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North Bend council approves $45.5 million URA cap increase and adds public building project
Summary
The North Bend City Council on Aug. 12 approved raising the maximum indebtedness of the city's urban renewal plan to $45,500,000 and approved adding a public building project to the plan. Staff said the changes will allow public facilities to be included as the URA moves toward final approvals and grant-seeking.
The North Bend City Council on Aug. 12 approved a resolution to increase the maximum indebtedness for the North Bend Urban Renewal Plan to $45,500,000 and separately approved adding a public building project to the plan.
The vote followed a public hearing with no in-person testimony. City staff and the agency's attorney presented the proposed changes; the council approved both measures by voice vote with no recorded roll-call tallies and no recorded opposition.
The increase in maximum indebtedness was advanced by a motion recorded in the hearing as: "move resolution number 3371, which proposes an increase in the maximum indebtedness of the North Bend Urban Renewal Plan to $45,500,000." The council then approved resolution 3372, described in staff materials as "allowing a public building project to be included within the North Bend Urban Renewal Plan." The public hearing record shows written testimony was entered but no speakers took the three-minute public-comment slots.
Finance staff framed the indebtedness change and the public-building inclusion as procedural steps to allow the URA to finance a wider set of improvements and to seek outside funding. The finance director said the purpose of the public hearings was to gather public input so the council could make an informed decision.
City Administrator Miller told the council staff will follow the amendment by a communication campaign to utility customers and by final administrative steps with taxing districts. Miller said staff will pursue available grants, including state funding rounds and a potential green-project grant, and that the city is finalizing paperwork to pursue approximately $204,000,000 in related funding commitments so project design and bidding can proceed. Miller said the public building project has not been designed and could include a mix of uses; he listed possible elements under consideration such as city offices, event space and day care, and said staff will bring detailed design and partner conversations back to the council.
The council discussion included praise for the staff process and for prior work sessions that shaped the amendments. No council member reported a conflict of interest or an ex parte contact during the hearing. The council closed the public testimony portion before voting.
Next steps described by staff include sending the authorized communications to utility customers, securing approvals from taxing districts as required by statute and returning to the council/URA for final adoption steps and project-level decisions later this year.
