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North Bend staff propose $18 monthly parks fee and $2 temporary dog-park levy to fund master plan, pool and park operations
Summary
City staff recommended a parks and recreation fee to fund the parks master plan, pool operations and park maintenance and proposed a temporary utility-billed dog-park fee; staff also sought authorization for landscape architectural work on the Hub Plaza and a grant application for park parking and restroom improvements.
City staff told the North Bend City Council on March 10 that they plan to ask voters for several new or modified fees to fund park improvements, pool operations and a new dog park.
Staff presented three related proposals: (1) a parks and recreation fee intended to raise roughly $850,000 annually to support implementation of the parks master plan (the staff memo cited about $4 million in capital needs over the coming years), pool operations (roughly $400,000) and an additional $400,000 for parks operations; staff recommended an $18-per-month fee billed to utility customers in order to cover these items and to replace a pool special levy that is set to expire; (2) a temporary dog-park fee included in the ballot title as a $2-per-month utility fee for four years to finance construction of a roughly 7,000 to 10,000 square-foot dog park, with the fee dropping to an estimated $1.25 thereafter to cover ongoing maintenance; and (3) related capital projects for which staff sought grant funding and professional services.
On the project side, staff asked the council to authorize hiring HCE Architects (referred to in meeting materials as HCE) to provide landscape architecture services for phased Hub Plaza work. Staff said the T-Mobile grant funds must be expended by a deadline this year and that Phase 1 is ready to move forward; the estimated construction cost for the T-Mobile-funded pocket-park/Hub Plaza phase was cited at about $130,000, with $50,000 identified from the T-Mobile grant to help fund that phase. Staff also discussed a resolution to apply for grant funding through the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (staff corrected the transcript reference during discussion) to add or improve parking and restroom facilities tied to the park project; staff noted that Travel Oregon will not fund restrooms, which affects how applications were assembled.
Staff said the parks fee ballot title does not currently specify the $18 amount because the council had not yet finalized a direction; the dog-park fee amount was included in that ballot title and therefore is already published for the upcoming May ballot. Staff explained the rationale for a utility-billed approach and asked the council whether to proceed with publication and outreach. Council members discussed election timing, the benefits of providing clearer dollar figures for voters, and the possibility of postponing to the November election if the council wants more time to finalize amounts and outreach strategy.
No formal council vote was recorded during the work session on March 10. Staff said the immediate next steps include moving forward with the architect contract for the T-Mobile-funded phase and preparing grant applications and public explanatory materials for the parks-related measures.
