Estacada committee chairs outline budgets, events and safety initiatives

Several downtown commissions and volunteer committees briefed the council on budgets, events and planned activities for 2025.

Parks & Recreation: Steven, newly seated as chair, presented a $12,000 budget request focused on event costs. The largest item is a five-concert "concerts in the park" series (band fees and sound) and recurring community events (Trick-or-Trot, water and volunteer supplies). Parks reported securing a USATF-certified course for the spring run and expects registration and sponsorships to offset about $1,500 in direct costs.

Arts Commission: Jesse Kerr, chair, said the commission will run Arts at the Creek for a third year and wants increased marketing funds (Pamplin ad, roadside signage) and to finalize a "Percent for Public Art" process; the commission reported over 80 poem submissions for a "Poetry in Public Places" installation and increased the public-art purchase budget to complete one public artwork via a community process.

Traffic & Public Safety: Jim (Traffic & Public Safety committee) reported a multi-pronged safety program, including a $3,000 neighborhood-watch line item and school-zone/crosswalk improvements affecting 14 identified locations across the city. The committee proposed CPR/AED classes (prior year saw 15—16 participants) and a public-safety training budget; members flagged speeding as the top citizen concern and discussed additional signage, a light audit and prioritized ADA access improvements.

Economic Development and Downtown: The Economic Development committee (Scott) proposed a larger marketing push and a broadened hotel/market study aimed at attracting lodging and industrial customers; the group proposed two promotional events (industrial and downtown) and an approximately $40,000 total program budget. The Downtown Estacada Commission (Sherry Fox Hanes, chair) reported trimming its budget and reviving the "Uncorked" event (last Saturday in May), returning the "uncorked" event May 31 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., and producing operational documentation (an events handbook) so volunteers can run recurring events reliably.

Cross-committee items: Several chairs discussed shared needs for safety equipment (high-visibility batons, barricades) and suggested a centralized checkout or library of equipment so committees can share resources for events. Committee members also requested better intercommittee coordination to avoid scheduling conflicts and asked staff to consider a city-run checkout program for safety supplies.

Why this matters: The committees plan events that bring visitors and revenues to downtown businesses, invest in community programming (arts, concerts, races), and push capital and maintenance requests (sidewalks, ADA ramps, lighting) that will require council priority-setting and possible budget allocations.

Ending note: Councilors thanked the volunteers and asked staff to work with committees on overlapping needs (safety equipment library, event coordination) and to fold certain larger studies (economic development/hotel study) into the city's regular capital/staffing budget where appropriate.