BEAVERTON CITY COUNCIL
REGULAR MEETING
OCTOBER 3, 2005

CALL TO ORDER:

The Regular Meeting of the Beaverton City Council was called to order by Mayor Rob Drake in the Forrest C. Soth City Council Chamber, 4755 SW Griffith Drive, Beaverton, Oregon, on Monday, October 3, 2005, at 6:35 p.m.

ROLL CALL:

Present were Mayor Drake, Couns. Catherine Arnold, Betty Bode, Dennis Doyle, and Fred Ruby. Couns. Cathy Stanton was excused. Also present were City Attorney Alan Rappleyea, Chief of Staff Linda Adlard, Finance Director Patrick O'Claire, Community Development Director Joe Grillo, Engineering Director Tom Ramisch, Operations/ Maintenance Director Gary Brentano, Library Director Ed House, Human Resources Director Nancy Bates, Police Chief David Bishop and City Recorder Sue Nelson.

PRESENTATIONS:

Economic Development Presentation

Mayor Drake said this would be Economic Development Manager Janet Young's last presentation as she was moving on to a new position at the City of Gresham.

Young updated the Council on the Economic Development Strategic Plan (Plan) adopted by the Council in July, 2000. She said the Plan recognized Beaverton was mostly built out and future change would be through redevelopment and additional density. She said the Plan emphasized building on the strength of the local knowledge-based economy.

Young said the first goal of the Plan was to Foster Entrepreneurial Networks that Promote Innovative and Healthy Businesses in Beaverton; this included building a software focused business incubator. She reviewed how the business incubator, now called the Open Technology Business Center (OTBC), was established. She said the OTBC currently housed four startup companies, two innovators and a number of other companies. She said the State continues to work in the Open Technology industry as Oregon has unique strengths in this industry. She said the State awarded the OTBC a $150,000 grant for a program to provide intensive counseling services to the companies in the OTBC. She said this would be an incentive for businesses to locate in the OTBC; it was strongly endorsed by the State. She said the OTBC established Beaverton as a global center in the open source software and related industries. She said the Council's willingness to step outside the box of normal City programs has a real potential to payoff for the City in the long run.

Young said the Plan also called for the City to be involved in regional business organizations and regional economic development efforts. She said in the last five years the City has joined the Software Association of Oregon, the Oregon Entrepreneurs Forum, and has sponsored a Regional Resource Directory through the Oregon Bioscience Association. She said Beaverton has become more visible in the business community and in the region. She said Mayor Drake has also taken a number of steps to increase the City's visibility in regional economic development efforts; he was the Chair of the Metropolitan Economic Policy Task Force in 2003, and he currently Chairs an Economic Development District in this area.

Young said another goal of the Plan was to Develop Business Districts that Are Accessible and Provide Job and Business Opportunities, and Determine Appropriate Redevelopment Tools for Each District. She said as they looked at how to facilitate redevelopment of certain districts, it was clear the Greenfield area developments were well handled. She said extra effort was needed in downtown Beaverton, so that was where Economic Development efforts were focused. She said the obvious place to start the redevelopment was The Round. She said the efforts of the City Council and Mayor's Office to get The Round project moving were instrumental in going forward with the revitalization of the downtown. She said they also worked with the Oregon Legislature to change State law to facilitate downtown redevelopment. She said the Vertical Housing Tax Abatement Program and changes to the rules on City and County redevelopment projects that allow sale of non-recourse revenue bonds for certain Economic Development projects were tools now used to assist the redevelopment of downtown Beaverton.

Young said the Plan confirmed that rents and parking requirements for the downtown area often blocked redevelopment projects. She said in recognition of this and other cost premiums in regional centers, Metro has allocated two million dollars to be used in a transit oriented project near The Round. She said staff was working with Metro to use these funds to further the success that has begun at The Round. She said the Hall/Watson Redevelopment Plan was also a result of the Plan and work was continuing on the improvements to Watson Street, both north and south of Canyon Road.

Young said another goal of the Plan was to capture the opportunities of a new knowledge-based economy by having a skilled work force and strong connections between business and education. She said the City worked with a number of agencies in Washington County to create the Work Force Alliance to make the work force system more accessible to employers. She said they continue to work with employment agencies to refine the system. She said she participated on the Multnomah Washington Regional Investment Board; the Board receives lottery dollars to be used for creating jobs in these two counties. She said as a result of this work the employers in Beaverton have a clearer way to access work force issues.

Young concluded by thanking the Council for its foresight in establishing the Plan five years ago. She also thanked the City for providing the leadership required to move the Plan forward on a number of different fronts. She said it had been a pleasure to work in the dynamic environment at the City. She thanked Chief of Staff Linda Adlard and Mayor Drake for their leadership and for their confidence in her.

Mayor Drake thanked Young for the presentation.

Coun. Doyle said it was a treat to serve on the Committee that put the Plan together. He said the best part was watching how Young managed to heavily involve the private sector in every aspect. He said he thought there was three of her when he looked at all her remarkable accomplishments. He said she would be missed and he appreciated her work. He said this was a tremendously positive action and she was a major player accomplishing a great deal of good for the City of Beaverton.

Young thanked Coun. Doyle for his comments and said this was a team effort. She recognized her staff; Jennifer Polley, Michael Parkhurst and Christy Herr who assisted in all phases economic development.

Coun. Ruby thanked Ms. Young for the innovative programs and speakers she brought to the economic development presentations and forums in the City.

Coun. Bode said she wished to acknowledge Young's generosity in sharing her development knowledge and skills in the assessment of the City's strengths. She also acknowledged Young's graciousness in her professional approach to developing relationships with the building communities and the developers in the City and region. She assured Young that her vision, work and commitment enriched the City. She thanked Young on behalf of the City and Council, and presented her with a floral bouquet.

Coun. Doyle presented Young with a shirt.

Mayor Drake thanked Young and said he looked forward to working with her on a regional level.

VISITOR COMMENT PERIOD:

Henry Kane, Beaverton, said the Highway 217 Project Advisory Committee's recommendations were currently being circulated for comment. He said this was one of the most important issues the City must address. He said there was pressure to support the toll lane option. He said if the consultants could not demonstrate the toll lane option was economical, then the Council should make a decision that it is not economical and then it should concentrate on obtaining funds to improve Highway 217 to six full lanes before the Year 2089. He said there was funding available to do this and he would provide the Council with additional information.

COUNCIL ITEMS:

There were none.

STAFF ITEMS:

There were none.

CONSENT AGENDA:

Coun. Bode MOVED, SECONDED by Coun. Ruby that the Consent Agenda be approved as follows:

05174 Transfer of Two Properties from Washington County with Stormwater Quality Structures

Question called on the motion. Couns. Arnold, Bode, Doyle, and Ruby voting AYE, the MOTION CARRIED unanimously. (4:0)

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to come before the Council at this time, the meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.

APPROVAL:

Approved this 10th day of October, 2005.

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Rob Drake, Mayor