Redmond council begins work on two-year goals covering housing, safety, growth and airport expansion

Redmond City Council spent a large portion of its meeting reviewing draft city goals intended to guide policy and budgeting for the next two years, with items grouped under housing and homelessness, public safety, growth management, airport development and downtown/Midtown investment.

City Manager Keith Vitkoski outlined the goals as framing documents that staff will use to prioritize projects and budget requests. He said the housing and homelessness goal links managed-camp work with development projects such as Cinder Hollow and Northpointe and named participation on a coordinated housing group with Bend, Deschutes County and the Regional Housing Council as a policy action. The council was told the goals will be posted for public input and that staff will bring a final draft back for adoption on Feb. 28, 2025.

Councilors and members of the public used the discussion to press for clarity on meeting procedures and timing, planning and transportation priorities, and partnerships tied to the airport and medical district. Councilor Jay Patrick recommended moving general public comment to the start of meetings; several councilors, including Councilor Osborne and Councilor Wedding, said they preferred to keep public comment at the end so the council could address agenda items and return to general comment afterward. Councilor Nielsen described the retention of agenda-focused public comment as “best for the community” because it allows speakers to address topics while they are being discussed.

On substance, councilors noted several projects and partnership efforts that will be advanced under the goals. Items named by staff and council included: the managed camp being planned with Deschutes County; Cinder Hollow and Northpointe housing projects; continued work on traffic-safety and crisis-response options for public safety; the East Side Arterial transportation project; terminal expansion and land development activities at Redmond Municipal Airport; and downtown and medical-district redevelopment, including potential housing near Saint Charles medical facilities.

Councilors asked for more detail on several fronts. Staff reported that Northpointe financials would be provided in the coming weeks. On water, staff said they had asked a partner to clarify contract language and expected resolution by the end of the following week. Council discussion also noted that the South Highway 97 corridor needs federal and state investment; Vitkoski said the city set aside about $48,000,000 in urban renewal matching funds to help leverage federal dollars for the highway and related industrial-lot infrastructure.

The council signaled that it will publish a draft goals poll for public prioritization, provide quarterly tracking updates on key actions, and return with a revised package for adoption on Feb. 28, 2025. No formal votes on the draft goals were taken at this meeting.

Public-comment topics during the meeting included requests to restore the public-comment period to the beginning of the meeting, a suggestion to extend the per-speaker time limit from three minutes to four or five minutes, praise for pausing the safe-parking program pending further council discussion, and concerns about planning and infrastructure delivery. Several speakers recommended holding some workshop summaries at regular council meetings to broaden public engagement on workshop topics.

The council also discussed coordination with ODOT on the 30th and 5th Street intersection and noted ongoing efforts to press ODOT for larger Highway 97 improvement grants; staff said ODOT had twice seen grant applications denied and was exploring repackaging the work into smaller components.

The discussion closed with staff explaining next steps for public outreach and the schedule for the joint meeting with Deschutes County in March, which will include updates on the managed camp, Northpointe and large-lot industrial master planning.