Council clears several budget-policy items and updates environmental stewardship language to 'the need to act'

During the FY26 budget-policies discussion, councilmembers reviewed and agreed to remove items from the policy packet that staff reported had been satisfied or submitted, while leaving other ongoing items on the list for carryforward.

Council staff and the city attorney clarified the opioid-settlement section: money from the opioid settlements will continue to be received and is treated as restricted for particular uses. Council agreed to keep the carryforward provision in place so ongoing opioid-funded projects and other capital items can bridge fiscal years while final balances are settled through audit.

The group also discussed capital city allocations, residential solid-waste cost-benefit work, and reports on mowing and cemetery maintenance; the items referenced were attached or otherwise provided in the packet and council agreed they could be stricken from the open-action list where staff had delivered the requested reports.

Councilman Jackson offered a targeted edit to the "Environmental stewardship" paragraph on page 69: remove the phrase "supports the Paris agreement" and replace it with "the need to act," and fix a typographical error. Jackson said he believed the change better reflected the city's focus on action. The amendment was discussed and accepted without objection.

Ending: Council directed staff to retain unresolved multi-year items (including opioid project carryforwards and the charter commission funding) in the policy packet and to update the environmental stewardship language per the amendment; no roll-call votes were recorded for these administrative changes.