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HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 2010-06-07 SpecialCITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES June 7, 2010 Mayor Jack Hoffman called the special City Council meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. on JV. -,z- 7, 2010, in the City Coi.,ncil Chambers, 380 A Avenue. Present: Mayor Hoffman, Councilors Hennagin, Moncrieff, Olson (5:05), Tierney, and Jordan. Councilor Johnson was excused. Staff Present: Alex McIntyre, City Manager; David Powell, City Attorney; Jane, McGarvin, Deputy City Recorder; Brant Williams, Director of Economic and Capital Projects; Jane Blackstone, Economic Development Director; Sidaro Sin, Senior Planner; David Donaldson, Assistant City Manager; Denny Egner, Assistant Planning Director; Denise Frisbee, Planning & Building Director 3. STUDY SESSION 3.1 Draft Foothills District Predevelopment Agreement • Staff Report Mr. Williams directed the Council to the staff memo on the Foothills draft Predevelopment Agreement (PDA) [pp. 1-5] and the PDA itself [pp.6-33]. He explained that one reason why staff was moving ahead with this agreement was the need to develop something solid that the City could move forward with in determining whether development made sense in Foothills. He mentioned the various stops and starts of studies on Foothills over the years. He reviewed the Council discussion at the July meeting (p.1) on a public/private partnership, planning principles, a possible sustainable neighborhood in Foothills, a development team, housing stock and choices, and stronger connections between all of Lake Oswego. He mentioned Foothills as supporting a vibrant and strong downtown, and as providing economic development opportunities for the city. He discussed the objectives included in the PDA, including a common set of vision and planning principles for moving forward with Foothills. He spoke of infrastructure and development issues, financial feasibility, property assemblage, and strong solid project management with good oversight by the community and significant public involvement. (pp.2-3) He reviewed the parties involved in the draft PDS: the City, Foothills Road Redevelopment LLC (four industrial property owners), Mreen Family LLC, the L. Coelhouer Trust, and Williams/Dame & White. He mentioned the 20 -month term of the agreement, the project schedule (pp.71-72), and the Framework Plan (pp.37-38), the principal product of the Work Plan. He discussed the work plan elements of project management utilizing the experience of Williams/Dame & White (pp.39- 41) and project oversight (pp.41-42) including an Oversight Committee, a City staff advisory group, and a City Project Manager (p.42). He noted the extensive public participation and community involvement plan (pp.43-46), including a Community Advisory Committee (p.45). He reviewed the main elements of the Framework Plan (pp.61-65), noting the flood plain issues, the wastewater treatment plant, transportation, parking, streetcar, environmental issues, public infrastructure, school district issues, open space, urban form, and land use. He commented that he thought that the Foothills redevelopment would not impact the School District at all, except possibly to enhance it by providing more housing options for young families with children. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 9 June 7, 2010 He explained that implementation products (pp.67-70) were the significant elements that needed to be done in order to implement the elements of the Framework Plan into the City's Comprehensive Plan, such as Comprehensive Plan amendments, zone changes, design standards, and flood plain mitigation. He pointed out that the City would have to create a zone that would work for Foothills, as it did not currently have one in place. He presented a list of the different disciplines involved in the Work Plan, noting the need for technical consulting expertise on many of these work elements. He discussed the budget (pp.73-74). He indicated that the $520,000 fee for Williams/Dame & White included all the project management work, the project oversight, land use work, public outreach and participation work, and consultant management. He e aphasized their expertise in project management and their experience in the region. He reviewed the funding sources (p.4). Mayor Hoffman mentioned that Metro Executive Officer Michael Jordan has recommended that Lake Oswego receive a $295,000 construction excise tax grant for this work and a $50,000 grant for Lake Grove. Mr. Williams indicated that the industrial property owners' contribution would not occur until the City had a Framework Plan in place. He explained that those owners have already spent a significant amount of money getting the process to this point, and they wanted to see something in place for the money they were investing. Mr. Williams discussed the termination clause. He explained the `continuous off -ramp concept' in the clause that allowed the City to terminate the agreement at any time for any reason, such as the parties agreeing that the project was not financially feasible or the City feeling that it has spent too much money. He mentioned the future development agreement (p.4), which staff would start drafting as they worked on the Framework Plan. He explained their intent to bring a final development agreement to the Council as soon as possible after the adoption of the final Framework Plan in order to get a developer on board and the project moving forward. He presented a draft development agreement as an example of what the final agreement might look like (pp.97-99). He mentioned developing an urban renewal plan (p.4) simultaneously with the pre -development agreement. He explained that staff saw public financing as the only major funding source available to fund some of the major projects needed to allow redevelopment to occur in Foothills. He observed that this was a key element in making sure that the overall plan was financially feasible. • Williams/Dame & White presentation Matt Brown, Williams/Dame & White, introduced the other team members: Christie White, Homer Williams, and Dike Dame. He noted that they were all principals and partners in the company and would probably do 90% of the work of this agreement. Mr. H. Williams discussed the opportunities the team saw in Foothills and why they believed that the opportunity was now, and not five years from now. He indicated that the team had experience in creating and managing this kind of process that would lead to a plan that would work in today's environment. He mentioned the need for collaborative and inclusive input as well as patience on all sides. He noted that everyone has agreed on the goal of developing something that could be implemented, as opposed to something that sat on a shelf. He acknowledged that there was not a lot of development going on right now, but argued that this was a good time to do this kind of preliminary work in developing a plan because that work alone would take two to three years. He mentioned their excitement in figuring out how to make this plan work in the midst of the current societal change. He observed that achieving something that the community would be proud of needed the support of the community. Mr. Brown reviewed the current challenges identified by the team and the guiding principles for the process. He gave a PowerPoint presentation. He suggested thinking about this work as the first phase of the development work in Foothills, as opposed to thinking of it as a plan. He pointed out that this was a pre -development agreement, and not a planning agreement. He emphasized that now was the time to address those elements that were currently impediments to development in Foothills. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 9 June 7, 2010 He mentioned impediments such as the lack of infrastructure and transportation connections in and out of the district, and the location of some of the area within the flood plain. He commented that addressing these critical development issues was important in not ending up with a plan on the shelf. He referenced the planning principles that they developed out of the initial visioning process last spring (pp.75-77) to guide the process as it moved forward. He described these principles as key elements in the discussion of how to create a successful urban neighborhood with a mixed-use environment and a successful pedestrian environment. He mentioned the streetcar and the to�:ography as part of the connections principle. He talked about the importance of a holistic, sustidnable approach to development. He discussed the need for residential diversity by providing a wide variety of housing types for the varying ages and income levels found in the Lake Oswego community. He noted the expectation of high quality design, citing Lakeview Village as an example. He spoke of public open spaces, both natural features (Foothills Park) and urban plazas (Millennium Plaza). He commented that economically viable development was key in making sure that the plan would lead to viable public and private projects in a phased development over the many years it would take to develop this 120 -acre district. He spoke of utilizing appropriate scale and design elements in incorporating Foothills into the city fabric. He noted the importance of good public/private partnerships working together in mutual trust. He discussed the need for strong and diverse ground floor retail. He acknowledged that the conversation has focused on Foothills retail as supportive and complementary to the Downtown retail. He argued that it was also important that this area have retail that supported the pedestrian environment in the District. He spoke of finding the balance between the urban/manmade and the natural. He mentioned focusing on the first 30 feet adjacent to the sidewalk, given that the public street realm between the buildings was an important element. He discussed the products of the PDA. He mentioned the Framework Planning document that would set the vision and lead to all the other implementation projects. He commented that these projects were the implementation products that Mr. B. Williams alluded to earlier. He observed that the process was almost as important as the product. He discussed four elements that were key in the process: meaningful public involvement, actionable results, thorough analysis, and expert management. He commented that they knew from experience that a plan got better when they asked the public what they wanted to see in it. He mentioned their goal of seeing broad public support for the recommendations that came out of the process. He explained that they used a development -driven approach with the goal of actionable recommendations that would maximize the results on the ground and create a viable project. He spoke of having a clear strategy at the end of the process for the next steps. He noted the need for a thorough analysis of the technical issues, including the impediments and how they would affect the final plan. He indicated that, as project managers, they would need to coordinate seven to ten technical teams to have a common vision and plan. He spoke of strict budget and schedule controls that allowed the project manager to provide real-time information on those elements. He mentioned quality control and sharing information about anything that would truly affect the project's viability. He presented a chart detailing the technical teams by service areas, which were included in the budget. He reviewed the next steps, should the Council approve the PDA next week. He spoke of convening the Citizen Advisory Committee to begin the public process and the community discussions, beginning to work with the consultant teams, and beginning to focus on the critical issues identified in the agreement. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 9 June 7, 2010 • PDA Changes (See handout) Mr. Powell reviewed the proposed changes to the PDA, noting that most were technical. He explained that they added language in Paragraph 11.3 at the request of the attorney for two of the property owners in order to clarify that only a defaulting property owner's share of the contribution accelerated, and not everyone's share. He mentioned the addition of a School District representative to the Community Advisory Committee (Paragraph 15.4). He explained that the non-member properties signatory to the agreement were not interested in signing an at solute commitment at this time respecting local improvement districts (!_ID), but they were willing to consider doing so at the time of an LID. At their request, he has rem :ed references to the non-member property owners from Paragraph 17 regarding non -remonstrance agreements. He noted the clean up of Paragraph 18.2 to clarify that, should the City default, the City would automatically re -convey the property mortgages back to the owners. He mentioned that this morning the non-member property owners asked for a simpler form of trust deed than the one in Exhibit F (pp.81-95). He explained that staff has not yet had a chance to compare the standard Stevens -Ness trust deed form to Exhibit F, which meant that the Council might see a little different form next week. He stated his expectation that the agreement presented next Tuesday would be substantially in the same form as the agreement in this meeting's packet. • Council Questions Mr. Powell explained to Councilor Hennagin that the Foothills Redevelopment LLC owed the share of its four property owners, who were willing to pledge the equities in their properties to secure the obligation. He confirmed that the trust deed secured their share of the contribution. Councilor Hennagin asked how difficult the flood plain issues had been in the South Waterfront project, and whether the Foothills project faced similar or different issues. Ms. White indicated that there was a variety of tools available for dealing with flood plain issues, depending on whether the land was in or out of the 100 -year flood plain. She described one solution to the South Waterfront flood plain issue as raising the land to a grade above the 100 -year flood plain and employing development techniques to safeguard that vertical development against any flooding impacts. She mentioned other tools of Metro exemptions, a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) from FEMA, and balance cut and fill. She indicated that they needed a more thorough analysis of the Foothills area before deciding which tools to use. Ms. White indicated to Councilor Moncrieff that the team has already determined which impediments were most likely to stop the project. They would tackle those first. She mentioned the flood plain, the sewage treatment plant, the streetcar integration, and the connection to Hwy 43 as the major issues. She noted that the PDA included a reporting requirement on essential conditions that allowed a constant conversation with the City over how to solve these problems, or to stop the process if they discovered an element that stopped the project. Mr. Dame commented that they agreed with the off -ramp concept that allowed stopping the process if the project would not work. Councilor Olson asked how the City could get an exemption from Metro Title 3. Ms. White explained that if they could demonstrate that a balanced cut and fill maintained the flood storage capacity of the land and did not create additional flood hazard, Metro would likely grant an exemption. She acknowledged that Lake Oswego has some compliance issues with Metro Title 3, which the team would investigate as part of determining whether it was feasible to comply with Title 3. She commented that they would address the flood plain issue first because it was an impediment as it currently existed, and because they had to coordinate a flood plain mitigation plan with federal and state agencies as well as Metro. Councilor Olson expressed a concern about not knowing whether the Council had any conflicts of interest with respect to the LLCs. Ms. White indicated that they could provide the names of the owners and investors in the LLCs. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 9 June 7, 2010 Councilor Olson asked how the team would approach those property owners who were not on. board. Mr. H. Williams mentioned that they had experience with Public Storage from the South Waterfront project. Mr. B. Williams indicated to the Councilor that the two major property owners (Terramar and Oswego Pointe Apartments) were interested in participating in the Community Advisory Committee and excited about the planning effort moving forward. Mr. Brown commented that the team planned to involve all property owners in the process as much as they wanted to be involved, but it was up to the owners to participate. He said that he thought that they would have a plan that all the property owners would want to do, but not everyone would be ready to proceed with development a' t! ie same time. He spoke of having a rational, phased plan that worked well for everyone. Mr. H. Williams indicated to Councilor Tierney that today there was no financing available. Councilor Tierney asked why proceed with the process now. Mr. H. Williams explained that they were setting the table for future development as part of getting ahead of the curve. He commented that they needed to understand the demographics of what was coming and its impact on housing and transportation choices (such as smart cars and smaller houses). He mentioned 80 million Baby boomers and Gen Y (the seniors and the young families) entering the market; Gen Y who would expect to live in a different environment then their parents He indicated that Williams/Dame & White did not anticipate being the developer. He commented he thought it would be in the City's best interests to have a variety of developers involved, but first it needed to have a plan in place or what developed would be different than what the City wanted. He agreed with a comment by Steve Dean in an Oregonian article that the Pearl District would have developed even without their involvement but it would have been different. It would not have had the parks or the streetcar. He explained that this process was the City and property owners' chance to control their own destiny. Mr. Brown discussed the economic answer behind the question of why now. He said that, while none of them knew when these sorts of projects would become financially attractive again and development start occurring, they did know that, unless the City removed these impediments tc development and had a plan in place, the project would not attract interested people, and the investment dollars would go elsewhere. He agreed with Mr. H. Williams' description of this process as setting the table. Mayor Hoffman asked David Leland, a consultant on retainer with the City, to come up. He indicated that Mr. Leland had worked with the City on Lakeview Village and was helping the City now work through Foothills. To put Lake Oswego's requests in perspective, he read the list of projects submitted by jurisdictions in the Metro region for the $3.5 million construction excise tax grant funds. He observed that these projects indicated that Lake Oswego was not alone in anticipating the next cycle coming. He asked Mr. Leland to address the question of why now. Mr. Leland mentioned that, based on his work with Mr. B. Williams and Mr. Powell over the past six months in looking at this PDA, he had come to the same conclusion as Mr. H. Williams that this was an extremely complex project and would need more disciplines than 90% of the other projects in the country for the reasons cited by the team. He noted the lengthy time required for the process (20 months). He remarked on the regulatory process and urban renewal district design that the City needed to have in place in order to implement and control. He commented that the project needed a vision, a plan, and a strategy, followed by a system and the tools to implement control. He mentioned that many cities have recognized that this was the perfect time to do the planning for future projects and were going through this same process. He agreed that they could not forecast when the recession would end but he found the early indicators encouraging. He noted the relatively no inflation environment in which they were operating. He commented that the emerging markets (Baby boomers, Gen Y) should get healthier as the economy got healthier. He pointed out that almost 70% of all the households in the region were one or two person households. He spoke of families downsizing in Lake Oswego as well as new households moving in. He commented that Metro still expected 1 million people to move to the region. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 9 June 7, 2010 He observed that this area had multiple property owners, which could easily result in 10 to 20 different projects. He commented that he found it interesting that the other property owners, such as Oswego Pointe, wanted a place at the table. He speculated that, as their buildings aged and required more maintenance, some of the owners might be thinking about conversion. He gave his opinion that adding more retail to address the strong leakage out of Lake Oswego of buying power (due to serious under -retailing) would complement the Downtown retail rather than compete with it. He indicated that the combination of these many factors would take time. He expressed the hope that it would coincide with the recovery. He commented that it could be four to five years before any significant buildings wer:� -,jp. He emphasized that if the City did not start now and was not ready for the opportunity when it came, then the investment capital would go some place else. He commented that the structure of the PDA with its off -ramps minimized the risk for the City. He pointed out that this 120 -acre project would have many solutions. Councilor Tierney commented that he was still not hearing why now. He described the market as unpredictable and indicated that he was looking for more comfort from the experts. Mr. H. Williams clarified that if the Council waited until the market turned and took three years to do its plan, then it would miss the opportunity for investment capital. Councilor Tierney asked what the shelf life of this plan would be, in the event that the capital for financing was still not available in three years when they finished their planning process. Mr. H. Williams commented that their experience has found that projects evolved over time. Therefore, they intended to build into the plan the flexibility that it needed. He cited the market as another factor, which he described as changing gradually over time, rather than suddenly. He mentioned that starter housing was coming back, and that, with a little improvement in the job market, they would see Gen Y move from living at home with their parents into apartments, creating an apartment shortage in the not too distant future. He emphasized that this would not change over night but, if the City had the right kind of plan and has set the stage, it could begin development. He commented that the important thing to remember was that people would buy into a vision and a good plan. If the City started with the seed of two or three buildings, other developments would come and the momentum build, as happened in the Pearl District. Mr. Dame commented that a plan designed to create walkable neighborhoods where people had access to transportation had a long shelf life. He observed that the Portland neighborhoods that were walkable 50 years ago were still walkable today. Mr. H. Williams argued that this was the most efficient money for the City right now. He pointed out that the risk level would only increase with actual development. He noted that the plan discussed the contingent relationships between the City and the potential developers. He concurred with Mr. Dame that the focus needed to be on access. Mr. Leland commented that the public realm, which was the streets, the parks, and the open spaces, defined cities. These created the opportunity, but the City needed to have the controls in place to insure that development occurred consistent with the vision for the entire district. He described Foothills as an intriguing, complex, mixed-use, multi -phase public/private partnership with many players. He spoke of the importance of an elected leadership willing to see these kinds of projects through. He observed that cities needed a 2% growth rate just to maintain their operating budgets. With Lake Oswego largely built out, the future investment would come from concentrated places like the Foothills District. Councilor Olson referenced p.4 of Mr. E. William's memo, which stated the staff expectation that tax increment financing would fund the significant infrastructure elements in the Framework Plan. She asked staff to address the issue of the funds needed to finance the necessary infrastructure being a long way off. Mr. Williams indicated that staff has looked at the financial status of the current urban redevelopment district and how that would work with the streetcar. He described the opportunity of marrying the streetcar to the Foothills project as an opportunity for economies of City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 9 June 7, 2010 scale and jumpstarting the Foothills project. He mentioned that there had to be a funding plan in place to make the streetcar happen from Lake Oswego's viewpoint. He suggested that the Council focus on tax increment financing, local improvement districts, and system development charges. He stated his belief that the City needed to have tax increment financing from either the existing district, an expanded district, or a new district in place for those kinds of projects. He indicated that staff needed to look at how the financing related to the next developments in Foothills and the timing. Councilor Hennagin asked whether they should wait to spend any mone, !rntil after the Steering Committee made its decision this fall, given that the streetcar was an ess.: ;tial element in moving forward with the Foothills project. Mr. Williams mentioned his concern that the Foothills project was a bit behind the streetcar planning. He explained that the streetcar planning project was looking to the Foothills planning project to better define the City's vision for Foothills and how it would work with the streetcar. He commented that this would also help staff define how potential funding strategies might play out for the streetcar project. He spoke of the Council being able to feel more confident in making a decision if it knew that a funding plan was in place for a project of this significance. Mr. H. Williams recalled that they were the first private signatory on granting easements across their property in the Pearl District for the streetcar. He commented that they had had no idea at how successful the streetcar would be or how the property values within two blocks of the streetcar route would increase. Mr. B. Williams indicated to Councilor Hennagin that the Steering Committee choosing another option than the streetcar was a possibility. Mr. H. Williams commented that their experience in working with the streetcar found that once it got going, it had a habit of getting built. He noted that the environment has never been better for streetcar projects. Mr. Dame mentioned the statements by the Secretary of Transportation indicating that the federal government wanted to fund projects that created density and provided infill opportunities. Mr. Brown indicated that the streetcar was one of the essential conditions in the agreement. He said that they have taken the approach that the Steering Committee would choose the streetcar. He mentioned that he sat on the Citizen Advisory Committee and has yet to see a fatal flaw in the streetcar project, although there were issues to work through. He commented that if the Steering Committee made a different choice, then they needed to sit down with the City to decide what to do. He remarked that he hoped that they have built into the process the ability to re-evaluate the project (if thrown a curve ball) and make the right decision about what happened next. Councilor Tierney commented that, as an elected official, he looked at this project as an investment opportunity where the City could generate revenues. He asked Mr. Leland if that was a model that made sense and how they could quantify it. Mr. Leland presented his preliminary figures for the tax revenue potentially generated by a Foothills project. He explained how he arrived at the conservative assumption of 48 acres of actual buildings built out at floor area ratios (FAR) ranging from 1.25 to 1.75 for $325 per square foot. He indicated that the value in current dollars ranged from $900 million to $1.3 billion with a potential tax increment at 8% to 10% of $80 to $100 million. He commented that the tax increment was developer -funded revenue, as it was income coming into the community that would otherwise not happen. Councilor Olson commented that she was more skeptical about the economy, as many economists were predicting a double dip recession. She indicated that she shared Councilor Tierney's concern about the dollars coming any time soon. Mr. Leland recounted what he recently heard from several of the premier economists in the country speaking at an international meeting of the real estate industry in Seattle. He said that they were cautiously optimistic about going forward, which pleasantly surprised him. He pointed out that, even with high unemployment rates, people would continue to move to the Portland Metro region. He pointed out that, even if the country went through another short cycle, starting today, Lake Oswego was still four to five years out from any building starting. City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 9 June 7, 2010 Councilor Olson asked for an illustration of the 4 to 1 and 6 to 1 FARs and the 75 to 125-foot base building heights referenced on p. 76. Ms. White explained that the idea was to have appropriate mass and scale as the starting point, which had to be in the context of what Lake Oswego was. She pointed out that there were no buildings taller than two or three stories on the west side of State Street, yet the topography on the east side of State Street had a 100 to 110 foot drop in grade. She described the potential for taller buildings in Foothills with only the top two stories visible above State Street. She explained that the intent of that language had been to frame the possibilities before beginning the evaluation of what those FARs would look like. Mr. H. Williams explained that part of the publi . r.)rocess was giving the public the information and letting them make informed comments on it. He indicated that the reality would be a variety of building heights. He emphasized that part of their job was to educate people on the options. He mentioned the importance of predictability in attracting good quality developers. Mayor Hoffman recalled the good examples of density that the Council saw in Vancouver, B.C. neighborhoods. He mentioned the three to four story structures that were neighborhood-friendly and looked like they would fit right in with Lake Oswego. Councilor Jordan commented that, while the focus has been on developing additional diverse living spaces, she saw a need for more commercial mix besides the retail to make the District truly vibrant. Mr. H. Williams indicated that the plan would not focus solely on residential. Councilor Jordan recalled conversations on earlier Councils about whether the City should be involved in any kind of redevelopment effort in Foothills. She pointed out that many of the impediments identified by the team were in the public realm, which needed solutions in the City codes and in cooperation with other public agencies. She concurred that the City needed to make this investment and clear up these impediments or nothing would happen in Foothills. Mr. H. Williams observed that the country just went through the most aggressive real estate boom in his lifetime and nothing happened in Foothills. Councilor Olson noted that the agreement did not mention historic and archaeological studies very often. She discussed her concern that they needed an historical analysis of that area, given the historic ironworks down there, similar to what Rick Minor did at George Rogers Park. She pointed out that, while the agreement referenced Foothills and Tyron Creek Parks, it did not reference Roehr Park. Ms. White indicated to Councilor Olson that the statement on p. 97 in Exhibit G stating that the City would adopt no new adverse regulations was a standard provision in statutory development agreements. The parties based a development agreement on certain assumptions existing in the Code at the time of the agreement. The intent was to preserve those understandings. Therefore, the City agreed not to adopt adverse regulations that could harm one party or the other and change the balance of obligations and responsibilities. Mayor Hoffman recessed the meeting for a break at 6:48 p.m. He reconvened the meeting at 6:54 p.m. 3.2 Comprehensive Plan Process Update Councilor Moncrieff, as Council liaison to the Comprehensive Planning process, discussed Council expectations regarding the Comprehensive Plan process. She mentioned expert management of this process by staff, consultants, and the Citizen Steering Committee so that it led to a Comprehensive Plan that worked using implementable action items that had results. She emphasized including a meaningful public involvement process because the plan represented the interests of all the citizens of Lake Oswego. She spoke of doing a thorough analysis of each part of the plan. She described the Plan as the community's opportunity to control its own destiny by revising this 1994 plan to reflect where the community wanted to be in 2030. Mr. Sin presented the draft timeline. He reviewed the 2010 scheduled events, including a joint Council/Planning Commission meeting to give staff di ection, and starting the public engagement process at the Centennial Celebration event at Luscher Farm as part of the Future Pavilion. He City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 9 June 7, 2010 mentioned the 2011 event of a Council meeting to adopt the vision for integration into the Comprehensive Plan process. He indicated that the public hearing process would occur in 2012. He confirmed that a major item to come out of this process would be an action plan that identified different indicators, benchmarks, and targets. He introduced the consultants, Cogan Owens Cogan. He noted their proven track record with public involvement and extensive experience in the Portland area. He mentioned their understanding of how to work with limited budgets in a community, which was a major concern for the City. He discussed the co: imunity engagement process. He spoke of asking the community what they loved about Lake Oskvego in an effort to identify values and passions in the community. He indicated that staff was working on 'branding' the engagement process, and presented a draft logo. He mentioned planning for the people, places, and prosperity in the future as the general idea. Mayor Hoffman asked how staff would reach the people who were normally not involved with the City. Mr. Sin mentioned getting the high school political action committees involved in the process as a way to engage the community youth. He explained that the biggest element was staff going out to the people to deliver the message as opposed to the people coming to the City for the planning process. Councilor Moncrieff compared this engagement process to a campaign trail, in that staff would try to get to as many community organizations as possible to ask them what they loved above Lake Oswego and valued most dearly. Mr. Sin explained to Mayor Hoffman that staff intended the Professionals' Think Tank scheduled in August to bring the wealth of talented professionals who lived in Lake Oswego into the process. He described it as a run-through to help prepare staff for the larger meeting process later on. He indicated to the Mayor that the idea behind the Speaker Series was to inspire and inform the Council and the public regarding the broad planning process initially with more specific topics later on. Mayor Hoffman suggested President Wim Wiewel of Portland State University who was an urban planner. Councilor Jordan spoke of making an effort to explain how neighborhood planning fit into the Comprehensive Plan. She commented that this was a better opportunity for citizens to envision how their neighborhood would look in 25 years. She argued that it was not simply a matter of meeting with the neighborhood chairs but rather getting out to the neighborhoods to inform the citizens that the City was not giving up on neighborhood planning but rather it was creating a better opportunity for the planning through this Comprehensive Plan process. Mr. Sin described the Comprehensive Plan as providing a community -wide planning baseline. Neighborhoods could look to the Plan to see if it addressed their individual issues. If not, then neighborhoods could address those issues through their neighborhood plan. He indicated that this Plan process was trying to inform the neighborhood plan process. Councilor Moncrieff spoke of this as an opportunity for the City to develop effective neighborhood communication strategies to help re -invigorate neighborhood associations. 4. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Hoffman adjourned the meeting at 7:07 p.m. APPROVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL: ON,Ssepternber 21 010 L114,�A4WI-1, Jac . Hoffman, Respectfully submitted, Robyn Christie City Recorder City Council Special Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 9 June 7, 2010