Creswell State of the City address, part 2

Editor’s note: This is part two of Mayor Richard Zettervall’s State of the City Address. The first part of his column appeared in the Feb. 14 edition.
Looking forward into 2019
I’m very excited to get to work with our city manager, city staff and our new city council. Together, we will work hard and hopefully have an equally impressive list of accomplishments in 2019. Creswell is facing many challenging issues and some that will be really exciting. Below, I will outline the issues that our city staff, councilors, committees and commissions will be working on in 2019.
Affordable Housing
Creswell faces a shortage of affordable housing. Current projections show that over the next 20 years, Creswell will need more than 800 new housing units, half of which will need to be affordable housing. Like many other cities across Oregon, Creswell is exploring a wide variety of programs that offer more affordable housing options.
Workforce housing is a term used by many cities across the country. The National Real Estate Investor states that Workforce Housing; “….generally serves families and households making greater than 60 percent on the average median income, (AMI) and up to 120 percent of the AMI in the highest local metropolitan area.”
I have had conversations with Creswell business owners who have told me that their employees looking for housing in Creswell cannot find it here. These business owners want housing to be affordable and available to their employees right here in Creswell.
Many meetings are currently planned with our state legislators and Lane County Commissioner to talk about creative ideas and solutions that can bring more housing options to Creswell. This is not an issue that is an easy one to solve, but rest assured it will be a very high priority in 2019 and beyond. All of us need to be concerned with the lack of housing and variety of housing options, and work together on creative solutions.
Since being elected, I have had meetings and discussions with the Creswell School District. My eyes have been opened to the challenges that some of Creswell’s students face every day due to the lack of food and housing. The numbers of students who are classified as homeless in Creswell is truly staggering. I was shocked to hear these statistics! Let’s pledge to work together with the school district and do everything that we can to ensure that every child has adequate food and housing here in Creswell.
Economic Development
An important component of economic development and job creation in Creswell is the development of the vacant commercial and industrial lands, such as the former Bald Knob Mill site. This site is one of the largest parcels of industrial land on the entire Interstate-5 corridor in Oregon. There are many challenges with this parcel. The Phase I and Phase II environmental testing has been completed, and the results show limited contamination is concentrated in the creek that bisects the property. Our city council will focus on the development of the former Bald Knob Mill site.
Additionally, there is a strong desire to see vacant commercial property on the east side of Creswell developed to provide jobs, services and retail opportunities in our community. I am committed to explore all possible avenues to spur the development of these parcels.
Public Safety
Public safety in Creswell is one of my highest priorities. I have charged the city council’s Public Safety Committee to: “Evaluate and make recommendations regarding ballot language and the possible cost of a Public Safety Levy to be placed on the ballot for the November 2020 General Election. Recommendation should take into account replacing the current Public Safety Fee and providing 24 hour Lane County Sheriff Office contract police coverage to the City of Creswell.”
Our city council will be working on this, and it is my hope that a public safety levy in November 2020 will be approved and provide Creswell with 24 hour police coverage.
Public safety does not always revolve around police coverage. There are many factors that go into making people feel safe or not feel safe. The city council will be discussing the subject, “Do you feel safe in Creswell?” at the Monday, Feb. 25, 2019, city council work session. This is a topic that will only be successful with a large amount of public input. I welcome you to come to city hall’s council chambers at 6 p.m. on Feb. 25 to be part of the discussion and solution(s).
Parks in Creswell
2019 should be a very exciting year regarding the addition of new city parks in Creswell. The addition of a new park on South 2nd Street behind the New Hope Baptist Church will mark the first park south of Oregon Avenue in Creswell’s history. When completed, this will be very exciting and definitely a day to celebrate.
In December 2018, the city council adopted the 2018-2028 Parks and Open Space Master Plan. This document will guide the future of Creswell Parks, for the next decade. The adoption of this document represents the culmination of a great deal of work by a large number of dedicated people. Conservation Technix Inc. was contracted as the consultant to work on the creation of the document. The city council then adopted it as one of their last action items of 2018. Mayor Stram can be proud to see the completion of this master plan on his last night facilitating a city council meeting.
Creswell Municipal Airport
Creswell’s Hobby Field is very important to our City. Our municipal airport provides services to a large number of federal, state, corporate and private pilots. It is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the state.
Representative Peter DeFazio announced on Aug. 27, 2018 that the Creswell Hobby Field Airport will receive $200,000 from the Federal Aviation Administration for the reconstruction of it’s taxiway. Representative DeFazio said that the money is “….great news for the many businesses and general aviation pilots who use the Hobby Field Airport.” This is great news and cause for celebration.
Creswell’s Hobby Field Airport is not currently served with water or sewer services. Bringing water and sewer services to the airport is of extreme importance, and will be a very high priority in my term.
The City of Creswell has purchased a large hangar and will be partnering with the Creswell School District to bring, S.T.E.A.M, (Science Technology Engineering, Art and Math) classes to the airport. These students will have the opportunity to participate in vocational training including drone technology. Drones, also known as Unmanned Aviation Vehicles (UAVs) can be used in a wide array of industries from construction, engineering, utilities, energy, media, agriculture, entertainment and forestry. These fields offer good paying jobs to students who complete the program and do not want to attend traditional colleges.
In Closing…
We can all take pride in the excellent work done by the dozens of volunteers who give their time, talents and efforts with an uncompromising dedication for the betterment of Creswell. The City could not function without them. I welcome everyone to follow the example of these volunteers and come join us! I look forward to more people coming together and working alongside your city council, an exceptional city staff and all of these wonderful caring and dedicated volunteers to make Creswell even better still.