Ocean Shores officials said they will schedule a council study session to review a 132-page streets management report and to develop narrower options before hosting a public town hall on streets priorities.

The study session, officials said, would let council and administration identify the “palatable” options and likely funding scenarios for streets work before asking residents for input at a town hall. Councilmember (unnamed A) said the town-hall goal should be to “hear citizen's priorities,” but cautioned that without an agreed funding framework “it's just a free for all.”

City staff and councilmembers recommended limiting the town hall to one, at most two, topics to keep the meeting to about an hour. Councilmember (unnamed C) warned that streets alone could easily occupy an hour, citing expected public discussion of Ocean Shores Boulevard work tied to jetty repairs, speed bumps, weed maintenance and other local concerns.

Public works staff said they will prepare bullet-point options from the consulting firm's study, including cost estimates and revenue approaches, to present at a study session. “We can come up with…here are the bullet point items, here are the options, those kinds of things,” Councilmember (unnamed A) said, noting staff will prepare printouts and Drive-based reports summarizing options and costs.

Councilmembers discussed likely revenue sources to cover any new program, including sales tax and motor-fuel (gas) taxes; staff said they would check with finance and identify how much the TVV (transportation-related) funds or local sales-tax increases could contribute. One councilmember estimated “half a million” as a plausible annual revenue figure for planning purposes but characterized that number as an estimate.

Officials also urged coordination with the city’s infrastructure report so streets projects compete appropriately with other capital needs. Councilmember (unnamed D) said the streets conversation should not be taken “out of context without looking at the infrastructure report,” because projects will compete for the same funds.

Staff next steps: schedule a council study session with the new public works director and prepare a short options packet and cost estimates for council review; once council signals acceptable funding ranges, schedule a public town hall limited in scope to gather resident priorities.

Less-critical details include staff planning to check TVV fund balances and to print out study bullet points for distribution at the study session and town hall.