Public Works committee updates vacation ordinance and delegates energy-savings contracting for fire and MLK center

The Public Works and Property Vacation Committee reviewed proposed clarifications to the city's right-of-way vacation ordinance and forwarded a resolution delegating the energy-savings contracting process to the Board of Public Works.

Committee members heard staff describe four categories of proposed ordinance updates: fee payment timing; envelope/mail preparation for required notifications; adjacent property-owner signature requirements; and a few other technical changes. Chris Dressel of the Department of Community Investment summarized the changes, which included a $300 staff filing fee for petition processing, a 90-day expiration window for petitions after Board-of-Public-Works review, and a proposal to change the adjacent-property-owner signature requirement from all adjacent owners to a simple majority (51 percent), while allowing petitioners to document attempts to contact owners when signatures cannot be obtained.

Dressel said the changes are intended to reduce procedural failures caused by technicalities while preserving public notice and adjacent-owner engagement. "We don't want to add any complication or have one of these requests disqualified because of a technicality," Dressel said, describing a fallback that would require petitioners to document outreach attempts if they cannot secure signatures from a majority.

The committee also discussed envelope preparation and proposed that staff prepare the single mailing expected for a typical process while leaving any additional mailings to petitioners if a second notice is required.

Later in the agenda Michael Schmidt, assistant city attorney, presented Bill 2,505, a resolution seeking council authority to delegate to the Board of Public Works and city engineering the administration of an energy-savings procurement process and negotiation of a guaranteed energy savings contract for improvements at the new MLK center and the central fire station. "State law requires council approval to engage in an energy savings contract when it involves an entity that is not one of our city's utilities," Schmidt said, describing the statutory procurement pathway the city must follow. He explained the plan: Public Works will advertise for proposals, score responses, select its preferred vendor, negotiate with legal, and present a final contract to council for ratification.

There were no public speakers on either item. The committee voted to send Bill 2,505 to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation (4 ayes), and the ordinance updates were presented as informational and will be returned with draft language for first reading at a future meeting.

The committee identified next steps: staff will finalize draft ordinance language, prepare revised application forms and instructions for petitioners, and circulate documentation explaining the signature and outreach requirements so petitioners understand documentation expectations.