Votes at a glance: Albany City Council approves fees, grants, contracts, personnel and ballot title

At its Feb. 12 meeting, the Albany City Council passed a series of resolutions and motions on fees, grants, contracts and personnel. Most items drew limited debate and passed by unanimous or near-unanimous votes. Key actions included setting a fee related to adjustments under Senate Bill 1537, adopting a ballot title for a public safety operating levy, accepting state grants for hazmat and satellite communications equipment, approving playground equipment for Delfield Park, authorizing an Amazon Business cooperative purchasing arrangement, entering an intergovernmental agreement for building-code staffing, and adding one full-time IT business analyst position.

Votes at a glance

- Fees for adjustments under Senate Bill 1537: The council set a proposed fee (staff said $93 per consecutive adjustment, based on the city’s minor-variance fee) for adjustments to land-use standards authorized under Senate Bill 1537. The resolution to set the fees passed (recorded vote: 5 yes, 1 no). Councilor Thompson said his no vote was based on objections to the underlying state bill rather than to the fee amount itself.

- Adoption of the consent calendar: The council adopted the consent agenda, which included right-of-way dedications for the Gary Street sidewalk project; motion passed (unanimous recorded “aye”).

- Albany Development Code / Comprehensive Plan ordinance (second reading): See separate article. Motion passed 5–1.

- Public safety operating levy ballot title: Council adopted the ballot title to submit to the county election officials. Councilors voted to adopt the resolution; staff noted that after adoption city staff are restricted from advocacy but councilors may engage in advocacy and outreach for the levy. Motion passed (unanimous recorded “aye”).

- FY 2024–25 HAZMAT Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grant: The council accepted and appropriated state funds for hazmat preparation and exercises, including an emergency operations center exercise and a full-scale hazmat exercise. Motion passed (unanimous recorded “aye”).

- Oregon Department of Human Services satellite communications grant: Council accepted a state grant to pay for one year of satellite internet service (staff cited Starlink as the provider) to add resiliency for city systems; ongoing years of service will be covered by the IT budget. Motion passed (unanimous recorded “aye”).

- Delfield Park playground equipment and turf (exemption from competitive bidding): Council approved exemption from competitive bidding to purchase playground equipment and turf for Delfield Park. Motion passed (unanimous recorded “aye”).

- Amazon Business cooperative purchasing exemption: Council approved entering a cooperative agreement with Amazon Business to centralize Amazon purchases; staff said current known annual spend with Amazon is about $214,000 and the program could yield roughly a 3% savings and potential rebates. Motion passed (unanimous recorded “aye”).

- Intergovernmental agreement with the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) Building Codes division: Council authorized an intergovernmental agreement to allow Albany to borrow and lend building inspection, plan review and related staffing across jurisdictions as needed. Staff said only a small number of jurisdictions had joined to date; the arrangement would be used as a last-resort supplemental resource. Motion passed (unanimous recorded “aye”).

- Addition of 1.0 FTE IT business analyst: Council approved adding one full-time IT business analyst position; staff said part of the role will support cybersecurity work. Motion passed (unanimous recorded “aye”).

- Summer/Winter 2025 meeting schedule: Council approved an adjusted meeting calendar for summer and winter 2025 to reduce the previous six-week summer break and better align staff workflow. Motion passed (unanimous recorded “aye”).

Ending: Several items had brief council discussion or staff explanations but no additional council actions were taken at the meeting. Several votes referenced staff memos and packet pages for details; the council recessed to an executive session on litigation at the end of the public meeting.