Hillsboro City Council Facing 23 Items And Millions More On Tuesday

On Tuesday, May 21st, the Hillsboro City Council will take up the work of keeping the City running, passing new proclamations, and responding to hundreds of pages of new requests sent to them by the City Staff in various departments.  Let’s be clear: the Council is not running the City.  Yes, they approve new policies and codes brought to them.  They react to budgetary items and overarching policies and goals, but they do not have the physical time or ability to absorb the finer details of what is happening.    They are quick to decide on what is brought before them and are expected to be.  Two meetings a month, a couple of work sessions, and private Executive sessions do not equate to enough time to run a City from the top down.  As good as the Council is, they are human, and it would require a 60-hour week to do this work.  The City Manager’s offices, the Community Planning department, and various other Department heads do that.

Just take a gander at the 920-page Hillsboro City Budget, which reached a mind-boggling 1.18 Billion dollars in ”23-24.  Despite having a Budget Committee working hard on it, there is no way to internalize what is really happening beyond a high-level view.

I feel for our Councilors.  I know them, and some hold their tounges- the Yes votes that come from them are often whimpers of despair.  Having served on city boards and commissions, I can attest that the “Hillsboro Way” is a pressure that is too great to handle.  Every answer will be “YES,” and there will be little debate.  If you vote No or raise serious debate, the force of the hive mind, the City Attorney, and Staff will be pressed down upon the offender in a way that denies one’s humanity.

Sitting there in their chairs and ruling on item after item, I hope each Councilor can remember that it is not the City that must benefit but each citizen.  More is not better.  Growth is not helpful when it hurts more than it helps, and it is ok for us to stop and pause.  It is ok to breathe.

Let me say where I see the current State of the City.

Hillsboro confronts a quintessential challenge: can a community reconcile its growth with its soul? The ever-expanding sprawl strains at the seams of governance, demanding ever-greater pronouncements from a finite pool of time and resources. Exhausted by the relentless pursuit of progress, the city grapples with an existential question: are we nurturing ourselves or feeding a monster of our own creation? The breakneck pace of development severs the tethers to the past, leaving behind a yearning for the tranquility of forgotten fields and a simpler way of life. The escalating costs of housing and essential goods lay bare the harsh reality of this Faustian bargain, progress at the expense of our identity.

The Council is voting on hundreds of millions in dollars for more land purchases by our Economic Development team, forever daming North Hillsboro to a mass of concrete, humming power plants, and chemical fabs.  We are losing our identity.

Back To Business:  That all said- here are just a few of the Agenda items facing the Hillsboro City Council this week,

The Entire Agengda is here: https://hillsboro-oregon.civicweb.net/document/236632/

Hillsboro Hops Get More Time, More Control

Directly Reprinted from the Council Agenda Packet-  Hops Update: Updated: Second Amendment to City of Hillsboro/Hillsboro Hops Interim Cost
Allocation Agreement
_________________________________________

“The Hops are responsible for all remaining funds and are close to securing private financing in an amount up to $82 million of the project costs. The total project is estimated at approximately $120 million.  M.A. Mortenson Company was awarded the design-build contract for the project. The project is currently 65% designed and the City has received and is in the process of reviewing the Guaranteed Maximum Price before issuing a notice to proceed to begin construction and finalize the design.

Due to the considerable costs for the design work, staff requested and City Council approved an interim cost allocation agreement as well as a first amendment. This approach has allowed the City to reduce or mitigate risk to the City while allowing for flexibility and scalability of the project
and allowing for design to move forward. Staff is requesting a second amendment to the interim cost allocation agreement. The current
agreement indicated that if a new agreement i.e. lease agreement with the Hops was not reached by April 15, 2024, the Hops would be invoiced for their share of the work to date. The proposed second amendment changes the date from April 15, 2024 to September 1, 2024 to allow time for
the financing to be secured and available which the Hops are on tract to complete over the next few months.

Additionally, in order for the ballpark to open in the for the 2026 season, and to provide additional funding needed to get Hops financing in place, the Hops have agreed to provide $2 million in additional funds to keep the project moving forward to a tentative July ground breaking. This amendment places no additional costs on the City. The amendment also includes language that if the contract with Mortenson is assigned by the City to the Hops, as may be required to retain the private financing for the ballpark, that the $2 million in Hops funding would not need to be paid to the City. The Hops from time of assignment forward would be directly responsible for all payments on the contract.”

Cost:
The following includes the second and first amendments and the original interim cost allocation agreement costs totalling $10,703,078.

A summary of these costs are as follows:

M.A Mortenson Contract Charges:
Conceptual Design: $295,000
Design to 35%: $4,500,000
35% to 65%: $3,508,326
Switchgear, Steel Mill Order $399,752
Bridge Funding $2,000,000

These costs will be split accordingly:
Hillsboro Hops – $6,962,463 (80%) plus $2,000,000 = $8,962,463
City of Hillsboro – $1,740,615 (20%)

Section 2.2 as replaced by the First Amendment is hereby deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:
“Section 2.2 Development Cost Limit Design and Procurement Assembly Queue Cost. For purposes of this Agreement in no event shall Licensee be
required to pay any amount exceeding $8,962,463 without Licensee’s express, written permission. Similarly in no event shall the City be obligated to contribute to the Project, beyond staff time, an amount in excess of $1,740,615 unless a new lease or agreement or a third amendment to the interim cost allocation agreement that supersedes the provisions of this Section 2.2 is entered into by the Parties.

NEW FULL FAITH BONDS FOR CITY PROJECTS- $20 to $30 Million For Replacing Lost Fields To Be Paid For By The City

“Recreation Projects: the New Ballpark will displace three fields on the Gordon Faber Recreation Complex. As part of the New Ballpark project plan, the loss of use resulting from losing fields 4, 5, and 6 and gaining full access of the Hillsboro Ballpark (previously known as Ron Tonkin Field)
is intended to be mitigated on the complex. A minimum of two grass fields need to be built to mitigate the hours displaced. Designs of several alternatives that include up to three new fields (grass or turf) are in process and should follow behind the construction of the New Ballpark. It is
estimated to cost up to $20 million for two new grass fields and more if it is ultimately decided to turf the fields. Allowing for the sale of up to $30 million in revenue bonds will allow flexibility as more information is learned about the design elements of the new fields. These bonds will be
secured by the Strategic Investment Program but it is intended to be paid back over time from ticket and parking surcharge payments from the lease agreement (currently in draft form) between the City and Short Season LLC (Hops). If the fields are turfed, or the third field is also constructed, funding to repay any debt service will come from Parks System Development charges.”

$70,000,000 FOR NEW POLICE STATION – (Reprinted from Agenda)

“The City has acquired land and is in the design phase of a new Police Headquarters. The new headquarters will replace both the West and East precincts. The total cost of the project is estimated to be over $70 million but these are still preliminary cost estimates. The financing plan for the new headquarters has been to use a combination of cash reserves and bond financing, however we have included $70 million in the ordinance to allow staff maximum flexibility due to the timing and cashflow needs of the individual capital projects. The debt service on the project will be paid from the Strategic Investment Program.”

NEW SOUTH HILLSBORO FIRE STATION (Reprinted from Agenda)

“Fire Station – The City is building a new fire station in South Hillsboro. Design is mostly complete with construction starting in the near future with completion expected in 2025. The bond ordinance includes $20 million for this project. The debt service on the project will be paid from
the Strategic Investment Program.”

SPECIAL USE PERMITS-Subchapter 9.36 SPECIAL EVENT PERMIT (Reprinted from Agenda)

9.36.000 Purpose
“The city encourages special events that foster the betterment of the community, the promotion of cultural diversity, and the promotion of commerce within the city. Gatherings of persons, outside the normal day to day activity of a property, facility, or location, may place unique demands on public resources and pose a potential danger to public health, safety and welfare. In order to plan for these demands, ensure public safety, avoid negative impacts to the Hillsboro community, and provide clarity on requirements for specific events, it is necessary that the city receive advance notice of these events. The provisions of this chapter are intended to address these concerns and are not intended to place unnecessary burdens on any right of association, assembly, or freedom of expression.”

Editors Note-  The following section in Red is new code that does limit your private Property Rights and your ability and rights to assemble.  It is not needed in my Opinion, the rules for enforcement are not clear and objective, and this seems to be inequitable.  Read Our Previous Story Here

“Instead, events on private property require permits under the ordinance in situations where the events (i) will have a direct and significant impact on ordinary traffic congestion or traffic flow to and from the event over public rights-of-way; or (ii) will significantly affect public rights-of-way near the event; or (iii) could affect the need for city-provided emergency services such as police, fire or medical aid to provide
services at a higher than normal level. “

After the Council Meeting- Probably late in the evening, the Hillsboro Economic Development Council (City Council) will meet to expand the debts the City is incurring to buy up all the land in Jackson East.  Over $80,000,000 is being spent by our City Council to buy people’s homes and lands, tear down their residences and barns, and convert the entire area to Data Centers, Chemical Plants, and Parking Lots.  That is not Opinion but rather just good old facts derived from fieldwork, research, and personal observation.  I have the deeds of what is happening and who was paid; God Bless the people out there on Jackson and Sewell Roads.  They were forced out despite pleading to be left alone.  Now, it is payday, and the people of Hillsboro, via the HEDC and the Council, are paying up.  All of this is happening far beyond our City Boundaries so we can become bigger and better than any other City- and a little less human along the way.

Read It All Right Here: https://hillsboro-oregon.civicweb.net/document/236631/?splitscreen=true&attachmenturl=%2Fdocument%2F236622

“On October 1, 2019, the HEDC approved resolution number 67-19 authorizing the City Manager, Chief Financial Officer, or designee to issue debt up to the available maximum indebtedness capacity for the Area. $172.2 million of maximum indebtedness was approved when the plan was adopted. Under the authorizing resolution, HEDC successfully sold federally taxable revenue bonds in the amount of $83.14 million on
January 25, 2024 to use for land acquisition and other infrastructure projects. HEDC originally budgeted $40 million of appropriations in the BY 2023-25 adopted budget for these purposes. The supplemental budget of $43.14 million will adjust the appropriations to reflect the increase in bond proceeds as resources and the corresponding increase of appropriations needed to acquire land and other infrastructure expenses and bond
issuance expenses.”

Enjoy Hillsboro today.  I am headed to Farmer’s Market in Downtown Hillsboro where things still feel like the town I knew, the one we had, and that is never ever coming back.