City Council Meeting - Cornelius

uilding a strong capital campaign fund that must also address ongoing operations. The
building's purpose was to provide a safe and productive place for the youth as well as offer
empowering cultural and education resources for the community. A key design feature is to
have the flexibility of added space, which would be used by the community or other partner
organizations until the library needed the space to expand. Based on the campaign consultants’
recommendation, the Friends are beginning to build relationships with and support from past
and potential donors to establish a solid working base as the project moves into the building
phase. Last year, the Washington County Library went out for a 5-year library levy for the whole
county and for the first time, a majority of Cornelius voters, 1, 869 voters, approved the library
levy, indicating there is support for the project. She concluded that she would return to Council
in late January with further updates and to discuss next steps.
Mayor Dalin said he strongly believes in the idea of a community center but noted a
groundswell of public support is needed for the project to progress. He acknowledged the hard
work of Librarian Hill and City Staff and congratulated her for the library’s recovery and success
after near closure.
B. Metro Quarterly Exchange: Metro Councilor Kathryn Harrington
Metro Councilors Kathryn Harrington and Carlotta Collette updated Council about information
relevant to the Cornelius community. Metro’s recent urban growth management decision was a
key discussion point. Councilor Harrington summarized the expansion and related controversy,
noting many communities were disappointed with the decision, including Cornelius. She
clarified that planning is a requirement for this particular cycle, a policy put into effect with the
policy decision adopted the previous year. Formalized planning influenced the UGB expansion
this time around as the extensive planning done by the community and property owners in
those areas demonstrated their commitment to making the most of the land areas. She
reviewed several active projects that Metro was working on and that influenced or benefitted
Cornelius.
Councilor Collette shared the Clackamas County perspective of the UGB decision. Clackamas
County, through the entire urban reserves processes, did not want any expansion in the UGB.
One month prior to the decision, the Clackamas County side of Wilsonville wanted an urban
growth expansion, resulting in a county that was torn on whether to support that; ultimately
the country supported it, but Metro did not, largely due to it being a regional decision and in
hard economic times.
Councilors Harrington and Collette explained that Metro will look for certain efforts to be made
when considering areas for the next UGB expansion. Extensive concept and comprehensive
planning must be done with property owners showing the commitment needed to utilize the
land and meet capacity requirements. A condition of the expansion will require high levels of
density. Infrastructure costs and how they will be funded must be identified and any local
governance issues must be addressed. Marketability of the area is also a consideration.
Cornelius City Council Meeting
Minutes-November 7, 2011 Page 4 of 8