08.26.2026 City Council Meeting

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[0:04] Okay, I don't mind starting a minute.
[0:07] We have to start
[0:22] If we say 530, it has to be 5:30.
[0:45] We'll call to order this regular city council meeting Wednesday, August 26th
[0:50] 26th, 2026 at 5:30.
[0:55] We do have a quorum and Councilor Moore, I'm sorry, Council Morris is here. Councilor
[1:03] Curtis Thomas is out this evening and she is excused. Thank you. Mike, would you like to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance?
[1:34] agenda items. We have no added agenda items Madam Mayor
[1:38] Perfect. We'll move right into public comments. Public comments are limited to three minutes per person when asked to the podium, please state your name and address. At this time, I would like to call up Mr. Baker.
[1:54] Mayor and Council. My name is Michael Baker, and I have the honor of being the CEO for the Boys and Girls Clubs here in Central Oregon.
[2:01] We're very excited, as I mentioned to you a couple times before. We are opening on September 9th at the Lapine Community Center. We'll be operating our Boys and Girls program there.
[2:14] So we're very excited about being back here in Lapine. And I'm inviting each and every one of you and any of your guests
[2:22] to our ribbon cutting, which is going to be on September 18th. I have flyers here that I can
[2:30] You can hand out to whomever you'd like to invite, but again, it's going to be at 3:00 on the 18th right in front of the rec building.
[2:39] And we would ask that you arrive a few minutes earlier than that, because we're going to really cut the ribbon literally at 3 o'clock.
[2:46] And the significance of cutting it at 3 o'clock is that we know from
[2:52] Unfortunately, from decades and decades of data
[2:55] That the number 1 time when juvenile crime happens in the United States is 3 to 7 PM. Monday through Friday.
[3:01] So when school's out, we're in.
[3:05] So the importance of having that be cut right at 3 o'clock is a little symbolism, but there's a lot of substance behind them.
[3:13] I would, again, encourage each and every one of you, we'd love to have you come down. We'd love for the mayor to be part of the ribbon cutting. We'd love that. But if you're not here, it's understandable. I am in Montana for a wedding, and I'm really big scissors? I will zoom in. I really regret that I… this was one I will miss. No worries. We're going to have many more celebrations
[3:34] Well, Boys and Girls Club was important in my life as a youth, so I am very sorry to have missed this. I didn't know that you were a club member. I was a young member, yes, in early days, yes. Okay, I love it. I love hearing that. That's wonderful
[3:48] So again, thank you for the time. And again, would encourage anybody watching this as well. It is open to the public. We'd love to have folks come on down and celebrate. The major milestone for the Boys and Girls Clubs being back in Lapine again. So we're very excited about that. So again, if you have any questions
[4:04] Feel free, you can reach out via email. It's michael@bgccco.org. You can reach me at our club location. So thank you again. Thank you. Will you please make sure you have my email address and card it's available out in the lobby. And will you just send me a message as well? That way we can connect as we're opening and for further
[4:26] future help with programs. Absolutely. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you for your time.
[4:36] Okay, next up, I'd like to call Mrs. Laveau. Did I say that right?
[4:41] Thank you.
[4:45] No, let's wait a minute. I do not mind holding if that's stressed to him. It's Linda Laveau and my address is 51475 Wheeler Road in Lapine. Thank you.
[5:02] Okay, this will be short. And Jeff, this is for you. And I just wanted to show my appreciation and say thank you for what you Looking into the property on Hinkle Road. And
[5:16] My husband went over there. Well, let me back up. The sun and two of his friends came and they spent two days doing a lot of cleanup
[5:27] And they had to leave big piles because they can't burn right now. But I just want you to know how much I appreciate what you did.
[5:36] To pursue that further so that something got done.
[5:40] You're very welcome, and it's my understanding from the so the properties in a trust and the daughter's basically the trustee
[5:48] Yes. And there were questions about where to dispose of the materials, and I know that she's planning on probably most likely taking it to the county transfer station
[5:58] Because I did have a conversation with her. But they did a very good job. So I really appreciate it. Right? Thank you.
[6:06] Ms. Laveau, thank you for taking time to come up and show us and just show the appreciation. That doesn't happen very often, so thank you for your time this evening.
[6:15] Appreciate that
[6:20] Are there any questions or changes to the consent agenda?
[6:26] If none, do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as provided?
[6:30] So moved.
[6:33] Second that.
[6:34] It has been moved
[6:38] And seconded
[6:40] We have a new script. I'll get used to it. All in favor?
[6:44] All those opposed?
[6:50] Any abstains?
[6:52] abstinations, I should say correctly.
[6:56] Okay, motion moves. Thank you.
[7:00] And we'll start with the regular City Council meeting now. Do I have a staff report?
[7:05] You do, and my apologies. Actually, I'm sorry, I was looking at the minutes. This is in the right spot. So we do have
[7:11] Ordinance number 2026 02, an ordinance for franchise agreement with Lightspeed Networks. This is the second reading. The staff report starts on page 6.
[7:21] And the actual text of the ordinance starts on page 8. So for the second reading, since you already unanimously
[7:30] voted on it one time there would need to be a second reading of the title, which is the bold part under the ordinance number there on top
[7:38] And then first and a second, I do have the motion on that page 6 of the staff report. And then I would suggest a roll call vote because this is a franchise agreement which is tied to revenues that we receive.
[7:51] Thank you. And if you need any more information, I can go back
[7:55] In terms of white speed, who they are, why you've probably never heard of them for those of you that may not recall who they are and their presence in the city, so please let me know
[8:04] Thank you. Sure.
[8:10] I'll make a motion to approve Ordinance 2026-02.
[8:15] An ordinance amending and renewing franchise with Lightspeed Networks, Inc
[8:21] For the operation of telecommunications network within the city of Lapine and stating
[8:30] Today, August 26, 2026.
[8:34] Second it
[8:36] All in favor?
[8:39] At this time, we'll take a roll call vote.
[8:44] Councillor Shields.
[8:46] Aye.
[8:48] Council President Van Damme. Councillor Morse. Aye.
[8:55] Madam Mayor. Yes, they've all voted. They all vote. The motion passes. Sorry, we had a question up here. Yes, motion passes. Thank you very much. Thank you for taking care of that. Absolutely.
[9:05] Okay. She cracked in the middle of it. So did you clearly hear that, Councilor Van Damme did second that. I did. Thank you very much.
[9:14] And thank you for catching me. Sometimes I move fast, so I appreciate that.
[9:20] Okay, so old business kind of rolls into that. Do we need any further discussion on that? Nope. Perfect. Okay. And do we have any new business this evening?
[9:30] None at this time, Madam Mayor
[9:32] Thank you. And this is a second opportunity for public comment. I know I did not have any in person. By any chance. Is there any online?
[9:40] We do have an online participant. Online participants, if you'd like to make a public comment, please raise your hand.
[9:50] It doesn't look like they would like to make a public comment. So we have no other public comments for the evening.
[9:56] Okay, thank you very much.
[10:00] So we'll move into staff comments.
[10:03] City recorder, Ms. Metcalf, do you have anything for us? I do. I just wanted to let everybody know that we have officially closed any type of, yesterday was the last day to file for applications for the two council positions. And for the mayor's position, we currently have two people that have applied for the mayor's position
[10:20] And we have 5 people that have applied for the two council positions on the November 3rd general election.
[10:27] Thank you.
[10:29] Mr. Wilschlager, do you have anything for us? Yeah, just a few things. So the transportation system plan that we got a grant to update, it's similar to the process that we did for the comp plan, but on a smaller scale.
[10:42] is moving ahead full speed
[10:45] Basically, Rachel's been working very closely with the group of citizens that are advisory to the process, and she's actually going to be
[10:54] Sort of intersecting with ODOT because ODOT recently
[10:58] Came into the fold. I'd sent a letter on behalf of the city along with Patricia Lucas on behalf of sled to ODOT about the ongoing traffic problems on 97, particularly at Roslyn, Burgess
[11:12] And Finley Butte. That was sent to the
[11:16] Trying to think the exact way to explain their title. The liaison for Intergovernmental Affairs of ODOT in Salem, and then that person forwarded it along to like a regional project manager here in Salem.
[11:29] So Rachel's going to basically be working them into the update and the TSP to try to get something on the books in there in terms of improvements. But the reality is, is that Highway 97 belongs to ODOT. It's their facility to improve, not our responsibility
[11:45] And I will go on record here saying there was a question in the conversation I had with the ODOT rep as to how the city might want to contribute its transportation funds towards that improvement.
[11:56] which I don't think is appropriate, but the world is a changing place. just wanted to let you all know that was a question that I received, which was kind of odd.
[12:06] in the vein of capital improvements, we are going to be going out at a point for
[12:12] a redesign of the Wiki up lift station. So that's the one where the wiki up basically transit center is on the corner of Burgess and 97. The good news is we don't actually have to replace the whole lift station, but we do have to increase the pump capacity because there are 3 new lift stations from the water and sewer improvement that
[12:28] connected into that and now it's running basically about 80% of the days or the hours in the day, which is going to burn the pumps up. So instead of redesigning the whole thing, we're going to put in bigger pumps that have more capacity to move flow out of
[12:44] quicker basis. The really expensive part is going to be trenching a new main
[12:49] along the path towards the middle of town, sort of where the Newberry station is, and then boring that line under the highway, because we don't want to tap into the line that's already there and overwhelm it.
[13:00] This all came around because the original design of the improvements were done in 2016, but the project was built between 22 and 24
[13:09] So we're now finding out with all the homes that have been built, that there are elements that need to be increased once again. So
[13:16] Where you can be going out for that design here shortly.
[13:19] In addition to that, we do have
[13:23] a line that we're trying to find under Highway 97, a wastewater line. So we're going to be working with ODOT on going through the permitting process. We might have to shut down part of Reed Road. The guys were out there yesterday looking for the end of that line, because we're having trouble reaching it.
[13:37] With our cameras and basically what we call
[13:41] Our jetters that we put in there, so we may have to close down part of highway, I'm sorry, part of Reed Road. They did work all day. You might have seen them on the side of the road there next to Best Western. So I'll keep you informed on that.
[13:53] And then I was going to speak to the cleanup efforts that have been done between the partnership between Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and the city, but Madam Mayor, you were more involved in that than I was, because I was out of town. So do you want to talk about that during your Mayor comments, or do you want me to give a summary?
[14:08] If you don't mind giving a summary for those here about what the what the contract looks like just briefly, and then I can just update how the results were. Okay.
[14:18] So, well, the contract itself, I mean, I think everybody knows that we have sort of what we refer to as an enhanced sheriff patrol district contract with Deschutes County Sheriff's Office. So
[14:28] For anybody that lives in the city, you do have taxes that go to the Sheriff's department, in part for patrol and in part for the basically county jail system.
[14:37] the city spends an additional amount of money on top of that that gives us both a deputy and a leadership deputy like a sergeant or a lieutenant
[14:45] Basically for 60 hours a week, and then they can focus on the things that we want the city to be focused on. They're essentially our de facto police department.
[14:54] And where that relates to what the mayor's talking about is, I think anybody who's been here for, you know, more than 5 min knows that we have some issues with fire concerns out on the BLM lands with folks that have been living out there. We've been going through this since I got here 6 years ago
[15:10] So instead of just approaching it from one of the two traditional camps of
[15:16] Just banning everything or basically making it, you know sort of a, here's all the stuff and we're going to make this very easy. The sergeant, Sergeant Kalmbach, who's responsible for our area in association with Mayor Earl's started approaching folks out in the woods, and I can
[15:31] Explain more, but I don't want to steal your thunder because you were out there.
[15:36] But basically making contact with a lot of these camps and explaining to them that they need to start being responsible for the condition of the camps, especially the fire conditions. And then nonprofits donated bins from Republic Services and
[15:51] folks out there were cleaning up their own camps and the city delivered lunch through this whole process. This was a couple days event
[15:59] And what a difference and not only in terms of things being picked up, but
[16:03] It's a very interesting, shall we say, sort of metamorphosis because this started as a, you know, there was a prohibitive element to it, but now we have folks in those camps that are actually taking pride in policing their own areas and keeping them clean. And that's not something we really anticipated
[16:18] And there's sort of this new element of, I don't want to say ownership, but they're feeling very participatory and wanting to participate. I mean, your picture spoke for themselves, Madam Mayor. So I think we found an interesting way to continue to approach these issues in and around our area, even though they're outside city limits
[16:35] Sort of a different approach that seems to at least initially have fantastic results.
[16:41] I'll leave it at that for now.
[16:44] The other staff any other staff updates? Not right now, no. Okay.
[16:49] Thank you.
[16:50] Usually I let Council go first, but I'll go ahead and just take over real quick just to back up what he said. I've had the honor and privilege of working with DCSO out in our camps, and what's been interesting is my frustration. I know I might get in trouble for saying this, so
[17:07] Mr. Walsh, I'll go cover your ears. Quite frankly, I am fed up with BLM not stepping up to the plate and taking care of their own lands, so I can either complain about it or do something about it. And luckily, we have formed a
[17:20] alliance that we are holding people accountable. These people, if BLM is going to allow them to live on the lands, and that's what they're doing, they're not enforcing the 14 days, they are letting this happen.
[17:31] Oh, I am actually excited to see this gentleman. My take on it is then if this is where you live, this is your home. Take care of it.
[17:41] And I will say that I am extremely proud of our community that is residing on these public lands. They have done an enormous amount of work of picking up their own area
[17:57] And cleaning their own place up and removing their own trash. They just some of them felt hopeless with no way to put it. What do they do with the trash? How does it go? And with our partnership with Newberry Regional Partnership and a grant. They provided to dumpsters
[18:13] And I will say the residents out on BLM land have done nothing but work. We have filled two giant dumpsters filled with their stuff and they are to see the pride in them.
[18:27] has been really
[18:29] Really moving to me. I am hopeful their safety is as important as ours. And we just have to think about things differently. And so I really am thankful for them stepping up to the plate and wanting to keep their areas clean. And it's just like our house, you know, it's just like having kids when you have a mess, we got to clean it and I am super proud of those residents out there that stepped up to the plate
[18:52] Unfortunately, there are some that don't want to. And with this partnership with DCSO, they have had consequences for that. And so, you know, offensive littering is a citation and it is an arrest and
[19:08] I am proud to say that not one has happened at this point, because everybody was willing to help, and they didn't just help clean up their own area, they helped clean up their neighbor's areas. So I'm really super proud of our community. So
[19:21] Mr. Zober, I hate to put you on the spot there, but I cannot tell you how proud of you that I am, and I'm just honored to be working with you right now, so I'm glad you showed up this evening. Good to see you.
[19:33] Thank you.
[19:34] And then I'd like another huge shout out to our public works team. I was in a meeting this afternoon, and I was complimented on our cemetery, and most know that our cemetery we had been getting
[19:46] you know, kind of questioned a lot about it not being cleaned up in the walkway, and I was at a senior lunch this afternoon, and I cannot tell you how many people were happy that they could push their loved one on the path now to actually get to visit their loved one site
[20:03] Super good job staff for taking care of that. I know a lot of hours went in that. I also know the sheriff's work crew helped with that as well, but it was really nice to hear how nice our cemetery looked. So thank you for all the work done there. That's all Miss Ivins, not me. So well, make sure she… I'm really
[20:20] would have liked to tell her thank you, because I know how the cemetery is just a really weird situation with us in the city. But to hear that today that somebody was actually able to get through it with a wheelchair really made me proud of the city, so please pass that along to Ms. Ivins.
[20:36] DMV update, Warner Reschke representative did reach out to us this week and he has a site plan and regulations and rules that the DMV wants. Unfortunately, we do not have that kind of building in the area, but it doesn't mean that we're not still working on it. So
[20:55] Again, I have nothing really exciting to report there other than conversations are still happening and they are being looked at. But with the deficit in ODOT, I cannot imagine that they're going to really jump up and build anything. But the conversation is happening and that has not happened in a long time. So I'm really thankful to Mr. Reshky for
[21:13] taking that on and holding those meetings and still keeping us in the loop of that.
[21:18] The post office, I did not know this until this week, but that building is actually rented, and that the post office in all of America do they do not own their buildings that other than ones that have been grandfathered in. I did not know this, so it's kind of a little confusing to me.
[21:36] But the main point is that they will not allow funds to build a new one or expand. It's up to an owner to do or somebody else to do. And again, that falls just right along the line with the DMV
[21:49] Who has that kind of money, who's going to step up to the plate and are they even willing to move? So again, that's way above our governance, but that is what I was asked to look into and that is what I have found out. So
[22:02] I wish I had a magic wand for that one, especially, and I'm sure the post office does too. They work very, very hard, and I'm sure with a new Christmas season coming up, it's not very good news for them either. So I do feel really bad about that situation. But I did look into it
[22:19] Lastly, our schools are about to open, so I remind everybody to watch our speeds and be aware. Also, we had a pleasure of meeting, and I'd like to give a shout out to my husband, Brian Earls, who's not here, but he actually attended this meeting for me as Jeff and I were both out of town at this time, but they did a conference at the school at the high school about rebuilding
[22:40] And it looks like we are slotted from Ben Lapine District to be the next school to be updated and renewed. We're now the oldest school in the district since they redid Bend High, so it looks like there'll be some work coming on there. You know, we're in the early stages, but I'm really excited to hear that our schools will be
[23:00] And are being looked at to be updated. And so I'm excited for that. So sorry, I know that's a lot, but I just hope I hit all the buttons of questions I was asked. So thank you for that time. Now I'll step to counselors. Councilor Shields, do you have anything?
[23:15] Councilor, I'm sorry.
[23:19] I just want to thank everybody for showing up and participating here.
[23:24] Really helps.
[23:25] Thank you.
[23:27] Councilor Bandam. I would ditto what Mike just said, and thank you to the staff for
[23:33] being here and doing all the work that you do for us
[23:35] Appreciate it very much. Absolutely. I'll say the same thing.
[23:40] All right. Thank you.
[23:42] All right, well, with that said, we will call this meeting adjourned on
[23:49] August 20, 2026 at 553.
[23:55] August 26th