City Council, February 26th - Secret Goat Trails and the Policy Agenda

Council meets on Monday, and there's some secret neighborhood lore on the agenda!

Croisan Scenic Trail and the "Cemetery Trail"
(north of Sprague High School)

The City is considering purchasing some land, about 4.25 acres, and a secret goat path that connects with the Croisan Scenic Trail, an extension of Croisan Scenic Way, which has been formalized, but yet might also be secret neighborhood lore for many.

On December 4, 2017, City Council approved a motion by Councilor Cook regarding the transportation system in the area of the Croisan Scenic Trail. The motion directed staff to evaluate how existing City plans protect access to the Croisan Creek Trail (also referred to as the Croisan Scenic Trail) in light of future development...

Per the Salem Comprehensive Parks System Master Plan, the Croisan Scenic Trail is an Interim Connector Trail located along a combination of existing rights-of-way and adjoining undeveloped park property....The Salem Transportation System Plan (see Map 3-8) includes plans for Croisan Scenic Way S extension to serve as a north-south minor arterial street connecting River Road S to Kuebler Boulevard S. When the extension of Croisan Scenic Way S is constructed, it will include sidewalks and bike lanes that will replace the current trail and enhance the bicycle and pedestrian connectivity in this area. The Croisan Scenic Way S extension will also meet ADA requirements, improving accessibility. With the exception of ADA accessibility, the current Croisan Scenic Trail provides pedestrian connectivity and will continue to do so until the street improvement is constructed....

In addition to the Croisan Scenic Trail, there is an informal trail connecting Dogwood Drive S to Croisan Scenic Trail. This trail is commonly referred to as the “Cemetery Trail”....This trail crosses over private property and is not included in adopted City plans. The City is negotiating possible purchase of a portion of two tax lots that are traversed by this informal trail (see Attachment 3). In addition to crossing through these tax lots, this trail traverses two additional private properties before joining with the Croisan Scenic Trail. To formalize the Cemetery Trail, Council would need to include it in the Salem Transportation System Plan or the Comprehensive Parks System Master Plan or both. [italics added]

The agenda item is listed as "information," not an action item, and in the materials there is only a "letter of intent to negotiate." There is no "purchase and sale agreement." So the decision is not formally at Council for approval yet. Curiously, the letter of intent contains a deadline of February 26th for a purchase and sale agreement, so maybe this item will shift over the weekend to become an action item.

Note also the very clear statement from Public Works that the end aim is to pave over the Croisan Scenic Trail as a minor arterial, with full bike lanes and sidewalks.

Council's 2018 Policy Agenda

Council looks to approve the 2018 Policy Agenda that developed out of the Strategic Planning process.

The 2018 Policy Agenda, with the Goal Area and 2018 Action, organized by the Strategic Plan values:

Good Governance: Sustainable Services
o Use Priority-based budgeting to identify city service priorities and rank programs and services for alignment with priorities

Welcoming and Livable Community: Vision for Growth and Development
o Complete community profile and analysis of trends and scenarios on how development could occur over time to determine Vision and Comprehensive Plan actions

Affordable Housing, Homelessness, and Social Services
o Open sobering center

Safe and Clean Neighborhoods
o Support for neighborhood association needs

Natural Environment Stewardship: Environmental Action
o Inventory community impact on the environment to include greenhouse gas inventory

Strong and Diverse Economy: Economic Development and Vibrant Downtown
o Complete market feasibility study for high-speed internet downtown

Safe Community: Provide Emergency Response while Reducing Risk
o Re-open Fire Station 11

The 2018 Policy Agenda reporting during the year on the status of multi-year actions:

Good Governance: Sustainable Services
o Options for revenue strategies

Safe, Reliable, and Efficient Infrastructure: Align Master Planning with City Council and Community Goals for Development and Maintenance
o Asset management and bonding strategy
o Public Transit Committee recommendations.

Strong and Diverse Economy: Economic Development and Vibrant Downtown
o Resources and programs for seismic retrofits

A comparison with previous versions of "Council Goals" suggests that there are fewer policy goals here, so this might be a little less ambitious. But it also might be more concretely achievable, also. Since these policy goals are more carefully designed to instantiate higher level values, these policy actions are probably more coherent also than the more scattershot previous versions of "Council Goals." (And certainly the glossy pamphlet is more attractive!) We'll see how it turns out.

Infrastructure detail page

Environment/Greenhouse Gas detail page

The two items of special interest here are public transit and the greenhouse gas assessment. The broader Comprehensive Plan update will also be of interest.

Tom McCall

The final image in the booklet was sweet to see. It's an image of the statue of Governor Tom McCall in Riverfront Park. Just at the level of symbol about good governance, moderation, and vision, it is apt and maybe even necessary just now.

Bullets for the rest:

• Council will conduct interviews and make a final appointment to the Planning Commission. At least one candidate is a regular bike commuter!
• There's an agreement with Marion County for "slurry seal" projects on adjacent sections of road in the city where the county has scheduled work on road outside the city. They look mostly like "local" neighborhood streets, but there might be some "collector"-level streets on which bike lanes might be striped? The report doesn't explicitly say the City has assessed the list and will add bike lanes where possible and appropriate. It would be nice to know the City is zealous about adding striping on repaving projects.
• And a few more tax exemptions for low-income housing.