Newport City Council — Transcript
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Third Avenue Street Improvements Project Progress
12th Street Area Improvements Project Bid Rejection
Daily Electric Site Expansion: Conditional Use Permit & Variances
Bailey Business Park Final Plat Approvals
2027 Preliminary Levy Certification
Dog Licensing Policy Change
Fall Cleanup Day Event
Labor Relations Agreement with Local 49
Votes (9)
Approval of Partial Payment Application Number Three for Third Avenue Street Improvements
Moved by Council member Schmidt [0:06:06] · Seconded by Council member Sumar [0:06:21]
John Herdigan, the city engineer, reported that Geistlinger is making steady progress on the Third Avenue street improvements, having installed all pipes and shifted focus to 17th Street. Curb and gutter installation is now expected by September 30th, with paving in mid-October. The payment application was for work completed to date.
Resolution 2026-77: Rejecting Bids for 12th Street Area Improvements Project
Moved by Council member Sumar [0:09:56] · Seconded by Council member Schmidt [0:10:07]
The project's award was delayed due to new federal EPA funding requirements, specifically for good-faith efforts to engage disadvantaged business enterprises in bidding. Staff, in consultation with EPA and the low bidder (A1 Excavating), recommended rejecting current bids and rebidding the project with corrected procurement language this fall to begin construction in Spring 2027, ensuring compliance and preserving significant federal funding.
Approval of Variances for Daily Electric Site Expansion (Resolution 2026-70)
Moved by Council member Sumar [0:23:51] · Seconded by Council member Ingamman [0:24:08]
The proposed Daily Electric expansion required multiple variances, including for site size (under 1 acre), impervious surface (76.2% vs. 75% max), building and parking setbacks, window coverage on the first floor, and landscaping. The City Planner noted that the Planning Commission supported flexibility for window coverage due to property elevation, provided second-floor windows were larger. Staff recommended approval with conditions.
Approval of Conditional Use Permit for Daily Electric Site Expansion (Resolution 2026-71)
Moved by Council member Ingamman [0:24:59] · Seconded by Unknown [0:25:10]
This item followed the approval of variances and focused on the overall Conditional Use Permit for Daily Electric's expansion. Discussion included clarification on employee expansion, which the CUP would facilitate, and confirmation that standard conditions regarding utilities and property taxes were included. The permit would allow the project to move forward pending a building permit.
Table Resolution 2026-78: Bailey Development Utility Extension Agreement
Moved by Council member Sumar [0:39:07] · Seconded by Council member Ingamman [0:39:13]
Staff requested that the resolution for the utility extension agreement related to the Bailey Business Park project be tabled. This was done because staff were not prepared to have it approved during this meeting, indicating further work or discussion was needed.
Approval of Resolution 2026-79: Final Plat and PUD for Bailey Business Park First Edition
Moved by Council member Schmidt [0:39:56] · Seconded by Council member Sumar [0:40:04]
The First Edition plat for Bailey Business Park creates lots for United Properties, Real Estate Equities, Quicktrip, and a city lift station. Staff noted remaining details such as building color consistency with revised plans, landscaping consistency with Woodbury, and addressing engineering comments. Coordination with neighboring communities and the county continues to be essential.
Approval of Resolution 2026-80: Final Plat and PUD for Bailey Business Park Second Edition
Moved by Council member Schmidt [0:40:29] · Seconded by Council member Ingamman [0:40:40]
The Second Edition plat focuses on subdividing Outlot B to create distinct lots for the multi-family building by Real Estate Equities and the Quicktrip gas station. Remaining review items included a one-parking-stall shortfall for the multi-family building and ensuring landscaping along Century Avenue and other main corridors is consistent with neighboring Woodbury developments.
Resolution 2026-81: Preliminary Levy Certification for Levy Year 2026 Payable in 2027
Moved by Council member Ingamman [0:43:42] · Seconded by Council member Sumar [0:43:48]
Administrator Hatch presented the recommended preliminary levy of $4,412,49, representing a 4.9% increase. However, due to a 2.1% decrease in the median home value, residents are projected to see a decrease in their property tax bills. The budget prioritizes long-term financial stability, taxpayer impact, capacity needs, and public safety. The Mayor emphasized that this is a 'not to exceed' preliminary levy, allowing for further adjustments before final approval in December.
Resolution 2026-82: Approval of Labor Relations Agreement with Local 49
Moved by Council member Ingamman [0:52:30] · Seconded by Council member Sumar [0:52:32]
Following a closed session concerning labor negotiation strategy, the Council returned to open session and approved Resolution 2026-82. This resolution formalizes a three-year labor relations agreement with Local 49, set to commence on January 1, 2027.
Notable Quotes (16)
Geistlinger is continuing to make pretty steady progress. Uh we have all the pipe in the ground right now, including the water mane, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and uh all the services.
Gislinger is requesting $558,234.70.
what we found out from one of them in the EPA is that there are some specific procurement requirements that need to be that need to be included in the bidding documents. uh mainly to have um uh goodfaith efforts to engage disadvantaged business uh enterprises on being able to bid for a poor all or a portion of the project.
So, in your packet this evening, we have a uh resolution uh to reject those bids and then uh direct staff to bring a revised bidding package to council for approval that we will bid later on this fall so that we are uh in line for uh for construction to begin in the spring of 27.
The city's had a reasonable amount of experience working with state grants... The uh the federal appropriation that we have follows the federal federal guidelines. So that's where those uh the six good faith efforts and some of those procurement requirements come from.
The new addition will be uh putting a fair amount of new office and warehousing space on the site uh to support their operations and allow them to grow along with a um additional parking area on the south side of the lot that's screened from public view of 21st Street.
The two criteria that we have in ordinance are that parcels for this use must be 1 acre or larger. This can be met with a variance... There are a number of different variances needed. This is a really tight site and they are proposing to meet a lot of the standards but can't meet all of them.
the county did, you know, provide those comments and their comments really have been um, supportive of only one access on 21st Street. And there are reasons for this. You know, if this was a city street, I think we'd probably be in the same place. It's a safety concern when you have two access points so close together.
Okay, great. And then I know with several of our uh cups we have the condition that uh utilities and property taxes are paid. Um that's included. I'm looking through this and maybe I'm just not miss seeing it.
This is the plat document itself. This will create the different lots as part of the project. Lot one and lot one, they're both there are two different blocks. There's block one and block two. Those are United properties. And then outlot B on the south uh west side that is the lot that will be occupied by real estate equities and Quicktrip. And then on the bottom the uh the bottom corner southwest corner you can see outlaw A that is where the city's uh lift station will be located.
Each of the three communities will generally serve uh their developments with the exception of Maplewood because Maplewood is their development sites on an island. ...Newport will be able to manage the waste water, the the sewer and the water for the Maplewood development.
this is the way cities are supposed to work. We're supposed to help taxpayers in a way that's most costeffective even when it crosses borders.
it's 115 ft to the north of the current center line and that and it's a little wider than than would normally be acquired uh for the purposes of a future Bailey road expansion. and the the county is considering um [snorts] moving the center line of the road slightly north to provide some a little bit more space to the residential homes on the south side. So this development is accommodating that uh future uh perhaps a future realignment.
With that said, uh with discussions with the council, uh uh we are looking at about a 4,412,49 uh dollar preliminary levy. Um we did see a change of about 2.1% uh decrease in the median value home. And what this will do for homes in the city of Newport is actually a decrease um across the board.
council has been discussing budget matters through workshop meetings. We initially started at an 8% levy. Um we uh cut some things from the budget to get down to 4.9%. As our administrator said, this is a preliminary levy. This is a not to exceed levy.
we have an item before us which is resolution 2026-82 which is to approve uh the labor relations agreement with uh local 49. This is a three-year agreement starting in uh January 1, 2027.
Ordinances & Resolutions (24)
Payment request from Geistlinger for Third Avenue street improvements
Resolution rejecting all bids for the 12th Street Area Improvements Project
Permit for Daily Electric's contracting office expansion
Multiple zoning exceptions requested by Daily Electric for site standards
Resolution approving variances for the Daily Electric site expansion project
Resolution approving the conditional use permit for the Daily Electric site expansion project
Environmental Assessment Worksheet reviewed for Bailey Business Park project
Prior approval stage for Bailey Business Park development
Prior approval stage for Bailey Business Park development
Agreement under which grading work for Bailey Business Park has been done
Final stage of platting process for Bailey Business Park
Bailey Development Utility Extension Agreement (tabled)
Resolution approving final plat and PUD for Bailey Business Park first edition
Resolution approving final plat and PUD for Bailey Business Park second edition
Future agreement for utility extension to Bailey Business Park
Future agreement for public improvements for Bailey Business Park
Preliminary levy certification for levy year 2026 payable in 2027
Budget fund reviewed for 2027
Budget funds for water, sewer, street lighting, and storm water
Budget reviewed for 2027
Five-year plan from 2027 to 2031 reviewed for budget
Grant impacting public safety budget
City's comprehensive plan to be updated in 2027
Resolution approving the labor relations agreement with Local 49