January was a very busy month for your new city council. We spent two days working with senior city staff discussing our strategy and vision for the next two years. We reviewed the 2018 city priorities, identified the most pressing issues facing Tualatin, and then categorized and prioritized them to identify our overarching goals. Our goals for the next two years revolve around housing, transportation, quality of life, diversity and inclusion, community involvement, and planning and development. More to come on this in a future column.
Councilors attended two important community meetings in January: TriMet’s Southwest Corridor light rail project route community review and the Basalt Creek comprehensive plan open house. The Southwest Corridor light rail project will possibly bring high capacity transit to Tualatin. Trimet projects a 30 minute travel time between Bridgeport Village and downtown Portland. Trimet reviewed the locally preferred alternative (LPA) route from Bonita to Bridgeport as well as a new staff suggested SW 74th route. There are three terminus options for the LPA and one for the 74th Ave route. The SW 74th route is less expensive but has property and employment impacts. If you’d like to learn more about the project go to trimet.org/swcorridor/index.htm or sign up for email updates at trimet.org/swcorridor. Another community meeting is scheduled for February 21st at the Tigard Public Library from 6 to 7:30 PM. Please attend if you’d like to learn more and comment on TriMet’s plans.
City Council approved the Basalt Creek Concept Plan last year, and now staff is working on the comprehensive plan for the area. The Basalt Creek comprehensive plan open house gathered residents’ input on the city’s plans to update the comprehensive plan, zoning map, transportation plan, and the Tualatin Development Code as we work towards incorporating the area between southern Tualatin and Wilsonville into the city. To learn more about this process please visit www.tualatinoregon.gov/planning/basalt-creek-area-planning.
City council approved joining the Stafford three party agreement on January 28th. Stafford is the area between Tualatin, Lake Oswego and West Linn that will be open to development in the future, depending on the widening of I-205. The three party IGA provides the framework for the three cities, along with Clackamas County, to plan the development of the area so that issues such as infrastructure, transportation, city boundaries, and housing development can be worked on collaboratively rather than individually.
I will be holding my first coffee with the mayor session on March 2nd from 9 to 10:30 AM at the New Seasons café in Tualatin. Please stop in and let me know your ideas for the city and/or concerns about the city or if you just want to learn about something going on in the community. I do want to hear from you and look forward to meeting you.
Frank Bubenik
971-420-7443
fbubenik@tualatin.gov
