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Approved Minutes - 2021-12-21 E a o s CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING (q; MINUTES V +� December 21, 2021 °RE GO 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Buck called the regular City Council meeting to order at 3:02 p.m. on December 21, 2021. The meeting was held both virtually via video conferencing and in-person at City Hall, 380 A Avenue. 2. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Buck, Councilors Wendland, Verdick, Mboup, Manz, and Nguyen. Councilor Rapf was excused. Staff Present: Martha Bennett, City Manager; Jason Loos, City Attorney; Diana Smith- Bouwer, Project Specialist; Scot Siegel, Community Development Director; Kari Linder, City Recorder; Dale Jorgensen, Police Chief; Stefan Broadus, Assistant City Engineer 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Buck led the Pledge of Allegiance. 4. PUBLIC COMMENT No public comment was provided. 4.1 PRIOR PUBLIC COMMENT FOLLOW-UP No prior public comment follow-up was provided. 5. STUDY SESSIONS 5.1 Economic Development Strategy Scot Siegel, Community Development Director, briefly updated on the information provided to Council on this item by himself, from Mary Bosch as consultant, and the Chamber. Today he was seeking feedback and direction from Council on an economic development program and how it could be created. Staff was seeking Council's input and direction on seven potential service areas as follows: City Council Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 13 December 21, 2021 • Situation Awareness • Customer Service • Networking and Education • Policy and Code Improvement • Planning and Redevelopment • Programming • Branding and Marketing Mayor Buck agreed with having a point of contact at the City and for having the ability to leverage some business community, county, regional government, and non-governmental resources as not all efforts could be taken care of by the City. The City had a very high level of customer service, but efficiencies could always be made as shown by the example in the staff report of Code-related reasons that might inhibit business growth. Councilor Manz addressed situation awareness and believed that the City was not always best informed on what was going on with some of its larger employers. It was vitally important to check in with partners in other municipalities and perhaps with trade groups and others who would have more insight. The Chamber did good work with small businesses, but she was more concerned about the bigger, higher-paying businesses. She agreed that a single contact should be available to facilitate and assist through customer service in situations where it was deemed to be worth staff's time. She would like to see assistance given to non-traditional small businesses such as those that were women- or BIPOC-owned if it did not overstretch staff resources. Regarding networking and education, attendance at county, regional, and state economic redevelopment agency meeting was a good way to learn what other municipalities were doing. She was in favor of what was presented by Mr. Siegel. Councilor Nguyen supported situation awareness and agreed with the networking and education topic. It was important for Lake Oswego to be active in regional and state economic development meetings to be informed and to be available for business opportunities. He wanted to make sure that in the area of customer service that staff avoided any conflict of interest through being lobbied by government affairs people representing certain types of businesses. That item should be given careful consideration. Councilor Verdick supported situational awareness. She viewed customer service more as a point of contact within the City to assist with code or policies. She agreed the City needed to be present at regional and state economic development meetings and supported working with organizations within the community such as the Chamber to determine what the City should focus on. Having clearly defined roles would be very important, as would enabling groups to work within their specialties. Councilor Wendland stated he was a big proponent of working with community partners and believed the Chamber had done an outstanding job of partnering with the City. He agreed that roles needed to be clearly defined. He liked the idea of a key contact for businesses at the City due to the efficiency it would provide for small businesses to open and stay open. He agreed with the networking and education piece, but noted Lake Oswego would have a limited focus due to its size compared to a city the size of Portland. He agreed with having one person as a point-of- contact, but even more important was to have business development remain part of the senior City Council Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 13 December 21, 2021 staff's responsibilities so businesses could get answers quickly from top officials. The City needed to be proactive at a customer service level to build relationships and connectivity. Councilor Mboup believed it was important to give City staff the tools and insight to assist businesses. He had seen the importance of professional knowledge among staff when he opened his business about 10 years ago. He would like staff to attend state and even nationwide economic meetings for networking and education purposes. It was important to not replace the City government and he was opposed to privatizing its responsibilities because government was more accountable to people than other entities. It made sense to work with the Chamber because almost 90 percent of the city's businesses were members but when discussing economic development, it was necessary to be cautious because the Chamber received input and knew a lot about various businesses. The City also needed to consider its requests to new small businesses in order to not kill the businesses before they were born. It did not make sense that small businesses paid the same for a business license as did a business making millions. Asking larger businesses to pay more might help with some of the policymaking. Money could be given to the Chamber to help it develop what it wanted to. Consideration should also be given to how the City could continue assisting Lake Oswego's smaller businesses. Also necessary was to have sufficient infrastructure and a safe environment to make sure that what happened in areas like Portland to cause businesses to leave did not happen in Lake Oswego. It was also necessary to work on Lake Oswego's public relations image as it is still seen as a bad city in other areas of Oregon even though it was very forward-thinking. The Chamber could help promote the city. Mr. Siegel continued the presentation by addressing the Policy and Code Improvement item. The City had some regulations that were somewhat limiting and this initiative would look at process improvement in maintaining and regularly reevaluating the code. A careful review of the code would identify any unnecessary impediments that slowed down the process of assisting businesses without any public benefit. The community development staff was very capable of conducting an audit of the code and could receive input from those who had experienced the City's processes to learn where improvements could be made. Ideally, that would reduce the time taken in decision-making to free up staff time for work on other priorities for the City. • Planning and Redevelopment would involve monitoring adopted plans to gauge performance and determine when updates were needed. The City would lead planning and redevelopment work in collaboration with property owners and other stakeholders and would consider the alignment of various elements such as the infrastructure, transit, parking, and net zero building. • Regarding Programming, the Parks Department would be the lead in establishing community events in the parks, but a lot of other programming took place through the Chamber such as the Wine Walk and the Car Show. The calendar for these events could be coordinated and cross-promoted, but no one single persona at the City did the coordinating. Promoting the events could be handled by the City, but other organizations in the community could facilitate or lead the events. • Branding and Marketing emphasized the importance of identifying what the community was about and projecting the right message. He believed willing and capable people in the community were available who would want to do that type of work with the City, including the Chamber. Consideration should be given to Lake Oswego's positioning nationally and internationally and a plan made around that. City Council Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 13 December 21, 2021 Mayor Buck believed the community had made very good decisions that had created the current environment. It was no surprise to see the investment coming into Lake Oswego due to how the neighborhoods, parks, and public safety were developed. It had created a brand that attracted people, but no strategy existed to tie all of that together. The City, with the Chamber as a partner, was well-positioned to address various business needs as was seen during the pandemic. Having a streamlined system in the City would be easier for small business owners to navigate. The considerations were multifaceted, and the businesses were interdependent and wanted other businesses to do well. He suggested the program would be served well to be at least in part fueled and financed by the business community, possibly through a graduated licensing fee. That could also produce revenue for adding a staff position to take some pressure off of the general fund. Councilor Wendland suggested a deep dive into the City's current staffing levels and prioritize as a Council where to spend money, perhaps during Council goal setting. He did not think anything was being funded that was unimportant but believed business development and support was critically important to the community. On Policy and Code improvement, he recognized updating one area of the code affected many others but also understood the importance of having a process that would manage such updates. A master calendar for the City and events needed to be created and someone identified to do it. Lastly, it was important for various organizations and groups such as Council and the school district to continue to build the Lake Oswego brand, but not by using certain media sites which could be toxic. Lake Oswego's brand was good nationally and locally shown by the demand for housing and people wanting to come to the community. That brand needed to be maintained. The many capital projects for parks and the North Anchor area development would set up the city for successful opportunities for the residents and those outside of the city. Councilor Manz stated branding and marketing was expensive. Anything done with a non- governmental organization (NGO) would take money and time. Building a brand needed to be organic and could not be forced. Lake Oswego was extraordinarily eclectic in its offerings and she was unsure if a marketing request for proposals or other activity should be handled in-house as it would take staff away from their core competencies. She suggested it perhaps could be handled through a task force or through the Chamber. She recommended against an NGO at this time. Regarding Programming, she agreed a calendar was necessary and suggested a push calendar so people could choose to populate their personal calendars. Planning and Redevelopment were part of the City's core competency and should be a priority. Policy and Code Improvement had been debated for decades and she did not know how that issue could be resolved. She supported staff's opinion in how that task should be done within the constraints of their time. Councilor Verdick agreed that branding was very important, but did not believe it should be pursued in-house. She was unsure if it was where the City should put its dollars. As a marketing major, she understood the importance of branding, but believed other issues needed the focus first. She recommended supporting other entities who could move forward with the work. The calendar was critical because it could show possible partnerships for the City and perhaps highlight what was missing or redundant, and she strongly believed it should be maintained by one person. Regarding the code, she supported its review and understood it would take a long time; however, the code needed regular reevaluation to avoid having the same problems reoccur. These actions would also make the community a healthier place for businesses and when that City Council Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 13 December 21, 2021 happens it would spill over to create more businesses to serve the community members. She supported a greater focus of resources on trade-type businesses. Martha Bennett, City Manager, stated staff would return to Council with information, resources, and options for its decision-making. She firmly emphasized that the process of creating an economic development strategy would take time because most of the programs were not yet in place. Staff would work on determining what could best be done in-house or outsourced. Some of the technical assistance pieces should partially be outsourced as done during the pandemic, and it would be natural to outsource to the Chamber the coordination of community events. She believed the City's focus on some larger, traded-sector firms and the Chamber's tie-in with smaller businesses had already occurred. Some of the programs presented by Mr. Siegel were aimed more toward the traded-sector businesses, such as gathering business intelligence through visits, and the City's energy should be spent on understanding those major employers because there was more to gain and lose if a relocation decision was made. Item 5.2 was moved to follow agenda item 6.1, the presentation of the 2021 Unsung Heroes 5.3 Resolution 21-41, North Shore Road Bridge Retaining Wall —WO 324 Stefan Broadus, Assistant City Engineer, provided an update on the planned repair of the retaining wall at the North Shore Rd Bridge by briefly reviewing the background and describing the professional structural and geotechnical evaluation performed. Also presented were permitting considerations, scheduling, completed tasks, further steps necessary, and staff's recommendations. He pointed out the concern was not with the bridge itself but with the northeast retaining wall on the approach to the bridge which was bowing out toward the lake, as well as a void between the wall and the edge of the asphalt pavement. The solution was a mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) wall at an estimated cost of about $1 million with the expectation that American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA)funds would be used. The design was planned to be finalized in January with construction beginning shortly thereafter, but that could be impacted by material availability and public feedback on aesthetics. Staff recommended the two retaining walls be replaced, that the contract for final construction plans be given to DOWL, and the contract for constructing the design improvements be given to Emory & Sons. Staff also recommended the road be reopened to vehicular traffic upon completion of the repairs instead of having it remain for pedestrians and bicycles only due to the route's importance as an alternate route to State St. Mayor Buck inquired about the estimated life of the wall. Mr. Broadus clarified that the choice would be between the three MSE walls as shown in the photographs in the packet. He estimated the life of the wall would be more than 50 years, but would look into it. Councilor Wendland was not in favor of further public engagement because speed of the repairs was of the essence for the betterment of the entire community. Councilor Verdick agreed the options for aesthetics were limited but believed none of the options presented spoke to the lake or the architecture in general, so she supported waiting if necessary for feedback from the public on aesthetics. She understood the choice was not varied and that it probably made sense to do the work right away, but she had some hesitancy because she valued community input. City Council Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 13 December 21, 2021 Councilor Nguyen inquired about accessibility on the narrow bridge. Mr. Broadus referred to a photograph showing a concrete platform that ran the length of the bridge but was not wide enough to be considered a sidewalk. People walked on the road itself and used the platform to take photographs. The width of the road and the bridge would essentially remain the same. Councilor Nguyen commented he would like to see it made safer for those with mobility issues to take pictures, if possible, though he understood the constraints. Councilor Mboup believed Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) should be considered as it was part of Council's goals toward inclusion. Mr. Broadus replied that the bridge could be considered equally accessible to people of all abilities. Widening the bridge to provide a prototypical sidewalk would be on a scale about 10 times larger than what was proposed as it would require a complete bridge replacement and not the repair as proposed by staff. Councilor Mboup asked if other structures were inspected in Lake Oswego. Mr. Broadus replied the City in partnership with ODOT inspected the bridge structures on a two-year cycle. The results of the most recent cycle were still awaited but the bridges all passed inspection on the previous cycle without any glaring concerns. ODOT inspected bridge structures, but the concern for the North Shore Bridge was the retaining wall and not the structure itself. Councilor Wendland moved to adopt Resolution 21-41. Councilor Mboup seconded the motion. A voice vote was held, and the motion was passed, with Mayor Buck and Councilors Wendland, Verdick, Mboup, Manz and Nguyen voting `aye', (6-0). Council took a break from 4:50 p.m. to 5:04 p.m. 6. PRESENTATION 6.1 2021 Unsung Heroes Mayor Buck stated Council was ending the year by highlighting one of the most positive annual events associated with the community — the recognition of selfless service through the Unsung Hero Awards. The awards were for individuals or groups who went above and beyond serving the community quietly without seeking or receiving pay or recognition. The following people were recognized: • Abigail Otano-Haffner was recognized for her work helping kids navigate the crosswalk at Palisades School, advocating for the needs of the students in the River Grove Elementary community, and for serving as PTO President and helping families and kids feel safe and welcome at Palisades World Language School. • David Lipton, Norm Hendricks, Adrian Olmstead, Ginny Gillett, and Steve Eklund were recognized for their work for Meals-on-Wheels with wit, humor, something nice to say, and warm smiles for some for which it would be their only visit. • Mark Thornburg was recognized for his work with the all-volunteer Amateur Radio Emergency Services (ARES) in Lake Oswego and its members to prepare for an emergency City Council Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 13 December 21, 2021 event. He was also instrumental in the creation of a city-wide neighborhood emergency communications plan. • Julia Bohannon was recognized for co-founding the Black Student Mentorship Program which paired Black elementary students with Black high school students who then engaged in a positive mentor-mentee relationship. She was also a youth facilitator and collaborator for Respond to Racism. • Ami Joshi was recognized for service to the community in her role as President of the Board of Hunger Fighters Oregon, a local food bank based on the Lake Oswego High School campus. She implemented new procedures to allow Hunger Fighters to serve more families and provide an expanded online service, and helped secure grants and put the organization on firm financial footing which allowed it to hire its first Executive Director. Council took a break from 5:22 p.m. to 5:31 p.m. 5.2 System Development Charge Exemptions for Affordable Housing Item 5.2 was taken out of order and considered at this time. Scott Siegel, Community Development Director, stated this item was in response to Council direction to review the System Development Charge (SDC) Exemption, a financial incentive offered for eligible income-targeted or affordable housing developments. Staff wanted direction from Council as to whether the financial incentives should be updated to include for-sale housing as they were currently limited to rental housing. Council might want to consider the criteria for the projects to be consistent with its recent decision to approve a development agreement for the North Anchor Project, but also to bring the criteria into alignment with a different type of affordable housing than what was understood and planned for in 2018 when the SDC exemption was put in place. He read the current definition and criteria in the Code and explained the research done into what other cities in the area offered that was similar to Lake Oswego's incentives. Key discoveries were that most offered SDC exemptions for for-sale and rental housing and that all granted deferral or exemption only to those units that met the affordability criteria, whereas Lake Oswego required only 10 percent of the units to remain affordable. • Staff was requesting direction and would return to Council with a proposed ordinance and amendment to the Master Fee Schedule to address any changes Council wished to make. Staff recommended the same exemption be offered for for-sale units as for rental units based on 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). To encourage a wider range of housing and possibly a mix of income levels, staff suggested establishing the standard as a mean, so that a development that offered, for example 10 units at 40 percent AMI and another 10 units at 80 percent AMI would receive the incentive. Also recommended was to grant the waiver only to units that met the criteria and to allow for adjusting the length of the term required for the units to remain affordable. Councilor Mboup asked for further information on the 80 percent AMI. Ms. Bennett clarified an entry-level police officer or firefighter would earn $70,000 to$80,000, which would be between 80 percent and 100 percent AMI. Councilor Mboup noted some teachers would not be able to rent or live in Lake Oswego currently, so he believed even if a developer offered 10 affordable units, they should still pay the SDCs. They were doing business and not rendering a service to the city. City Council Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 13 December 21, 2021 Nationwide, multinational corporations were buying homes and he did not want such activities to impact the character of Lake Oswego. Councilor Wendland inquired if a change in AMI percentage from 80 to 60 percent would cause an economic change. He wanted to make sure rental rates would not be inflated after the term of affordability ended, leading to 60 percent AMI becoming 70 or 80 percent. It would create a larger funding gap to fill. He wanted to make sure the projects were still top quality and rates were available for everyone, so the consumer was not paying for the City's policy. Ms. Bennett replied that when the rental rates were lowered, the developer had to obtain more subsidized upfront capital because they could borrow less money. These projects would have a deeper required subsidy if a required 80 percent AMI was lowered to 60 percent. Mayor Buck liked the idea of having some units at market rate, some at 80 percent AMI, and some at 60 percent as the city had not had one project happen under the very generous current policy. He did not agree with making the process more difficult, and the land in Lake Oswego was so expensive that a more generous policy was a good idea. He would support a lower percentage of AMI only if it was part of a mix that kept the projects' overall economics the same. Likely the only way to accomplish a lower rate currently was with the Metro Housing Bond dollars. Habitat for Humanity said it would sell only to people making 80 percent AMI, otherwise the units would not be affordable. He agreed the for-sale units should line up with the 80 percent AMI recommendation. He believed the length of the term should be raised to at least 30 years. Councilor Wendland pointed out that every time one of the variables changed, the economic outcome would change. The current incentive was not attracting developers, and he asked what the incentive would be with limited land and limited opportunity. The policy needed to work. The City could make the incentive as generous as it wanted, but it would not work if developers did not take it. Ms. Bennett noted the other restriction in the policy was the minimum requirement for 20 units; Council might want to consider eliminating that and requiring 10 percent for two units out of 20. Mayor Buck indicated that projects such as the Windward Apartments and Mercado Grove appeared to believe they were better off paying the SDCs than offering 10 affordable units. He wanted the City to have a policy that was attractive to groups like Habitat for Humanity and other non-profits. Mr. Siegel emphasized that the incentive would still be available to a market- rate builder who had the inclination to provide a certain number of units; it would mean that the SDCs were exempted for those units proportionally. Councilor Mboup asked for clarification on the economics of paying for SDCs or providing a percentage of units at an affordable rate. Ms. Bennett explained that most developers chose one product or the other; not many were building mixed-income homes. The SDC waiver was just one of the subsidies required to make affordable housing projects pencil out. Usually, a variety of funding sources were involved and gathering the funding sources was part of the reason the projects took so long to complete. An SDC waiver could be considered as a small contribution to a subsidy from a variety of sources. She clarified that the developers usually could not do without the waiver and depended upon it. Councilor Nguyen recommended directing energy toward incentives that benefitted affordable housing agencies that could accomplish the work. It was nice to save some money on SDCs for developers, but the impact would be greater for a non-profit agency to develop for-rent or for-sale units. He liked the idea of a land trust because it would take the purchase price for acquiring land City Council Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 13 December 21, 2021 out of the picture. His understanding was that the homeowner would be buying just the structure itself. It would bring affordability of a for-sale unit much closer to Council's target. He did not believe the City had the capacity to enforce an affordability term of 30 or 50 years. Mr. Siegel replied that enforcement would be the City's responsibility, but other options were available, such as an agreement with Clackamas County or another agency. He noted he probably should not have said no interest had been expressed in the incentive because it had been a small, but significant part of the calculations for Mercy Housing Northwest's project. If Council ultimately agreed with Metro, the model for the Boone's Ferry Road staging area project would be similar to a land trust. The land was banked and not given away, and the City would be made whole. The SDC exemption was just one tool of many. Councilor Nguyen recommended moving away from the requirement of a minimum 10 units out of 20, and focus more on where affordability needed to be. Council would rely on staff to come up with some concrete ways to do that. He believed the City needed to make a more conscious effort rather than relying on the developers to do something that they did not really want to do. He clarified he did not know how attaching incentives just to affordable units would be enforced. Mr. Siegel responded a covenant would run with the land and typically would include some escalation to allow the value to appreciate. It was limited by some percentage so the owners could build wealth, but the unit would remain affordable. Councilor Manz confirmed the prior policy was an SDC deferral and had been in place for 20 years, but no developer had taken advantage of it when land was relatively inexpensive with the exception of the retirement home. She was skeptical that developers would want the SDC waiver if the City did not invest the money and time. Mr. Siegel replied that staff did not have all the tools to do so. Ms. Bennett pointed out that three projects were in the pipeline: The proposed Mercy Housing project, Habitat for Humanity, and the potential Boone's Ferry Rd staging area. Councilor Manz inquired about inflation, noting that dollars had been cheap for developers. She was concerned that inflation would change the cost of doing business. If a developer was to come to the City, she asked if something could be considered to allow the projects to move forward if a developer said they could not make it work. Ms. Bennett replied that matter would be up to Council, but construction cost escalation had been an issue for the last decade in Oregon and she believed that anyone engaged in construction now was anticipating a significant escalation in cost in the next few years. Councilor Manz cautioned to give the matter consideration because it could impact the City's actions and might necessitate further discussion by Council to accomplish what it wanted to. Mr. Siegel noted Mercy Housing Northwest had just submitted an application for about 100 multi-family affordable units and he believed they were moving ahead and had accounted for the cost. He did not know if their units would target a mix of incomes, but the affordable units were proposed to be 60 percent AMI. Mayor Buck confirmed the Councilors agreed with the for-sale unit exemption and with a reduction from 80 to 60 percent AMI or a mix of percentages of AMI for affordable units. Councilor Wendland said he did not know the implications of offering a mix of percentages of AMI without having various models to refer to. Fifty years of affordability for a unit was a long time. He would support 30 years but needed more information. Mayor Buck responded that even with the requirement being 80 percent, not all projects would offer that percentage as was being seen currently with projects offering a variety of percentages of AMI. He did not want to make it more difficult than it already was. Councilor Manz stated she would agree to 80 percent AMI with 60 percent on the low end because it would enable some flexibility. Fifty years was a very long time City Council Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 13 December 21, 2021 for the City Council, Metro, and others involved and asked for the reality behind a 50-year agreement for housing that could disintegrate, burn down, or otherwise go away. Mr. Siegel agreed the life span of the structures did need consideration. More or less, the industry standard for useful life would apply. Councilor Verdick stated 30 percent AMI would be the minimum she would agree to. She would like to know the impact of Portland's 60 percent AMI versus some other cities with 30 percent. Mr. Siegel replied staff would be happy to do research and contact Portland to inquire about its experience. Mayor Buck confirmed the Councilors agreed to 30 percent AMI at a minimum, and for staff to do further research on that amount. 7. COUNCIL BUSINESS 7.1 Police Department Release of Budgeted Funds for Additional Staffing. Dale Jorgenson, Police Chief, referred to the Council Report and budget memo dated March 31st in the meeting packet which he believed Council had seen during budget deliberations. He provided the history of the matter to date. Council had chosen to allot the money for future consideration but not the FTEs, with the direction that when the Dialog on Community Policing Report was complete, staff would return to Council and request the release of the money. The report was completed on October 20t1. The funds he was requesting fell into three buckets: Workload, retirements, and hiring. He described the LOPD's increased workload and its negative impacts on the community and officers, and the necessity to increase staff in the Patrol Division. A number of staff would be eligible to retire next year and that number would be increasing. Though the Police Department had shortened the recruiting time, it was taking longer to hire due to the smaller applicant pool and competition from other agencies. The Dialog on Community Policing Report offered recommendations, but none of them pointed to not adding officers. He was pleased to report that body cameras were hoped to be in use in the first quarter of2022. He would return to Council with an action plan and recommendations in February. He requested Council to release the funding to allow the hiring of four additional officers for the Patrol Division. Mayor Buck spoke to his personal experience as a business owner and the unsettling activities taking place currently. He acknowledged the decreasing numbers of City staff had left many areas, including the Police Department, unable to keep up with the requirements and demands of the residents. On top of that was the current work toward achieving a shared vision between the LOPD and the community. He supported the Chief's request and while he wished the action plan was also before the City Council, he understood from the community dialog that the actions in the plan would require resources. Councilor Verdick moved to approve the release of budgeted funds. Councilor Wendland seconded the motion. Councilor Mboup thanked the Chief and the LOPD for their work. He pointed out that during the Dialog on Community Policing, no objections were made to the recruitment of more police officers, rather issues such as requiring body cameras were raised and that after the discussion a decision would be made. He had been very happy lately with the information Council was receiving about the actions of the LOPD in recent incidents. Councilors needed that information in a timely manner City Council Meeting Minutes Page 10 of 13 December 21, 2021 because they were asked about it by the people who elected them. He hoped the trend could continue. He supported the recruitment of four more officers. He inquired about having only one mental health specialist on staff and what could be done about that. He believed it would be better to have mental health specialists rather than police officers in schools. The officers could then be used for other work. Chief Jorgenson replied that later next year, Amber Hambrick, the mental health specialist, could be brought to Council to provide a broader view of the LOPD's vision for the future. She was busy, but did not need additional staff, and the Department's plan was to work with other communities on mental health needs, among other options such as perhaps adding caseworkers. Ms. Hambrick had asked for a police officer to go with her on about 80 of the 89 calls she has been on, so, even with two mental health specialists, the officers would still often be going on calls. When Ms. Hambrick was unavailable, on-call resources were available through Clackamas County or she could be contacted during her off hours. Councilor Nguyen acknowledged that Council had been asked to conclude the Dialog on Community Policing before the matter of hiring more officers was brought before Council, and he understood the LOPD was stretched thin. He confirmed it would take a year to 18 months to get a new recruit out on the streets. He saw the issue as being of a human-resources type and not so much a policy issue to add more funding. He supported the Chief's request for additional officers. A voice vote was held, and the motion was passed. with Mayor Buck and Councilors Wendland, Verdick, Mboup, Manz, and Nguyen voting `aye', (6-0). 8. CONSENT AGENDA 8.1 Awarding a Personal Services Contract for Engineering Services for the 2022 Pathways Program —WO 320. 8.2 Resolution 21-40, Adjusting the Compensation for Charter Officers. 8.3 Memorandum of Understanding with the Lake Oswego School District. Councilor Manz moved to adopt the Consent Agenda. Councilor Verdick seconded the motion. A voice vote was held, and the motion was passed, with Mayor Buck and Councilors Wendland, Verdick, Mboup, Manz and Nguyen voting `aye', (6-0). 9. ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA No items were removed from the Consent Agenda. 10. INFORMATION FROM COUNCIL Mayor Buck noted the City's website contained information about the many events taking place in the city over the holidays. The Council's goals input was also available there and he requested that it be shared widely. Feedback could be provided through a link. Input would soon be available City Council Meeting Minutes Page 11 of 13 December 21, 2021 from the boards and commissions, and he would make sure the calendar invite went out for the Boards and Commissions Summit to be held virtually on January 13t". He thanked Councilor Nguyen for serving as Council President for the year, and he put forth Councilor Wendland as Council President for 2022 to be voted on during the first meeting in January. He hoped a region- wide discussion could be held regarding 1-205 and noted the public comment period was still open. The region believed tolling should be rolled out simultaneously and not just on one section of 1-205. Lake Oswego, West Linn, and Oregon City could emphasize that. Ms. Bennett noted the Mayor would join with other mayors and the County Chair of Clackamas County to send a joint letter to the Oregon Transportation Commission. She recommended writing instead to legislators, as ODOT believed it was taking the required path and was constrained to do so. She would contact the Legislative Director at the League of Oregon Cities for guidance. Councilor Manz recognized the Historic Resources Advisory Board and the Parks Board to which she was liaison. They were always gracious and held timely meetings and did tremendous work. She wished a very happy ninth birthday to Ethan Feinstein who had been a grand supporter of hers. Councilor Mboup thanked the Planning Commission which helped him realize the importance of City work. He was also grateful to be part of the Youth Leadership Council. Planning Commission Chair Heape invited Council to consider the charter of the Lake Grove Sunday Market. 11. REPORTS OF OFFICERS Ms. Bennett reminded that City offices, the public library, and the ACC would be closed on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve because the holidays fall on a Saturday. She congratulated the Arts Council on the installation of the amazing piece of art in the new City Hall atrium. Council would receive prework for its goal setting on January 7t" to prepare for a successful goal-setting session on January 22nd. She would keep Council posted on the snow in the forecast. The generators for the water plant and intake are not yet in place. 12. EXECUTIVE SESSION: The Lake Oswego City Council will meet under authority of ORS 192.660 (2)(i) Review and evaluate the employment related performance of the chief executive officer of any public body, a public officer, employee or staff member who does not request an open hearing; and (f) Consider records that are exempt by law from public inspection. Jason Loos, City Attorney, read the legal parameters for the Executive Session. Mayor Buck wished everyone a happy Holiday weekend and a happy New Year. He recognized the City employees who would be working through the weekend to keep everyone safe and who would be performing other critical functions, and expressed appreciation to those in the community doing essential work. The City Council met in Executive Session from 6:54 p.m. — 8:30 p.m. 13. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Buck adjourned the City Council meeting at 8:30 p.m. City Council Meeting Minutes Page 12 of 13 December 21, 2021 Respectfully submitted, v(1A Kari Linder, City Recorder Approved by the City Council on January 18, 2022 Joseph M. Buck, Mayor City Council Meeting Minutes Page 13 of 13 December 21, 2021