Newberg City Council | October 21, 2024

Video Stream

Overview

Newberg City Council met on October 21, 2024 to discuss a pathway to improving River Street, update verbiage to city council’s appointment process, rescheduling the city’s housing land analysis initiative until 2027/2028, and whether to continue with the Oak Knoll booster pump project that’s been in the works since 2018.

Also, Mayor Rosacker wanted to set the record straight with J.T. Smith Companies, whom he alleges made a misleading claim about the willingness of City Council to settle an open federal court case out of court. Lastly, council discussed whether or not to allow representatives from Yamhill County News, an online news publication, access to executive session.

Attendance

Present

• Councilor Mike McBride
• Councilor Robyn Wheatley
• Councilor Elise Yarnell Hollamon
• Mayor Bill Rosacker
• Councilor Glenn Cloyd
• Councilor Derek Carmon

Absent

• Councilor Peggy Kilburg

City Manager’s Report

City Manager Will Worthey provided an overview of city operations. He noticed the combined planning numbers were lower than expected, including zero building permits for housing units. A few trends he notices: 

• The Newberg Public Library saw a higher number of people through the door and is seeing more people than ever before.
• Public Safety was busy during the month, with an increase in speeding tickets as well as DUIIs. 
• Public Works orders are down for the year. 

Public Comments

Rebecca Wallis, Managing Editor of Yamhill County News

Wallis appeared before the city council to express her disappointment about the process for news outlets to be recognized as such and therefore allowed to attend executive sessions, which are closed off to the public.  

River Street Discussion

City Manager Will Worthey approached city council on behalf of the Newberg Urban Renewal Agency (NURA) to discuss the possibility of rebuilding River Street. The heavily trafficked street is consistently plagued by potholes, Worthey said, and would be a primary candidate for replacement. Worthey sought direction from City Council on whether they should pursue the street repair in the near term. They felt that the street rebuilding could be essential considering the future mill site development.

Councilor McBride said he feels city council should move forward on planning the project due to its condition and traffic. He then motioned to move forward with design and repair of River Street Road, Councilor Cloyd seconded the motion. It passed unanimously. 

Council Appointment Process

City Recorder Rachel Thomas appeared before city council to amend language in the city councilor appointment procedure. The language of the city council appointment process states that any city council applicant must be interviewed. She said that can be a time-intensive process, and recommended changing that language to may be interviewed. 

Councilor Yarnell Hollamon disagreed with the change, saying that some people may not appear to be the best fit on paper, but an interview could uncover they are a good fit for the position. 

Councilor Carmon motioned to make the change in the verbiage, seconded by Councilor McBride; five councilors voted in favor, with councilor Yarnell Hollamon voting against the motion—the motion passed.

Reschedule the City’s Housing Lands Analysis to 2027/2028

Assistant Planner James Dingwall presented a Resolution Requesting that the Department of Land Conservation and Development Dissolve the Sequential Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) Review Program and Reschedule the City’s Housing Lands Analysis to 2027/2028. This conversation came as a result of an earlier directive to review the current land analysis conducted in 2021 to determine the amount of land needed based on population growth projections. By pushing the land analysis out to 2027/2028, the city can conduct a new analysis that reflects updated data.

Dingwall then proposed a sequential UGB process that would solicit property outside of the UGB as the city of Newberg grows.

Mayor Rosacker proposed city staff send a letter to all properties in the Urban Renewal Area or abutting City Limits to determine interest before effort is expended by staff in this effort. It was motioned by Mayor Rosacker, seconded by Councilor Yarnell Hollamon and passed unanimously. 

Oak Knoll Booster Pump Discussion

City Manager Will Worthey was seeking direction from the council about whether they should or should not continue the Oak Knoll booster pump project. In 2018, the city of Newberg received a booster pump paid for by the Veritas School, North Valley Friends Church, and a local developer. The city agreed to upgrade pumps with these materials, but if not used they would issue a refund for the supplies. Recently, the mayor suggested this project may be a misuse of funds and should be canceled. 

Public Works Director Russ Thomas was also on-site to answer questions regarding what would happen if the existing pump fails, as well as answer questions about selling the pump purchased by the community organizations. 

A representative from the Veritas School appeared before City Council and said she also felt the Oak Knoll Booster Pump project should be canceled due to the relatively small service area of the pump installation. 

Councilor Yarnell Hollamon said she would want to have a conversation with all interested parties, being the North Valley Friends Church and the local developer, before making a decision. 

J.T. Smith Company Lawsuit

Mayor Bill Rosacker added an agenda item addressing signage hanging outside of the J.T. Smith Companies development, Crestview Crossing, which links to an article posted in the International Business Times stating the City of Newberg owes 2.4 million in System Development Charge (SDC) credits for infrastructure improvements related to the housing and commercial development at Crestview Crossing.

According to J.T. Smith Companies, the city has not issued those credits and filed a federal lawsuit claiming unwarranted seizure of property. 

“While the Mayor of Newberg, Bill Rosacker, has been open to mediation with J.T. Smith, the rest of the City Council and City Manager have been resistant despite the company’s sustained efforts,” wrote Karcy Noonan in the article. 

Mayor Rosacker addressed that claim, saying he had talked with J.T. Smith Companies and expressed his willingness to enter into mediation or arbitration given the developer drop the federal lawsuit. However, neither he, City Manager Worthey, nor city council expressed a desire one way or another about willingness to meet at a bargaining table outside of a federal court.

He motioned to direct staff to indicate to J.T. Smith that the city is willing to enter negotiations with JT Smith after they drop the federal lawsuit, which was seconded by Councilor Yarnell Hollamon and passed unanimously.

Local Online News Outlet Executive Session Conversation

Mayor Rosacker said he would address the earlier public comment by the Managing Editor of Yamhill County News, Rebecca Wallis, regarding the admission into city council executive session. He said he had filed a case with the Oregon Government Ethics Commission (OGEC) over a month ago, which had not been returned and the judge requested an additional 30 days to make a ruling. 

Councilor McBride questioned why council was waiting for a decision considering Wallis’s admittance to other local organizations’ executive sessions.

City Attorney James Walker said he was in support of waiting for an official decision from the OGEC because they are an official governing body responsible for these decisions related to media. He also noted that OGEC is actively working on how to define a news media organization from a legislative standpoint, and this case could assist them. 

Walker also said that anyone can be invited into executive session at any time, news media or not, but they do need to be invited in. Furthermore, he clarified that the Department of Justice has a definition of what constitutes a news media representative, and there is clear language saying news media representatives are not required to publish in print form. However, reviewing the content and determining the intention of the content published is where the news media organization is defined.

Mayor Rosacker said that the council will have decided on whether or not to invite Wallis to future executive sessions before the next scheduled executive session, and whether or not OGEC has returned their decision.