Excerpt_City Council Minutes - 06_28_2016 RESOLUTION NO. 16-26 -A RESOLUTION TO REAPPOINT
TIMOTHY PEPPER AND SARA DARLAND TO ONE-YEAR'TERMS AS
PARK AND RECREATION ADVISORY BOARD ALTERNATE
MEMBERS
Yes No
Councilor Goodhouse ✓
Councilor Henderson ✓
Council President Snider ✓
Councilor Woodard ✓
Mayor Cook ✓
5. LEGISLATIVE PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDERATION OF A RESOLUTION
APPROVING BALLOT TITLE LANGUAGE FOR A SW CORRIDOR BALLOT MEASURE
FOR THE NOVEMBER BALLOT
a. Mayor Cook opened the public hearing.
b. City Attorney Ramis read the hearing procedures. A copy of the procedures was available at
the front of the room.
c. Staff Report- Community Development Director Kenny Asher gave the staff report and
showed maps of the SW Corridor Project (SWC) area and alignment options. He said staff is
recommending three actions for council to take to place a measure on the November ballot
authorizing the siting and construction of a high capacity transit corridor project in Tigard. He noted
the required steps include three pieces of legislation—two ordinances and a resolution. He noted
changes were made to the materials presented at the June 7, 2016 council meeting and the city was
beginning to hear from community members, some of whom were present to testify. Project
representatives were also present to answer questions as needed.
Mr. Asher said Tigard's Charter Section 53 describes exactly how this should happen so there are
rules of engagement for how the city might be able to gain authority in Tigard for a high capacity
transit project.A map was projected showing the entire SWC transit project which is now known to
be a light rail project. Alignments are not fully determined but it is understood where it will and will
not go and there is enough information for the city to provide voters with the required information
under Section 53. Most of the route from Portland is understood and will either take Barbur
Boulevard or use a portion of right of way adjacent to I-5. There are a few options to travel on
Barbur Boulevard. Once within Tigard there are still decisions to be made on alignment. He showed
a zoom-in map showing options to downtown Tigard once the line is in the Tigard Triangle.
Clinton,Ash or Wall and then down to Bridgeport along railroad tracks (WES) or adjacent to I-5.
Once in Tigard there are decisions to be made. There are few ways to get from the Tigard Triangle
to Downtown Tigard using Clinton Street,Ash Avenue or Wall Street, then eventually on to
Bridgeport along the WES tracks or I-5. He showed a second map and described downtown Tigard
options. There is an idea to have a branch once inside the Triangle where the first train would go to
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 4 of 18
downtown and the second to Bridgeport. Branch route options include using Clinton, a Beveland
fly over 217 to Ash terminating near the existing transit center. A third branch idea is to branch off
over 217,run along Wall Street (which is a street a focus of economic development department) and
then go to downtown along the WES tracks. The other train would go straight to Bridgeport. He
said the project in its current state does not have a defined alignment.
Community Development Director Asher said the actions council will take are about changing this
Charter section and council will need to consider three items tonight.
1. First, a procedural ordinance will be considered which provides a procedure to implement
Charter Section 53.C. This paragraph requires certain information be provided to voters if
they consider taking up the question of high-capacity corridor projects. He said the city
council has the authority to adopt definitions for terms that are not defined or are
ambiguous in the Charter. Staff felt it important that council approve what staff feels is
the definition of Charter Section 53. Nine definitions are provided for key terms and
phrases. General provisions and timeframe are discussed,as "we only know what we
know now." He said we cannot know more than that at this time because the project is
only at a certain state of design.There is information on roadway capacity and how it is
interpreted. There is also a section on corridor housing redevelopment,which should not
be misunderstood as density. Density is part of what the city is required to disclose.
There is methodology on roadway capacity and a procedure for approving all of this
which is that it must be done in a public meeting with public testimony
2. Council's second vote is on the authorization ordinance.This is what the voters must
ratify. This will be forwarded to the voters for their consideration. It will be on the
website. There are four sections in this ordinance which talk about how it meets the
Charter requirements. The city is required to disclose legislative amendments that the
project would require,the public cost, density increases and roadway capacity that would
be reduced with the project. This ordinance only goes into effect if approved by the
voters on November 8.
3. The third item is a resolution to submit the authorization ordinance to the voters and
direct the city's elections officer to file the measure with the county elections before
September 8 with Washington County.
He discussed the timeline and said August 19 is the last city council meeting date to
approve filing a ballot title so the city election's official can publish and allow for the
challenge period. He said staff is hoping council takes action tonight so there is time to
continue work on the ballot title in the case of an appeal and still be ready to take action
to meet the filing deadline. Delaying until a July council meeting may be too late to go
through the appeal process.
Mayor Cook requested that Mr. Asher to highlight the revisions made to the ballot title. He replied
that at the June 7, 2016 CCDA meeting the CCDA Board directed staff to make this ballot language
as clear and simple as possible. He, the City Attorney and City Manager Wine have met weekly to
work on this. They were committed to following the requirements of Charter Section 53. He said
the new ballot title is, "Allow City to support extending light rail service to Tigard."
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 5 of 18
He said they do not refer to high capacity because we know it is light rail now. That is all the voters
would be authorizing at this time, not a high-capacity transit project, subways or rapid bus transit.
He said there was a change in language about housing density as they looked at the definition and
found they were being inconsistent. It is defined as a change in zoning density. The density
anticipated with this project is permissible with today's zoning. It is not an increase because it would
be within the current density.
The estimated public cost jumped by $400 million due to sharpening of pencils at TriMet. He said
there are representatives from TriMet present if council has questions. Clarifying language states that
no traffic lanes or contiguous properties along Pacific Highway in Tigard are impacted. Those are
impacts to the lanes themselves. This project is not on Pacific Highway and has not been for years.
The Charter asks for the amount of roadway capacity reduction not just for current roadways but
also for public rights of way that could provide road capacity at a future date within five miles of the
city. The key figure is three one-hundredths of a percent, or 0.03 percent impact on capacity in this
radial (five-mile) area around Tigard. There are three main corridors in that five-mile radius
including Barbur Boulevard, Pacific Highway and Highway 43. Mr. Asher said just looking at the
one being touched by this project,which is Barbur Boulevard,the capacity impact looks to be more
like two percent at the worst choke-point but that is not what the Charter is asking for. It asks for
the five-mile radial impact. Much effort went into figuring out where the unused roads might be.
This might be unused right of way that could be converted to a lane at an intersection for example.
The project team came up with a range of one to five acres and being conservative, chose five acres.
DKS Transportation Engineers' Principal Peter Coffee was present to discuss the roadway analysis.
Mayor Cook said there were many holes and question marks in the early version of the ballot title
seen on June 7 and he wanted people to know that answers were not changed; they were just not
known at that time. He asked Engineer Coffee if the ballot title is an accurate description of
roadway capacity within a five-mile radius of Tigard as required by the charter. Engineer Coffee said
it was. He said the Charter refers to a five-mile radius around the city and that is quite a large area,
ten miles in diameter. They looked at all of the roadways in that area and hence the percent is
smaller.
Mayor Cook asked City Attorney Ramis if the ballot title meets the Charter and Mr. Ramis said he
concluded that it does. He said the Charter says we needed to come up with an amount and needed
to measure capacity. The engineer was asked to come up with a measure, in this case a percentage
change, and we have measured capacity and he understands this was done according to standard
traffic engineering principles.
Mayor Cook asked Engineer Coffee if he agreed with Community Development Director Asher's
statement that there were no impacts to Pacific Highway in Tigard. Engineer Coffee said he agreed
that there are no impacts and this is documented in his report. He said there are no alignment
options on Pacific Highway in Tigard. They looked at Barbur Boulevard and there are some impacts
at key bottleneck locations near traffic signals on Barbur. They examined the possibility of constraint
if northbound traffic on Barbur were to back up onto Pacific Highway into Tigard and the answer is
no. DKS also looked at the other constraint of southbound traffic from Barbur Boulevard and I-5
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 6 of 18
onto Pacific Highway. They both have capacity and when they merge the constraint is really Pacific
Highway in Tigard. There is no impact to Pacific Highway in Tigard from this project.
Mayor Cook asked if it is accurate to describe roadway capacity changes in percentages and why
miles or feet were not used. Engineer Coffee said the definition of roadway capacity is vehicles per
hour, or how many vehicles per hour can get through the roadway and typically they look at
bottlenecks and constraint points. That is why we want to measure capacity in terms of vehicles per
hour. Defining capacity in terms of area does not always make sense. Adding lanes to a roadway
may not affect capacity. Mayor Cook asked City Attorney Ramis if, from a legal standpoint,this
methodology satisfies the Charter. Mr. Ramis said he did. He said they originally examined this
problem from the point of view of simply measuring the linear distances affected in terms of miles
or footage. However, that did not measure capacity,just the amount of pavement. We learned in
working with Engineer Coffee that there is not a direct correlation consistently between the amount
of pavement added or taken away and capacity. The Charter demands that we measure capacity and
that is why that approach was taken. Mayor Cook put it another way and said even if there were ten
lanes on Pacific Highway and ODOT still has a two-lane overpass, capacity does not increase
because there is a bottleneck at the overpass. Engineer Coffee said that is correct.
Councilor Henderson asked if when calculations were done was credit given to the use of bus rapid
transit now or in the future. Engineer Coffee said yes, they looked at a horizon of year 2025 am and
pm peak traffic conditions and took into account light rail being there and also that there may be
busses used now that may not be needed in the future.
Council President Snider noted this has been discussed for a long time and he was comfortable with
the general approach. Councilor Woodard said he is comfortable with the methodology and had no
questions.
Community Development Director Asher said not everyone is comfortable with the methodology
and some alternate ballot title language had been submitted by Mr. Winters and Mr. Esau also
submitted written testimony. Mayor Cook said testimony received earlier has been entered into the
record by City Recorder Krager and council has taken time to read it.
d. Public Testimony.
Proponents—
Richard Roche', 13950 SW Aerie Drive,Tigard, OR 97223, said he has been a Tigard resident for 25
years and regional projects like the Southwest Corridor are complex as the city is aware, but the real
issue is the 20-30 year vision for the city. Traffic today on 99W is getting really congested. He can
get to 99W in about 8 minutes from his house in the morning but if often takes 30 minutes to get to
I-5 from Gaarde/McDonald. The City of Portland has communicated that there could be one-half
million new residents in the area in the next ten years and some of them will live in Tigard and
Sherwood so they will drive through Tigard. We know this is expensive and complex project and
there are a lot of federal regulations involved, but it is critical to maintain Tigard as a livable city. As
a resident he fully supports the city's involvement in planning, public engagement, proposed
amendments and going out to the public for a vote.
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 7 of 18
Kevin Watkins, 11330 SW Viewmount Court, Tigard, OR 97223, said he echoed what the previous
speaker said. He wanted to supplement it with a few points, saying this process has been very
thorough,very transparent. It has had a lot of public input and seems very robust. He said everyone
should be commended for that. Secondly is the comment about investments. Tigard's share will be
a fraction of the $2.4-2.8 billion. See what the benefits are to us and we should be making these
investments.
Debi Mollahan, CEO of the Tigard Chamber, 12345 SW Main Street, Tigard, OR 97223 said the
Tigard Chamber, on behalf of the Tigard business community would like to speak tonight in support
of the proposed authorization ordinance to be submitted to the voters on the November ballot.,
which if passed, would allow the city to support extending light rail (MAX) into Tigard, including
downtown. This is critical to the success of the larger SW Corridor project connecting Portland to
Tigard and Tualatin and is beneficial to the vision of the Downtown Tigard Urban Renewal District.
We have seen in other local jurisdictions that investments both private and public flourish around
light rail nodes and lines, benefitting those local economies. Tigard needs to not only determine
what is best for Tigard but as partner to our neighboring communities, what is best for the region.
That will need to be considered by our voters. She sat through presentations on what mode would
be best and agrees with the conclusion of light rail over bus rapid transit. She said she gets constant
feedback from residents and businesses about increased commuting times, increased traffic and
more, which affects quality of life, impacts business bottom line and service delivery. High capacity
transit in Tigard and south metro area is vital to manage the future growth that is predicted in the
region over the next 20 years. Having multiple modes of transit available is vital for commerce and a
healthy society. Thank you for moving in the direction of putting this to a vote. It is vital for Tigard
and the region.
Kathryn Merrill, 12375 SW Hall Blvd., #3,Tigard, 97223, said she has been a Tigard resident for 15
years. She is in favor of putting this to a vote in November. She agrees wholeheartedly with the
people who spoke before but no one has talked about the negative side of what would happen if we
don't proceed. We will have more gridlock,increased carbon emissions and more traffic. TriMet has
increased the number of busses available but they are almost always at capacity at peak hours.
Forget about freeways—they are gridlocked at peak and off-peak hours. It harkens back to her days
in California where she had to get up at 6:30 so she could get to slot to be at work by 8:OO.in Los
Angeles She is seeing that happen today. She hears the opposition say, "build new roads". Where
would they be built? Where would they go? How many dollars are you willing to put forward to
purchase eminent domain for new roads? High speed light rail linking Tigard to downtown would
certainly improve these conditions. Improved bike lanes and pedestrian walkways that would be
built as part of this project would certainly enhance livability in Tigard.
Sue Christenson, 15655 SW 114th Court,Tigard, OR, 97224, said she has lived in Tigard for 22 years
and retired when traffic to and from work at the Lloyd Center got to be too much to handle. She
said now that the city has the decision to pass light rail,make sure it gets on the ballot correctly and
that it gets passed by the voters. She said the city has done a great job on the background checks
and research necessary to address every specific request from the 2014 vote. Tigard is growing and
moving in the right direction. This is a wonderful place to live and she wants to ensure it will stay
this way.After reading the June Cityscape online, she commended staff. The article on transit is
really well done.You clearly show that you seriously followed all the requirements of this measure
and fulfilled the requirements of the 2014 public election that changed the city charter. So now that
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 8 of 18
is all done I am hoping that we can move forward.You are putting it in the public's hands clearly
and precisely. It has taken longer than originally planned a few years ago when you started this but
you are almost there and the city is going to be better. The city will get larger because we will have
more business and more housing will come. The citizens here now will have help paying taxes
because there will be more businesses and people and the economy will grow. She encouraged
council to move forward tonight.
Craig Dirksen, 9131 SW Hill Street,Tigard, OR 97223, thanked council for giving people an
opportunity to speak on this issue tonight. He said he has been a resident of Tigard for 39-years,is
a past city councilor and mayor of Tigard and is currently the district representative at Metro. He
thanked Mayor Cook and the council for their involvement in the process. It is vital that Tigard's
interests be represented as decisions are made. It is important that this measure be put on the ballot
and passed so that Tigard can continue to influence decisions and keep moving forward to support
Tigard's future vision. He had one recommendation for the ballot title and that was is to change the
road capacity impact from a numeral, .03 percent, to spelling out the words, "three-one-hundredths
of one percent." He said this will make the calculated impact more clear to people reading the
measure. Tigard has a desperate need for an improved transportation system to serve this corridor.
We need increased transit reliability and capacity and coupled with plans to improve road capacity
on I-5, 217 and 205, this will help meet our needs for the 21'century. It is important remember
that transit funding comes from non-highway sources and it does not compete with highway
projects for dollars at the state and federal level, from where the vast majority of the funding comes.
While the plan will aid the city's future plans to meet the needs of future growth while protecting
existing single-family neighborhoods,it is mainly important as a transportation improvement.LRT
will help Tigard workers and Tigard businesses. It would help link Tigard residents to jobs in
Portland but also connect workers in Portland to new jobs in Tigard where already thousands of
Portlanders commute daily for work in Tigard. The SW Corridor Plan has been a long public
process in which Tigard citizens and leadership have had an influential role from the beginning that
needs to continue and I look forward to continuing involvement in the process to meet the
transportation needs of the corridor and the region.
Betty Nelson, 10275 SW Meadow Street,Tigard, OR 97223, said she agreed with much of what Mr.
Dirksen said. She has lived in Tigard for 38 years and supports this effort to help manage Tigard
transportation which is vital for our future. The proposal states that the costs will be borne by
federal grants and that no new or increased City of Tigard fees are anticipated. The federal money is
tax that we are already paying and it is a plus to get some of that back to address our needs in the
transportation arena. We all are acutely aware of the difficulty of getting around our main arterial
roads without expending considerable time and gas, running our cars while sitting still, adding to
frustration and air pollution, not to mention the costs to industry trying to move their products.
This proposed MAX line will allow substantially more people to move around without adding more
automobiles to an already overcrowded street or highway system. That will also reduce the gas
emission pollution as a side effect of fewer cars idling for long periods. All of this without
additional fees or any loss of road capacity in Tigard sounds like a win-win. The previous measure
passed in Tigard in 2014 demands a citizen vote before even planning a transportation project. This
measure allows that vote and I certainly stand strongly in favor of it.
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 9 of 18
Ralph Hughes, 12855 SW Morningstar Drive, Tigard, OR 97223 said he moved here since 2001
after living in several different areas with Denver being the longest residence. He travels to Denver
travels at least twice a year and has seen the transportation build out in that particular city. He
recently took the newly opened train line from the airport to downtown for $9. He sees an
opportunity here to increase the transportation choices that we currently do not have. There is
absolutely no reason not to proceed forward with this measure based on the fact that you have
covered the bases of what he considered a poorly written ballot measure in the first place that eve
brought us to this point. We are spending a lot of money and time and he wished the previous
measure had not passed by a few hundred votes. He hopes that the ballot goes forward and that
Tigard can have a clean, truthful yes or no discussion on the pros and cons of putting light rail into
Tigard.
Elise Shearer, 9980 SW Johnson Street, Tigard, OR 97223, said as a 29-year resident in Tigard she
has witnessed the growth and congestion in traffic problems. She gave high praise to the
engineering staff who prepared the traffic and road impact report. Not only was it very thorough
and impartial,it demonstrated how the in-depth planning made by staff has made a Herculean effort
not to impact current road use and future street and road right of way. The success of this ballot
measure will provide a multi-faceted approach to transportation that will help the next couple of
generations of our families and citizens and that will be our lasting legacy to them. She said to keep
in mind the word legacy and suggested it be used as a sticker when promoting this project.
Margaret Doherty, State Representative from House District 35, 9370 SW Martha Street,Tigard, OR
97224. She said sometimes when driving on 99W she gets obsessed and times stop lights. It is not
unusual for it to take 20-25 minutes to go from Walnut Street to near the high school. We know
that traffic congestion is the number one issue that faces our citizens. She said she was on Tigard's
Planning Commission for 8 years and they discussed the SW Corridor during that time. She
commented that this goes through with complete transparency and Tigard citizens like and
understand transparency. Her second point was that this is not a funding measure. If the city were
to be asked to spend more money they would have to go back to the voters. Light rail will not be on
Highway 99W. When the previous measure was passed the proponents said that but she told them
it was never really in the planning stages for that. She said she has attended dozens of planning
meetings, open houses, and steering committee meetings for this and 99W has been off the table for
a long time. If light rail comes Tigard will be a destination. She said looking at what it has done to
the cities of Milwaukee where people on a Saturday afternoon go to look at the businesses and try
restaurants. People want to find out what is going on. Unless we make transportation investments
our businesses and jobs will suffer. The last election that changed the city charter required the City
of Tigard to have a transportation analysis on the effects of light rail and the report said that no
streets would be lost in Tigard, there would be significant road capacity and that Tigard would gain
new sidewalks and bike paths. She asked council to let Tigard get on the train and put this on the
ballot.
Tom Murphy, 8152 SW Ashford Street,Tigard, OR 97224, said he is a 23-year resident. During the
campaign on 34-210 he talked to a Tigard resident who told him that they read the measure twice
and did not understand it so they voted yes because they figured they would have another
opportunity to vote on a measure that they would understand. He said the measure before council
tonight gives them the opportunity. The language of this measure is clear and straightforward.
Those qualities were regrettably lacking in Measure 34-210. The language of this measure gives the
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES-JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 10 of 18
citizens of Tigard a simple choice—yes or no on light rail. If we give the proponents of Measure 34-
210 the benefit of every doubt, this is the vote they wanted this city to have. He said by his reading
of the ballot title it complies with the requirements of Charter Section 53. He said in regards to that
compliance he will defer to the city attorney. He said he knows Mr. Ramis to be a careful and
conscientious practitioner. He said for lawyers words are their life and Mr. Ramis uses words to
communicate and not to confuse. He said the best interests of the City of Tigard are served by
sending this measure to the ballot in its present form.
Evelyn Murphy, 8152 SW Ashford Street, Tigard, OR 97224, said people have spoken about their
experience in other communities. She was born and spent her first 11 years in southern California.
In the 1950s it was a strange but beautiful place. She hears people say, 'We need more roads. If they
would only give us more roads everything would be OK." She said she went back to southern
California last year and anyone who thinks that more roads will solve all of our problems needs to
take a look at what they have there.They have lots of roads. What they don't have is comprehensive,
careful, multi-system planning. That is what we are working towards here. She spoke about acting in
good faith and keeping faith with each other — those who need choice in transit, not just as a
preference but because of what they need to get around, because they cannot drive or afford to
drive and those who cannot bike or walk. The vulnerable among us need mass transit to be safe
because they have challenges. She urged both sides to keep faith with our future and to those you
disagree with. The fact that we disagree does not mean that all of us are wrong or ill-intentioned.
Rachel Duke, Executive Director of Community Partners for Affordable Housing (CPAH),P. O.
Box 23206,Tigard, OR 97281, said CPAH has been serving Tigard for 23 years. She said CPAH
welcomes this opportunity to comment on what they think is an immense value. CPAH provides
stable, affordable and sustainable housing so low-income seniors, families and people with
disabilities have the opportunity to become part of a vibrant and healthy community like Tigard.
She referenced The Knoll, one of their eight housing communities located nearby. She said people
with modest means can spend a large portion of their income on transportation. Providing options
for transportation can have a significant impact on improving the quality of people's lives. She said
CPAH also supports the many benefits of light rail listed in much of the testimony offered this
evening but she did want to add one not mentioned. She said it would create opportunities for
connectivity which creates increased opportunity for building community with each other.
Opponents—
Eric Winters, 30710 SW Magnolia Avenue, Wilsonville, OR 97070 said he is the attorney who
drafted the infamous ballot measure that people are complaining about that will allow people to
vote. He said he is not here to discuss whether light rail is a good or a bad idea. People in the
audience are probably making their minds up and the purpose of the measure was to give them an
opportunity to vote on it. What they wanted to do was give people a fair shake, on an up or down
vote so people knew the consequences of bringing a massive project into the city. Unfortunately the
proposed ballot title is not keeping faith with what the voters proposed and what he drafted. He
believes it is a violation of the requirements of the Charter and will not meet the requirements of an
authorization measure. It misleads voters in several key areas. He submitted written testimony that
council has and there is not enough time to go through it all in two minutes but wanted to correct
Mr.Asher's comment that the appeals process for a ballot title is a collaborative effort. It is not. If
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 11 of 18
we file a challenge to this it will go before a judge and the judge will decide whether or not this is
misleading or meets with the standards of state law. If it determined to be misleading that will be a
reflection of those who voted to endorse it because you have been warned. His concerns are that the
language does not reflect the charter language. A public policy set forth by Tigard voters requires
public opposition to a new high capacity transit corridor. What is being proposed is something
different from that; it is an approval, an exception, an authorization. It is changing the direction and
that is not at all clear with the proposed language. He summarized that the amount of roadways
should be a quantifiable amount. The city attorney has already indicated that the city knows that but
hid the ball; a methodology was created that is designed to hijack this and present something that is
not understandable to voters. I challenge any of you to explain this methodology after reading the
summary. He encouraged council and staff not to include things in the measure that implicate
federal funding without also mentioning that the cities and all the local partners will have a
responsibility for carrying funding of this too. Half of this project will be borne by local partners and
Tigard is a local partner. This measure suggests that the feds are going to pay for everything and we
all know this is not true.
Steve Schopp, 10475 SW Helenius, Tualatin, OR 97062, He said he was confident the measure will
fail, and by a much bigger margin than the measure that made the city have a vote. But tonight's
discussion is about the language, the language the city could not be bothered to print and provide so
if people came here and wanted a copy they would have it. There is not a copy of the language at
the front or anywhere in the room and he thought that was out of line. We are also taking about
$250 million a mile for a project that has less merit than any previous project there is. The measure
before us is the language for the voters. Previous speakers said the language in the measure clarifies
it. But the method used for lane loss is so preposterous, so dubious and intentionally so, and you all
know it. There is only one reason to use that fog of this percentage of the entire five-mile radius. It
is so people cannot figure out that Metro/TriMet has declared that 2.4 lane miles will be lost on
Barbur Boulevard which is also Pacific Highway. We know that additional capacity will be lost in the
future because the massive infrastructure of light rail will obstruct any corrective projects for
intersections, turn lanes and ramps for expansion for bottlenecks. He said he was glad 99W and
bottlenecks was mentioned because the very money, the $1.5 billion of local, state and regional
money that will be spent for this boondoggle is the very money that could be used to relieve these
bottlenecks, like the overpass with two lanes going each direction. The net effect of what is being
proposed in this meritless project will be to make a bottleneck that is essentially seven or eight miles
long because there will be no way to expand because light rail will be crammed next to the freeway
and 2.4 miles of Barbur. If you are honest you would correct the language so people would have a
clear idea of exactly what the detriment will be. But that is not your objective here so we will see you
in November and I look forward to the battle and a good victory as well.
Joe Jumalon, 14425 SW 93`d Avenue, Tigard, OR, 97223 said he has lived in Tigard for 11 years.
Tigard is a suburban community and he lives here because it is not Portland. He said he knocked on
hundreds of doors so my neighbors could have a vote for or against light rail because that has always
been your intention. Let's be honest, light rail will take up valuable road space and do nothing to
reduce traffic congestion. You have to get in your car, drive and park to get to on a light rail train.
You are in a suburban community and its going to do nothing for us. It is all about the federal
money, in my view. This is the only thing it could be. Barbur Boulevard is part of 99W and this will
create a nightmare for cars to share that road with light rail. I am not a special interest; I am not a
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 www.tigard-or.gov Page 12 of 18
carpetbagger. I'm not a wolf in sheep's clothing as our opposition which you supported advocated
me as being. He said he lives down the street from John Goodhouse and helped get him elected. I
helped to get John Cook elected and was hoping to get a voice in this, someone who would put
something objective to the voters out there, not something biased like some of the Cityscape
newsletters. There is no greater representation than your own voice and I am kind of bothered that
I had to knock on doors to get a public vote on light rail. Council should have done that for us. I am
bothered by this because I had to do it twice because we knocked on the wrong doors in the wrong
town. Despite that, I want to be treated fairly this time. If you are going to put something on the
ballot I want it to be objective. I do not want to read, "This will make Tigard so wonderful and
great." I expect people who profit from light rail to treat us better than what they did when they
tried to oppose my neighbors' and my votes when we tried to get this on the ballot. He held up a
printed piece from a previous political campaign and said it was disingenuous. He said he was upset
after reading what the city wants to put forward. I do not think it is fair. I want you to be fair to the
people you represent.
Neutral—
Art Crino, 14580 SW 126th Avenue,Tigard, OR 97224, said he has lived in Tigard for 50 years and
one month. He said he feels indebted to all who serve on the Tigard City Council and to those who
serve in the legislature. He knows what the jobs require and the compensation involved. He said
one-on-one with any councilor he had no complaints. He said however, there is a fly in the
ointment. The Secretary of State of state mangles the titles to the petitions that are presented there
and it leaves a bad taste to the people that collect the petitions and sign the petitions. It is sad that it
puts a cloud on the whole building in Salem. He asked for one thing from council. He holds Eric
Winters in high regard as an attorney and he asked council to work with him to get a level playing
field on this title of this petition so that when ballot are counted and we look back we will believe
that everyone got a fair shake and we can continue on in this fine city.
Robert Van Vlack, 15585 SW 109th Avenue,Tigard, OR 97224, addressed public funding. He said
there needs to be clarification on the term, "does not impose or increase any fees or taxes." He
heard one person testify that it will not cost the city of Tigard anything to put in the light rail. That
is not true at all. As stated before, the City of Tigard has interest in this and residents will pay some
taxes on this. He said he has not been able to get a dollar amount from anyone on what this will
cost the citizens of Tigard once it is funded and running.The City of Milwaukie also had this
problem and their city council had to fund part of the payback to Metro in excess of$300,000 a year
out of the general fund until they were able to get a bond measure for$4 million. He said there
should be something in this language that says the residents of Tigard will have to pay an estimated
amount of so many million dollars at that point.
Response to testimony by staff-
Councilor Goodhouse asked for the ballot title language be copied and made available at the front
of the room. Council President Snider clarified with City Manager Wine that this language was
posted in the online packet last week.
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd., Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 13 of 18
Councilor Woodard asked City Attorney Ramis about the process for the three pieces of legislation
to be considered separately. City Attorney Ramis clarified that council can discuss them at one time
because they took testimony at one time but they require separate deliberation and vote.
Council President Snider asked City Attorney Ramis if he thought the comment about it being
disingenuous to say it does not impose or increase local fees and taxes had merit. He said it is
factually obvious that there will be a local match for any project but it is unclear where or how that
local match will be raised. City Attorney Ramis said the proposed title is correct. The argument
that we should put into the measure a statement about Tigard imposing fees or charges for light rail
of$20 million would not be accurate given Charter Section 52 which prohibits the city from
imposing fees or charges for the purpose of developing light rail unless the voters approve.
Councilor Woodard asked City Attorney Ramis for clarification that the ballot measure was not for
funding. City Attorney Ramis said that was correct.
Councilor Goodhouse mentioned that copies of the Charter amendment (City of Tigard Charter
Section 53) were at the front of the room so people could compare its requirements with the ballot
title.
Council President Snider asked for staff and city attorney reaction to feedback that it is an omission
not to indicate that federal grants would support only half of the project. Community Development
Director Asher said a previous version had a sentence reading, "Federal grants are planned to pay
half of this cost."We are playing with word count limits. He said he did not have trouble saying
that federal grants will pay for half of this project because that is a safe assumption. He said he was
uncomfortable giving any indication of what any other entity's contribution might be absent a
finance plan. He said it there is a lot of work to do on financing and speculating that the city would
have a particular requirement for anything is premature. City Attorney Ramis said we have a
requirement that what we say is accurate. We really do not know what it will be. What we did put in
is accurate and that is without federal funding there will be no project.
Council President Snider asked if the 2.4 lane miles loss figure was accurate,if that is a measure used
by project planning staff and is it accurate for traffic engineering. Community Development
Director Asher said stating lane miles as a loss of capacity is erroneous. There is still no alignment
decision. City Attorney Ramis said they looked at the problem of capacity and wondered if they
could get there by measuring linear miles but realized it would not address what the charter language
asks. Council President Snider asked if the charter had said lane miles then would that have been
what was used and Mr. Ramis said yes. He added that some people may be interested in lane mile
measurement and the city can make it available to them but not in the ballot title.
Mr. Asher referred to the map from the DKS report which is an appendix to the ordinance and to
figure 1 which is the vehicle lane impact map. There are many options, from maintaining existing
through lanes to options that convert turn lanes to light rail lanes. Council President Snider asked if
he had heard the 2.4 lane mile loss figure. Engineer Coffee said there was a lot of discussion and the
entire alignment range varies from a loss of 1.1 to 2.6 lane miles but this does not mean there is a
related capacity impact. He said there are some lane miles converted to light rail that are mainly in
the far north reaches of the corridor in SW Portland.
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES —JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 14 of 18
Councilor Woodard asked Engineer Coffee how he arrived at the critical intersections on existing
roadways in the year 2025. Engineer Coffee said they analyzed traffic operating conditions in the am
peak hour and pm peak hour for the year 2025. They analyzed the intersections to see which operate
now at lower service levels and these are identified in their report. Then they analyzed which
intersections may be impacted by light rail.Pedestrians requesting a walk signal and crossing Barbur
also impact the traffic flow. Whether light rail is built or not there will be more pedestrians living
there and crossing the street so traffic will be impacted. Some capacity is impacted by light rail but
some will be impacted anyway by population growth.
Councilor Goodhouse asked for the word count and City Attorney Ramis said the limit is 175 for
the Summary and it was at 171. Council President Snider asked if there was room to spell out 0.03
percent. Councilor Goodhouse said he wanted to squeeze in wording that there will be a local
match. He said it may be confusing for people without that clarification.
e. Staff Recommendation.
Community Development Director Asher said staff recommends adoption of two
ordinances and one resolution referring a measure to the voters in November 2016.
f. Mayor Cook closed the public hearing.
g. Council Discussion and Consideration: Ordinance No. 16-11
Councilor Goodhouse asked that words be added to indicate that the funding will be from
federal grants and local funding. Mayor Cook said using the word"local" may be confusing
because people may think it is only Tigard that would participate locally. He suggested using
the word"regional." City Attorney Ramis said choosing a percentage runs the risk of being
inaccurate. He referred to Mr.Winters'recommendation and said it could read, "The
estimated $2.4-2.8 billion project would only be built if federal grants and local funding
sources are secured." Regional could be used instead of local.
Councilor Goodhouse recommended keeping it clear and concise so voters know this is an
up or down vote.
Council President Snider suggested adding the word "specifically" so it reads, "The
ordinance specifically does not impose any new fees or taxes." This may address concerns
opponents raised. He commented that Oregon law is very limiting on word count and makes
it difficult to say all we want to say.
Councilor Woodard say he sees three potential routes into Tigard and is concerned about
circulation and parking in downtown Tigard. He said he wants to fight for a commitment to
an Ash Street crossing with a loop. He wants something in the explanatory statement about
which loop we are looking at. He said he does not oppose rail and agrees with the
ordinances but wants to get a commitment for this crossing. He said he does not want to
contribute to something he did not intend to do. Community Development Director Asher
said the Ash Avenue crossing is not specifically provided for in the SW Corridor project.
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 15 of 18
Mayor Cook said this is not what tonight's vote is about. No matter which alignment is
selected an Ash Street crossing is not guaranteed. However, no alignment excludes it either.
There are other things besides light rail (bike paths, sidewalks) in the project and these are in
tiered "buckets." At this point Ash Street crossing is in bucket No. 1 but there is no
guarantee that it will happen. TriMet cannot guarantee that. Mayor Cook is trying to keep it
as a priority and hopefully TriMet can leverage their relationship with the railroad at some
point in the future. In response to a question from Councilor Woodard on timing, he said
the project will go through the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) for a year or two. They
will come back with what is acceptable or not for each of the three options. Then the
Steering Committee will come up with the local preferred alternative and then at that time
we decide which we recommend. However, the federal government can still override that
recommendation. Around 2018 there will be a regional vote on funding. He reminded
council that the vote tonight is on whether or not to put something on the ballot that will
allow light rail to come to Tigard.
Council President Snider moved to adopt Ordinance No. 16-11. Councilor Woodard
seconded the motion.
City Recorder Krager read the number of title of the ordinance.
ORDINANCE NO. 16-11—AN ORDINANCE TO PROVIDE A
PROCEDURE FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF TIGARD CITY CHARTER
SECTION 53.0 RELATING TO CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW HIGH-
CAPACITY TRANSIT CORRIDOR PROJECT
City Recorder Krager conducted a roll call vote.
Yes No
Councilor Goodhouse V
Councilor Henderson V
Council President Snider V
Councilor Woodard V
Mayor Cook V
Mayor Cook announced that Ordinance No. 16-11 was adopted unanimously.
Council President Snider moved to adopt Ordinance No. 16-12. Councilor Henderson
seconded the motion.
City Recorder Krager read the number of title of the ordinance.
ORDINANCE NO. 16-12 —AN AUTHORIZATION ORDINANCE TO
ALLOW SUPPORT FOR SITING OF A NEW HIGH-CAPACITY
TRANSIT CORRIDOR FOR LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT SERVICE WHICH
INCLUDES DOWNTOWN TIGARD, RELATED AMENDMENTS TO
THE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND LAND USE REGULATIONS,
PROVIDING REQUIRED INFORMATION AND OTHER ACTIONS
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 16 of 18
City Recorder Krager conducted a roll call vote.
Yes No
Councilor Goodhouse ✓
Councilor Henderson ✓
Council President Snider V
Councilor Woodard V
Mayor Cook ✓
Ordinance No. 16-12 passed unanimously.
Council Consideration of Resolution No. 16-27
Council discussed wording changes to address concerns raised by Mr. Winters and other testifiers.
Councilor Woodard reiterated that he has never been against light rail and realizes the need. He said
he expects every councilor to fight for better circulation in the downtown area. He commented that
the city can build all the housing we want but we still need better circulation and parking.
Councilor Goodhouse reminded the audience that there are always public testimony opportunities at
meetings such as the SW Corridor Steering Committee and others and he urged people to attend
and give their opinion.
Councilor Snider moved for adoption of Resolution No. 16-27 with amendments. Councilor
Goodhouse seconded the motion. City Attorney Ramis read the amended paragraph, "The
estimated $2.4-2.8 billion project would only be built if federal grants and regional funding are
secured. This ordinance does not impose or increase any fees or taxes."
City Recorder Krager read the number and title of the resolution.
RESOLUTION NO. 16-27 - A RESOLUTION OF THE TIGARD CITY
COUNCIL SUBMITTING TO THE VOTERS A PROPOSED AUTHORIZING
ORDINANCE TO BE CONSIDERED AT THE NOVEMBER 8, 2016
ELECTIONS,WHICH WOULD AUTHORIZE SITING AND CONSTRUCTION
OF A HIGH-CAPACITY CORRIDOR PROJECT IN THE CITY OF TIGARD, as
amended
Mayor Cook conducted a vote and the motion passed unanimously.
Yes No
Councilor Goodhouse V
Councilor Henderson V
Council President Snider V
Councilor Woodard V
Mayor Cook V
TIGARD CCDA/CITY COUNCIL MINUTES -JUNE 28, 2016
City of Tigard I 13125 SW Hall Blvd.,Tigard, OR 97223 I www.tigard-or.gov Page 17 of 18