Good evening. Welcome to
Vancouver City Council. This is.
The 20th of July 2026. We had a
report on the community survey
that came in. Then we used that
information to discuss with the
city manager the biennium
budget, biennial budget. We
then went into executive
session to discuss real estate.
No decisions were made in
executive session. We are now
in a regular council meeting.
Would you please stand and join
me in the Pledge of Allegiance?
I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which
it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all. Thank you,
Miss Maroon. Please call the
roll.
>> Council member. Harless.
Present. Perez.
>> Present.
>> Fox. Here. Paulson. Here.
Stober. Here. Hanson. Mayor.
McEnerny. Ogle.
>> Present.
>> Mayor moved to excuse.
Council member Hanson.
>> Seconded by Fox. All those
in favor, say aye.
>> Aye.
>> Opposed. Motion passes.
Thank you. Let's move into the
approval of the minutes. You
have the minutes of July 13th.
Are there any corrections or
changes.
>> To approve?
>> Fox. Seconded by Paulson.
Those in favor say aye.
>> Aye.
>> Opposed? Motion passes.
Thank you. We'll now have a
opportunity to share some
proclamations. The first
proclamation we have this
evening is the community based
Worker Awareness Week, and we
have Betsy Larson with us this
evening. Hi, Betsy. Let me read
a little bit and then we'll
grab a quick photo here.
Whereas community based workers
are trusted members of
Vancouver and Southwest
Washington's care and support
network, helping connect
communities to resources,
services and systems of care.
Whereas, Vancouver community
members benefit from community
based workers who help people
access health care, housing
support food resources,
behavioral health services,
transportation assistance, and
other supports that contribute
to health and well-being. And
community based workers reflect
the cultural, linguistic, and
lived diversity of the
communities they serve, and
many draw from their own lived
experiences to build authentic
relationships, reduce barriers,
and help individuals and
families navigate systems that
can often feel difficult to
access or understand. They
support individuals and
families across Vancouver by
helping them understand
services, ask questions, build
confidence, and navigate
systems more independently.
Over time. They bring important,
community centered insight to
local advocacy, program
development, and policy
conversations that affect
Vancouver community members. So
now therefore, I. Anne McEnerny
Ogle, Mayor of Vancouver,
Washington, do hereby proclaim
the week of July 20th through
24 of 2026 as community based
Worker Awareness Week in the
City of Vancouver and encourage
community members to honor this
workforce and help more people
understand the value community
based workers bring to
residents, families,
organizations, and systems care.
Betsy, please join me over on
the wall for a photo.
>> Good evening, Mayor McEnerny
Ogle, members of the City
Council and members of our
community. My name is Betsy
Larson and I am the executive
director of the Southwest
Washington Accountable
Community of Health, commonly
known as swatch. I'm grateful
to be joined this evening by
members of our team, community
partners, and community based
workers from across the region.
As we recognize community based
Worker Awareness Week, I want
to begin by speaking directly
to the community based workers
that are here tonight and those
that are serving throughout our
region. Thank you. Thank you
for showing up for each day
with compassion, persistence,
and a deep commitment to your
communities. Thank you for
building trust, helping people
overcome barriers, and ensuring
that individuals and families
feel seen, heard and supported.
This week gives us an
opportunity to bring greater
visibility to a workforce whose
contributions are essential,
but too often happen quietly
behind the scenes. It's a time
to celebrate community based
workers, deepen public
understanding of their role,
and reaffirm reaffirm the
importance of valuing and
investing in this workforce. We
also recognize the many partner
organizations that employ,
support and develop community
based workers. Their commitment
creates the conditions for this
essential work to continue,
strengthens collaboration
across our region, and helps
ensure that more people can
receive support from someone
that they trust. At swatch,
we're honored to work alongside
this incredible network and
witness its impact every day.
Community based workers not
only connect people with
resources, they also help
organizations and systems
advance health equity and
respond to the community's true
needs. Thank you, Mayor
McEnerny Ogle and the Vancouver
City Council for recognizing
Community Based Awareness Week
and honoring this essential
workforce and once again, to
every community based worker
serving in our region. Thank
you. Our communities are more
connected, responsive, and
stronger because of you. Thanks.
>> Thank you.
>> And next, we have Disability
Pride Month with Angel. Oh, hi
Angel. Come on up. Let me read
a little here. Whereas
Americans with Disabilities Act
was passed on July 26th, 1990,
to ensure the civil rights of
members of the disability
community. The month of July
provides an opportunity to
recognize and honor that
landmark event, as well as the
achievements and resilience of
this large and diverse group.
The City of Vancouver is home
to the Washington State School
for the Blind and Washington
School for the deaf, as well as
more than 20,000 people with
disabilities, encompassing
individuals of all races,
genders, ages, income levels
and backgrounds. And Whereas,
local disability leaders have
worked tirelessly to dismantle
systemic ableism and make
Vancouver more accessible, more
inclusive and more responsive,
Vancouver's committed to
centering the voices of
disabled people in our city,
planning public services and
civic processes, recognizing
that access is not a privilege
but a fundamental human right.
Whereas, Disability Pride Month
is not only a celebration of
disability, identity and
culture, it's also a call to
action to confront ableism,
eliminate barriers, and
transform systems that continue
to marginalize disabled people.
Therefore, I and McEnerny Ogle,
mayor, the City of Vancouver,
Washington, do hereby proclaim
the month of July 2026 as
Disability Pride Month in the
City of Vancouver, and I urge
all community members to
celebrate the vital
contributions, leadership and
strength of the disability
community to examine and
dismantle ableism in all of its
forms, and to work together
toward a city where all people
of every ability belong and
thrive. Angel, let's walk to
the wall.
>> Coming out of the woodwork.
>> You.
>> Good evening. I'm Angel
Kettwig, Transportation
Services Manager. On behalf of
Community in Motion, I would
like to thank the City of
Vancouver for proclaiming. July
is Disability Pride Month and
for recognizing the importance
of the Americans with
Disabilities Act. This
proclamation is a meaningful
reminder that accessibility,
inclusion, and equal
opportunity are essential to a
strong community. Disability
Pride Month celebrates the
achievements, contributions and
resilience of people with
disabilities while reaffirming
our commitment to removing
barriers and creating
opportunities for everyone to
participate fully in community
life. For 80 years, Community
in Motion has honored to
support our neighbors through
transportation and other
essential services. We are
proud to stand alongside the
City of Vancouver in advancing
the vision of a more accessible
and inclusive community for all.
Thank you to the City of
Vancouver for this proclamation,
and thank you all for helping
make our community stronger,
more welcoming and more
connected.
>> Thank you.
>> All right. That brings us
into communication with the
community on consent agenda
items. I do not have anyone who
has signed up to testify on
these agenda items. Councilors
you have in front of you. Items
one through ten. Are there any
items you'd like to pull item
for? Any other? Okay, I'll
entertain a motion for items
one, two and three, five
through ten.
>> Move to approve. Paulson.
>> Paulson. Seconded by Fox.
All those in favor, say aye.
>> Aye.
>> Opposed? Motion passes.
Thank you very much. Let's take
item number four. Councilor Fox,
please.
>> All right. This is an item
about disposal of recreational
vehicles that are in city
limits. And just for the rest
of council's perhaps memory. It
was a few years ago, but we had
had a kind of a situation that
was brought to our attention
that the county's sheriff's
office had been moving RV's
into city limits and out of
county limits. And at the time,
our city administrator and and
the then sheriff had had a
conversation. Based on our
awareness of this particular
practice. I don't know if
anyone else remembers this. And
so when I saw this item on the
agenda, I had asked staff if
they were aware of any of that.
Those practices continued, or
if if that's not something that
they're concerned about anymore.
Staff got right back to me,
which was great, mentioned that
they have been tracking. I
think maybe that's too strong,
but they have not noticed this
practice continuing. So maybe
that's a more accurate way to
put that, unless City Manager
has more to say on that. I did
ask for a breakdown of costs,
understanding that county costs
are out of the control of this
particular staff person. But if
they had a contact at the
county, I'd be curious to know
how much the county spends on
disposal of RV vehicles versus
the city. Again, just knowing
that we probably shouldn't be
the ones spending the most
money on disposal of RV
vehicles. So it was a concern I
raised.
>> We recall.
>> Okay.
>> Yeah, I was aware at the
time that there had been
incidences of things like that
happening. I know after the
conversation that my
predecessor had, we're not
aware of any instances that
have happened since then.
>> Okay. Well, I satisfied my
curiosity. I'm glad to know
that that particular practice
is not continuing, especially
with our current sheriff and,
and us. So thank you for that.
And that's all I just wanted to
raise that. I explored that
issue and I, I can make a
motion if we don't have other
questions.
>> No other questions. I'll
entertain a motion.
>> Move to approve item four.
>> Seconded by Harless. All
those in favor, say aye.
>> Aye.
>> Opposed? Motion passes. City
manager. You did get those
scrivener's errors on decimal
points and commas on item three.
Thank you very much. That moves
us into public hearings. And we
have one this evening. This is
the ordinance amending
Vancouver Municipal Code 14.26
Water Resources protection.
It's an ordinance relating to
water resources protection by
establishing developmental
regulations and minimum
standards to reduce the risk of
contaminants entering water
resources. Amending sections
14.20 6.100, 14.26.1, ten,
14.26.1, 12, 14.26.1, 30 and
14.26.135 and adding section
14.26.137 to the Vancouver
Municipal Code. Let's go ahead
and have a staff report, please.
>> Thank you Chris. Yeah. Good
evening, Mayor and City Council.
Chris Hollinger, the city's
utility engineering manager and
public works that. Went twice.
Sorry, it was a little slow. So
tonight we're going to share
some proposed updates to the
city's Water Resources
Protection Ordinance as it
relates to critical areas.
We'll recap the purpose of the
proposed amendments and
highlight changes, as well as
work done since last fall.
>> Scoot a little closer to
that microphone.
>> Something's not picking up.
Well, okay. How's that? Better.
>> Okay. Sorry. Yeah. We'll
recap the purpose of the
ordinance. Proposed amendments
highlight changes since our
last falls workshop. You may
recall, we previously shared
the importance of protecting
critical aquifer recharge areas
and our drinking water
resources while using best
available science, as well as
how the proposed code updates
will further protect water
quality while also providing
clear and consistent permitting
requirements for the
development community. These
updates are the final piece of
the critical area updates to
comply with the Growth
Management Act. And as
discussed previously, the
purpose of this update is
specifically to adhere to those
requirements under the state's
Growth Management Act.
Specifically, tonight we're
going to talk about critical
aquifer recharge areas. All the
other critical areas have been
addressed under the title 20
changes that were approved by
council in June. So this is the
last portion of that, bringing
city code into compliance with
best available science
recommendations. Key updates
that will make that code
consistent is changing our
wellhead protection zones from
a fixed radius around a city
municipal wellhead, to using
computer modeling to determine
one, five, and ten year time of
travel zones around these
wellhead. So adding additional
protections. And we're also
clarifying submittal
requirements. The code
continues to restrict
activities that pose a risk to
groundwater contamination.
Since last fall, we've
completed a review of State
Environmental Protection Act,
CPA review, and a determination
of Non-significance was issued
in January. We've also had the
state Department of Commerce
review completed in April,
received substantial comments
from Department of Health, and
we've addressed those in these
code amendments, and the timing
of these updates is aligned
with the recently adopted
Comprehensive Plan and Title 20
code updates. Tonight, we're
asking to just move the public
hearing forward and adopt the
amended code, and I'm here for
questions. Okay, open that up,
councilors.
>> Do you have questions,
Councilor Fox? Go ahead.
>> Really, the reviewing all
the materials, everything was
really clear. I appreciated,
you know, going through the red
lines. And like I said,
understanding what you're
trying to do and appreciate the
using computer modeling instead
of these, you know, arbitrary
distances away from our
wellheads as being a huge step
forward for the protection of
our water. I did have one very
small amendment and I, I shared
it with staff. It's just, you
know, understanding that a lot
of these code updates sometimes
are an opportunity to make sure
that we're using inclusive
language. We're not still using
he did this or which was kind
of the trend, but there is one
section on page five where they
utilize the term man made. And
I just suggested that we change
that word on page five to human
made staff. Agreed because
there was other terms you could
use. But it's in terms of the
definition of illicit
connection, it says, means any
man made conveyance that is
connected to a municipal
separate storm water sewer
without a permit, and then it
goes on. So it's a small change.
Our city attorney said that
this small change wouldn't
require a new public hearing.
If the rest of council agrees
with me that that terminology
should be updated. And that's
all I had.
>> Thank you. Any other
comments? Yes, councilor.
>> Thank you. So can we go back
to the map? Yeah. So can you
talk about how we interact with
the county? Because there's a
lot of those areas that are
outside the city limits. So can
you talk about that
relationship with the county?
>> Yes. The county also has a
critical aquifer recharge area
ordinance. And when those areas
of the city wells encompass
that, they have a review, that
they require information come
in and they have a consultant
that helps them review and
approve those. Right now,
there's no collaboration. The
county doesn't reach out to the
city, but they do review those.
That's probably an area for
improvement, is to understand
their level of review.
>> So so how do they become
aware.
>> They use these maps will be
available on Clark County maps
online.
>> Okay.
>> So they will they will get
that update. Actually they have
that currently.
>> Okay. Beautiful. Thank you
very much. Okay.
>> I'll open the public hearing
and. Miss Marin, am I correct?
There are no registrations. You
don't have any cards? Okay,
I'll close the public hearing.
Bring it back to council.
Council. What would you like to
do?
>> I'll move to approve the
ordinance as presented.
>> Sober. Seconded by.
>> Is there a point of
clarification? Does this
include the suggestion to
change man made to human made.
>> Miss city attorney? Does
that need to be in the motion?
>> It does.
>> Then I suggest it die by
lack of a second.
>> Motion has died for lack of
a second.
>> Move to adopt the ordinance.
With the correction from man
made to human made.
>> Second seconded from
Councilor Fox. Roll call. Vote
please.
>> Council member Harless I
Perez.
>> Fox I.
>> Paulson I Stauber. I mayor
McEnerny Ogle I.
>> Motion passes unanimously.
Thank you very much. That
concludes the hearing. It
brings us into communications
from the council. Councilor
Harless.
>> Yes.
>> Councilor Perez.
>> Yes. Council members, I
forwarded to you a draft
resolution in support of a
county wide ban on
cryptocurrency related to the
growing role in financial
exploitation of our vulnerable
adults. So this draft
resolution is from the Elder
Justice Center Executive Board.
And so I want to make sure that
as a council members, we have
the chance to take a look at it
and support it before or right
after next week, next week's
meeting. So you have a week to
take a look at it. Let me know
what you think.
>> Okay?
>> Okay. Thank you.
>> Councilor Fox.
>> I do support that resolution.
I did have a chance to read it,
and I see that your signature
would be affirmed to it. Okay.
Other than that, I'll pass
tonight.
>> Thank you, Councilor Paulson.
Councilor Stapper.
>> Yes. So, colleagues, on
Friday, I was able to pop into
the East Vancouver Business
Association meeting that was
held at Trillium Employment
Services. So tying into the
resolution or the. Yeah,
resolution, we had proclamation.
Proclamation. Thank you.
Eventually we'll get there.
That we had today. So, Mr. City
Manager, the as you send out
your survey, I would love to
see us think through. Being
able to integrate adults with
development or with different
disabilities into our workforce
here at the city. So if you
could put that into the list of
potential prioritizations. And
another one kind of related is
there was there was some talk
about different language stuff,
but sign language becoming more
of a standard in our city.
Communications, I think would
be a great thing. So those
would be two things I'd love to
have you add to the council's
wish list prioritization
activity that we're going to do.
Thank you.
>> Thank you councilor. Thank
you so very much for
introducing all the different
concerts on Thursday night, on
Sunday night. All of that
information is on the community
calendar found on the city's
website. One thing that you
might not be aware of, which is
an interesting opportunity. The
Two keys community has field
Day, and so take a look at that.
It will be coming up, I believe,
on the 31st, but it's one of
those opportunities at Columbia
River where people from around
our entire state and Oregon
come to have track and field.
So what a great opportunity
we're we're blessed to do that.
City manager, you have a couple
things on your list.
>> Yeah, we've got a couple of
presentations tonight. So while
Laura makes her way up here to
talk to the council about the
what we're planning to do for
coordinating for the southbound
closure of I-5, I just wanted
to note a couple of items that
I jotted down for follow up
from tonight. One is to dig
into the data from the
community survey to see if we
can identify any of the
underlying causes for why
there's such a difference in
perceptions of safety between
our white community and people
of color in the community. And
then we owe you some
information on the public
engagement plan for the budget.
Laura.
>> Laura, I didn't mean to do
that.
>> Good evening, Mayor and City
Council. I'm Laura Shepherd,
director of communications for
the city. So good to see you
again. I'm here today to
provide an overview of
communications for the upcoming
closure of the I-5 southbound
project. As part of the Rose
quarter Improvement project.
You might be wondering why I'm
coming to talk to you about an
Oregon Department of
Transportation project. I'm
here because of the anticipated
impact on Vancouver from from
the closures, scale and
duration. So starting September
11th, all southbound lanes of
I-5 will be completely closed
for up to five weeks in the
Rose quarter area that you can
see there on on the map, this
is a 24 hour a day, seven day a
week closure. I'm going to
refer to Oregon Department of
Transportation as Odot for the
remaining of the briefing for
for brevity, Odot anticipates
southbound travel times could
double or triple compared to a
typical day with peak morning
and afternoon commute
congestion expected to extend
into Vancouver. If commuters
maintain their regular routines.
Following a review of Odot's
public information plan, which
they generously shared with us
a couple of months ago,
communications began actively
reaching out to our local
stakeholders to foster
awareness and discuss local
impacts. Odot does have a
robust communication plan that
includes advertising in
channels that will reach
Vancouver residents, but given
the scale of the project, we
will communicate with our own
audiences to raise awareness
and encourage changes with
commuting habits. Our goal is
to keep the community informed
by serving as a proactive,
reliable source of information.
Our messaging objective is
fairly simple. We want to
encourage changes in commuting
and driving habits if possible.
We also want to provide
information in an actionable
way that tells people what to
expect and how to plan. So
we're telling people to expect
significant delays while
traveling on I-5 southbound
during the project, but we're
also telling people to plan. So
we're going to be encouraging
people to change their commute
and travel times if they can.
We're going to be encouraging
them to use trip planning tools,
riding public transit if they
can, or carpooling, working
remotely if possible. And of
course, staying informed. We're
we will be using all of our
various channels that we have
as a city to distribute
verified information from our
project partners. I started
direct outreach with some of my
local communication peers, such
as the Port of Vancouver,
C-TRAN, Clark County and
Washington Department of
Transportation and other local
jurisdictions. We're also
reaching out to our
neighborhood associations. We
started that actually a little
shortly after we initially
heard of the project from Odot.
We're also going to be reaching
out to businesses, community
groups and event organizers who
are hosting events during this
closure window. We're also
talking to our get their
Southwest Washington staff, and
they're going to be looking at
canvasing small businesses in
the downtown area with posters,
as well as communicating to our
commute trip reduction
employees. Wasch will also
share information in their
communication channels as well,
also on variable messaging
signs. And they're also taking
the lead on monitoring the
impact on I-5 and other routes
as it stretches into Vancouver.
They're going to be using the
tools they have available to
them to help with traffic flow,
as well as communicate
alternate routes. At this point,
I want to invite Eric Florip,
communications manager from
C-TRAN, and Rose Gerber, Public
Outreach and Media Manager from
Odot, to join me. In case you
have any specific questions
about the project. Wasch dot
wanted to be here with us
tonight, but their schedules
did not quite line up, and I
believe we have Ryan Lopossa,
who might be on here remotely
to answer any localized
questions you have about
Vancouver's streets and roads.
But I've been in close
conversation with Ryan, so if
he couldn't make it, I will do
my best to play Ryan unless I
can talk Mr. Wall to joining us
as well. With that, do you can
we answer any questions?
Council.
>> Always go ahead, Councilor
Fox.
>> Well, one of the things I
was thinking is I thankfully
don't have to commute into
Oregon for a job, but I do go
into Oregon for sporting events
and other activities. And I do
utilize C-TRAN and light rail
for those activities. Are they
going to increase the frequency
of those services? Is C-TRAN
gets you right to that
interstate light rail stop?
>> Yeah, I can jump in on that.
Good evening, Mayor Council.
I'm Eric Florip, manager of
communications and marketing
for C-TRAN. So first of all, I
want to thank Laura and the
city for being proactive in
starting the conversation with
all of our partner agencies to
make sure we're on the same
page as to what this is going
to look like and what people
can expect. To answer your
question, councilor, we are
going to have some detours and
service modifications in place.
Most of that impact is going to
be on our regional express
routes that go to Portland,
obviously, because it's a
closer service, will look a
little different because we do
have to adjust routing that we
would typically use to get to
downtown. But one of the steps
we're taking is our 105 route.
That typically goes from 99th
Street Transit Center in Hazel
Dell to downtown Vancouver, and
then continues on to downtown
Portland. We're going to adjust
that to actually focus more on
making that connection at Delta
Park with the yellow line. So
the frequency of that service
will be as good or better than
the existing 105, and it will
be timed to line up with the
departure times of the yellow
line, leaving Delta Park and
continuing on to downtown
Portland. So we would expect
that to be a more reliable trip,
given the uncertainty of being
on the freeway going south
especially. So that's that's
part of our plan. Among other
service adjustments that will
be in place during the closure.
>> And that's good to know.
>> Thank you. If I can make a
clarification for viewers who
might not know what the yellow
line is, he's referring to Max
light rail.
>> And the 105 was a regular
commute for me when I did work
in Oregon. So it's good to know
that that is being strengthened
for this particular time period.
>> Yeah. And if I may add the
105 X, which is a slightly
different route that goes
direct from 99th Street Transit
Center to downtown Portland
without stopping in downtown
Vancouver. That will continue
to run on that direct shot all
the way down for commuters who
want to choose that option,
with the caveat that, of course,
travel times may look very
different depending on what the
impact of the traffic and
closure will be.
>> Okay, thank you.
>> Councilor Perez.
>> Thank you for coming and
sharing, and I wish somebody
from Washed-out was here, but
maybe Ryan Lopossa can answer
this. I'm just envisioning this
24 hour, seven days a week for
up to five weeks of our
commuting workforce in East
Vancouver and East County,
Clark County, trying to get on
205. But as you know, when you
get I-5 backed up, everybody
goes around and comes down 205.
Has there been a plan for any
of that on our end or
discussion?
>> Good evening Council. Steve
Wall, public works director
relative to 205. And actually
just impacts to Vancouver in
general. It's something that
we're going to have to monitor
over time and just see what the
what the impacts actually are.
I think 205 in particular,
right? I do wish Washdot was
here because they would be able
to help answer that more
clearly. As far as impacts,
though, on the surface streets
outside of 205, yeah, we will
definitely have to monitor. And
right now we have not done any
active outreach or, you know,
separate planning or detours,
if you will, for, for that
situation. But again, we'll
have to actively monitor the
activities in there as well. As
Laura and I have talked about
downtown Vancouver as well.
Right. And just as you get off
of I-5 and 205 and onto the
surface streets, it's hard to
tell what the impact will be
exactly, but that's where we'll
need to be active in watching
the the circumstances.
>> Can you elaborate? Maybe at
the next meeting or follow up
with us, what exactly you'll be
monitoring and what would kick
in if you find what so and in
particular, I'm just thinking
about our, our commuting
workforce trying to get across
to a five and or I-5 and they
can coming down to a five. And
I know that 14 is usually
backed up. So if you can give
me a better idea of what
monitoring looks like and what
you're looking for.
>> You bet. And again, I think
Washdot will be primarily, you
know, watching I-5 14 and 205
and be able to assist there.
And so we'll continue to
coordinate with Washdot on that
as well. And, and see if we can
bring back a little more
information from them for
council.
>> Right. And in particular,
any type of information sharing
with our residents in Vancouver
about this commuting disruption.
>> Definitely. I can share a
little bit what Washdot shared
with me. So they're going to be
monitoring, particularly in
that they're going to be
monitoring for the duration,
but particularly in that first
week, they're going to be
watching traffic flows from
there where they typically
monitor traffic and they have
different tools that they use,
whether it's either managing
the traffic flow on on 14 and
in the areas that that washdot
covers. So they have different
ways of using ramp signals to
either slow down or to slow
down the flow on that, on those
stretches. So they're going to
be using all the tools they
have to be able to manage
traffic flow. And I know
they're going to be putting
staff to actively watching on
their various traffic cameras
to see what that flow looks
like, particularly during those
pivotal, you know, Monday. So
the closure is going to be on
the Friday, but particularly
that Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
and into the rest of that week.
I think that they when they
spoke with me that first week
of watching the traffic is
going to be really pivotal for
them to kind of see what they
do next and be very responsive
as things happen. So but we can
definitely go back to Washdot
and find more detailed
information for all of you.
>> All right.
>> Thank you.
>> Laura. When they were
replacing the Trunion on I-5
many years ago, a heavy rail,
Amtrak had a special run from
Vancouver to Portland. Have you
heard any discussion like that?
>> I.
>> I have not have any of our
partners heard of any of that?
>> The anyone who's been around
for the Trunion replacement,
that was short term and they
got it done quickly.
Unfortunately, this is five
weeks. So this is a major
catastrophe. Okay. Any other
questions? Yes. Councilor
Harless.
>> Two two questions like what
is that communications plan?
What are you thinking right now
would be the communications to
be able to get to our residents?
You know, this isn't, you know,
that far away. And so I think
of parents and, you know, that
might need to leave work early,
might not be able to drop off
their kids. Like, you know, how
what is that communication plan
look like right now that what
ideas do you already have? And
then also. Any of these sort of
additional things, especially
when they're not our decisions,
how are we funding this?
>> Well, the first question. So
we have a full plan already
written. So we're going to be
relying on the the copy and the
materials that Odot has
provided partners. So they have
full fact sheets in multiple
languages. So we're going to be
leaning heavily into not
needing to use our staff time
to rewrite everything, but
really amplify the good
information that they already
have. And so we're going to be
approaching this from more of
what I would call a crisis
communications plan, something
that's of limited duration of
large impacts. So we're going
to be using all of our channels
that we have. So we'll be doing
social media posts. We are
going to be setting up sort of
a resource center on our
website, which is basically
links to Odot's site where they
have a lot of resources, links
to C-TRAN site where they'll
have their routes, any other
tools or materials that the
public might need? We've
already put kind of an early
little kind of teaser
advertisement in the summer
newsletter. I actually did have
a few people call me about that
when they saw that. So people
did see that the fall
newsletter will not go out in
time for this closure, but
we're basically going to be its
multichannel like we do with
most things we do around here.
So social website, we'll be
calling up our local reporters
that we know to let them know
as well. But I know Odot
probably has a Odot has a fully
formed media plan on that as
well. So we don't want to step
on their toes too much. But I
think when it comes to in
Vancouver, we'll use all the
channels that we normally have,
focusing on the messaging that
I mentioned in my in my
comments earlier.
>> Awesome. Thank you for
spelling that out. Yeah. And it
sounds like we'll have our own
page on our, our own website.
>> We are. It's something that
I liken to what. So as an
example, it's something. So
you'll recall we set up the
page regarding Ice and federal
actions. That was kind of this
clearinghouse. It will be also
another example. Page will be
like what we put up on our
website when there's a, when
there's inclement weather or a
snow emergency, we have a
banner on the front page of our
website directing people to
more information. But, but I
think probably social media is
going to be our best bet for
reaching the broadest swath of,
of folks across channels. Of
course, with Odot, Wasch and
C-TRAN all putting information
out in their channels as well
too. I think people would be
hard pressed not to know about
it in the coming weeks.
>> Awesome. Yeah. And if we're
one of those tools, that's even
better, I think of, you know,
people trying to convince their
boss like, no, this is really
happening. So the more places
that it's posted that they can
point to, to get approval to
work from home, the better.
Thank you.
>> All right.
>> Yes, councilor Stelmakh.
>> Thank you, mayor, and thank
you all for being here to talk
about this. So the mayor talked
about trunnion. We've actually
done it twice. First time had
the fun zipper. And the thing
that's always worked well is
lots of prior communication
allowed people to make
alternative plans. And so we
end up not having the
Carmageddon that we worried
about because people are able
to make those, those plans.
It's when, it's when it's the
bad crash that closes the
freeway at the last minute that
causes a diversion because
people aren't able to make
alternative plans. What I'm
interested in. So it's great.
There's a plan, but what I
particularly want to hear about
is what is Odot paying for?
Because it's one thing to put
up a Facebook post, and it's
entirely different thing to
have a social media paid social
media campaign. Is Odot going
to be doing? Because unlike
when we did the trunnions,
especially the first trunnion.
People are getting their news
in different ways. And so is
there a paid media plan going
on?
>> I can speak to that. Thank
you, Council and mayor, for
having me. Rose Gurvir with the
Oregon Department of
Transportation. As she
mentioned, I'm the
communications manager for the
project. We do have a budget
for media and paid digital ads.
The paid media we've done, we
did a smaller closure. You may
have noticed earlier, a couple
of weekends ago just to put a
sign bridge in. And so we were
messaging for that as well, to
Vancouver outlets included in
the media plan that we had
developed for that. And those
will continue on to this larger
closure this fall. There's also
paid digital ads as well. So we
have been running social media
campaigns on meta to be able to
get people to sign up for text
alerts. Those run up this
direction as well. And we are
going to be definitely
continuing to leverage our
partnership with City of
Vancouver and Washdot to make
sure that we're providing our
organic strategy as well, and
tagging folks and letting folks
kind of let us do the heavy
lifting and get them the
content and messaging they need
to get the message across
quickly and successfully.
>> Great. Thank you very much.
>> We might also send up some
easy social media to our nine
different chambers of commerce
or business associations and
such, so they can copy and
paste or forward and share.
Especially I'm thinking of all
the businesses that need
supplies delivered across those
bridges, and anyone planning
surgery at different hospitals
and such, because those are
planned far enough ahead.
People will need to rethink how
they're going to get there
should they rent a hotel room
the night before those types of
things. So it is it is so very
different than the Trunnions.
This is going to be a real test
of everybody. So thank you so
very much for jumping on this.
Okay. All right. Thank you.
Let's move on. Oh, we have Miss
Spinelli tonight with a
homeless situation report. Yes
they are. Press.
>> There you go. Okay. Good
evening, Mayor and council.
Jamie Spinelli, homeless
response manager for the city.
So you received four. There are
four documents in the packet.
And that's because we're
switching to more of a
quarterly reporting situation
versus a monthly. So what
you've got are the three
monthlies from the quarter, as
well as kind of a combined
condensed quarterly one. I'm
probably going to be speaking
from both today because I don't
really have it all exactly as I
would like it. So bear with me.
So for our emergency response
efforts, the fire department
has is still working on their
data collection software. So we
still don't have any fire data
for, for this year. I'm, I'm
hearing it's coming, but that's
where we are for now. We have
in the second quarter of this
year, which is April, May and
June. We have lost seven people
since our. I'm used to saying
since December, we've lost
seven people just in this
quarter, making 17 who have
passed away connected to
homelessness between the
December Memorial and the end
of June, which is actually a
decrease, about 19% decrease.
Last year at this time, we were
at 21. Our police police
numbers as far as events as
well as time on events largely
staying the same. We're
tracking it around 9% of total
events are related to
unsheltered homelessness.
Around 15 ish percent of all
police hours are spent on
unsheltered homelessness. And
this has been pretty, pretty
similar for quite some time now.
We are seeing a little bit of
an increase as the as the, the
weather warms up. I'm noticing
we were at 14 and now we're at
around 16, 16.5. For solid
waste removal, a lot of the
same cleanup areas. In the
second quarter, 53.76 tons
removed from public property.
And that leaves us at about 160,
almost 167 tons year to date.
It was 50, 56 or 57 with kind
of the large cleanups. And then
Sheila's smaller crew for the
quarter is almost 24 tons.
Let's see. Okay, safe stays and
safe park. Year to date, ten
people have moved from the
outposts, which is site one
safe, stay one into housing,
which is amazing. Second, six,
six of those were in the second
quarter. So the vast majority
home village has had two people
move out. Kiggins village had
two four, 15. West had eight.
Crystal is killing it over
there. I'll tell you. So
housing is actually, I think,
part of the pilot that we're
working on with VHA and
counselor for the homeless with
Affordable Housing fund dollars.
That's moving smoothly. I think
it's, I think for a lot of
folks that feels it feels
slower than usual, but that's
because it is very much
connected to our encampment
work. So people move into
shelter, stabilize for a bit,
then move to housing. So it's
less of this kind of rapid,
constant moving into housing
situation, but it is working
well. From Safe Park. We had
ten people just in that quarter
move into housing, making 17 a
year to date for them. I'm now
going to swap to the narrative
stuff, which is on the
individual ones. The Dshs
mobile truck has been coming
out to our sites, which is
great because people are able
to get their food stamp cards,
they can get replacement cards,
they can apply for benefits
just right there on site. Those
mobile mobile services are
really incredible. Actually, I
thought of that when the the,
the lady previously was talking
about community based workers.
Excellent example of that. A
lot more people actually are
engaging in detox and treatment
services. Before I go over to
the narrative stuff, that's
something that I noticed doing
it quarterly now versus the
once a month. They look like
small numbers once a month. And
then now I'm like, oh, wow,
that's a lot of, that's a lot
of people engaging in, in detox
and treatment services. So that
was kind of one, one highlight
for fifteens garden is looking
amazing. We had a, the very
first wedding at one of our
safe days in the month of June.
And their garden was the
perfect setting for it. It was.
It's beautiful. If you have a
chance to go out there, please
go take a look. Also, go check
out the outpost because the
outpost. All their units have
now been painted. Thank you to
the local Mormon church. Very
similar to 415 West's units. So
it's very it's looking very
homey. You know, I love it.
Multiple graduations from drug
court, mostly from the outpost
and 415 sites, but really doing
incredible job at all of them.
Hope village celebrated their
fourth year of being open in
May. Congrats to them. Lots of
various activities with both
the site providers as well as
Columbia River Mental Health's
mobile health team. So in
addition to the mental health
and behavioral health and
medical services that they
provide at each of our sites,
as well as out in encampments
and at community court, they're
they're throwing in some, some
more kind of creative
opportunities for people to, to
work in kind of a therapeutic
way. So tie dyeing, things like
that, painting, things like
that. Always great for, for the
warm months, I think. Trying to
think if there's any other big
things at the sites. I don't
think so. Okay, I'll move on to
these. Columbia Mental Health
is not fully staffed yet for
the mobile health team. I think
they're still working on a
clinician. And an RN. I believe
like a therapist and an RN, I
believe. But they're they're
doing a great job at community
court, all of our sites, a
great a great deal of, I think
coordination is happening
between the providers on the
sites and our, our health care
partners to kind of decrease
the temperature in a way that
kind of behavioral, the
challenges that we experience
out there, a lot more
coordination and working
together. So I'm actually
excited to see that that kind
of grow as the bridge shelter
opens up and really all come
together as more of a system.
Same thing when Cowlitz
launches their medication
assisted treatment unit, which
should open before the bridge
shelter. Actually, I think that
comes to you guys. That
contract comes to you all next
week or the week after
community court. Still rocking
in the second quarter, there
were 203 new referrals into
community court. 56 people
opted in. I want to make a note,
though, that that's not
necessarily an accurate
representation of like
participation. It's because of
when people are cited in and
when court occurs, there's
usually kind of a lag. People
can be referred this week, but
not show up for another two
weeks, three weeks. So timing
doesn't look timing looks a
little wonky there. 17
graduations and 120 community
service hours completed in
second quarter, which is great.
232. Year to date. Bridge
shelter. So as we talked the
last time the buildings were
being delivered, I think some
of you have gone out there
since then, but those those are
delivered at the end of quarter
one. And they pretty
immediately started erecting
the all the walls and whatnot.
So quarter two is really
focused on completing the
structures and the roofs,
features buildings, but walls
have gone up. I've now been,
I've now been in there with,
with walls, which is pretty.
It's a little surreal. I'm
going to be honest. It's like a
real thing that's coming to
life. But the interior work
started with the framing of the
key walls, hanging of the Hvac,
and a lot of the ductwork,
concrete floors were were
finished and polished. Those
are actually looking really
great. Framing and plumbing and
electrical was mostly done by
the end of June, which is then
when drywall started. And
that's going to the drywall.
And I think painting is going
to be starting somewhat soon
this month related to the
bridge shelter, I wanted to
just kind of flag for you all.
Several months ago, we had a
brief conversation around the
buffer for the bridge shelter,
implementing the buffer around
the bridge shelter, as we do
with all of our safe space.
That's going to require an
ordinance amendment, because
our current ordinance just
talks about the safe stays and
their buffer. And we talked
about the the size of that
buffer, and it sounded like
everyone was okay with 1500ft,
just given the size of the
facility that we're using and
the impact on the neighborhood,
because this is going to be
coming to you in like the next
month or so. And I'm working on
materials for that. I just
wanted to make sure that there
weren't any other questions. If
you do have questions, you can
either give them to me now or
you can give them to me later.
I just wanted to provide that
as kind of a flag for everyone.
In case there's anything
specific you wanted to know,
wanted to hear, wanted me to,
to include prior to.
>> Sounds like you're good.
>> Okay.
>> Can you repeat your question?
>> We previously talked about
the bridge shelter buffer size,
and my recommendation was
1500ft as opposed to the
thousand that the safe stays
get. It sounded at the time
like everyone was generally
good with that. I just wanted
to know as I'm working on my
materials for next month, if
you have any questions about
that, anything I need to make
sure is included. Spoken to
whatever for the ordinance as
because it'll come to to you
all for first reading around
mid mid August. And if you do,
just give them my way.
>> Councilor Stober, did you
have a comment.
>> Just really quickly, since
it's been a while since we
looked at all those maps. So it
doesn't have to be now, but
that 1500 foot went into the
county. And so when you come
back talking about that
interaction with, is it a carve
out or are we working with the
county or just how that's going
to be handled? Okay, okay.
>> Okay.
>> The the kind of appreciation
shout outs that I usually give.
And there's not going to be
three of them today. Carrie
Peck, Kimber Ledbetter, and
Linda from facilities. Hugely,
hugely helpful to my team, to
this whole department. Linda
was so helpful with some of the
community court tenants,
because there are other tenants
in that building every Friday,
every day of the week. But on
Fridays we have community court
and there's a lot of people
there. There could be a lot of
people, there could be a lot of
animals, there can be a lot of
chaos. And she really was so
helpful and kind of helping us
bridge the gap between the
other tenants there so that we
can make sure that we
understand their needs and the
challenges they're experiencing.
And then we could make, you
know, some some changes and
some recommendations on our end.
And in fact, we've heard from
some of those tenants and they
said things have been much,
much better. And that was
really just as simple as making
some changes to our code of
conduct at community court and
just being very intentional
about talking to people, about
being good neighbors. When we
make sure that we're good
neighbors, when we're in any
space, certainly when people
are trying to do business. So
she's really done an amazing
job. But Kimber and Carrie
really are the backbone of
everything that we do in my
department. So huge shout out
to them. And then I think
that's I think that's it.
>> Thank you so very much. All
right. Councilor Perez.
>> Councilor Perez here. Thank
you Jamie. Two things. One is
the 17 deaths that occurred.
What were the causes of those
deaths?
>> I did actually look that up.
I had time to kind of do the
math on it today. 41% of those
are overdose or suspected
overdose. And that's down from
this time last year. Last year,
this time it was 62%. Okay, so
heading in a better direction,
but.
>> And the other 60%.
>> Oh, that's a, that's a kind
of a broad mix between traffic
collisions, long term medical
issues, suicide.
>> And the overdose. Is that
mainly fentanyl or any in
particular drug.
>> I would imagine largely
fentanyl.
>> Okay. And then my second
comment has to do with the
Columbia River mental health.
Taking a look at what's being
reported with mobile health
activities and the service data.
And I'm wondering if there's a
better way to connect the
success of Columbia River
mental health work to the
outcomes that we are wanting to
see, or, for example,
transition to housing in
addition to regular peer
support. I don't know what that
is, but I do think that there's
this other element of, of
mental health that feeds into
success. And I would like to
see that tightened up a little
bit. And I don't know what that
looks like, but maybe speaking
with Columbia River Mental
Health and having a discussion,
there might be a better way to
paint a more holistic picture.
>> Yeah, I can do that. They've
only been reporting for a few
months because they've still
been trying to kind of staff up
and their ability to serve. I
will say, though, in their June
report, they talked about how
they have successfully
transitioned three clients,
three of their initial clients
to ongoing care with kind of
higher level teams. And some of
those have some of those
individuals have also
transitioned into housing, into
permanent housing. I can I can
work on some some other other
ways to report that.
>> All right. Thank you.
>> Yeah.
>> Any other questions for Miss
Spinelli, Counselor Stover?
>> Thank you, mayor Jamie, I
want to get on the celebration
bandwidth. The fact that last
year was such a dramatic
decrease in deaths from 24.
Yeah. And to have that have
further decrease is, you know,
every death is bad, but it's
such a relief that we're
working in the right direction.
So, so many players, so many
people throughout our community
are making a difference. But I
know you and your staff are
making a difference in
particular, one minor thing in
your report under property
closures, you said none. I
would prefer if you would say
no new closures because we have
closures. We just had no.
>> No new.
>> Ones.
>> New ones. And so just so
we're communicating clearly.
Thank you.
>> Any other comments? Okay.
Thank you so very much. Thank
you. That concludes the
business of the City Council.
City manager, am I correct in
thinking no additional items
from you?
>> Correct.
>> Okay. So this is our
opportunity to hear from the
community. We audio record. We
don't video record. So. Miss
Moran, would you please ask
CVTV to turn off the cameras