Staff updates: state-funded spec building progress and concerns about state rulemaking on housing

Staff reported substantial progress on a state‑funded spec building in the industrial park: excavation and compaction work are complete, footings and slab pours are scheduled next week, and construction of the building is planned to begin Aug. 17. Staff said the building will be roughly 6,000 square feet with four light‑industrial units and that the city will own the building outright. "The state gave us a ways and means grant of $1.5 million to build this," staff said.

Staff also updated the council on regional legislative activity: at a Central Oregon Cities Organization meeting members voted to retain lobbyist Doug Riggs for another year. Staff raised concerns about House Bill 2258 and related rulemaking that they said could curtail local home‑rule authority by requiring the Land Conservation and Development Commission to implement uniform rules that speed housing approvals and limit some local standards. Staff said they and Ms. Vickers plan to draft written comments for the rulemaking process and asked council to consider the issue nonpartisan and important to local control.