North Bend council approves FirstNet switch for police, visitor center signage and Union Avenue remodel

At a Nov. 17 special joint session, the North Bend City Council and the Urban Renewal Agency approved a slate of routine and project-specific items, including a telecom switch for police, a visitor information center sign purchase, a construction contract for a city-owned building remodel and a local matching award for a downtown revitalization grant.

The council approved moving the police department’s cellular service from Verizon to FirstNet, the nationwide public-safety network built by AT&T. A staff presentation said the initial police rollout covers 21 phones, 16 in-vehicle mobile routers and 12 tablets and estimated roughly a 15% reduction in monthly service costs as the city transitions additional lines. "We're gonna switch to FirstNet, built by AT&T... there's no late fees, no contracts. We're gonna save about 15% on how much we're gonna pay monthly," staff said during the meeting.

Councilors followed with technical and procurement questions: staff said many city-owned devices will be turned in for trade-in credits, some older tablets are not Windows 11 compatible and the city will phase other staff lines onto FirstNet over the coming months.

The council approved a purchase and installation of exterior signage for the North Bend Visitor Information Center. A presenter for the information center said the work would come from the transient lodging tax fund and stressed that the lodging tax is not general local tax revenue. "These are lodging taxes. They are not local tax dollars," the presenter said. The motion authorized an amount "not to exceed" the figure stated in the motion; the meeting record includes two slightly different amounts when the item was read and as recorded in the minutes (see clarifying details).

Acting as the Urban Renewal Agency Board, council awarded the construction contract for a remodel of the city-owned building at 1858 Union Avenue (the former Bay Cleaners) to Tom Gajewski Construction. Staff reported three bids with a tight spread and said the motion listed $326,100 but that the additive alternate would reduce the actual award to about $314,600. "Our actual award... will be $314,600 because we're building the additive alternate," staff told the council. The work is tied to a historic preservation grant and must be completed within the grant timeline.

The council also approved reappointments to the North Bend Library Board for terms that extend through Dec. 31, 2029, and approved a request for a local match for a state "Stronger Spaces" (Main Street) revitalization grant at 2036 Sherman Avenue. The Sherman Avenue applicant said the state awarded the grant but that the project schedule was compressed; the requested local match was capped at the amount in the motion (not to exceed $70,927) and will be coordinated so rebate and grant flows return to the agency as required.

City staff reported other administrative items, including community holiday activities and a vandalism incident that caused vehicle and building damage the administrator estimated between $26,000 and $35,000. The administrator said a suspect had been held on $25,000 bail.

All motions were adopted by voice vote during the meeting; specific roll-call tallies were not recorded in the transcript. Councilors did not defer any of the listed items during the session. Contracts and grant paperwork remain subject to standard procurement timelines and any statutorily required protest periods before work begins.