiration date ending December 31st of 2029. So we ask that you interview the two candidates today, deliberate and determine um the appointment. So um first of all we have Haly Edwards.

1:40 >> Hello. >> Thanks for joining us this evening. Thanks for having me. >> Excuse me. Um, so the, uh, when you're ready, I can start asking the questions. >> Fire away. >> All right. Why are you interested in serving on the arts commission? >> Sure. Um, I would say that here recently, I've actually been going through my own arts journey. Um, and I am just finding that arts and culture are what connects us in our humanity and invites conversations um with others. And as a parent, introducing my children to arts and specifically arts in our community is a

2:26 way to have those ongoing conversations and um help build well-informed citizens. Great. Thank you. Uh could you describe your understanding of the role that you will be serving on as arts commissioner and how it relates to the work of the council? >> Yeah. Um, in in reading about the arts commission, I know that there is a a smaller budget to manage related to the arts commission and some grant opportunities to manage as well and um promote some events um or manage some events like participating in the second um Friday art walk and managing the gallery um here in city hall. Um, I think there's also

3:12 opportunities for again how do we engage our citizens in conversations about arts and um, human connections and so um, I would expect that is also a part of the role of arts commissioner um, and uh, and working through that with the city council. >> Great. Thank you. And what do you see as the current issues and challenges for the city of Springfield? >> Right. Um, you know, I think like a lot of communities in our country right now, um, seeing seeing each other as human beings is one one item that, um, I think is universal, um, right now and arts is a way to have those connections um, with

3:58 each other on a very human level. And also in Springfield, I think um we have a really beautiful space in downtown Springfield. We have done a wonderful job promoting the arts with our murals and we have a lot of um art centered spaces in our community. But what I would like us to see is how do we engage our citizens in the process of art instead of just the outcomes of art. >> All right. Great. Thank you so much. >> Thank you so much. >> All right, mayor and counselors, your second and final candidate for

4:43 consideration. I'd like to welcome up Bridget Kellen. >> Hello. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Um, so why are you interested in serving in the on the arts commission? >> Well, um, I, um, I don't come from a traditional, um, arts background. Um, and I'm a part of LE of the ALES, uh, cohort this year. And um during the arts and culture day um last month, I was moved by the community in the arts

5:28 culture um because I think it helps shapes the community's identity and creating spaces where people can feel connected. Um, I'm really excited to learn and bring a commu and bring a community and business perspective that could help connect more people and organizations to the arts to experience to experience the movement that I did. Um, the position that that I'm in right now is I'm a recruiting manager for a staffing agency where I connect businesses um and I'm I'm working with businesses and community leaders and professionals um in the Springfield community helping build build those connections. Um, and I feel that I could help um the arts community uh commission

6:13 build those um build those connections as well. Um, and also just on a personal level, I've seen um, how art can support mental health. Um, and I've also have a loved one who struggles with mental health challenges. So, um, and art has been incredibly therapeutic and grounding for that individual. So, um, I just feel that art gives gives people a way to express themselves and connect with others that they normally wouldn't get. Could you describe your understanding of the role you will serve on as arts commission and how it relates to the work of the council? >> Uh yes. Um community community engagement um and then also dealing with uh limited bud budgets. So gaining more

6:59 business partnerships and and sponsorship opportunities um and then create and then hopefully creating fundraisers and um making art accessible and w and welcoming to the entire community. And what do you see as the current issues and challenges for the city of Springfield? >> Well, um so I think that um the community engagement um and then also um making art accessible to um making art accessible and welcoming to the entire community. I think that there could be a lot more um outreach with resident with residential with residents in in

7:44 Springfield and then also um business partnerships. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> All right. So, you've heard the two candidates. We do have two candidates for one vacancy. The commission does believe that each candidate um is qualified. They both reside in Springfield and we ask that you deliberate and determine an appointment this evening. >> All right, great. Um and I will look for just a head nod from them. I know on your application I believe you said you both said you might be interested in serving on the museum committee too. Is that still accurate? Okay. All right.

8:31 Thank you. So we have one position for arts commission tonight. Um, I don't know who wants to dive in here. Council >> Rodley. >> Um, uh, thank you both for coming out. You're both fantastic and I cannot wait to find places for both of you, uh, to volunteer in Springfield. For this particular one, I'm going to put, um, Anna Leaf first and then Bridget second for me. Move. >> I would vote the same way. Councelor Buckham, >> I I also um really appreciate both of you guys. I think you guys are both very qualified. I will vote the opposite of my colleagues and put Bridget first and Analy second. Both very very qualified.

9:17 I very much appreciated your comments on mental health. >> I will vote for Analy first and Bridget second. And thank you again for coming out. Council member, >> um just to make this a little easier on everybody, both applicants are really really qualified and would love to see them both working on committees for the city. Um so I will go with my colleagues majority here and and say honestly first, but I would ask the question if we can pull Bridget forward for consideration into the history museum as well. All right, we we'll work through this one step at a time. So, Mindy, if I

10:03 believe the answer looks is on, if you can move that forward to the uh regular session so we can get that appointment done. >> Absolutely. Thank you, mayor and counselors. >> Thank you. All right, the next one is the Springfield History Museum Advisory Committee interviews. Oh, with Emily. I guess Mattiey's not here. You're pinch hitting. Indeed, I am, mayor. Good evening, mayor and counselors. Emily David, director of the museum and library. Here for Mattie McGra and the museum committee tonight. So, the museum committee had as of uh December 31st had three openings. Patty

10:50 Sage reapplied for a second term and was directly appointed. So, we had two applicants for the two remaining open positions. Uh Devin Lawson could not be here tonight, but Marta Haycock is here to interview. Right. So, um, one question I do have is if we're going, and maybe this is a city attorney question, if we're going to interview, if we want to consider somebody else from a from a different committee pool, do we have to pull them up and interview them again or can we just deliberate towards >> That's at the council's prerogative. So, you can decide whichever you'd like to do. >> Perfect. So, do you guys want to talk to

11:36 Bridget again or you guys are really decisive tonight on inter? I I mean I I'm happy to hear from Bridget Bridget again. Um the the role would be different and maybe she would have some different different perspective on that if we wanted to to look at that. But I'm also I feel like uh she gave us some good perspective as well on the art council, but maybe it's different. >> Right. Right. So, why why don't we do this? Why don't we get the first one done and then we'll have her up again. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> So, the first applicant is Marta Hood.

12:25 >> Wow. >> Hi. >> Hello. Thank you for joining us this evening. >> Thank you. Could you tell us why you're interested in serving on the museum committee? >> Local history has always been really important to me and really interesting. I come from like six generations. >> Could you lean forward closer to the microphone, please? >> Okay. Can you hear me better now? >> Perfect. >> Better. Okay. >> Outstanding. Thank you. >> Um, local history has always been really interesting to me. I come from six generations of Oregonians. I volunteered at the Holly Ford Art Museum in Wamment and I did a lot of um a lot of work up in Alaska with local

13:12 historical um initiatives and I would love to have an excuse to spend more time in downtown Springfield. The Springfield Museum has a rotating exhibit space. One of the roles of the committee is to make recommendations for exhibits and programs. Can you give us an example of a exhibit you might recommend? Yes, I have several, but the first one is I would like to explore the possibility of doing a partnership with Timber Point Assisted Living, an oral history project where we would develop a video library of memories of Springfield. It's my understanding that a lot of the

13:57 residents of this facility have deep roots in in this area and it could be something that we could make available to the schools and their history department so students could learn firsthand. >> And how do you think the work of the Springfield History Museum improves our community? >> Oh, excuse me. I think that museums, small museums like this tend to help create a cohesive community narrative you know, as long as there's something that involves the whole community

14:47 know everything but from kids to to elders. All right, that was the last question I had. >> Okay, you're done with me? >> Excuse me. >> Yeah. Yes. Thank you so much for coming. >> Oh, thank you for listening to me. >> All right, we're going to bring Bridget back up unless Thank you for being flexible and letting us put you on the spot here. >> Totally fine. Happy to. Okay. So, could you talk a little bit about your interest in serving on the museum committee? >> Yes. Um, I don't have traditional museum experience or um knowledge, but I am eager to learn and willing to gain that

15:34 experience um in serving the community. >> And the Springfield Museum has a rotating exhibit space. One of the roles of the committee is to make recommendations for exhibits and programs. Can you give us an example of an exhibit you might recommend for the museum? >> I cannot know. >> That's you know >> I wasn't I wasn't a little prepared for for this meeting so apologies. >> No. >> How do you think the work of the museum improves this community? Um, well, I think it's um Can you repeat that? H >> Sure. How do you think the work of the

16:19 Springfield Museum improves the community? >> Well, I think it um I think it go I think that the museum shows the community um what Springfield is all about and what and what Springfield can grow to be, which is a great community. I mean, in the last 10 years, there's been huge developments in Springfield. um just alone. >> All right. Thank you. We promise not to call you back up for another random >> It's okay. It's a great learning experience. >> Thank you. >> All right. So, we filled one. >> Yes.

17:04 >> And then we're moving that person forward automatically as a reappoint. We've got two more to fill. Um could you maybe fill us in on the status of Devon? >> So um there's there's just one more to fill. So there were two applicants for two positions. The the third was the third open position was filled by Patty Sage the reappoint. So yes, so there's two positions to be filled. Um Devon couldn't be here tonight but is interested in interviewing excuse me interviewing at a later date if possible. Um, okay. And this might be a point we my recommendation would be that we at least hold the interview um over until and

17:49 reschedule for part of it. I mean, I think we can appoint a person tonight depending on what people what people want to do. Um, it sounds like we warned we gave them the information late. >> Yes. >> So, it might be helpful to re uh reschedule that piece. Councelor Rodley, >> thanks. I I'm fine with rescheduling and I just but I want us to remember to give Bridget some extra points for being super flexible and willing to come up and just do it on the fly. I have great respect for that. Um and I'm happy recommending Marta for the other position. >> Um I agree. am comfortable moving Marta forward for uh tonight and very much appreciate Bridget being so flexible and willing to come up and sit in the seat

18:35 unprepared. Um what what date do we think we will hold this uh interview for Devon to >> signal from the uh scheduler that the 13th >> 13th. Okay. So we would just need Bridget to be flexible and wait for us to interview Devon on the 13th and come to that decision. So, >> anybody else? Councelor Buck. >> Um, yeah, I I concur and I just want to encourage you, Bridget, to to come back and see us again on the 13th. Um, I think that having not in the notsodistant past been in those shoes, having to be flexible, that's really hard and I appreciate that and I think

19:20 you're a really strong candidate here. Um, I'm comfortable moving Martya forward. Um, but I also am really interested to see you back on the 13th. >> I'm getting a thumbs up for councelor Stton. Thumbs up to my what my colleague said, but I do need to shout out to Marta. Just say the idea just totally tugged at my heartstrings. I loved it. Thank you. >> Okay, so yes to Marta. Um, reschedule for the 13th and then we will somehow find time. >> Okay, very good. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Uh, looks like the last set of interviews, the bicycle pedestrian advisory committee interviews, and you are not Emma Newman. >> No, I'm also pinch hitting tonight.

20:06 >> This is amazing. >> Well, Emma is out sick, so here I am. I'm Sandy Bellson, the comprehensive planning manager. Uh, and so I am here to present seven applicants to the bicycle and pedestrian advisory committee. We have three openings on this committee. Um, and so do you want me to come up each time in between or you can just call them up? Yes. Okay. So, the first one will be Nard Clar. >> Hello, I'm Clar. >> Thanks for joining us this evening. >> Thank you. What strength or skills would you bring to the BPAC?

20:52 >> Uh, I moved here about two and a half years ago from Colorado. In Colorado, I was on the governor's transportation board in the position of pedestrian bicycle advisory board. I am a member of Denture Cycling Association. I'm a member of the bicycle uh League of American Bicyclists. I was in El Paso County uh for a period of time and was on the advisory board of the bicycle council there and before that I was in Fremont County and on the bicycle advisory board in that county also >> and how do you think the work of the BPAC improves our community? >> I think it's a matter of people getting around. People getting around is what

21:39 makes a community. It's interaction. It's communication. It's how we move. If we can move by walking and bicycles, it's far easier than a car. And people talk to each other more. In a car, you're in a sealed container and you're just racing down the road and just dodging everybody. When you're walking on a or on a bicycle, you're saying hi on the paths and on the on the sidewalks and you're interacting and you're finding you're out. you're part of a community and I think that's import extremely important. >> And if you could make one positive change in Springfield, what would it be? >> I would like to see I I also work with kids on bikes. Uh and I don't see that

22:28 many kids riding in the safe routes to school. I don't see that many kids riding to school. all the schools I teach in and I teach in some in Springfield and some in Eugene and there's not a lot of kids riding the bike their bikes to school and I think that's a shame. We do have bike paths here but they're not being used. So I don't think they're lined up to be useful for the kids or they're they don't feel safe enough. So, I think we need to spend some more time looking for the community to find the routes so that people will use the routes more and more kids will writing to school. It'll be healthier. It'll save parents time.

23:14 It'll make kids happier, more attentive, and make them healthier themselves. And it'll make the air cleaner to breathe. >> All right. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you. The next interview I have is Marshall Curry. Thank you for joining us. >> Yeah, thank you, Mayor. >> What strengths or skills would you bring to BPAC? >> Um, Mayor Ben Warden, counselors, um, my name is Marshall Curry. I've been a longtime resident of Springfield. Um, and I just want to start by saying thank you for honoring safety for everyone as they use the system by having this committee and by having these interviews and other actions you've taken recently.

24:00 Um, also thank you for opening the qualifications up to the urban growth boundary as I'm reside in the urban growth boundary and I applied a couple years ago and was unable to fill this role because of that policy and I appreciate the policy change to be able to participate in this manner. I have extensive experience in this work. Um I've been on volunteer committees in the past um with the alumni association for the Ford scholar alumni uh association which is a part of the Ford scholar um roseber forest product foundation. I've worked all over the country with universities and local governments in the work of an organization called EpicN uh where we documented university student projects led by faculty improving BPACKS all over the country and the globe and I'm an active

24:46 community member. I've been participating through live move when I was at the University of Oregon and I've uh and the safe routes to school program volunteering in our schools and uh helping folks uh walk to school on a bus a walking bus route to um one of our local schools. I've met u many of our safe routes to school coordinators uh through the years and have always been impressed and motivated by them to do more to make it safer for folks to use our streets. I've also lived in different cities up and down the I-5 corridor, so I've seen what it's like to live in different places with different models for uh active transportation. I follow many wellrespected bike and active transportation channels on different media outlets uh to learn more about what we could do in our city. And

25:33 for years, I've closely followed this committee and the work in the region. Um I can't wait to get back on my bike and ride Mill Street more. I've had a recent knee injury and really look forward to uh testing out some of the new improvements. My kids are active users, my other family members are users and now um after my recent job change, I have a couple of years of public sector work experience that I look forward to applying to this committee if I'm selected for the role. So that way my grandkids can have the same joy in the system as I'm having with my kids. >> And how do you think the work of the BPAC improves our community? I think Back creates safety and um comfortable alternatives to driving and

26:20 it's an embodiment of liberation by working through the BPAC priorities and the act active transportation plan which I believe is a part of the work uh to come for this committee. We will continue making movement through our city easier. That means more people interviewing for jobs, more people spending time with their kids, exercising, less wear and tear on our roads, which means more money for other projects, and just a more vibrant city corps, which we've continued to see expand. This is the work that supports us. when we might in the future have an injury or have a family member who's unable to walk. VPAC is the way that we're able to keep our our family and our neighbors safe as

27:05 they cross the street if they're hearing impaired or if they're sight impaired and they need to use certain hearing devices to get across the street. It's crucial to our success. >> If you could make one positive change in Springfield, what would it be? I uh I have to share an idea from my son who gave it to me this morning. If we could give everyone vests and have them walking around the streets during uh the commute to school and the commute back from work, it would make things a lot safer. More seriously, I think I'd love to launch bike share. Giving folks access to free transportation methods that could save their time saves us all efficiency and value. Um, there's probably other ideas out

27:51 there, but I think those are the two I'd stick with. Thanks, Mayor Gordon. Thank you, counselors. >> Thank you so much. The, uh, next interview person is Beverly Floyd. >> Good evening. >> Welcome. >> Thank you so much. >> What strengths or skills would you bring to the BPAC? >> Okay, I been thinking this over. I think honestly the number one sorry can you hear me? >> Yeah. >> Um I think the number one strength I bring is a so I don't really have any experience working in transportation or planning but I am really passionate about active transportation and transportation as um or like

28:37 transportation equity. So I think I would bring a lot of passion to the committee. Um I have lived mo much of my adult life until the a few years ago without a car. Um initially for financial reasons. I lived in South Korea up until 5 years ago and had no need for a car there. Um so moving back here after living in a city where that was highly accessible by bus, foot or bicycle. Um, I mean, I had experience living here without a car, but it really made me see how much better our cities could be. Um, and how

29:22 much work we have to do. Um, I have friends and family members who can't afford to drive and I worked at Oregon State Hospital for about three and a half years. So, I worked with a lot of people who will be re-entering the community um and likely won't be able to drive um for various reasons. So, I think I just have a huge passion for transportation as an equity issue. I want to see um just better infrastructure for walkers. I'm a recreational cyclist. Um but I also want to see more people using cycling as a form of commuting. um just so we can have a healthier and safer community where everyone can get around regardless of financial situation

30:10 um ability or disability. Um I think that's the number one thing I bring. >> And how do you think the work of the BPAC improves our community? >> Oh, um I think it's really important to have community members offering a voice on like people who are actually using the streets um in different ways. It's nice to have people from different parts of the community able to provide their input um so that the people who we have working in planning and transportation planning um are more aware of areas that are maybe highest priority for improvement. Um and also so we have people who are part of the community um who are able to do outreach in their

30:56 day-to-day lives um and get more people excited about riding bikes and um traveling on foot. Um and I know you guys have or I know the committee has done a lot of work advising the transformation transportation um planning department on various projects that are in the works. I'm really excited about the Virginia Daisy Street connection because I live on that side of town. Um, yeah, it's just really exciting to see things. I know it's a lot of work has gone into um the current planning. Um, and I just I'm appreciative of the current committee members and just want it to be a strong committee with a lot of voices.

31:41 >> If you could make one positive change in Springfield, what would it be? Um probably traffic calming measures all around. Um even though my preference is for cycling and walking, I am kind of forced to drive a lot and I think that providing alongside like developing our bike and walking infrastructure. Um I mean I think traffic calming is kind of like the first thing you can do to get everyone on board with it. Drivers want safer streets. Um, creating safer streets for drivers and pedestrians and bikes at the same time is really important to me. Um, yeah, I was really sad to hear about the Main Street safety plan kind of

32:27 dissolving. Um, so yeah, if if I could just create safer streets for everyone with the ma wave of a wand, that's what I would want to do. >> All right, thank you so much. >> Thank you. The next person I have is Sean Maxwell. >> Hello. >> Hi. >> What strengths or skills do you bring to be back? >> Um, I have a history of of bicycling as a primary form of transportation up until I moved to Oregon really. Um, I'm from Pennsylvania. I went to college in Philadelphia. That was my primary form of transportation there. um moving to Eugene in 2013. I lived out in West

33:13 Eugene towards the wineries and biking was only a recreational thing out there, not a form of transportation. Um I've been in Springfield since 2019 and um I think there's a good biking infrastructure here that maybe isn't used as much as it could be. So um education for folks to know what's available to them already is one of the things I like to focus on. Um did that answer the question? >> Yeah. How do you think the work of BPAC improves our community? >> Um, having residents involved in um, our biking infrastructure and giving input is critical. I think as the city grows, it's important for this or this specific group to make sure that uh, the bicycle infrastructure isn't forgotten. And some

34:00 of the areas that are bike friendly now but don't have particular bike infrastructure as the population grows could maybe need specific focus um that will no longer really be friendly to bikes just because there'll be more people, more cars, more everything. >> If you can make one positive change in Springfield, what would it be? >> Um more access points between South A Street and the Mill Race Path for biking. and then also a path in collaboration probably with some other groups to Lane Community College. >> All right, thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> The next person that I have is Nathaniel Bernett.

34:48 >> Good evening. >> Hello. Uh, what strengths or skills do you bring to BPAC? >> I grew up in Springfield. I remember riding around on the D street trails on the hot summers and swimming in the river. Moved away after high school to jump start my career and then moved back about 10 years ago. Um during that time I lived car-free for over 5 years and I'd commute to work uh commute to meetings uh downtown, around town, anywhere I needed to go to pick up groceries. Uh, one of the major problems I ran into during that time is finding bicycle parking. And um, so what I did is I created an application called the bicycle parking project. And with that app, I can keep track of where all the

35:33 bicycle parking is around town and report it if it's broken or needs attention. Um, and anyway, I think through my experience and my technical skills, I can bring that to BUPAC and try to help use that data uh to help improve infrastructure and identify areas that need more bicycle parking and things like that. >> And how do you think the work of BPAC improves our community? >> I think it has been amazing. Uh, as I mentioned, I grew up here, so I'm familiar with the D Street Trails. And since then, the bike trails and bike lanes and bike routes around town have just improved immensely. Um, so any way that those trails can be interconnected

36:19 and improved is just it's great for the community. >> And if you could make one positive change in Springfield, what would it be? >> Uh, for me be the interconnectivity. I I I like to feel safe while I'm biking. I have two kids. I want them to be safe while they're biking. If we have trails that go to the parks, trails that lead to grocery stores, trails that lead uh to schools, then everyone would feel safer and um I think that's an important part. >> All right, thank you so much. >> Okay, thank you. Uh the next person I have is Tessa Carbum.

37:09 Good evening. >> Thanks for hanging in there with us. >> Yeah, thank you for having us. >> What strength or skills would you bring to BPAC? >> Yeah, I um have lived in the area for about a decade now. And in that time, I've uh have a range of experiences um both as a long-distance runner running on our trails and our roads um as a cyclist um both you know recreationally and commuting for school and work and as a motorist as well. So, um I think just that experience there and um along with my work as a public school teacher, um I think I can I have um practice

37:55 interacting with the public and working with a range of people from the community and um would like to continue that work. >> How do you think the work of the BPAC improves our community? >> Yes. Um, I think the work of the BPAC makes our community safer. Um, I think it quite literally connects our community with the trails and roads that we have. Um, in addition creating community spaces for for us to interact and uh work with each other. >> And if you could make one positive change in Springfield, what would it be? >> Yes. Um, in my time here, I've seen Springfield grow so much, and it's uh it's a place that I'm proud to call home

38:41 and continue to call home. So, um, as as Springfield continues to grow, um, I think allowing more community spaces, building more community spaces, um, as well as creating more opportunities for connection, um, is something that I would like to do. and getting that input from the community of where we want to take this beautiful city next. >> Very good. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. >> And then William Carroll.

39:26 Good evening everyone. Good evening. Thanks for joining us. What strength or skills would you bring to BPAC? >> Yeah. Uh, since I was in high school, I've been getting to school and work by uh bike or walking or taking the bus and that continued on. I moved to Japan and lived there for nearly a decade and same thing continued using a bike, walking bus and the train uh and coming back to Oregon at the end of 2024. I thought that you know how was I going to get around without a car and I realized you know you can get around so easily here by bike and on foot and that um you know those different experiences of using active

40:12 transportation not only here but also in other countries. I'd like to bring that uh those varied experiences to the uh committee. Uh, also I work with the organization that manages the local bike share system and so I have experience as both a casual user of infrastructure here but also as someone who's uses it professionally and in a more formal setting. So I would like to bring that experience as well to the committee. >> And how do you think the work of BPAC improves our community? Well, uh, one of the most important things for people is to have access to their community. And how you have access is by having mobility. And, you know, two of the easiest ways to get around

40:58 are on foot or by bicycle. So, uh, the work of the BPAC, you know, helps people have access to the community around here. Um, and one of the great things about walking and cycling is that um, you know, you're able to greet your neighbors, create a community, um, exchange ideas, exchange opinions, and that creates a more close-knit uh, group of people here. Uh also um the health benefits and the environmental benefits of cycling and walking uh you know provide a community where people are close and exchanging ideas but also enjoying the health and benefits of

41:44 those modes of transportation. >> And if you could make one positive change in Springfield, what would it be? It's been tough because I've came back at the end of 2024 and I've been enjoying my time here quite a bit. Um it's been really nice. Uh so and it's hard to think about something I would change. But um seeing about this the other day, there's a lot of great restaurants I like going to out in East Springfield. And when I I drive out there and driving back, I was thinking, man, I like saw someone cycling down Main Street and I was like, man, that is I I wish I had that um level of confidence and I would like to see uh you know,

42:30 improvements in safety so people can feel more comfortable accessing that side of Springfield by bike. >> All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. I think we've got through seven interviews. So, it's three folks for seven interview. Uh, three folks. >> That's correct. >> Do we have anything strange? Are they all full terms? Do we have any >> Yeah, they will all be full terms. >> Okay. So, I'm going to start clear back down on Andrew and get his get his top three and then we'll see how we're going here. >> Wow. I get to be first. Nice. >> Um, my top three are Nard, Shawn, and

43:15 Tessa. >> Nard, Sean, Tessa. Alan, >> uh, Nard, Beverly, and Nathaniel. Michelle, >> this is not an easy decision, let me tell you. Um, I would go with Nard and

44:03 Thank you. Um, thank you to all of you. I feel like we could seat a committee with the folks in this room. I'm so excited that there are this many folks who are passionate about bicycle and pedestrian stuff. So, um, don't give up. If you don't make it on the committee, don't give up. Um, I have Nard, Marshall, and Tessa as my top three. My turn. >> Yep. >> Okay. I have Nard, Beverly, and Sean.

44:48 Okay. >> And they're all good. >> They are very good. So, I have Nard as a Yes. And it looks like we have Oh, I know. We got two for Sean, two for Tessa, one for Marshall, and one for William. And I'm going to keep a look at my official uh >> two Ban and Tessa. It's the >> Does anybody else want want to negotiate here? Change the vote. All right. So, if we can move if we can move Tessa

45:34 forward, please. >> All right. Thank you very much. >> It was a great group. >> Yeah, it was fantastic. That was a hard decision, and that's those are the kind that we want. Thank you guys all for coming out. Right. Lastly is the mandated to housing planning with Sandy and Katie. This does not sound like a dense topic at all.

46:29 Good evening, mayor and counselors. Um, again, my name is Sandy Bellson. I'm a comprehensive planning manager, and with me tonight is Katie Carroll, and I would like to announce that this is her first day as senior planner for the city of Springfield. So, she's gotten a promotion from housing analyst to be um a senior planner. Um, she was scheduled to be on the agenda tonight anyway, but now she gets to take the lead for this project going forward. >> So, um, >> one second, Sandy, we have a comment from the gallery. >> Does that mean you're abandoning my housing team? >> No, we'll still be working on this stuff. So, >> yay. Just more of you. I love it. Thank you.

47:15 We were, you know, we're about 30 seconds from this totally getting off the rails about what perks do senior planners get, right? Like you better get us back on track, Sandy. >> So, um, Chelsea Hartman had been, um, the one starting off on this project and she moved over to the city manager's office. So, we had the opportunity to move Katie into this position and she'd already been working with Chelsea on housing issues, um, getting um, following the rule making process. um providing input on legislation and rulemaking. Um and so she's well positioned to be able to take the lead in this project. And so I'm going to turn it over to her tonight and she can show you how capable she is. All right. Thanks, Sandy. Um Allison,

48:00 thank you. Okay. So, it's not a very exciting title, but um tonight we're going to be talking about the mandated housing planning that the city is beginning to work on and that we'll be doing for the next several years. Um we've mentioned to you multiple times in the last few years that this was coming up. Um but we've been in a little bit of a flux state as new legislation and rulemaking unfolded that impacted what uh our requirements were. Oh, okay. Cool. Thanks. Um, so before I get into the new requirements, just want to give you a little bit of background. So, Oregon cities have been required to plan for their community's housing needs

48:46 under the statewide planning goal 10 uh since the inception of the statewide planning program in the 1970s. To do that, um, the cities have periodically inventoried their buildable residential lands within their urban growth boundaries to determine if they have sufficient capacity to accommodate the housing that they'll need for the next 20 years based on population projections. So, this image on the screen is showing what that process used to look like. Um, so cities used coordinated population projections to determine their future housing needs, but otherwise this analysis was done totally locally. If a city found they didn't have enough land within their UGB to accommodate the housing that they determined they would need, then the city would need to take steps to

49:31 accommodate more housing on their existing lands through actions like upzoning or height increases, for example. So things to um grow up or look at expanding their urban growth boundary to grow out. And Springfield last completed and adopted this analysis in 2011 to cover the years 2010 through 2030. And I'll talk a little bit more about the results of our last study in a bit. And so this is the process now. Um so as you all are aware the state legislature has been doing a lot of work to address Oregon's housing needs in the last few years and it's also been one of the governor's top priorities. So, there have been a series of legislative

50:16 changes and rulemaking processes that have gotten us to this point. Um, which are the rules that we will need to follow for the next several years to comply with our goal 10 housing planning mandates. And this new process is called the Oregon Housing Needs Analysis or ONA. Uh, the rules for this were just adopted by the Land Conservation Development Commission in December. Um, as Sandy mentioned, we followed the rulemaking process, but still familiarizing with the finalized rules and we have some outstanding questions and there's forthcoming guidance from DLCD. So, um, there may be things that we can't answer for you tonight and I will talk a little bit more about the rule making process in a moment. Um, these new rules overall have changed

51:02 existing processes. They've added new requirements on and they've increased the role of the state in local housing planning. And I'm just going to briefly go through the various steps that we'll need to undertake so that you know what's coming. But the rest of tonight mostly will be focused on what's happening in the next two years because this work is going to stretch out over several years. So looking at this image um starting in the top left corner the first change is that the state is now setting housing production targets for cities rather than this calculation being done locally. So those targets are broken out by the number of units um that we need at various income levels and the targets that the state provides

51:47 to us will determine how many housing units we need to plan for and it will also inform what kind of housing we need to plan for. From there, moving right on the top part of this image, um cities need to conduct what's called a contextualized housing needs analysis. So this is a new requirement that supplements those state provided production targets and it builds on them by providing a more localized assessment of our current and future housing needs as well as uh fair housing considerations and this informs multiple other steps in the process. So I'll come back to it a little bit later to talk about what's involved in it. And then next will come the housing capacity analysis. Um, and that is kind of

52:33 closest to what we used to do for this work. Um, and that's where we will inventory our supply of buildable residential lands within the urban growth boundary, compare it to the number and the types of housing units we'll need for the next 20 years and then identify whether Springfield has enough land to accommodate that housing. Um, and if not, where we have insufficiencies. And then moving to the top right hand corner of that image, we will then need to do a development ready lands inventory. So this is a new step. Um it is informed by the buildable lands inventory that we do for the housing capacity analysis and it requires us to identify the subset of our buildable

53:19 lands that are can support new housing in the near term. And then moving all the way down to the bottom right hand corner of that image, then we'll do a housing production strategy. And the housing production strategy responds to all these various pieces prior to it um in an action plan that focuses on what the city will do that is within its control to promote housing production, affordability, and choice in the near term. And for Springfield, that near-term is an eight-year period. Um, so it'll be an eight-year action plan. And if we conclude in our housing capacity analysis that we don't have enough land to meet our housing needs or

54:04 if we identify that we don't have enough development ready lands then our housing production strategy will need to identify uh what we can do to make more buildable lands available and or make more land available for develop sorry ready for development. Um and then the production strategy will also include actions to promote the housing that we need where we need it. So that could include more efforts related to incomequalified housing, uh promoting home ownership, making it easier to build middle housing, etc., etc. And then from there down in the bottom middle part of the uh image, cities become responsible for implementing the

54:49 actions that they um identified in their housing production strategy. And at the halfway point, which for us would be four years after our housing production strategy is adopted, then uh cities get evaluated by the state relative to their peer cities on their progress towards housing production. And so some cities based on how they're performing relative to peer cities will be referred into this housing acceleration program where the state will audit the cities and determine what else can be done to better meet their housing production targets. And I see you prepping for a question there. >> I am so glad our partners in the state are here to help.

55:34 >> Councelor Rodley, >> we'll see if you can bring us back after this. I was thinking the same thing and what I was thinking. I'm so glad they listened to all that lobbying we did to not make any major changes while we were catching up to the previous changes. Um, but I'm going to like a good stoic, we're just going to move forward. Um, is there any opportun like who is going to be making the decision? Is there any opportunity for us to weigh in on those decisions around the targets or is it just going to be like some people in a closed door or over a glass of wine saying here's what Springfield needs to do? So the method there was rulemaking around the methodology for the targets and I'm looking to Sandy but I believe we did provide comment on that. Um so at this point unless there are changes that

56:21 is the methodology that we're working from and I'll talk a little bit more too when we get into the numbers about what they are and what's behind them but >> there was a process. >> I will I will wait right along with you on this one. just what why Tyuk is in this slide. >> I think that they lobbyed for themselves to be included. >> Thanks. >> Yeah, I think that's correct. So, um these rules generally apply to cities over 10,000, but the exception is those small cities in Toma County are also subject to the same rules >> and then everybody in metro. >> Right. >> Keep going. >> Okay, great. Um, so what I will say about the housing acceleration program

57:06 is that the way that the rules are written, um, the state can then step in and require us to take actions if we're not meeting our targets. But the other thing that the rules allow for is for the state to step in and provide technical assistance and other resources. So whether those resources exist at the time, TBD, but there is room in the rules for that. And when you say meeting our targets, you mean physical units built. >> Correct. >> So we are going through a process over eight years that has nothing that is just about our regulatory authority, but we're held accountable to how many physical units are built even though we're not going to build any. We we don't actually put a shovel in the ground. >> Yes. And that is kind of the big um

57:53 challenge with these. Um so and then as you can see these arrows just keep going around. So this new um this ONA paradigm of planning is intended to be a cyclical process. So we will need to undertake this on a more regular cycle and for um non-metro cities like Springfield that's every eight years. And so um our original deadline as some of you may recall for doing this planning has been pushed out and that was because the rule making was just ongoing. There was rule making and then new legislation and then new rule making. So anyways we are finally now at the point where we have deadlines and we're beginning to do this

58:39 work. So our housing capacity analysis will be due at the end of 2027. Our housing production strategy will be due at the end of 2028 and we are right here at the beginning. So we have our allocations and ready to start doing the work. Um so to some of these comments questions around the state mandates and the rule making um DLCD did go through multiple rulemaking processes to get to this set of rule rules. Um, we did stay engaged with that and provided public comment at multiple points during the rulemaking processes. I think I want to say at least five times in the last couple of years um to try and make the rules more feasible for

59:26 cities to implement. And the mayor did also submit comments on the final draft rules. Our input was similar to that of the League of Oregon Cities and other cities that commented. Overall concerns were focused on how prescriptive the rules are. um that the prescriptiveness will not necessarily improve housing production results and that there's a lack of resources to implement these requirements especially on the timelines um that the state has set. The input from the cities did have some impact on the final rules though. So I did want to highlight a few of the concerns that we raised that were addressed in the final rules. Um so the first one is that the draft rules included several uh what DLCD called minimum standards and

1:00:11 rebuttable presumptions. So these were things that cities would have been required to do or to assume in planning unless they could successfully argue how they were already doing it or could meet something in a different way. And we had concerns with the lack of flexibility in that approach and also that there did not appear to be a clear path for us to make an argument. Um, and luckily the final rules made all but one of these into safe harbors instead, which means that they are now totally optional tools for us. Um, the state also created a model code for housing based on legislative direction and that got wrapped up into this minimum standards rebuttable presumptions thing. And so that now is also just an optional tool

1:00:57 that model code. Um, and then the draft rules required us to use our housing production targets from the year our housing capacity analysis was due. And that was a concern for us because many cities, including Springfield, could not begin and finish that work in one year, which would have meant that we would have done a lot of work and then had to reddo it um for very minor changes. So luckily that was also changed in the final rules to give us some more flexibility there. Um however there are ongoing challenges with the rules that were adopted. Um so I'm also going to highlight a couple things that we had raised concerns about that weren't changed in final rules. So one of them

1:01:42 is um that we asked for exploratory work to count as an action in that housing production strategy action plan because understanding how to most effectively implement things often requires initial work like feasibility studies and unfortunately um those do not count in our housing production strategy. So our housing production strategies will have to be things that we are committed to adopting and implementing. Um there's also some interplay between these rules and climate friendly area requirements. So as you guys probably recall, um climate friendly areas rules require us to accommodate at least 30% of our housing need in a climate friendly area.

1:02:29 Well, these rules add on that if we need to expand our urban growth boundary to meet an unmet housing need, at least half of our unmet housing need will need to be in a climate friendly area. So, we raised a couple of concerns with this. Um, first that climate friendly areas are more set up for multi-unit housing, and these rules require us to plan for a variety of housing. So, there's some tension there. Um and then also this could necessitate us revisiting our climate friendly areas either to expand existing ones or designate a new one. Um and then finally although a lot of those minimum standards and safe or sorry minimum standards and rebuttable presumptions were made into safe harbors it's not um certain yet whether those

1:03:16 will be feasible for us to use. So they are optional tools but I don't know if they will be realistic tools. Okay, so this timeline here is kind of the full projected timeline for our housing planning work that we need to complete up to our next ONA cycle. So up to our next housing capacity analysis deadline. And as you can see, this is going to take a lot of work uh particularly over the next 3 years to meet our mandated deadlines. And because this work is cyclical in nature, it also means that we are going to be wrapping up implementation for this round of planning um when we need to start the next round of planning.

1:04:03 And then something else I wanted to point out on this slide is that a lot of the work that the public is going to be most interested in, which are like the policy type decisions of how do we address our needs, will come later in this housing production strategy in 2028. So it's still a few years out. So, coming back to our handydandy little image of the ONA planning cycle, um, as I mentioned before, we need to adopt our housing capacity analysis by the end of 2027. So, these are the parts of that cycle that we're going to be focused on for the next 2 years. And then another fun timeline. Um so this timeline is looking at just the

1:04:48 next two years and the various steps that we need to complete to um address our housing capacity analysis requirements. The city did apply for and was awarded consultant assistance through DLCD to help work on the housing capacity analysis and then also this contextualized housing need that helps lead up to it. Um, so this timeline on the screen is based on the scope of work that we agreed to with DLCD and the consultant. And we are going to be working with Echo Northwest, which we're really happy about that because ECHKO is really experienced in this, albeit new rules, but they were on the rulemaking committee. Um, they also completed our 2011 housing study, so they have that

1:05:36 history. And then they also have local expertise that was involved in that and somebody that lives here in the community that will be helping. So those are all really good things. Um DLCD is however still finalizing the contract with the consultant. So we're not yet sure when we'll have them on board but likely not before the end of this month. So this entire draft timeline will need to be re-examined once we know uh when we can start working with them. and then we will have their help through May of 2027. And while Ekko's assistance is going to be critical in helping us to get this done, uh the amount of DLCD's grant assistance is not going to cover all of the work that's required of us to comply with the rules. So, it's still going to

1:06:22 take significant staff time to complete this and later stages of the planning work. So, we're estimating um for this kind of next two-year part at least one and a half FTE from comprehensive planning as well as expertise and support from other staff across several different work groups. So, I know we're not going to have this this question tonight, but it would be helpful to understand what our total cost to implement these rules are and what our what our total reimbursement from the state is. Not because having this conversation with our state partners can always be a little bit challenging um because they don't oftentimes allocate enough resources for

1:07:07 cities to do this work. >> So, I can answer right now that we're not going to be reimbursed for anything. the state is going to pay Echo Northwest directly. So that money is not passing through us. So any of the cost to the city will be what we spend ourselves. But we can get you an estimate of what that would likely cost. >> Yeah. And and in the range over the couple of years that now that we're effectively having to I don't know if this is a net new program would be the right way to describe it, but we're moving to a much more rigid residential planning cycle. >> Yeah. I mean, we would be doing this work anyway. Um, even if it was locally driven, as Katie said, um, our plan is coming to the end of its 20-year time frame. It's something that I had anticipated we would start doing, um, a

1:07:53 few years ago. Um, we've had to delay, as Katie said because of the rulem. So, we definitely would be doing it, but sort of it's, um, much more rigorous and extra work beyond what we would have done had they not gone through the rulem. >> Thank you, Councelor Rodley. Well, and and I mean this is where we just sort of pontificate and whine or where I pontificate and whine. Um I'm also not entirely convinced that this is going to get us to more housing faster. Like the reality is every time we have to go back and regroup and do new math and follow new rules, it takes us away from being able to just keep moving forward. Um, even though I think you all are fantastic and you do a great job of like already like, okay, this is where

1:08:38 this is going to intersect with CF and all of that. Um, I just I just want everybody to sit down for a minute and let us do what we do. So, um, like I said, I was going to do a little bit of whining. Um, maybe for everybody else and then we'll just keep marching forward. >> Anybody else? There will be a little bit of pontificating up here. Go ahead, Council St. >> So, here I won't I won't um get off that train either. Um I I I really appreciate the context, Sandy, about how we would probably want to do this work anyway. And I think this is a neat opportunity to ask the question often and early, especially of council, of what do we

1:09:24 want Springfield to look like? because yeah, I might not love the brute force method that's being used by the state, but I think there is an opportunity to ask um you know, council like, hey, what do we want this beautiful community to look like? It's when we are adding this housing capacity and I think that's something that all of us enjoy weighing in on and are interested in weighing in on. The one question I do have as we go forward and you can answer this now or later on is to what degree does transportation planning change in our capacity analysis? And the reason I asked that is it's a lot easier to have an increase in capacity if you're next to multiple different kinds of transportation. So I'm just kind of curious how is that laid out in this if it is yet and and it can be hey I'll let

1:10:11 you know when I when it comes up. >> Yeah. So, I'm not pl I didn't have it in my plan, so I'll try and address it now. And Sandy can probably hop in with if there parts of the TSP that need to think about that because I'm not as familiar with it. Um, but part of what these rules require is that we have to look at location of housing and it wants us to think a lot more about planning for housing near assets and one of those particularly is transportation. So it does lead us in that direction of but then I think you know we run into the issue of if we need to expand into areas that we don't have transportation. Yeah. I'll add since you've given me the opportunity um to

1:10:57 when I when I had laid out our work program five years ago for comprehensive planning, the idea we was we would have the housing work done. Um when we got to updating our transportation system plan, that will not be the case. And um Katie hasn't really explained yet, but even when we get to the end of the capacity analysis, we won't yet know if we're expanding the urban growth boundary or not. That will come later. Whereas in the past, we would have had that figured out earlier. So, um, it's unfortunate timing in that we'll be having to when we are updating our transportation system plan, we'll have

1:11:44 to be making assumptions about where we're going to accommodate this ex this additional population that we're planning for without having finished the housing work to know where they're going to need to go. So, um we'll figure it out, but um that is one um unfortunate outcome of the delay in getting to the housing work. >> Okay, I'm going to hold us back. I'm looking at the clock, we still have 18 minutes left and I think you got quite a few slides and I think by the time we start commenting, we're going to have a lot to say. So, >> um, that does lead well into where I was. Um, because so states resources

1:12:29 aren't going to fully cover this, so we'll need to spend staff time doing it. Um, and then also because those resources are limited, we're needing to push out some of the things until later, which Sandy was alluding to. Um, that's something that's allowed by these new rules. Um, but kind of not what we had contemplated. So, with that all in mind, um I'm going to dive a little bit more into the various components of this near-term next two years work, starting with how much housing we need to plan for. Um so, as I mentioned before, we last completed this housing planning in 2011. So, the results of that are on the left side of this slide. So, that was number of housing units that we'd need between

1:13:14 2010 and 2030. We were estimating just under uh or planning for just under 6,000. 51% of that being for households with low incomes. So that 80% of the area median income level or below. Uh 60% of it being single unit types and 40% multi-unit. And the numbers on the right hand side of the slide are those state provided production targets that are now being determined at the state level. And so the state's methodology um calculates things at a state and a regional level and then it allocates out to cities from there so that each city is planning for its quote unquote fair share of housing. It also explicitly considers under

1:14:00 production housing that's um assumed to be lost to vacation or second homes and then housing for people experiencing homelessness. And so all of that together has resulted in these really ambitious targets especially at lower income levels. The state numbers also include this um frontloaded production target for the first 8 years um which is that 466 units at the bottom of the slide. So that is asking us to plan for 55% of our total need for the next 20 years in the next eight years. And that's what the state will actually be looking at when they're evaluating our progress. And so overall, we're going to be planning for more housing, almost 1,000

1:14:47 units more than the last time around. Um, and then more housing at lower income levels. And particularly, I want to draw your attention to the almost 2,000 units at the 0 to 30% AMI level that we're to plan for. So those are basically units of housing for people experiencing homelessness. Um, and we've talked about this before, but this is really significant because housing at these lower income levels and especially when you get down to that level really needs pretty significant subsidy to move forward. And to ground that a little bit in what we're actually seeing in Springfield. So, this is um an image in one of the attachments, I think attachment three in your packet. Um, and this is showing our

1:15:33 um, housing units that it were permitted. The top left bar chart is showing over the last decade uh, per year how many housing units we've permitted. And as you can see, we've only gone over that 466 units per year target one time. Um, that was mostly I think Marcola Meadows homes coming online. And otherwise, we've been averaging around 242 units per year. And then if you look at income qualified housing, which is that bottom left bar chart, that 0 to 80% AMI level, um it looks even more challenging to meet those state targets. And again, this is part of what's really hard about these rules is the city doesn't build housing and we don't control a lot of the

1:16:18 elements that determine how much housing gets built. um and in particular with incomequalified housing, a lot of that is heavily reliant on state level subsidy to move forward. Okay, so diving back a little more deeply into these elements that we're going to be looking at. So the contextualized housing need again this is a report that takes those housing production targets from the state and adds localized context and ultimately the purpose of that is to help us to determine the types characteristics and locations of housing that we need. So types are what we would traditionally think of typology single unit middle housing multi-unit characteristics is a little bit more of a squishy thing. It

1:17:04 includes some physical characteristics like accessibility things that we would traditionally think about like tenure options and affordability, but then it also includes some really subjective things like trauma informed design that we don't necessarily have a great way of tracking or affecting. So, that one's kind of a challenge. Um and then locations as we sort of um were responding to councelor Stout's question is thinking about providing choice in where we locate housing and then also thinking about putting housing in proximity to community assets and minimizing harms. So transportation access being one of those. And then I'm not going to get too deeply

1:17:51 into this slide for the sake of time, but these are just the various elements of the contextualized housing need that we need to look at. So, um, a market analysis, looking at past discriminatory actions, and then, um, assessing fair housing choice. And to do this, we're going to need to look at both quantitative and qualitative data, um, including community input. So this is going to be kind of a key point in this whole process for community input. Then moving into the housing capacity analysis. So this is where we'll inventory the buildable residential lands and determine the housing types that we need. And then we will assess whether we have sufficient capacity in our buildable lands for that housing

1:18:36 over the next 20 years. So that's the capacity side of side of this assessment. And then we will take those state provided production targets and the contextualized housing need to determine what the types of housing we need are. And then those will be put together in this residential lands needs analysis report where we um compare our capacity with our need. And the housing capacity analysis needs to be adopted into the comprehensive plan. Um, and so as we alluded to before, because of the limits on the consultant assistance and the time that we have to do this, um, this report is going to differ from ones in the past in that it won't include the

1:19:21 policy actions to actually address how we meet any unmet need. Um, so that is what's going to come later. So this will just tell us if we have a capacity issue and where. Um, which as Sandy mentioned also means that a determination about whether we need to do an urban growth boundary expansion uh is getting pushed out to a later phase of this planning work than we would have done under the old paradigm or if we had more resources. And then this chart here is just kind of helping to understand the concept of the development ready lands um and showing the difference between the buildable land inventory that we complete as part

1:20:07 of the housing capacity analysis and this new inventory that we need to identify. So development ready lands are a subset of our buildable lands and it is the land that is available for housing development in the next 8 years. So in our current cycle um and to figure that out we look at things like annexation zoning and proximity to needed infrastructure. And so this is also one of the areas where given the limited consultant assistance, the city will be doing more of this work um and the consultant will be helping us with a methodology. And for this we're going to need to coordinate with the Springfield utility board and then also internally with our

1:20:53 capital improvement program and uh public facilities plans to better understand land and existing infrastructure. And then this timeline here is um showing kind of our proposed engagement points through these next two years. So city staff is primarily going to lead community engagement for this project. Um and this timeline is showing approximately when and how often we anticipate engaging with the community, the planning commission, and the council for this part of the work. Um, and once again, this is going to need to be adjusted once we figure out when ECHKO can start working on this. So, similar to other recent state mandates, the

1:21:38 owner rules emphasize community engagement with particular attention to protected classes and named communities, including communities of color, low-income communities, and individuals with disabilities and tribal communities. And so, as I mentioned before, the contextualized housing need is kind of a key point for engagement in this next couple of years. And that's based both on the state's rules and because for the contextualized housing need, we're really asking, you know, what is it that the community needs housing wise? And so, we have two points of community input planned around that. one to help feed into this report and then another where um we're asking the community how does this draft report

1:22:24 look and then the other points for community input um are around reviewing the draft residential land needs analysis. So again, that's where we compare the capacity of our lands with how much and what kind of housing we need. And that's an important point for input because it's going to inform later what we do in this housing production strategy action report and also uh whether we need to consider an urban growth boundary expansion. And then um there's another opportunity that we've identified through the adoption process where people can provide input. Um so a little bit about the adoption process. The housing capacity analysis is a land use decision and it's going to require

1:23:10 co-adoption with the board of county commissioners. Um which means that we'll need at least 6 months to get through that process. And so all of this work needs to be wrapped up by summer of 2027 in order to go to the planning commission over the summer of 2027 and to the council and the board of county commissioners fall of 2027. Um and that is I want to acknowledge upfront an extremely tight timeline and we don't know at this point if we can make that timeline but we are endeavoring forward under that hope and assumption. Um, and now I'm we're on the last slide. Um, so

1:23:56 with that, I'll turn it back over for any more questions or comments. Um, we did have two questions for your input if you have any tonight. So the first one being if you have any thoughts on the draft engagement timeline which is this one on the previous slide uh particularly around the key points for input from the community. Um and then also if you have any feedback on the draft key messages for the project which are attachment to >> councelor. >> Thank you. So, first of all, I really appreciate you all. Um, and you all are going to be the ones doing this hard work and um, so I want to support that and not be a

1:24:41 blocker. Um, you talked about the engagement timeline. I will say that the irony is not lost on me that we have to go out into the community and ask them what they need when we are being told by the state exactly what we need to do. So there's that feels a little bit strange to me. Um and uh I think if I think about the like the analysis for the engagement time limit like I'm going to support it and I'm happy to help with it. And I also think that in this case because of just how huge this is. I would advocates for us doing like the bare minimum like in terms of like those mandated pieces that we're not getting any funding for and

1:25:26 putting what energy we have to into what actually is going to like benefit Springfield and benefit the residents of Springfield because like like you said very sweetly um this doesn't actually build any housing. this just gives us things on paper that are going to say that we're ready to build housing when we already know that we are leaning in hard and we are ready to build housing. So, I'm just I'm going to advocate for doing the minimum and um in terms of the key messages, my big key messages is they're making us do this, but um that's not helpful. So maybe you all will have better ideas for what the things that you >> um thank you for for those councilly. Um I

1:26:13 I guess you know the questions that I have. Um, first and foremost, it feels like the rules keep changing and it feels like the timelines keep getting shorter. And I guess the one thought that I have, and I know you can't answer this, but um, is how sure are we that these are like the rules that we're going to be Yeah. I mean, it's like it it's like the rules of the game keep changing and it's like it's hard to make decisions when it's like, "Oh, but wait, there's more." Um, and then I I guess I appreciate what council said in that, you know, this feels like it's forced,

1:27:00 although at the same token, I don't know what the gap is between what we already know we need and what we would already want to do. if if the state wasn't involved in this at all, like what would we be already doing versus what the state's mandating? And I just don't know how big of a gap that is. And so that's the thing that I keep coming back to is I don't like the mandate any better than than anybody else. And I largely agree with um Councelor Bradley. I just don't know if it's one of those things where it's like we're we're pushing back against the mandate, but if they're just mandating what we would more or less be doing anyway, then it's really a timeline thing. My biggest concern is

1:27:46 it feels like that moving target. And so going forward, city staff is going to do a whole bunch of work and we're going to try and hit this deadline that may not even be possible um by next summer. And yet 3 months from now, 6 months from now, we could get a whole new well, let's just change these yet again. And so that's that's what's challenging to me. And I and I don't know if you can speak to any of that, but um the biggest thing that I'm curious that you might be able to speak to is is that gap. >> Yeah, I can speak to the gap at least. I think it's one of those situations where it's like the devil's in the details. Like I think the the big elements of what we're being required to do as Sandy said are what we would want to do anyways, but I think it comes down to

1:28:33 the details. I mean, it's just it's really really prescriptive about things like the community engagement we need to do and that we need to specifically respond to every event that we do and what did we learn from it and how are we applying it and it's just kind of stuff like that that gets really administratively burdensome. So I think the the big picture we would do a lot of those things. It's just like the the little hoops within each one of those that is taking up the capacity. And then Sandy, I don't know if you had anything to add about it. Okay. >> Yeah. And it doesn't it doesn't seem like you're you're not imagining things. The the details are getting more complicated and the day and the timelines are getting shorter.

1:29:20 Uh, anybody else council? >> Yes. I see Echo Northwest being consultants on a lot of things out there and we're dependent on them. If they don't produce, we don't go anywhere. And do they have the resources to do that because I don't know much about them except they they do a lot of studies for our city plus others. and uh I want to make sure that they're able to provide what we need in a timely manner. >> Yeah, I will say um Echo's really big. So the you know things that we've worked on with them for one thing like the um task force, the fiscal task force, those

1:30:05 are different people than we're working with on the housing thing. um and the kind of lead project manager on the housing stuff like this is what she does. This is all she does. Um and I'll add she advocated to work with Springfield. The state wasn't necessarily because there's several consultants and so they do a match between consultant and the city and Beth Goodman really advocated to work with us and she worked on our previous study. So I think um the learning curve will be very small in terms of our community. She already knows our community. She knows our GIS. She knows our staff. Um the rules I mean she's learning along

1:30:51 with everybody else. Although like as Katie said, she's on the she was on the advisory committee. So are we ever going to get all that we want from a consultant? Probably not. Um, but I think it's as good as we're going to hope for is is what we're going is what my expectation is, >> right? Um, yeah, I think we all have a lot of uh a lot of opinions on this. One of the things that we have to take away from this is continuing the legislative advocacy around, you know, housing policy. Um, even though we've said for years, you know, help cities streamline the work for cities, simplify it, like we just we have to keep repeating this because the pace that they're asking uh

1:31:38 the staffs to work in the in the state of Oregon is just not sustainable. Um, and I want to start, I guess, by recognizing the amount of work that this is to deliver and understanding that we're all working under the assumption that this is a pretty pro-ousing community and this may all this work may not deliver another another unit of housing. Um, I think the other piece that I'm concerned about at the at the state level is all the regulatory changes we've made. It sort of has created a Gordian knot of, you know, regulations that and and the question that I have is does somebody actually understand what the new like what the new state rules actually say? And I know that we can continue to add to this work and I'm I'm

1:32:23 looking for, you know, at least feedback from the city staff at some point that says, hey, look, this has become so big and broad and consuming that we don't really understand what the state's asking for us. because that's a place as elected officials, we can step in and continue to raise with our state delegations that this is just not a sustainable pace. When when I think about the the feedback and the plan, I mean, it looks good like we're going to start and we're going to work this uh as best we can. The questions that I I uh really it really jumped out to me were just the importance of um thinking about where those uh jurisdictional boundaries, not the city of Springfields are, but we're talking about significant more housing units um and making sure that that's

1:33:09 part of the conversation, too. The example that I think of is Jasper Natron specifically, right? We know that the school district is having enrollment problems and a lot of bu there's a lot of residential buildable land that is down that way and is technically in a different school district boundary, right? So, as we talk about how do we wrap this up in kind of a sustainable uh community, right? Like some of those policy issues would help us, you know, long-term where appropriate. Um, when I read the when I read the talking points, the talking points to the public I think have to be a lot a lot more I guess cleaner. Like they read very technical to me, if that make if that makes sense. Um, and really backing the

1:33:54 public up and talking about what we're actually doing. I think the message I didn't see in them was um really talking that this is about all housing like housing across across the city at all levels including home ownership. Sometimes when housing gets talked about is a uh you know in the public it sounds like it's more 0 to 30% AMI than it is about the whole spectrum of housing which is really where the discussion is. And when I read the when I read the talking points, I didn't really feel like that that part come through. And then I think the last piece of feedback that I had is just the importance of talking about the difference between income levels in housing and maybe housing products because these things is

1:34:42 as housing begins to get more diversified. Like I'm not sure the public really understands what's getting built and why. And I consistently hear people bring up concerns where they misconstrue what workforce housing is, what subsidized housing is, are we still pursuing home ownership, like all the different pieces of it. And I think just coming up about five steps and really getting clear about like, hey, this is what this project is and it encompasses the whole the whole section of of housing would be real would be really helpful. And then please in this entire conversation don't lose the home ownership piece of it. Right? That is the one place that we do have to really build you know basically uh

1:35:29 income for people and and instability on what their what their sort of housing payments are, right? Like renting can be re really really tough right now. And you know, if we if we sort of overcorrect um or over rotate towards one part of this, it's going to become, you know, re like really tough. And really, we want to be as flexible as possible and make it as easy as possible to build housing in Springfield. >> Go ahead. >> I don't want to take more time. Um I really appreciate the call out around home ownership. Um because I think it is we talk about housing and we talk about units and it doesn't necessarily feel like homes but back to the piece about the whatever the percentage of the zero

1:36:14 to 30% and you you started to call it out but I just think for like future people when we're in a public I mean future council future folks like that is housing that's going to need additional like wraparound services and very substantial kind of public private partnerships and weaving together things and that's going to take probably a lot more capacity than we currently have to do that work. Um, knowing as somebody who sits on the home consortion board and we try we try to figure out how to do that with limited amounts of funding and and you hit it the nail on the head and that some of that funding has to come from the state. So, just I just I'm just putting a pin in that for future people and I don't know that that has to that answers any of your questions just that that's going to be a big lift in addition to the rest of this.

1:37:04 I think that may be all the input we have. Did you get enough input? >> All right, >> great. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Here's this big project. >> All right, I'm going to adjourn um the work session and then we are going to reconfigure into this into a CEDA meeting. So, we'll need to pause for about a couple of minutes. I'm going to run

0:08 I'm going to call the special regular session of the Springfield City Council to order with roll call. >> Mayor Van Gordon >> here. >> Councelor Weber >> here. >> Councelor Mo >> here. >> Councelor Rodley >> here. >> Councelor Buck >> here. And councelor Stout >> here. >> Here. Thank you. >> Okay. Uh I'm going to I've got two cards for public comment. We do not have scheduled public comment on this. Um, so I'm going to defer to the council. We can have folks up and I think that's probably that. Okay, we are Do what's the best way to do this? Do this separately or have them read the item into in first. >> Um, it's up to you if it's all related to the one item that you have. Calling them up under that item seems fine. >> Could you call the one item? >> Yes. Item number one is Linda Lane property offers for purchase and next steps. Jeremy Shear is here for this

0:54 item. Just hang on a second, Jeremy. I'm going to have folks come up come up and give some public comment related to this. Um, I've got two cards and if you can come up, state your name for the record and then we will give you three minutes. The first person is Renee Ellis. Where I start, I gave you some handouts which I'm not going to read now. I just gave you that food. Now, >> Renee Ellis, 1940 South 58th Street from Charles Reeden, Office of Department of State Lands. I asked, "Can a road be cut through the delineated wetlands used for CM on Linda Lane?" His

1:40 answer, no. The mitigation plan states the area must be maintained in accordance with the mitigation purpose. The DSL permit and lists the prohibited actions. No prohibited action can be taken in the deed restricted area. Restrictions from [sighs] deed restrictions. Uh no removal of top soil, sand, gravel, rock, mineral or other materials may be removed. No changing of the topography and of the property in any manner once the wetlands are constructed. They are constructed. They are the big one there. I think I circled them for you. So no, a road can't be plowed through the wetlands. In the CM plan, there was a letter from Peter Ryan, also the Department of State Lands, to the then owner of the lands, concurring with the wetland delineation

2:25 map by Wayne. This thing he stated, "Please be advised that state law establishes a preference for avoidance of wetland impacts. Because measures to avoid and minim minimize wetland impacts may include reconfiguring parcel layout and size or development design. We recommend that you work with the department staff on appropriate site design before completing the city or county land use approval process. I'm wondering if the nent Jasper Hills LLC has been advised of this or if they will be. Traffic 4.2.100 2.100 infrastructure standards transportation city of Springfield in that document section E paragraph 2 subd states that basically you can look it up the smallest number

3:10 necessary to ensure that not more than 100 dwelling units are attributed to any v any one intersection with a major collector arterial street including uh local streets blah blah blah that only have one ingress egress point that's us that is us we have 148 homes which exceeds the standard by 48%. Now, Liner Homes is going to put in another 36 using that same entrance as ingress and egress. 184 homes. That's almost twice the allowed limit. The last time I came before the council, Jeff said that this standard is discretionary. At whose discretion? Under what authority? And where in the standard is the state that these restrictions can be ignored?

3:56 City traffic engineer Mike Le Michael Leebler regarding using using Mineral Way as access point to development of Lindelane property April 29, 2021 meeting transcript. Mr. Leebler says, "We have way too many homes in development areas off one existing access on Mount Vernon from South 57th." He went on to say, "What I'm trying to avoid is too much traffic coming in and through the neighborhood." So we want to know even though your city standards and your city traffic engineer were quite clear at what point does discretion stop and the rules get followed what 200 300 a thousand where does it end and why is it happening the Springfield Meadows home per the city >> thank you >> will add I'm almost done we'll add an

4:43 additional 300 vehicle trips daily through our streets >> once again are fully opposed to any development on Linda Rene, thank you. Verore, your time limit's three minutes.

5:36 Yes, it's going to go green when you hit it. Okay, it went green. My name is Fierra Moore and I live on Orchid Lane in um Jasper Meadows. And I just want to reiterate you you've heard it before, but I'm just hoping that you can imagine if you lived in a house that's at the far end of a subdivision. You have one way in and one way out. And there are already nearly twice as many homes as the law says we can have. And it's they don't make these rules and regulations for fun. It's to protect us. And we are not feeling protected. And we just hope you will pay attention to that and realize

6:21 it's not suitable to add more housing in that area. Uh this has nothing to do with the wetlands, which is a huge issue. I have the wetlands right behind my house and to the side and we've gone through the new Lenar housing thing, but the roads it's it's crowded at the best of times. My husband and I went out one Sunday evening and counted 227 vehicles on the road, outside, and in people's driveways. This doesn't include what was in the garage. Our car was in our garage, but it wasn't added. There are too many cars on the road and this proposal is just making it worse. So I would hope that you would take that

7:08 seriously and our needs as citizens and people seriously and we do appreciate the work that you guys do. We really do. We know that you are civil public servants, civil servants and we appreciate you. So thank you for considering our needs. Thank you. All right, I think we're ready for Jeremy. >> Good evening, Jeremy Sheer, uh, city surveyor. Um before you do, um the

7:53 action request is approve or um not approve the following motion authorizing the city manager to execute a purchase and sale agreement for Linda Lane map and tax lot numbers 1802 0400 01 511 and 18- 02 0442-0130 um with Jasper Hills LLC. Uh the city has reviewed um the offers for these this parcel known as Linda Lane. Um you have uh two bonafide offers for purchase of approximately

8:38 34 acres. However, it will net 22 acres. I don't think that was very clear in here because the uh city will retain the 12 acres of um uh wetland area um for a wetlands bank. That property was uh acquired in 2021 for $450,000 as part of a larger project associated with the uh Jasper trunk sewer extension. So that 12 acres will be retained for wetland banking purposes. The remaining 23 plus or minus acres were determined to be excess to the public need and designated as surplus.

9:25 So that's my report I have for you. Do you have any questions? >> Uh councelor Rodley. >> Thank you. Um not really a question, but maybe we can speak to it just to to to for the public's benefit. Um, but tonight we're just talking about selling this property and when it comes time to develop it, that's going to be other conversations about what that looks like and infrastructure. And I know that folks have shared before um concerns about um infrastructure. And this is the only this is not the only neighborhood where folks are concerned that if we're going to continue to develop, we need to make sure that we add streets. But I just wanted to clarify that tonight is just talking about selling this property and then the future conversations about what happens with it and any sort of

10:10 infrastructure annexation are going to be more opportunities for people to Yeah, >> correct. It's just the sale. So yeah, any development would have to go through the land use process. >> Uh councelor Buckw. >> Oh, go ahead. >> Sorry, I just want to jump in. The property is annexed. There are no contemplated city council actions following the sale. It would be development review at a staff level with whatever process the application falls under. Then >> council buck. >> So um [clears throat] sorry I didn't I don't recall our our second um person's name but you know it's not hard for me to imagine because uh I live further down that same division. I live a block from Pebble

10:55 Court. I live a block from um Courtz Park. So you're right. I mean, it's an issue that um Jeff might have heard once or twice from me. Um this this project on Linda Lane, it's easy to say, "Well, that's the other side of of Bob Strob." But that traffic now has to come down to Bob Stro and Mount Vern. There's not even a real traffic light there. It's an issue, right? >> Um and believe me, it's it's one that um my colleagues on on council have might have heard from me once or twice and will continue to hear. we need to do something over there. There's some complicated issues that that make it challenging. Um again, the sale of this property um you know doesn't doesn't directly impact uh it has it has an

11:43 impact but it's it's not the solution that we all need for that area. But I just want you guys to both know that, you know, I'm well aware of it. I live it every day. Um, and so it's something that it isn't isn't going to go away and and isn't something that we're not taking seriously. We get it. I I you know, like I said, I I live down there. I know. Um I know what it's like trying to play catch with my son in the in the street. I I very much get it. So, um thank you for coming and I just wanted to point that out to you. All right, Jeff, can you I mean, I could ask Jeremy these questions, but So, Jeff, could you just help with the

12:28 with this question? I know it's super late for folks, and I appreciate people hanging in there with us. Any development off of Linda Lane is not going to is not going to access, you know, is not going to be designed to like flow have their traffic flow out through the Jasper Meadows uh side. Is that accurate? >> Yep. For the record, Jeff Pascal, community development director. Uh, correct. Uh, the the negotiations we've had with the two offers and the one that um we're recommending, we've been discussing with the the proposer and that's why you see some of in the purchase of sale agreement some of the discussion around um future improvements to Linda Lane. So primary access into this neighbor or into any future development most likely would not be

13:15 able to take access through the existing Jasper Meadows. Well, I think that's the goal here, right? Like and I know that Jasper Meadows has got its kind of own challenges and I know and I cannot remember what phase we're talking about, but eventually we're working with the county towards another another intersection, but in the short term it's going to be an emergency access point. >> Correct. There is an emergency access through what is the Springfield Meadows which is to the south of the um Jasper Meadows subdivision I believe phase nine. Um and so just like with any other they would this any development going into Linda Lane would have to have secondary access. And so that's why I I can't say in in discussions internally and when we look at this property and

14:00 when the property owners were or when the proposers were coming in for their due diligence, where is that discussion that primary access would not be coming off of, you know, South 57? Those other street connections would be required as they're required in our TSP. And just outside this question around Linda Lane, and I know we're gonna kind of get get through that, like the secondary access issue is still a big issue out, you know, out in Jasper Meadows. Can we please like keep the keep the Lindelane mail list active, right? Just so we stay coned with those folks as we work through it because I know that the final plan is to put another uh is to cut another exit. It's a little bit more complicated than that, but we got to get a second exit out of that neighborhood. >> Yes, you're correct. It it is complicated because it's on another

14:45 property owner to the south and so that's where the designated intersection is through the Bob Strob plan and and because that's a county facility, the city doesn't necessarily have the direct discretion to just kind of move that intersection wherever we would like or where we would feel it should go in today's development. Um, and so yeah, it is a little bit more complex. >> And with under full buildout under Linda Lane, could Mineral Way act as an emergency access out of that neighborhood? >> It it could. Yes, I would say it would not be their primary. It may be their secondary. And so that would provide secondary access also to the Jasper Meadow subdivisions and ultimately the Springfield Meadow subdivisions, which is currently on in construction. And so,

15:31 yes, I appreciate the keeping the Linda Lane mailing list open. Those folks also once as as um as the city attorney said, once a development we receive a development, any action that's taken whether that is they'll get their notice. Um, and we would probably I think our it's 300 feet, but I would recommend to um our planning manager that we extend that to make sure that we're capturing everybody within that area if if that way nobody's missed if they're just outside that at their 301 ft. >> Yeah. All right. Thanks, Jeff. I appreciate it. >> Ready? I move to authorize the city manager to execute a purchase and sale agreement for Linda Lane map and tax lot numbers

16:18 18-02- 04-00-1511 with Jasper Hills LLC >> second vote >> yes councelor Weber >> yes >> councelor Mo >> yes >> councelor Rodley >> yes >> councelor Buck Yes. >> And councelor step. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Motion passes. Five yeses, zero nos. That is our only item. We are adjourned. Thank you.