[0:00] Okay, being that it's 6 o'clock, I'm going to call the coos based city council meeting to order, which you all rise and Harper were who lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

[0:25] Thank you, Harper. I wanted to let everyone know we can't see their picture. We do have Mayor Bonetti, Councillor Matthews and Councillor Stevens online, so they are with us virtually this evening. Before we begin taking public comment, there was an item I wanted to address.

[0:46] And that is some in front, excuse me, misinformation that was posted on social media recently in regards to the Coast-based City Council and the Devaro Center.

[0:58] Bear with me. My phone is ringing and I didn't turn it off.

[1:03] Yes, thank you.

[1:11] Let's try that again.

[1:12] So as I was saying, there was some misinformation on social media that I wanted to make sure to address.

[1:19] City staff did meet with the management team of the Devaro Center.

[1:23] on June 12th to evaluate opportunities for relocation of the Devoros Center with 225 West

[1:30] Lockhart included as an option at the time. On July 18th, the Urban Renewal Agency held

[1:36] an executive session to receive an update from the City Manager regarding a real property

[1:42] transaction. On July 21st, the Urban Renewal Agency entered into an agreement including a 25,000

[1:49] deposit with the owner of 225 West Lockhart to hold the property while funding was identified

[1:56] for purchase of the property.

[1:58] We recognize the benefit of securing a future location for the Devaro Center that better

[2:04] meets the operational needs of the organization.

[2:07] This relocation opportunity continues to be a focus with many of our community partners

[2:13] including the City Council and Management of the Devaro Center.

[2:17] prior to the relocation ongoing efforts will continue to be addressed and I know

[2:24] that staff is working with the management team to overcome some of those

[2:27] challenges. I hope this clears up any misinformation and with that said we'll go

[2:33] ahead and begin public comment and I see my kicks would you like to come up and

[2:37] make comment please and

[2:51] Mike that we ask that you give us your first name and

[2:54] your last name and where you're from? Mike Hicks, Inglewood area. There's, like you said,

[3:01] been a lot of talk about moving the Devaro over there. Has there been any public hearings

[3:09] or any, I haven't seen anything about this project. I live in the area, I work in the area,

[3:17] nobody wants this place in their area. You know, it is what it is. It's got good causes, but

[3:24] Every time you drive by there, you know what it looks like, and I'm concerned, and some of my neighbors are concerned, and some of the businesses are concerned about not only bringing it to that area, but does the police department have manpower to cover both, if something goes haywire there.

[3:46] I only learned about it because I know the owner of the property, and it just came up in conversation.

[3:53] First, I've ever heard about it. I haven't heard anything from the city.

[3:59] And I don't know if the URA can just do their own thing without your guidance or public comment.

[4:07] That's my concern. Will there be a hearing? Will the citizens have any more input in the project?

[4:14] That's all I really have to say.

[4:18] Thank you, Mike.

[4:19] Appreciate your comments.

[4:20] Nicole, do you want to speak to that at all?

[4:37] Sorry about that microphone challenge.

[4:40] I would just add that we're there to be some forward progression in the actual purchase of the actual purchase.

[4:48] The expenditure of the dollars, it would have to come before the body.

[4:52] That would be a public meeting.

[4:54] there would be an opportunity for the folks to participate at that point.

[5:00] So, we're not at that stage. You know, we don't have those dollars. So. Great. So, to address my ex-concern,

[5:07] it sounds like there would indeed be a public, public hearing, correct? It wouldn't necessarily

[5:13] be a, for that item. We wouldn't necessarily have a public hearing, but it would be a item

[5:19] that would be on the agenda. Great. That someone could come and speak to during public comments.

[5:24] Okay. Wonderful. Thank you. Okay. The next person who would like to speak

[5:29] tonight is Pat Hennessy? Pat?

[5:35] Okay, no, that's totally fine. Oh, we'd just like you to come up if you made to the podium, even though I know your name, we ask that you cite your first and last name, and as our attorney, Nate had already referenced, you'll have three minutes, and he will give you notification that you have one minute left.

[5:53] Hopefully won't take that long.

[5:57] First I would like to thank, oh my name is Pat Hennessy and I live out in Anglewood too.

[6:03] But first I would like to thank whoever finally pounded the nails on the boardwalk deck.

[6:08] They were getting very high. However, the bull rails, those big beams that run along the deck are completely routed.

[6:14] And I was told the metal pilings along the docks have large poles and holes and that you can see it low tide.

[6:22] And downtown I've seen several buildings rehabilitated some extremely well but there's a lot that still need help for sure.

[6:31] The American building at second and central is a dangerous eyesore.

[6:35] The windows that birds used to fly in and out of were finally covered but loose bricks and big cracks are still on the facade or still there.

[6:43] It doesn't speak well, and people see that building right.

[6:47] I'm standing in line in the farmer's market looking up and going,

[6:50] that is not a good scene, you know.

[6:53] Also the Fletcher building in Anderson,

[6:56] in second, which suffered a large fire last November,

[6:59] still looks like the day after the fire.

[7:02] Is that going to, how long will it remain?

[7:04] And I saw like that.

[7:06] A lot of downtown doesn't look fixed.

[7:11] Also, I was very glad to see the city is going to do fire and safety inspections, which

[7:17] obviously are necessary.

[7:19] But will they enforce the codes and make owners do the repairs or upgrades?

[7:23] Knowing there's a problem doesn't mean it gets fixed.

[7:26] Like I said, the American building, people have known for how many years now that there

[7:30] were a lot of problems, nothing has been fixed.

[7:34] Previously, the city has let many buildings deteriorate to dangerous levels.

[7:37] the McCauley hospital had a lot of potential, but was let rot until it had been demolished.

[7:43] I hate to see that kind of thing.

[7:44] Owners should be required to do repairs and safety upgrades.

[7:48] Not the small businesses that rent the space, but the actual owners.

[7:52] I'm a surtax on buildings that are not up to code is an incentive if it's enforced within a reasonable time limit.

[8:00] The one other totally irrelevant comment I have is one last comment.

[8:05] I was just reading the report by AIA, the Architects International Association that was here in 2010, long time ago.

[8:14] The one thing stood out to me was the use of the waterfront.

[8:17] They warned that permitting businesses to locate on the waterfront which are not water-dependent, dependent, excuse me, are difficult to reverse,

[8:25] Such as many of the Ku's village offices is a title company or a phone company, actually a good use of the waterfront.

[8:35] That's really common.

[8:36] That's the aware of future permitting to think about water use and

[8:40] saving that for hotels, restaurants, things that actually benefits the business directly.

[8:46] That's all I have.

[8:48] Thank you so much for your comments tonight.

[8:50] I also love your comments about the boardwalk.

[8:52] the city has been very focused on making improvements and I think we're hoping to make some future

[8:59] improvements this next year in regards to the building. So yes you've pointed out that there

[9:06] are definitely some eye source in this community. Unfortunately we do not have control of all of the

[9:13] things that we would like to make happen. I don't know if Nicole wants to speak to that but it is

[9:18] challenging. I appreciate also your comment. You obviously watch online. So, you know that we did

[9:25] have, we addressed the fire code. I don't want to call it an issue, but practice. And so, fire

[9:32] fighters will be getting some additional training and we'll be going out to businesses and homes. And

[9:38] I feel, I don't know chief, I don't know if you want to speak to the fact that if a fireman goes into a

[9:43] building. Is there a time period as to when they need to make any changes or upgrades?

[9:52] Yes, thank you. The intent of the fire inspection program is really to be a partnership with the city and local business.

[10:00] So, the process is to educate business owners on what things are violations and help them to correct those so they're not safety hazard. It depends on the egregious nature of the violation as far as how long we can offer the business owner time to correct it. So, things that are simple housekeeping issues that can be done relatively quickly. We give them a relatively short amount of time.

[10:29] where as if it's a rather expensive project,

[10:32] we might take that into consideration

[10:34] and give them a longer time to correct it.

[10:36] Okay, thank you, Chief.

[10:37] In a quality way to speak to Pat's comments

[10:42] about some of the buildings that we have.

[10:44] Certainly, thank you.

[10:45] We do have a code enforcement process here at the city,

[10:50] and so we are working with those building owners

[10:55] as they are not meeting those codes.

[10:57] It's a long process, it doesn't happen quite as quick as we'd like, but we are working on that specifically to the buildings.

[11:07] I definitely know the Fletcher building, we've met with that owner and been doing some work there, not certain where we're at with the American building.

[11:14] It has been a little bit challenged, but it is boarded up and it's not in use, there's a difference at least the sections that are kind of challenged between that and the Fletcher building, the areas being in use were a little bit concerning.

[11:26] So, we are working on it, we are aware, just trying to follow that code regulation process.

[11:32] I was going to ask about the American building, we heard about that pretty regularly for

[11:36] about a year, we had, I remember we have reached out to the person offered to provide urban

[11:41] or new old dollars, provide assistance and ensuring the structure was good and they declined

[11:45] all offers to do anything to improve their property.

[11:49] What, it would be nice to get an update on that.

[11:56] Okay thank you. Looks like we do not have any more public comments this evening. Oh all right Matt it's

[12:04] because I know you them and I'll let you know. Please Matt no you can't. Matt Wilbanks we'll be

[12:12] joining us at the podium and Matt could you we already know your name but will you give it. Yeah Matt

[12:16] Wilbanks Cusbe. Okay and you know that it's three minutes. Yeah people give you a one minute warning.

[12:21] All right, thank you. Sorry for being in here late. I just barely made it. I'll be real quick. I'm here representing Coos County neighborhood

[12:27] Watch. I'm really just here to drop this off. We did our town hall. We did one because the homeless

[12:35] response office had declined to do another one. So we figured out what the heck we'll do on ourselves. August

[12:40] 17th it was. So it's been a little bit for me to get this in here for you. But there's a flash drive with video of

[12:45] all three hours of the town hall so it went quite a while and then I also have five or

[12:51] six written statements in here from people who just don't like to speak in public and

[12:55] wanted to submit written statements and basically our premise for the whole thing was we just

[13:00] want to show the other side of the coin of the property owners and the business owners

[13:04] that are negatively affected by the homeless and the crime so that's really all I have is

[13:09] this.

[13:10] so I appreciate you bringing that to us. I did hear that attendance was it was well

[13:17] attended I think you had about 75 to 100 people somewhere in there that was my

[13:20] estimate too. Thanks for being nice to me since I'm running my first meeting and

[13:27] Nicole did you want to make any comments? Thank you also. Okay thanks Matt. I didn't

[13:32] necessarily have any comments. I appreciate that that was provided to us. We can

[13:37] certainly disseminated to the group, copies or email whatever. I did want to ask if we

[13:43] could potentially consider moving an item up. We have an individual who has been willing

[13:50] to read the proclamation. I believe he stepped away from practice. So if we could maybe go

[13:57] out of order to accommodate that? Absolutely. So we are going to move item 4A up ahead of

[14:03] the presentation with the chamber.

[14:06] So Alan, do you want to join us at the podium

[14:08] and Nicole would you like to give us an update on

[14:11] the approval of the Hispanic Heritage Month

[14:14] month proclamation?

[14:15] Yes, absolutely.

[14:17] So this is a new proclamation that we are bringing before you

[14:21] for your approval.

[14:24] We recognize that this body is identified

[14:29] diversity equity inclusion in our community as a priority.

[14:32] That's one of your goals.

[14:33] And so we are kind of taking note of the different times throughout the year, where we can recognize

[14:39] the individuals that have added value to this community.

[14:42] So this is one of those times, this is going to be focused on the Hispanic Heritage Months,

[14:49] which is a month that covers two period, you know, two different months.

[14:54] It starts on September 15th and it's going to flow into October.

[14:57] or this was originally

[15:00] We begin by President Johnson, and then at that point it was a weak event. Acknowledgement and was expanded by President Reagan in 1988.

[15:13] The presentation is intended to draw attention to the influence that we've had from Latin American countries such as Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Specifically related to their end

[15:29] universities for independence and then also there's a call to Mexico and Chile celebrating

[15:37] also their independence. So that's kind of what we're trying to do is draw that together

[15:42] and acknowledge that here in our city. I appreciate you doing that and Ellen, thank you for joining

[15:48] us to be able to read that proclamation. So would you please read the proclamation for us?

[15:52] sure and thanks for inviting me. Okay. Proclamation. Whereas each year the United States

[16:00] observes national Hispanic heritage month by celebrating the culture heritage and countless

[16:05] contribution of those whose ancestors were indigenous to North America, including Mexico,

[16:11] as well as those who came from Central America, South America, Spain and the Caribbean.

[16:16] And, whereas, this year's theme Latinos, driving prosperity, power and progress in America,

[16:25] encourages all to connect with Spanish heritage and focus on the themes of prosperity, power

[16:30] and progress, recognizing the significant strides of Hispanics in the economic, political

[16:36] and social growth in the United States.

[16:39] And whereas, we recognize and honor the many ways that Hispanics have enriched the fabric

[16:45] of our society, and we re-dedicate ourselves to address the lack of equal access to the

[16:50] opportunity that many still face.

[16:53] And whereas, Hispanic heritage months is an incredible opportunity to speak with one

[16:58] voice, acknowledge the crucial role that Hispanic plays in shaping the future of our country

[17:05] and the world.

[17:06] And to celebrate and recognize Latinos as employees, suppliers, consumers, and community.

[17:12] Hispanics need to be seen, heard, and value, and are more likely to engage with individuals

[17:18] and organizations that actively invest in and celebrate their contributions to America,

[17:24] which are driving prosperity, power, and progress.

[17:28] Now, hi there for Lucinda de Novo, City Council President of the City of Cuisve, and on behalf

[17:34] of Joe Benetti, Mayor of the City of Cuisve, do hereby declare that September 15th through

[17:40] through October 15th, 2023, be known as Hispanic Heritage Month, and encourage all residents

[17:46] to celebrate the unique and vibrant Hispanic history and recommit ourselves to a shared

[17:52] future of healthy, peaceful, safe, and sustainable communities for all.

[17:58] Thank you, Alan.

[17:58] Thank you.

[17:59] Thank you very much.

[18:02] I move that we approve the proclamation declaring September 15th through October 15th, 2023, as Hispanic

[18:09] Heritage Month.

[18:10] Okay. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries.

[18:21] Being of Hispanic descent, I feel very honored to be citing this proclamation tonight, so thank you.

[18:32] The next item on the agenda is a semi-annual presentation from Tim Slater, executive director of the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce.

[18:40] So Tim and Stacey will be joined in us, Stacey, you're doing all of it, okay, Stacey, please

[18:46] go to the podium.

[18:48] Give us a presentation.

[18:50] Of course.

[18:51] Thank you so much for having us.

[18:53] We really cherish our relationships with the city.

[18:56] We know that we wouldn't be successful as a chamber if we didn't have those relationships.

[19:02] And I'm going off the notes that Tim did provide for me, so it is a team effort.

[19:08] In the past few years we have been dealing with pandemic and there's been a critical challenge

[19:14] for families and organizations and businesses and that's really redefined and expanded

[19:20] what our concept of community is anymore.

[19:24] We've seen folks helping others now just simply because there is a need and it's something

[19:31] that really I think that we are all are really excited about the changes that have come

[19:37] through the adversity that we faced.

[19:40] So the Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1980 and it was a merger of the Kusbe and

[19:46] the North Bend individual chambers.

[19:49] We have 530 members currently and our strength lies in that number and the diversity of those

[19:56] members.

[19:58] the activities of the chamber.

[20:00] We are very in number and are responsive to the needs of the businesses and the community.

[20:06] Much of our work is accomplished through volunteer time and effort and primarily happens through the committees.

[20:15] And a lot of some of those are providing community leadership in the areas of economic development, governmental affairs, leadership development, workforce, and education, ambassadors, natural resources, transportation,

[20:29] and special as they come up.

[20:33] So a couple of the things that we've been working on lately.

[20:37] In our general operations we have had a huge focus this year on staffing.

[20:42] Both planned and unplanned.

[20:45] So we are currently still in the search for a new executive director

[20:48] with the hope of hovering the new one in place by October.

[20:54] Our office manager had left in August

[20:57] and we have hired a new office manager and leadership coos chair.

[21:02] So we have welcomed back Jolyne Crossman after her stint as a staying home with her new baby.

[21:10] So she comes back with eight years of experience and a lot of experience within our community and our businesses.

[21:16] So we're really excited to have her here and back working with us.

[21:20] We're also in the process of creating a new website

[21:23] that will allow the businesses to go in and control their own content and keep the promotions up to date.

[21:32] So we're really excited about bringing it to the Chamber as well.

[21:36] Our focus, we have used a different planning approach for over a decade.

[21:41] In it, we've simply asked our members what is important to their business and their community.

[21:45] And that has led us to create our strategic objectives for 2023,

[21:51] which were creating a strong local economy,

[21:55] promoting the community,

[21:57] providing networking opportunities,

[21:59] representing business issues,

[22:01] and building a stronger chamber.

[22:04] So with those, we took a look at them a little closer

[22:08] and created focus areas.

[22:10] So in our membership,

[22:12] what do the members need?

[22:13] And how are they engaged in the community

[22:16] and building a stronger business community?

[22:20] and enhancing our value proposition and how we can be more integral to those businesses.

[22:27] Our communication and how we get our messages out, we've taken a really close look at the type

[22:33] and frequency of our newsletter and how that goes out and really keeping that on a schedule so it's

[22:40] consistent and people know what to look for. Our teams and so we are making sure that the right

[22:46] issues are covered by the right teams and how to create that niche of motion again and getting

[22:53] people engaged. And advocacy and how we can be effective on all levels, local, county and state

[23:01] and what kind of team do we need to accomplish that. So we created smart goals in each one of those

[23:08] areas and then we've been reviewing those at each one of the board meetings throughout the year

[23:13] And so each time we go through with a captain that has given us updates and have motion and are continuing to push forward and our goals.

[23:22] So that's really exciting for me because we don't have still goals. We have things that are being accomplished.

[23:29] We have 10 active committees and I will talk about just a few with you guys.

[23:35] So our legislative action team was really busy this year.

[23:39] and through the legislative process, they held twice monthly video conferences with

[23:47] our legislators in conjunction with the college from February through June.

[23:52] Our membership was able to receive the Oregon State Chamber of Commerce legislative report

[23:58] through our two-state publication that went out from the LAT team, and we actively lobbied

[24:04] using the voter voice system and we were acknowledged by the Oregon State Chamber of Commerce for our, for being so active and was really, really awesome thing for us.

[24:17] We used a direct contact approach with our legislators to create an effective working relationship through regular phone, email, and face-to-face contact.

[24:25] We use our candidate endorsement policy and sponsored candidate forums in the 2022 election cycle and the LAT tracked and participated in both county and city issues.

[24:38] Our ambassadors that I'm sure everybody is familiar with, the ones that wear the red coats and create our dignitaries, cut ribbons and host our business after hours.

[24:50] They've been more active in our membership outreach and speaking with the membership and new businesses coming into town.

[25:00] Amazingly, they've done a ton of ribbon cuttings and have been super active. The Workforce and Education

[25:07] team has been in the past few years making the connection of education to business. This

[25:14] is something that's really close to my heart as well because we need to provide opportunities

[25:19] for our kids of where they can go next if college isn't the next step. So, that team has

[25:26] has been really great in making that bridge and have done annual awards of scholarships

[25:34] to students at North Bend, Marshfield, and Swach. We are currently in the process of reorganizing

[25:39] that group. Our Transportation Committee has worked continuously

[25:44] to ensure that all highways, railways, port, and air services are maintained and upgraded

[25:49] to better serve business and communities on the South Coast. Sessions are both informative

[25:54] and action-oriented. This is a really great committee that's been getting together and they have

[26:00] some dynamic speakers that have been presenting. Our leadership coos is in its 33rd class since 1989.

[26:09] This is a wonderful program that educates both the lifetime resident or as it happens this year,

[26:16] a seven-day resident. In services, people and activities, they may not have never

[26:22] new existed. Our last class, the 32nd class graduated in May, and the 33rd class began

[26:30] on September 12th. Our events and products. The Chamber Awards banquet was on the last

[26:39] Saturday of January and was enjoyed by 215 individuals. Wednesday business connection

[26:47] finished its 2022-2023 season in May, and the 2023-2024 program opened September 6th

[26:55] with a presentation from Boomerite. Business development and support sponsored the Business

[27:01] Builders series that occurred from September through the year's end, and they are currently

[27:08] identifying and developing their sessions for early 2024. And the Business Builders really

[27:15] We dive in on what is information that businesses would really like to have in a classroom

[27:20] setting from people who are expertise.

[27:24] And then we have our business after hours that are held each month and have had some

[27:30] really dynamic events this year.

[27:32] We've hosted at Kuzbe Toyota and they brought in their executives to come in and party

[27:38] with us.

[27:39] We had Seacos Gardens, we had an overflowing crowd that visited out in Charleston, the Southwest

[27:47] Oregon Regional Airport, which always does a great job, and taking care of business

[27:51] at North End Lanes.

[27:53] Next week, you guys can come and join the fun at the Banner Bank in Kusbe, which I've

[27:59] heard that they are taking no stops at creating a big event there as well.

[28:05] Our fundraisers, we had great participation at the Gulf Tournament in June, and our

[28:11] bowling taking care of business was August 24th, and then we are still thankful for

[28:18] Roseberg Forest Products for sponsoring our beef that we auction off each year.

[28:24] The 2023 business directory and profile was distributed in April with pages 20 through

[28:32] 23, a focus on the chamber and highlighting our business members.

[28:38] Tim also has continued the Chamber Minute on Bicosomedia, which airs on Mondays, and

[28:44] then is also ran on Fridays in the world.

[28:48] So to conclude, when asked why people are chamber members, people reply with more visibility

[28:55] for themselves and their business, support and information, networking with customers and

[29:00] supplies and making a positive impact on the community.

[29:03] Our focus for them is to ensure the value of their infestment of time and money and engaging

[29:10] them in something bigger and challenge each one to find something that they're passionate

[29:13] about and work at it.

[29:15] Simply put, our business is helping your business with team work.

[29:20] Thank you so much for having me.

[29:23] Stacy, thank you.

[29:24] I really appreciate the thoroughness of the presentation because I don't think people

[29:29] really know just how much the chamber does. And being a past president, I actually wrote,

[29:36] I wonder if they're going to say our business is helping your business. So that is a tagline

[29:41] that came from our executive director quite some time ago and I just think it speaks so eloquently

[29:48] to the work that the chamber has done over the years. So thank you and I will open it up to any

[29:55] Councillor commons.

[29:58] Okay.

[29:59] Thank you.

[30:00] I appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Okay, the next item on the agenda is a Marshville High School update with Harper.

[30:16] Hello, everyone. I can go ahead and reintroduce myself since this is the first presentation of the year. I'm Harper Thompson. I'm the president of Marshville Key Club and the city council representative for Marshville High School. What I do every month is I give a presentation on the activities of Marshville High School and the coups-based school district to you guys, this coups-based council.

[30:36] I'd like to start off with our ASB, our Marshall student body.

[30:41] This year's President, Vice President is Spencer Petterson and Joseph Herbert.

[30:45] They won their election last year and they will serve through this year.

[30:49] They've already done a few great events that we'll talk about in just a minute.

[30:52] Our first one is Senior Sunrise.

[30:54] Senior Sunrise was held on September 3rd and 4th, the night of September 3rd.

[30:59] Started at midnight and went to 6am, which was interesting.

[31:05] Call it a senior sunrise. I really don't want to be there for a long time, but it was a really fun event.

[31:09] A lot of our clubs were able to donate and help out in the volunteer aspect. Lots of parents.

[31:14] We had a lot of parent volunteers, so they were able to switch out about every two hours, so no angry parents.

[31:20] It was wonderful.

[31:22] September 4th was freshman orientation. Freshman orientation is just a day where the freshmen have longer timing classes to figure out where they need to go.

[31:29] Their teachers are all outside the classrooms during the hallways, guiding people and it starts out in the auditorium where they're given presentation by our

[31:38] principal, our staff at Marshfield and then they're showing a video of all of our activities and clubs that happened at Marshfield.

[31:46] So yeah, it's a really fun event. We were able to get a lot of new members in through that video, which we learned so it's actually really fun.

[31:55] Let's see, we had open house last week on Tuesday.

[32:00] That was just kind of a chance for students to come with their parents,

[32:04] to meet their teachers to see what they'll be learning about this year,

[32:06] kind of, you know, break the ice.

[32:08] It's really fun to see how children act with their parents at school.

[32:12] It's quite a different experience, I'll say.

[32:17] We had this award this weekend.

[32:20] Pirates fought really hard.

[32:21] Our student section was huge.

[32:23] It probably would have been bigger if North Bend would have given us a little bit more room.

[32:26] They gave us about half a stand, and that was not enough.

[32:29] So I think if we would have had more, we would have done better.

[32:32] But we're very proud of our pirates.

[32:35] And upcoming news, Homecoming Week is just right around.

[32:38] Our Homecoming Week will be from October 2nd to the 6th,

[32:41] with our Friday football game.

[32:43] We don't know who it's yet.

[32:44] We don't know who we're going against yet.

[32:46] but our homecoming is that Saturday and the theme is night on the bayou don't

[32:50] ask me what it means because I don't know either.

[32:54] That's all I have to say on

[32:55] that one. And our spirit days are to be announced yet, so we're really excited

[33:01] for those. We have a couple new programs at Marshfield. The first one is Dungeon

[33:05] and Dragons Club and the second one is Esports and those are both in conjunction

[33:10] and partnership with the Kusbe Boys and Girls Club, so very

[33:14] better sweet to all of us. In club news, this was the first week of club meetings, so we had

[33:20] a Z club meeting, NHS, SNHS, GSA, etc. We'll also have several other clubs starting next week,

[33:27] so we have a lot of clubs who start on the same like have meetings on the same day, so we try to

[33:32] get kids two weeks so they can get out of one, perhaps on the same day each week and figure out what they

[33:36] like. So next week we'll have like Latinx, outdoor club, Sir, and a couple others.

[33:44] Being so, they just have their first meeting, there's not a whole lot of information yet,

[33:47] so hopefully next week we'll have some fun updates from all of them. And now for key

[33:52] club, the one we've all been waiting for, I'm sure. We had our first board meeting on August

[33:56] 28th, we passed two by law amendments, Resolution 104 and Resolution 188. Side note, Resolution

[34:03] Section 104 was the creation and forming, like, setting in stone our informal dues policy.

[34:10] We've always had this policy to where students don't have to pay their own dues.

[34:13] They're able to work a fundraiser for Mars Field and have their dues paid.

[34:17] And a little bit of a side note from that.

[34:19] This year, at the 2023 International Convention, there was a proposed amendment to raise international dues.

[34:24] And myself and my vice president at the time were able to attend the town hall and

[34:29] lead and the opposition of that, and right now we're on the forefront of trying to educate

[34:34] clubs and provide them resources on how they can help with paying their student's dues because

[34:38] that is definitely a big factor, especially in lower income families, so that's why we've

[34:42] definitely felt the need to make sure we're a very inclusive club and making membership

[34:48] not a hard thing to obtain because the whole point is serving and why should you have to

[34:53] paid to serve. So that was very fun. At that board meeting we also approved our 2023 meeting date.

[35:00] Monday's at lunch and Fridays in the morning for important meetings. We also approved our 2023 service term goals per the 2023 2025 strategic plan. So, those were really fun. It's really, we're really excited for this year. It's going to be really fun. We also have the first draft of our budget pull through, which is really nice. And now we're starting to work with our, we're planning to get a lower finance committee and we're working with our district finance office and our

[35:29] our finance staff at Marshfield, so we pride ourselves in being very physically sound.

[35:36] We have great communication with all of our finance staff at Marshfield, so there's

[35:39] never any issues on that front.

[35:43] Our first meeting was yesterday.

[35:45] So wonderful meeting.

[35:46] We always started meeting with an introduction at the board.

[35:49] I'm the president.

[35:50] Person was our vice president this year.

[35:52] Shia Alpugay is our secretary and chance browning is our publications officer.

[35:57] Then we roll into key club history, what is key club, what is it do, what is it historically done, how long has it been around, stuff like that.

[36:04] Then we kind of roll into some key club 101, what are we doing now, what are the active turns, stuff like that.

[36:10] And then we move into like Marshall key club history.

[36:13] And where we chartered, what do we do now, what projects have we done, our big one is of course our park.

[36:19] So yeah, we're also able to introduce our 2023 membership campaign,

[36:24] which is about a month of just different incentives and initiatives that we pull through to try and get people in at the beginning of the year so we can hold them through the rest and they can't leave.

[36:35] We have like, we bring a buddy meeting so it's like the person who can bring the most buddies ones like a gift card.

[36:41] We're also bringing in speakers this year to drive up our membership count and membership retention, which is one of our goals this year.

[36:49] Our activities committee is currently reaching out to community organizations that we partner with on an annual basis so we can start getting our calendar set up and getting meeting or like event dates out to volunteers as soon as possible because that was definitely one of our biggest pieces of feedback last year was membership communication.

[37:07] It's stuff like our number one goal this year is making membership or membership resources stuff like that available to everyone.

[37:16] Next, I have a little bit of an update on our Free Food Pantry project.

[37:22] Our first box is on track to be installed at Florida Day Lutheran Church about the end

[37:27] of October.

[37:28] That's when the only time that we could get where everyone's available.

[37:33] But once that's done, once it's installed, like you club in our Woodshop, we will begin phase

[37:37] two, which is the adoption of our Free Food Pantry project community outreach plan.

[37:44] So that's Phase 2, that's everything else.

[37:48] We're getting a month box in and then we'll get back going.

[37:52] But the boxes are all done.

[37:54] They're all sitting in the classroom right now.

[37:56] So over the next few meetings, we'll be able to start, we'll be able to start like adding

[38:00] the stencils, painting them, making them really our own, and then we'll be able to install

[38:04] them soon.

[38:05] So that's really exciting.

[38:07] And last thing, our activities committee just approved an event for October to promote

[38:14] out all of our service clubs.

[38:15] We can't say much yet, it's confidential, I'm joking.

[38:19] We just passed the resolution, so now we're going to start

[38:21] reaching out to other service organizations.

[38:23] And the main purpose of the project is to highlight

[38:30] our service clubs at Marshfield and just give them

[38:32] an opportunity to show all the good work they've done.

[38:35] And I think that's it for me if there are any questions.

[38:38] I'll be happy to take those now.

[38:39] Councillor, is there any questions for Harper?

[38:42] No comments?

[38:44] It's nice that school is back in session.

[38:48] I love you.

[38:49] I love you.

[38:50] I appreciate you coming.

[38:51] Love these comments and lovely updates.

[38:54] Thank you.

[38:55] Thank you, Sarah.

[38:56] I couldn't have said it better myself.

[38:58] I really don't know how you have time to do any homework with all of the contributions that

[39:04] you make.

[39:05] We are so indeed fortunate to have the key club in this community.

[39:08] The one question I haven't asked you Harper is how many members are there in key club?

[39:26] So 60 members and get all of that work done on behalf of Marshield High School in this community. Is that correct?

[39:33] Well, well, well, then you. Thank you. And hopefully we'll get to meet other members of your board at some point during

[39:40] this next term. So thanks for being here.

[39:44] Before we move on to action items, I need to apologize. We did receive some public comment

[39:49] And Councillors, through email, I, Nicole, have shared that with us.

[39:55] I wanted to let you know that we, it will be on the record, but I-

[40:00] I wanted to let you know that you do have some public comments. With that said, the next item on the agenda is consideration to adopt resolution 23-20 increasing the Department of Environmental Quality State Revolving Fund's sponsorship. Jennifer. Thank you. So in 2016, the city council entered into a loan agreement through the Department of Environmental Quality State Revolving Fund Program to construct wastewater treatment plan two.

[40:29] This was called a point source loan.

[40:32] DEQ also provided the city with a sponsorship option also referred to as a non-point source

[40:37] loan.

[40:38] The concept behind this SO program is a city constructs the large point source project

[40:43] in this case it was planned to, and should the city elect to do non-point source projects,

[40:48] DEQ would reduce the interest rate on the large loan.

[40:51] The dollars saved as a result of the reduced interest on the large loan would then be

[40:55] applied to non-point source projects.

[40:57] So essentially the city would have the same loan payment and be able to do extra non-point source projects

[41:04] City Council approved the SO non-point source loan associated with plant 2 for 2.2 million dollars in 2016

[41:11] The projects anticipated to be completed under this SO loan were the 6th avenue

[41:15] Culver replacement and wetland restoration along with two public parking lots in the downtown area

[41:22] Today, the 6th Avenue Culver replacement and wetland restoration project has been

[41:26] designed and constructed, and then the 3rd and central and the front street green parking

[41:30] lots have completed final design and regulatory approvals.

[41:34] While there is still money left in the original loan to complete construction of the green parking

[41:38] lots, an addendum to the original SO loan must be approved.

[41:42] Staff has worked with both the city's financial advisor, Donovan Enterprises, and DEQ to understand

[41:47] and what impacts if any, this increase would have on wastewater user rates.

[41:51] Overall, both DEQ and Donovan enterprises have determined the city has debt service capacity

[41:57] to increase this loan with no impacts to projected wastewater user rates.

[42:01] The finance director has worked with DEQ and determined that to complete construction on both parking lots,

[42:07] the loan will need to be increased from the original 2.2 million to just under 5.6.

[42:12] You may recall in previous meetings, I told you it was going to be a little over 6 million,

[42:15] But now that we have fine-tuned these numbers and received actual bid amounts and contract amounts, we were able to tighten that down.

[42:24] So, the 5.6 million amount includes contingency and should the city not incur any extra costs, the overall loan will be reduced.

[42:33] So, with respect to budget impacts, as stated in the report, the loan amendment will not increase the projected waste water user rates.

[42:40] I can answer any questions you may have.

[42:43] Councillors, any questions for Jennifer?

[42:47] I have been ignoring Councillors online in the mayors, so any comments online for Jennifer?

[42:54] Okay.

[42:55] Being that there are none, may I get a motion?

[42:59] Just to quickly circle the money there is the clean water money.

[43:04] So when we made the plant too, this is the money that they gave us as the loan for the storm

[43:10] water projects.

[43:11] That's creativity. We found a way to use the clean water money to fix it around the field. Yeah. That's correct. Thanks.

[43:18] Thanks for bringing that to our attention, Drew. I move we adopt resolution 23-20 to increase the Department of Environmental Quality's State Revolving Fund Sponsorship Option Loan. Number R-24001.

[43:36] Okay, we have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 23-20 to increase the department

[43:43] environmental quality state revolving fund sponsorship.

[43:47] All in favor say aye.

[43:49] Aye.

[43:50] Opposed?

[43:51] Okay.

[43:52] Motion carries.

[43:54] Next on the agenda is consideration to approve the generator purchase for pump station

[44:01] 13.

[44:02] Jennifer.

[44:02] Back to you.

[44:03] Yes, thank you again.

[44:05] So the city has commands with design for improvements for pump station 13.

[44:08] The improvements will consist of a generator and electrical upgrades.

[44:12] It's anticipated this project will advertise for bids for construction in early 2024.

[44:17] Typically when projects like this are awarded to a contractor, the scope of work requires the contractor to procure the generator.

[44:23] Due to the estimated lead time of one year for a generator, the decision was made to procure this in-house, so there would not be delays when the contract was awarded.

[44:30] Staff went through the selection process and procured the generator from power systems west in March 2023.

[44:37] The cost of the generator was $78,688, which is above the threshold in which the city manager can approve.

[44:44] And unfortunately staff did not obtain approval from Council in a timely manner.

[44:47] At this time, staff is recommending that Council approve this purchase.

[44:51] With respect to budget impacts, funds for this purchase will come from fund 29, which is our water quality improvement fund and this was a planned purchase.

[45:01] I was just going to ask with that anticipated that we would have to do that.

[45:08] And this is just one

[45:09] of those small ones that you pick up at this, at this, at this, at this, no, no, this is a, this is a large generator.

[45:19] Councillor Kerbans, did you have any questions? I was, yes, I recommend we approve the purchase of the

[45:25] in January for pump station 13 for a cost not to exceed $78,688.

[45:30] Second.

[45:31] Okay, we have a motion and a second to approve the purchase of the generator for pump station 13.

[45:37] All in favor say aye.

[45:38] Aye.

[45:39] Opposed?

[45:40] Okay, motion carries.

[45:42] Thank you.

[45:42] Okay, the next item on the agenda is consideration to authorize a letter of support allowing staff to apply for the DLCD for 2023, 2025 technical assistance grant to complete.

[45:54] and Economic Opportunity Analysis, Jim.

[45:58] Yes, thank you, and good evening.

[46:00] The Oregon Statewide Planning Goal No. 9,

[46:02] which is Title Economic Development,

[46:05] provides that local government is planning

[46:07] for economic growth and development opportunities

[46:11] in inventory areas suitable for economic growth

[46:13] that can be provided with public services.

[46:17] This work is complete through preparation

[46:20] of an economic opportunities analysis.

[46:23] That is appended to the comprehensive plan and serves to inform changes to comprehensive

[46:28] plan policies and implementing regulations.

[46:32] The city has completed a comprehensive update to the economic element of the comprehensive

[46:37] plan in 2000.

[46:39] An updated EOA or economic opportunities analysis, together with an updated economic-related

[46:46] policies and implementing regulations, is needed now to ensure the city is in a best position

[46:52] to support and accommodate economic development in our community.

[46:57] This work is timely considering the city is currently working to expand its urban growth boundary.

[47:03] There's a possibility of a state supported shipping container facility to be developed in the area.

[47:10] And the COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge the status quo of economic development.

[47:16] Department of Land Conservation Development is encouraging the city to apply for this grant to complete this work, which will ensure the city remains compliant with Oregon Statewide Planning Goal 9.

[47:32] This grant does not require Tash Match. Staff does expect the city will provide in-kind match in the form of staff time and resources to complete this work.

[47:42] If it pleases the council, we're asking you authorize staff to apply for this technical assistance grant to complete the economic opportunity analysis.

[47:54] And city council support is to be evidence by a letter of support signed by the mayor.

[48:02] Thank you, Jim.

[48:03] Councilors, any questions?

[48:06] No, Jim, maybe I missed it.

[48:10] How much money can we receive from this grant?

[48:12] I don't know, so I will defer to Chelsea who's online.

[48:17] Oh, hi Chelsea.

[48:18] Good evening.

[48:19] Hey, can you hear me?

[48:20] We sure can.

[48:22] All right.

[48:22] Good evening.

[48:23] So this grant has, there's no tap to the amount you could request.

[48:28] I can tell you that these economic opportunity analyses cost between 50 and 60,000.

[48:35] And so that's, we'd probably look to ask for $60,000 to complete the work.

[48:40] it would pay for a consultant to do that and so I think I guess I would just say I think

[48:47] it's a good opportunity.

[48:49] DLCity is encouraging the city to apply so that is good news.

[48:54] That's wonderful.

[48:55] Thank you, Chelsea.

[48:56] Any other comments from Commissioner, excuse me, councillors?

[49:00] Is that unusual?

[49:02] I mean, do they request most cities do that or is it something that they identified that

[49:07] it might be necessary in our community?

[49:10] Yeah, good question.

[49:11] So just to kind of reiterate our,

[49:15] the last time the city took a hard look at this

[49:17] was more than 20 years ago.

[49:20] And so Oregon State Law, State Work Plenty Coast,

[49:22] they require cities to regularly update

[49:25] the economic elements of our comprehensive plan.

[49:28] So that's one piece.

[49:29] They're acknowledging that we haven't done this work

[49:33] over, you know, since 20 years.

[49:35] And so it's time to do it.

[49:35] But the other piece is that it really plays into our looking to expand our urban growth family and a lot of times the this work is done simultaneously.

[49:46] So it's a it's good timing in that respect as well. Does that make sense?

[49:51] Yes, thank you and I think that that's a good key point to make here because I think that it's kind of the rumblings that I'm hearing out.

[50:00] Now, from leadership in the community as well that we need to look at that. So absolutely. Tell us, yeah, I'm wondering. Do we know if the city of North Bend or the county has been approached by DLCD, because I'm assuming everyone could use an update since you spoke to the fact that we have an updated this in 20 years? Yes, so actually North Bend just finished completing their updated economic opportunities analysis.

[50:29] So they've done that work and the county I I spoke with the county and they they said well they'd love to do it

[50:38] They just have too many other kind of you know hands in the past so they're not

[50:42] Able to right now, so I think maybe they would be next in line

[50:46] Great. Thank you very much

[50:50] Okay, councillors

[50:52] Yeah, I get a motion

[50:54] I recommend we authorize the staff to apply for the DLCD

[50:57] the 2023-2025 technical assistance grant, complete an economic opportunity analysis.

[51:05] City Council supporters to be evidenced by a letter of support signed by the mayor.

[51:10] Okay, we have a motion and a second to apply for the DLCD technical assistance grant to complete an economic opportunity analysis.

[51:21] All in favor, say aye.

[51:23] Aye.

[51:24] Opposed?

[51:25] Okay, motion carries.

[51:26] The next item on tonight's agenda is the City Manager's report, Nicole.

[51:32] So I just have a couple of items that I was going to share.

[51:37] The first one is that I was asked to participate in the Oregon Housing Conference, which is a

[51:50] collaborative effort of a lot of urbanized areas in Oregon and Washington.

[51:55] and reach out to Kusbe to provide a rural perspective to housing around concerns with mental

[52:08] health and homelessness and so I've been partnered with the City Manager from the City

[52:14] of Vancouver and we will create a pre-recorded session that will focus on the impacts of Martin

[52:23] versus Boise. So I'm happy to share that link with anyway if you want to look and see

[52:28] what that conference kind of has historically done and who's on the list. It's kind of

[52:34] a lot of important people. So I was very surprised that they reached out, but definitely

[52:40] interested in learning about the rural perspective. So, and then the second thing I was just going

[52:46] share that I was asked to also present just an update on the city at the next Chamber's

[52:54] legislative action meeting which is next week. So that was all, short and sweet.

[53:02] Thank you, Nicole. I'm not surprised at all. I think the city of Kusbe is very progressive

[53:06] and we have a really great leadership here so it does not surprise me at all that you were

[53:11] for us to present.

[53:13] Councillors, any other comments in regards to the City Manager report?

[53:18] Yeah, I just want to say I do think that's important collaboration.

[53:22] I think that oftentimes the rural perspective gets kind of overlooked because the population

[53:29] is mostly urban, so it's encouraging that they're reaching out and are wanting to hear that.

[53:37] and hopefully it takes some room,

[53:39] because they have their challenges,

[53:40] but we have our own set of challenges, which are different.

[53:43] Yes, agreed.

[53:44] And our governor will also be participating

[53:47] as a speaker in the conference,

[53:49] so I think that kind of rounds out

[53:51] some of the conversations we've had with her locally here.

[53:54] So I would really love it if you could give us

[53:59] kind of a synopsis of conversations that happened at that.

[54:03] And yeah, absolutely.

[54:04] I think it's a key point in what's happening in our communities and the need and maybe

[54:12] just to hear back from what others are saying is happening in theirs.

[54:17] Yep, absolutely.

[54:21] Nikolai, I'd also like to congratulate you.

[54:23] I think that you took your last exam and you will be receiving your master's soon so congratulations

[54:31] to you.

[54:32] It's very exciting.

[54:33] Thank you.

[54:35] Okay, the next item on the agenda is council comments and I'll go online first. Any comments

[54:42] from Councillor Matthews, Stevens, or Mayor Benetti?

[54:47] I am good to go. I don't have any comments to see if you can, but thank you very much.

[54:52] This is Councillor Matthews.

[54:54] Thanks, Carmen.

[54:54] I'm coming.

[54:56] Hi, and I'm from East Knight.

[54:57] Thank you.

[54:58] OK.

[55:01] Oh, the mayor has locked off. Okay, no comments from the mayor, June. I have a rural perspective on mental health. Please share. So I got some good news this week. Good for us. The for a couple months I've been working with different counties and cities and trying to find who would partner together on a lawsuit against the state over the mental health hospital. Got to the point where I needed somebody to just take the first shot.

[55:29] And it turns out Marion County is it.

[55:33] I saw a couple of days ago that they've launched a suit against the Oregon Health Authority,

[55:37] Oregon State Hospital naming their directors.

[55:41] And on the basis that they're not taking care of the people that need to go in,

[55:45] that they're not processing people in the timely manner they're supposed to.

[55:50] And that they've demonstrated no intent or plan to improve in that front.

[55:56] So I spent most of today trying to connect them with Lane County, Multnomah County, Association of Counties, League of Oregon Cities, and City County Insurance, and some others.

[56:07] There are a number of groups that are interested in signing on Amicus, a couple interested in signing on party, so that lawsuit is moving forward now.

[56:15] So yay for us, not for them.

[56:19] Thank you for the update, and really thank you for all of your work in that space.

[56:25] And I would like to congratulate you, I think I read on Facebook, that you will be

[56:29] putting your name in that for county commissioners, that correct?

[56:33] Yep, I was the first one to sign, and I don't see anybody else sign up yet, so still early,

[56:38] though.

[56:39] Great.

[56:39] Well, congratulations to you.

[56:43] Stephanie, in comments?

[56:45] Yeah, just a couple.

[56:46] I appreciate the folks that came out tonight and made some public comments and those that wrote in some public comments

[56:54] regarding the situation that we are

[56:58] not alone in facing with our homelessness and I appreciate the

[57:02] Director of the Housing Coordination Commission for being here. I always say that name wrong.

[57:08] That's the cooperative group that is working between the City of Kusbe, North Bend and the county.

[57:16] to try and address through a strategic plan the issues surrounding homelessness in our community.

[57:24] And I just want to say that I think it's important to just comment that we are not alone in this.

[57:34] And I said it in that meeting and I'll say it here that just because someone wants something to go away,

[57:44] A facility that provides services, or doesn't want us to provide services, doesn't mean that that problem is just going to disappear from our community.

[57:53] A lot of the folks that are here that are facing homelessness, they are houseless now, are folks that are from this community.

[58:01] And for whatever reason they have those circumstances that they are not trying whatever the situation is to get out of.

[58:12] So I appreciate all those who are engaged in this conversation whether or not it's something that we agree or disagree with.

[58:22] I think the fact that we're communicating is important and I appreciate the folks that came here tonight.

[58:28] And regardless of whether an issue has been brought to the forefront, we are here to listen to our citizens.

[58:37] And that is why we put a public comment period on that.

[58:42] So if you have questions, or you have concerns of this council, of this body, of our city, you can come and

[58:50] address that at any time.

[58:51] It doesn't necessarily have to be on an agenda.

[58:54] So I just, I'll get off my soapbox now.

[58:56] But, and move on to another item, which is Farmer's Market.

[59:04] It represents as the liaison to the Kusbe Downtown Association.

[59:07] And I think it's important, an important note to make that Holly brought up in her presentation.

[59:16] That, that program through the Farmer's Market, double up food bucks.

[59:23] Contributes 155,000 to those who are food poor and just creating an event, getting put traffic through our downtown.

[59:34] But that does end in October, so make sure you get down there and visit those farmers.

[59:40] And then finally, I just want to thank the communities, the communities surrounding and

[59:48] regionally that came to celebrate the end of summer at the Barrier Fund Festival. I was

[59:56] It's really heavily involved in the cruise accuse and helping in...

[1:00:00] So I didn't get out to some of the other things. I know that some folks were saying attendance may have been down, but we saw a lot of folks that hadn't come in the past few years that we're here for that. We had, I believe upwards of 350 cars in the cruise and 150 cars that participated at the show and shine at the milk casino and wow, what an appreciative thing we have.

[1:00:29] in our community that provides that ability to put those cars in one location, easy to access.

[1:00:38] And they're beautiful cars, and we really appreciate the community that came out and

[1:00:43] supported all of the events.

[1:00:45] That is a fundraiser for the Kusbe Downtown Association.

[1:00:48] It helps us do things in the community to advocate and help our businesses in downtown.

[1:00:54] So, thank you very much.

[1:00:56] thank you Stephanie. I have no comments tonight. Okay, Stephanie, I really appreciate your comments and so I'm not going to add anything to them.

[1:01:07] Just thank you for the comments about the ongoing challenge.

[1:01:12] Houselessness is in this community and with that said, this meeting will be adjourned and I will note that it is a one hour meeting.

[1:01:20] So I didn't I didn't make 45 minutes, but I made an hour so meeting it just here

City Council

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