Redmond council hears Republic Services rate request, approves airport concession award and a package of land-use and shelter measures

The Redmond City Council on May 26 reviewed a series of service, capital and land-use items, including a Republic Services presentation asking for an 8% rate increase set to take effect July 1 if approved, an airport concession award recommended for Tailwinds Hospitality after a competitive process, several contract awards for testing and school-safety improvements, and a package of ordinances and resolutions covering right-of-way vacations, development-code amendments and safe-parking micro-shelters.

Republic Services’ general manager for Central Oregon, Erica Heitzman, told the council the company’s Redmond franchise (governed under ORS 459) produced $9.77 million in 2025 revenue and $9.2 million in operating costs. Heitzman said the company reported 2,534 residential missed services in 2025 (an increase of 205 from 2024) and 307 commercial missed services, attributing many misses to new drivers learning routes and pointing to root-cause reviews and follow-up pickups as remedies. She said the company is asking for an 8% rate increase to take effect on July 1, 2026; the request reflects an 8.9% blended disposal cost increase (a $5-per-ton disposal rise mid-year), modest general inflation on wages and a need to repair margins to sustain capital replacement. "The ask is an 8% increase to our rates, which we are asking for that to go into effect 07/01/2026," Heitzman said. Council members asked staff and the city finance department to analyze the proposal before any decision; staff indicated the council would likely consider it at an upcoming June meeting.

On procurement and contracts, the council approved two five-year on-call material-testing contracts (Wallace Group and Carlson Testing Inc.) recommended by staff after a competitive RFQ. The council also awarded the Safe Routes to School construction contract for safety crossings in front of Sage Elementary to local bidder T Line Construction LLC for $149,604; principal engineer Jake Sherman said construction is scheduled to start June 22 and finish by mid-August and will be funded by a $60,000 ODOT grant plus the Transportation Capital Fund.

Airport Director Zach Bass described the selection process for new food-and-beverage concessions at the expanded terminal. The selection committee received two responsible proposals (incumbent Aviano RDM LLC and Tailwinds Hospitality LLC) and recommended Tailwinds based on combined proposal and interview scores. Bass said Tailwinds proposed a food-hall-style approach that pairs national and local partners (the presentation listed Pete’s Coffee, Ben Brewing Company, Sparrow Bakery and Sisters Coffee as partners). The city received a protest alleging off-RFP communications and improper application of a local preference; city staff reviewed the protest, found the allegations unfounded and denied it in writing. "Tailwinds hospitality came out on top with a total score of 154.86 compared to Aviano’s 120 points," Bass said. Councilors debated aesthetic and product-mix concerns and asked staff to include contractual guardrails and to keep local-business incentives and selection-committee involvement during the lease/design phase; the council tabled final lease approval for follow-up and directed staff to return with contract details and possible committee oversight.

Land-use business included unanimous approval of two right-of-way vacation ordinances clearing historical encumbrances: the HF Jones Road vacation (ordinance 2026-06) and the Northwest Spruce Avenue vacation (ordinance 2026-05). Planning staff then presented ordinance 2026-07, a package that updates townhouse setback and driveway-length rules, revises open-space calculations to require consolidated usable open space (staff proposed 2.5% of a subdivision’s developable area for larger sites), and adds a new annexation article clarifying Type 1 and Type 2 annexation procedures, pre-application meetings and annexation agreements. Planning Director Kyle Roberts and Senior Long Range Planner Corey Murray emphasized that the changes were shaped to comply with state housing-accountability review and to preserve as much local control as legally possible.

On homelessness policy, the council approved an amendment to City Code Chapter 5 to permit up to six micro-shelters per safe-parking site (keeping an eight-household-per-site cap). Housing coordinator Linda Klein and John Edwards of Mountain View Community Development said the change is administrative and designed to use existing budget and site capacity when resources permit; Edwards noted neighbors at one site have been supportive.

Public works director Jessica McClanahan presented a resolution to initiate property-acquisition steps for the East Side Arterial capital project, including appraisals, required notices and negotiation steps and preserving council review before any condemnation. The parcels identified require about 7,234 square feet of dedicated right of way plus a temporary construction easement; McClanahan said staff has been in negotiations with the owner for nearly two years but are at an impasse over price and therefore seek to begin the formal acquisition process. The council adopted the resolution; the recorded roll call showed a single recorded 'nay.' McClanahan said staff will continue negotiations and return to council before any condemnation action.

Council also authorized staff to apply for a state parks local-government grant (up to $1,000,000) administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for a proposed downtown ice-rink-and-park project; staff said grant decisions arrive in the fall and the city will return with design check-ins this summer.

Public comment included Trevor Johnson, who urged continued city support for Pride Month and 2SLGBTQ+ inclusion. Councilors closed with brief remarks thanking staff and reiterating next steps on items that will return for final action or contract approval.

Votes at a glance - Consent agenda: approved (voice vote). (motion: move to approve consent agenda; outcome: approved) - Wallace Group & Carlson Testing on-call contracts: approved (motion: award two on-call contracts up to $750,000 each; outcome: approved) - Safe Routes to School TR2407 (T Line Construction LLC): approved (motion: award construction contract $149,604; outcome: approved) - Airport concessions: recommendation to award to Tailwinds Hospitality; council directed staff to return with contract/lease details and continued oversight before final lease approval (motion: table/return with contract details; outcome: committee to continue work and return to council) - Ordinance 2026-06 (HF Jones Road vacation): adopted (roll-call recorded yes votes) - Ordinance 2026-05 (NW Spruce Avenue vacation): adopted (roll-call recorded yes votes) - Ordinance 2026-07 (development-code amendments including annexations): adopted (motion and roll-call recorded yes votes) - Ordinance 2026-04 (safe parking micro-shelter increase to max six per site): adopted (roll-call recorded yes votes) - Resolution 2026-10 (initiate acquisition for East Side Arterial, including eminent-domain steps if necessary): adopted (motion passed; one recorded nay) - Resolution 2026-09 (apply for OR Parks & Rec grant for downtown ice rink): adopted (motion passed)

What’s next: Council asked city finance staff to analyze the Republic Services rate proposal and indicated decisions about rate adjustments would be scheduled at an upcoming June meeting. The Tailwinds concession award will proceed into lease negotiations with council oversight and contract provisions to address design, product mix and local-partner incentives.