City Manager's Update
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City Manager’s Update — May 7, 2021 Prepared for Mayor and Councilors. Please contact Steve Powers, City Manager, for additional information. At Your Service The North Gate Neighborhood Association recently shared their appreciation for Code Compliance and Police. Code Compliance Officer Nelson Morales and Lieutenant Jason Van Meter accepted on behalf of their colleagues. Nelson has been helping the North Salem community for many years. Community Development Along with property code issues, the City’s Code Compliance includes assisting in identifying criminal activity. Code Compliance Officer Christi Wolfe over the past several years has located 67 stolen vehicles, resulting in the arrest of 27 suspects. The Our Salem team has been busy with weekly policy meetings, launching a new interactive zoning map and working with the City Council/Planning Commission subcommittee. The maps are at the Our Salem webpage. There will be a virtual public forum on the proposed zoning map on May 19. The new map reflects the higher-level proposed Comprehensive Plan map that is part of the Our Salem Vision. That Vision was accepted by the City Council in March. The map has proposed zoning changes. Residents and property owners can see what zoning is proposed for specific properties and add comments. PDF maps of the proposed zoning changes are in English and Spanish. The proposed zoning changes are not final. Changes will not be final until they go through the formal Planning Commission and City Council adoption process, which is expected at the end of this year. We are also mailing a postcard to affected properties owners and tenants to let them know of the proposed changes. The Planning Commission has approved the land use and site conditions for the Y’s veterans housing project and the Marquis rehabilitation/mixed use development along Pringle Creek. Kimberli Fitzgerald, Historic Preservation Manager, spearheaded a small-scale Qing Ming festival event at the Chinese Shrine in Pioneer Cemetery. Though the celebration was small due to Covid precautions, recognizing Salem’s Chinese history is especially important in current times and her efforts on behalf of the City were appreciated by the Chinese American community. We have filled the zoning inspector position approved by City Council. We had waited on filling the position to ensure revenues would be enough to support the position. The position will focus on illegal/unpermitted signage. In April plans examiners performed more than 285 reviews within the turnaround time set by service goals. Building inspectors performed 2,709 inspections. Council Follow-up The City’s surplus property at 12th Street SE and Fairview Avenue SE. has been sold. We received three bids. The minimum bid was $180,000 and the highest bid came in at $220,000. COVID-19 As part of the City’s efforts to help Salem Health and our county partners get people vaccinated, the City ran a vaccination clinic for City employees and dependents this past Friday and Saturday. Smooth experience reported by many. The planning for resumption of permits for reserving park spaces and for street closures is proceeding with a target date of the Memorial Day weekend. The City’s permitting will include permittee’s providing a written safety plan for public gatherings, consistent with federal, state, county and City COVID regulations, orders, or guidance. Since April 7, when I directed staff to plan for the (tentative) May 31 “go” date, we have been accepting applications. May 31 has been the only date used for the resumption of permits. Urban Development took on the state’s personal protective equipment program for the Salem area, getting PPE to the Chamber and out to the business community. The second round is being distributed this week. Our team and the Chamber have done a great job outreaching to the business community and providing them with this important equipment at no cost to them. Our area businesses have really appreciated receiving the PPE. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) The employee committee I mentioned during the Budget Committee meetings is intended to address organizational issues regarding diversity, equity and inclusion. The City’s Leadership Team wishes to significantly expand the work completed in the organization’s 2019 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan. The 2019 DEI Plan focused primarily on the City’s employees and employment practices. This update will recognize the DEI efforts completed to date, make changes where necessary, and incorporate contemporary DEI efforts in all the City’s programs, policies, and practices. By design, the approach is internally focused. Our work will include increasing the diversity of the City’s workforce and volunteers—including membership in its Boards and Commissions— and the equity and inclusivity of its programs. By updating our policies, practices, and programs, we also expect to have an impact on our community. Changing the City’s purchasing policies to create more equity and considering equity in our grant criteria are two examples. The plan will include ideas for addressing DEI in City policies, practices and programs. It does not, however, include recommendations for the Salem community. City Council recently adopted two resolutions that address the issues of racism and public health in the community. The resolutions include: 1. Employing an equity lens in engagement and planning processes to ensure the resulting product represents the needs of everyone in our community, and 2. Assessing and revising City department policies, procedures, and ordinances to ensure racial equity and accessibility are core elements. The City’s Human Rights Commission (HRC) is developing an equity lens for use by the City for policy and resource decisions. The HRC will be reviewing for approval on May 12. The equity lens is one part of City Council's request to the HRC for recommendations to strengthen the City’s commitment to diversity. Federal Congress is beginning the FY22 appropriations process. Congress has decided to use Congressionally Directed Spending (previously known as earmarks) for some of the budget. We have submitted McGilchrist Road SE and the Pringle Creek path. We are talking with Congressional staff about other projects, including the community response unit program. Deadline for submission is May 14. Congressional offices have been told by leadership there are severe limitations as compared to the way earmarks were done in the past. Senators Wyden and Merkley are gathering requests jointly. Housing We are confident there is a way forward on the federal questions that were raised regarding the Yaquina housing project. The private development at the site (north campus of the Oregon State Hospital) has not been impacted. Per City Council direction, I have signed an agreement with DevNW for the affordable housing development at 905/925 Cottage Street NE. The agreement provides $1.05 million in federal funding for the $4 million project. DevNW will be creating 19 affordable housing units. Natural Environment Stewardship The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has found the City to be in compliance with state recycling and waste prevention rules. Policing A public release will be going out highlighting that over the past several months, the Salem Police station has incurred almost weekly vandalism. During anti-police protests in front of the building, protesters have applied chalk, other substances, and signing to the sidewalks, planters, stairways, walls and portico of the building. Balancing the public’s right to the freedom of expression and gathering with unlawful actions is a priority for the City and Police Department. Because of this, we have used discretion toward the minor damage to the building. As this damage has become more costly and permanent, the Police will be intervening to set boundaries to maintain the balance. If these limits are not respected, enforcement action may be taken. We are proceeding with an in-depth staffing and organization structure analysis of the Police Department. The analysis will include all ranks and program assignments for sworn and non-sworn support staff. This will greatly assist decision-making for resource allocation and implementation of the independent assessment recommendations. Projects There will be a September groundbreaking for Public Works Operations Building. An initial evaluation of the space requirements and cost has determined that it is feasible to add the Public Works Engineering Division to the building. Engineering is currently in leased space. City has received $12,000 from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department to develop a website and brochure about the former Willamette Mission site based on the City’s recent archaeological study. We have sent out letter to residents who will have new streetlights installed in their neighborhoods. These improvements will bring the lighting up to current lighting standards by installing new streetlights on existing utility poles and installing new streetlights on new wood poles. It is not uncommon for residents to become accustomed to a certain level of illumination and not desire an upgrade to the current lighting standards. The letters provide information on how to contact the City if the resident has questions or concerns. Population Forecasting Initial population forecasts from Portland State University, the state mandated provider of the data, are concerning to Salem and Marion County. The draft forecasts are markedly below previous forecasts and local data. The required population forecasts are the basis for the City’s land use and infrastructure plans. How much land the City needs is greatly influenced by the population forecasts. A meeting with Portland State University, Marion and Polk counties, and the COG has been scheduled. We will be requesting reconsiderations of the draft population forecast. Rotary Amphitheater The City has released a Request for Information for the management of the Gerry Frank Rotary Amphitheater. Responses are due May 21. In it, we ask for information and feedback on management options; cost and compensation models; measures of success; vision(s) for the facility; and levels of interest.