Council approved a 52-unit apartment expansion at 3000 Forest Ave with no one speaking at the public hearing, then signed off on a major $759,000 sewer-lining contract and two waterfront access projects. The pavilion renovation at Neshotah is now on hold after the state turned down a key grant.
Council approved an amendment allowing construction of two 3-story, 26-unit apartment buildings at 3000 Forest Ave, the next phase on the former Hansen’s Florist site. The required public hearing drew zero speakers across all three calls, and the vote followed without council debate in the minutes—an outcome residents should note given the scale (52 units) and neighborhood impacts like traffic and parking. Based on the meeting recording, staff described the plan as largely the same as last year’s approval, with buildings pulled back from the road, landscaping removed along the frontage at an adjacent owner’s request, and a gated emergency-only secondary driveway.
Public Input: No one spoke during any of the three calls for public input.
Roll call vote
8 yes
Mark Bittner
yes
Doug Brandt
yes
Katherine Dahlke
yes
Shannon Derby
yes
Bill LeClair
yes
Darla LeClair
yes
Tim Petri
yes
Adam Wachowski
yes
Council approved a trail easement with the Kozlowski family entities so the city can build and maintain a bike/ped trail along the West Twin riverfront, with related site and parking improvements. This is the legal permission piece that makes the project possible; without it, the trail plan can’t move forward. Based on the meeting recording, staff said the work was expected to be completed by the end of June and described it as a relatively small project with a “big impact” on public access.
Council approved a not-to-exceed $27,373.60 contract with Pier Waterfront Solutions for boat-launch work at Paddlers Park as part of a broader $60,000 upgrade. The city says the overall project is split between a $30,000 state coastal grant and $30,000 in city capital funding left from FY25, and includes sidewalks, a walkway to the launch, signage, and picnic tables. This is a straightforward quality-of-life project, but it’s also a reminder that even “small” waterfront improvements stack up quickly in capital spending and should be tracked as a package.
Roll call vote
9 yes
Mark Bittner
yes
Doug Brandt
yes
Katherine Dahlke
yes
Shannon Derby
yes
Bill LeClair
yes
Darla LeClair
yes
Tim Petri
yes
Scott Stechmesser
yes
Adam Wachowski
yes
Council awarded a not-to-exceed $759,000 contract to Visu-Sewer for cured-in-place lining of sanitary sewer mains, a method the city describes as cheaper than digging up and replacing pipe. The pitch is long-term: staff says the lining can extend sewer life by 50–75 years and noted Visu-Sewer is already doing the city’s 2025 lining work without issues. This is the kind of big, behind-the-scenes infrastructure spending that rarely draws public attention but directly affects future street disruption and utility reliability.
Staff told council the state rejected the city’s $255,000 grant request—about half the project cost—breaking the project’s original promise that outside money would cover at least 50% to limit the hit to local taxpayers. Council discussed next steps and signaled they don’t want to do a minimal fix now and then pay again later; the direction recorded in the minutes was to pause the larger renovation and wait for more funding, including reapplying for the grant in 2027. The key question residents should keep asking: what “minimum code-compliant” work (if any) will still be needed just to keep the pavilion usable and safe while the bigger plan sits on the shelf.