City manager summarizes progress on seven 2025 focus areas; staff flags grant and potential state cut
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Summary
City Manager Sherilyn Lambos reviewed progress on seven council priorities, including completed street‑tree inventories, a funded housing capacity analysis, downtown revitalization phase 2 with the University of Oregon, and a grant of just over $1 million that may face a $300,000 state cut.
Sherilyn Lambos, the city manager, delivered a status update on the City Council’s seven 2025 priority areas at the Jan. 12 work session and asked councilors to review items ahead of a Jan. 17 priority‑setting meeting.
Lambos noted specific accomplishments and next steps: completion of the street tree inventory and adaptive street tree list to support a sidewalk/street‑tree backlog project now under RFP; a newly awarded grant to fund a housing capacity analysis that will begin this quarter; downtown revitalization moving to phase two with a University of Oregon Sustainable City Year Program design studio; and staffing increases in urban renewal and economic development. On transportation, Lambos said staff will begin prioritizing projects from the TSP with a contract expected to help advance specific projects.
On environmental resiliency, Lambos said the council had directed staff to expand an adopted two‑year work plan into a five‑year prioritized plan and introduced Amanda Watson as a new program manager. She told the council the city had been awarded “over $1,000,000” for seismic valves to support resiliency but warned staff had been notified of a potential $300,000 reduction in that award because of state budget cuts; a grant agreement for the project appears on the business meeting agenda.
Councilors asked for timelines and follow‑up on outstanding items, including the gaps analysis, the trauma‑informed training rollout and options to increase park maintenance funding. Lambos said the gaps analysis will come forward to council but staff did not have a firm timeline at the work session.
Lambos closed by noting city staff purchased a data tool called Citi Data to better quantify events and inform grant and maintenance decisions and that an integrated pest management draft is under review.
