Council Adopts Natural Areas Management Plan
October 7, 2025 — At the October 6, 2025, meeting of the Wilsonville City Council, the Council adopted a Natural Areas Management Plan, which supports a more ecologically-resilient future and improves the health and resilience of ecosystems within the City’s natural areas The NAMP provides a framework for natural area management in order to ensure the long-term maintenance and enhancement of City-owned natural areas for the community’s benefit.
To complete phase four of a long-term capital project to convert all City street lights to light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, the Council approved a $753,500 contract with Northstar Electrical Contractors, Inc This contract funds the replacement of 75 streetlights within 24 signalized intersections and 441 lights within the Villebois neighborhood.
Additionally, the Council approved a $15.5 million supplemental budget adjustment that re-appropriates funds to the current fiscal year for ongoing, multi-year capital projects tied to Council-approved contracts and funds $1.6 million in previously unanticipated improvements.
The Council also approved an intergovernmental overnight loan Agreement (IGA) between the City and the Urban Renewal (UR) Agency for $500,000. This action moves taxes collected in the debt service fund to the capital fund for use in future projects, allowing the City to save on the expenses associated with outside bonding.
During Mayor’s Business, Mayor Shawn O’Neil acknowledged the recent passing of two long-time community members and discussed their legacies. Alan Kirk was a long-time City Councilor (1997-2010) the recipient of Wilsonville Rotary’s 2004 First Citizen Award; Diane Imel served as a charter member of the City’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and was a passionate advocate for amenities that better serve people with disabilities.
In the wake of the departure of former Councilor Katie Dunwell, the Council passed a motion to designate Councilor Adam Cunningham as the body’s primary representative on the Willamette Intake Facilities Commission Board. Applications for those interested in filling the seat vacated by former Councilor Dunwell are due at City Hall by Friday, Oct. 10, at 5 pm.
During Communications, Planning staff shared that the Oregon Chapter of the American Planning Association (OAPA) has awarded the City its Building Tomorrow Today Award. This honor acknowledges the City’s work to vision, plan, leverage partnerships, and construct Vuela, a 121-unit multi-family dwelling located at the Wilsonville Transit Center that is providing housing opportunity for residents making less than 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
Staff and City Council also recognized a few of the many contributions of long-time Planning Manager Dan Pauly, who is concluding his 17-year employment with the City and moving out of state at the end of the month.
During the period of public input, the Kitakata Sister City Advisory Board chair made an appeal for host families interested in housing a member of the delegation of Kitakata students visiting Wilsonville Dec. 6-16.
During City Manager’s Business, City Manager Bryan Cosgrove informed the Council that community focus groups are scheduled to take place Oct. 23 and Oct. 25 to gather input from randomly-selected community members on the Town Center Plan and the use of Urban Renewal to fund local infrastructure. Cosgrove said that other opportunities for input are still to be developed to gather feedback from a larger cross-section of the community.
The City Recorder confirmed that a special meeting of the City Council is to take place this Thursday, Oct. 9, at 3 pm. This meeting is to discuss the strategy for the recruitment for a City Manager to succeed Cosgrove, who is retiring at the end of the year.
At the work session held prior to the meeting, the Council and City’s Planning Commission held a joint meeting with City Planning staff and project consultants to inform a planning framework that is being established to guide future development of land located west of the railroad tracks within the Basalt Creek Planning Area. The goal of the Wilsonville Industrial Land Readiness Plan is to define land use policy to make the area development ready as staff works concurrently on infrastructure financing and take other actions over time to support commercial/industrial growth and trail connections within the area.
The next regular meeting of the Wilsonville City Council is scheduled to take place on Monday, Oct. 20, at 7 pm. A work session is scheduled to precede the meeting. Both the meeting and the work session are open to the public.
Community members can watch all City Council meetings on cable (Xfinity Ch. 30, Ziply Ch. 32) or online via the City’s YouTube channel: ci.wilsonville.or.us/WilsonvilleTV.
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