The Lake Oswego City Council on Oct. 21 accepted the city’s third-quarter update on council goals after a presentation by City Manager Bennett and department staff.

City Manager Bennett told council the Foothills citizen advisory committee has met and work has begun on the Foothills project; the city recently revised the redevelopment disposition and development agreement for the North Anchor properties and sold the east property to UDP, which has prioritized a hotel over multifamily development. Bennett said the city has started several grant-funded housing projects and a code audit in coordination with Metro.

The update provided timelines for several high-profile projects. Public works director and city engineer Bridal Bruni said Jacobs Engineering has been engaged to prepare a new design proposal for the city’s wastewater treatment plant and that staff expect to return to council with updated schedules and timelines “right after the first of the year.” Bruni said the design under consideration will use the same site footprint as the prior plan but a different technology and must meet state DEQ parameters and the city’s outcome-based objectives for energy use, odor and water quality.

Councilors pressed staff on schedule and scope. Councilor Berg asked about economic development staffing; Bennett said the city has contracted Mary Bosch for market data work and will start outreach and strategy updates immediately. Councilor Wood and others pressed for more detail on the wastewater design timeline; Bruni said the design team is advancing a permit set of plans toward final construction documents and that an archeology firm was retained under a special procurement to screen the site for prehistoric resources.

On housing, staff said the city has completed preliminary work and is roughly 10 percent through the housing production strategy. Staff told council an “Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing” policy amendment is scheduled for council hearing near Nov. 4 and that the city has preliminary approval or indications of approval from DLCD for rezoning nonresidential properties for housing. Staff said a Metro grant for a code audit has preliminary approval but the Metro Council’s formal award hearing moved from October to mid-November; staff continue to target substantive code work by 2027 but cautioned the schedule could slip if grants or contracts are delayed.

Councilors and staff also discussed the library strategy. Melissa from library staff told council the library advisory board has been working with pro bono strategy consultants on outreach, coalition building and possible focus groups. Staff offered to present a fuller update before the council’s next goal-setting period; council members suggested presenting before goal-setting so the library strategy can inform next-year goals.

Bennett also briefed the council on urban forestry work: the city hired a new urban forester, convened a tree task force and is gearing up to respond to emerald ash borer. Bennett noted the city has “signed an agreement with the EPA for the wastewater plant,” which she described as a significant milestone for that project.

After questions from council members, a motion to accept the quarterly council goals update passed by voice vote, 6-0.

Looking ahead, staff said they will return with more detailed schedules for the wastewater plant design early next year, a formal hearing on the AFFH policy in November, and a spring 2026 schedule on the code-audit and rezoning work dependent on Metro’s grant award.