Albany council approves fees, FireMed increase and capital actions; MUPTI hearing moves forward

Albany City Council on Oct. 22, 2025 approved several operational and capital items during its regular meeting and held a public hearing on a proposed multiunit property tax exemption (MUPTI) program.

Fee schedule and FireMed: The council adopted updates to the fire and life safety division fee schedule as contained in the meeting packet. The council also approved raising the FireMed membership fee from $70 to $85; staff said the program was running a deficit and the increase is intended to make the program self‑sustaining. Staff reported about 2,400 current FireMed enrollees; the last fee update cited in the staff report occurred in 2019 for some charges and 2023 for others.

Gary Street sidewalk contingency: The council approved increasing the contingency for the ST‑22‑06 Gary Street sidewalk (Safe Routes to School) project from 10% to 25% by motion. Staff explained that change orders and additional right‑of‑way negotiations with adjacent property owners are likely to make the originally authorized contingency insufficient; successful negotiations reduced estimated right‑of‑way purchase costs from $210,000 to $120,000, a $90,000 saving to be applied toward project increases.

Compost facility design contract: The council approved an award of contract to Kennedy Jenks for design services for the compost expansion at the Albany‑Millersburg Water Reclamation Facility. Staff said expanding on‑site composting will reduce costly landfill hauling of unstabilized solids; the proposed contract for design services is $1,598,600, to be funded with settlement funds and an EPA grant.

MUPTI public hearing and next steps: The council held the statutorily required public hearing on the proposed multiunit property tax exemption (MUPTI) program that would exempt eligible multiunit projects from property taxes for a period (state statute allows up to 10 years) in exchange for public benefits. Staff described program eligibility (projects within 1/4 mile of fixed‑route transit, minimum five units, a financial feasibility third‑party review, and a required affordable housing component or in‑lieu fee) and proposed public benefit options. Councilors debated whether the required number of public benefits should be higher (some called for more than the staff proposal of 2 benefits for 7 years and 3 for 10 years); staff noted other jurisdictions vary and that the program guide is a resolution that can be adjusted after implementation. The hearing record includes supporters and opponents; written testimony and multiple in‑person commenters were considered. The council read the ordinance title on the record and discussed procedural conversion of the ordinance and program guidelines; final adoption and details of the program guide were not completed in the meeting and staff indicated further steps including intergovernmental agreement with Linn County and subsequent presentations to overlapping taxing districts would follow.

Procedural notes: Where the record did not include explicit roll‑call vote tallies on some motions, the official meeting minutes and packet should be consulted for the formal roll call. Several council actions were adopted by motion during the meeting; the MUPTI ordinance and resolution process will continue through the follow‑up steps staff outlined.

Speakers and staff: Presenters and speakers included Fire Marshal Laura Ratcliffe and EMS Division Chief Ray Wooldridge (FireMed), Sophie Adams (economic development manager), Matthew Rickers (community development director), and public commenters and stakeholders listed in the hearing record.

Provenance: Evidence for these items is in the staff reports and the Oct. 22 meeting transcript. The MUPTI discussion and public hearing record begin in the transcript at about 01:21:46 and continue across staff presentations and public comment; the fee and contract votes are recorded later in the meeting record.

What this does and does not say: This roundup reports council approvals and the public hearing outcome (that the hearing was held and the council discussed program parameters). It does not claim final ordinance adoption for MUPTI; staff indicated additional procedural steps (IGA with Linn County, resolution establishing program guidelines and final application documents) would follow before implementation.