RE: I just got off the phone with Gordon Root

From: Alice Cannon

Sent: Wed Apr 22 13:15:39 2020

To: Gerald Fisher

Cc: Spencer Parsons; Dan Huff

Subject: RE: I just got off the phone with Gordon Root

Importance: Normal

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Thank you, Gerald. This is helpful history.

Alice

From: Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>

Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 1:13 PM

To: Alice Cannon <acannon@cityofmolalla.com>

Cc: Spencer Parsons <spencer@gov-law.com>; Dan Huff <dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>

Subject: RE: I just got off the phone with Gordon Root

From the TSP. The decision to remove MFR from the network was documented by 10/04/17 so it was already in the works before that. First plan review was done by Jennifer Cline. 2^nd design review was done by 10/04/2016. 3^rd design review was done by 03/15/17. Final plans submitted on 03/28/17. Grading permit was issued 06/09/17 and first inspection report done on 06/12/17.

Here is what the 2001 TSP says

MOLALLA FOREST ROAD SCENARIOS

The Molalla Forest Road is a former logging road that passes through the western and southern portions of Molalla, mainly through industrial-zoned land. This road was proposed in the City’s 1989 Transportation Study as a bypass of downtown Molalla, helping to remove through traffic—particularly trucks—from downtown. The road is currently owned by the City of Molalla, but is closed to automobile use in most locations, except for a section southeast of Ona Road. Three scenarios have been developed for its future use.

Under both a city-wide no-build scenario (presented in the future conditions analysis), and Forest Road scenario #1 (No Bypass), the road would remain generally closed to automotive use, except for the deadend portion southeast of Ona Road that is currently open. East-west through traffic would continue to use Main Street through downtown. Under the city-wide no-build scenario, Main Street would be the only continuous east-west roadway through Molalla, and would bear the brunt of traffic growth occurring internal and external to Molalla. In other growth scenarios that do not include the Forest Road, local automobile traffic would have additional east-west options available to them, providing some traffic relief to Main Street. Under the no-build scenarios, the Forest Road could be converted into a multi-use pathway connecting the proposed park in the City’s southeast corner with residential land in the northwest corner.

Under scenario #2 (Industrial Access), the portion of the Forest Road between Ona Road and Mathias Road would be rehabilitated and widened to collector street standards to provide trucks with a more convenient route to most of the City’s industrial areas. The road would also provide access to any residential development that occurred following a UGB expansion in the southeast portion of Molalla. Access to the state highway system on the west would be via a widened Ona Road and a new east-west collector street from Highway 213 following an existing private driveway just north of the current UGB. (Figure 17, found later in this section, depicts the potential street alignments.) The section of the Forest Road between Ona Road and Highway 211 would not be improved because of the proximity of the roadways’ intersection to a culvert over Bear Creek that would need to be replaced. Under scenario #2, the Forest Road would handle traffic from future residential and industrial growth in southern Molalla, but would not be intended to divert existing traffic from Main Street.

Under scenario #3 (Downtown Bypass), Highway 211 would be realigned onto the Molalla Forest Road to the west of its former intersection with the Molalla Forest Road. The Forest Road would be upgraded to state highway standards between Main Street and Mathias Road, and Mathias Road would be upgraded between Main Street and the Forest Road. To protect the long-term function of the Forest Road as a bypass, strict access limitations would be placed on the road, limiting access to primarily public street connections. Approaching Molalla from the west, traffic bound for downtown would make a left turn off the highway to get onto Main Street (see Figure 17). Approaching from the east, several options exist to

encourage the use of the bypass, which will be discussed later in this memorandum. Main Street itself would be improved with pedestrian and bicycle treatments intended to discourage through traffic and encourage lower speeds. Under scenario #3, the Forest Road would handle the majority of the east-west traffic passing through Molalla, and would also serve as an industrial access route and as access to any residential growth in southeastern Molalla.

Molalla Forest Road Recommendations

In order to place more of an emphasis on the Molalla downtown core area as a shopping destination and to promote a friendlier pedestrian environment, it is recommended that the Molalla Forest Road be used as a

downtown bypass. This would allow through traffic including through trucks to completely avoid several important intersections, particularly the Molalla Avenue/Main Street intersection. Access to the Molalla

Forest Road should be limited to public street accesses only, except for existing private accesses to existing uses, in order to preserve the function of the road as a bypass. If adjacent land uses change, their

access to the Forest Road should be closed and alternative access provided.

While bypassing the majority of through traffic around the downtown core area is beneficial from a safety, roadway maintenance, and quality of life perspective, it should also be noted that this recommendation is

a large project that would require extensive roadway reconstruction efforts and would dwarf all of the other roadway projects in terms of costs. Other issues include an increase in traffic adjacent to the

residential areas along Mathias Road and the fact that a bypass will not eliminate the need for a traffic signal at the Main Street/Molalla Avenue intersection. Despite these drawbacks, the need for the Forest

Road as a bypass will ultimately promote better east-west circulation, allow the downtown core area to maintain and enhance its vitality, and help reduce roadway maintenance and noise caused by heavy trucks.

All discussions related to MFR in the 2001 TSP are from OR211 to Mathias. No mention of MFR is made between OR211 and Toliver which is in line with the position of no vehicular access along that section of roadway. It is further decided in the 2014 Parks and Trails Plan as a designated bike an ped pathway.

Regards,

Gerald Fisher, P.E. | Public Works Director

City of Molalla

117 N Molalla Ave. | PO Box 248 |Molalla, OR 97038

Office: 503.829.6855 | Direct: 503.759.0218

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From: Alice Cannon <acannon@cityofmolalla.com>

Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2020 12:45 PM

To: Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>

Cc: Spencer Parsons <spencer@gov-law.com>; Dan Huff <dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>

Subject: RE: I just got off the phone with Gordon Root

Hi Gerald:

A follow-up on Question #4 below. See my comments and questions in red.

From: Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>

Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2020 3:30 PM

To: Alice Cannon <acannon@cityofmolalla.com>

Cc: Spencer Parsons <spencer@gov-law.com>; Dan Huff <dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>

Subject: RE: I just got off the phone with Gordon Root

Here are my responses to theirs

1. The properties along Highway 211 are not and were never in the PUD. FALSE. THEY ARE PART OF THE CONCEPT PLAN SUBMITTED BY STAFFORD.

2. ODOT and the City have rejected the Ona Way right-in/right-out design, making it infeasible. FALSE. ODOT REJECTED IT BUT THE CITY DID NOT COMMENT EITHER WAY SINCE OR211 IS NOT A CITY ROADWAY.

3. Molalla Forest Road was recognized as an approved secondary fire access on the final plat. FALSE. MOLALLA FOREST ROAD HAS NO VEHICLE ACCESS AND NO AGREEMENT WAS MADE BY CITY TO ALLOW FOR ITS USE AS A FIRE ACCESS IN LIEU OF THE ONA WAY CONNECTION.

4. More generally, they believe the Final Plat shows secondary fire access meeting Fire Code. FALSE. I COULD FIND NO DOCUMENTATION ON THE RECORDED PLAT STATING MOLALLA FOREST ROAD WAS A DESIGNATED FIRE ACCESS. IT IS SHOWN AS A PRIVATE ROAD AND A GATE WAS INSTALLED AT THE END OF FOREST LANE TO PROHIBIT VEHICLE ACCESS. THE CITY HAS ACCESS AND IT IS DESIGNATED AS A BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN PATHWAY IN THE TSP AND PARKS MASTER PLAN.

SPENCER ANTICIPATES THAT STAFFORD’S ATTORNEY MAY PUSH ON THE MOLALLA FOREST ROAD ISSUE AS A PROMISED SECONDARY FIRE ACCESS IN FUTURE CONVERSATIONS. SPENCER ASKED ME TODAY WHEN MOLALLA FOREST ROAD WAS DESIGNATED AS A BIKE AND PEDESTRIAN PATHWAY. I SEE THAT THE LATEST TSP WAS ADOPTED BY CC ON SEPTEMBER 26, 2018; BUT BEFORE THAT THE COMMUNITY CONVERSATION CONCERNING THE MOLALLA FOREST ROAD SERVING AS A TRAIL CORRIDOR HAD ALREADY OCCURRED THROUGH THE 2014 ADOPTION OF THE PARKS AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN. See the graphics below for both of those plans.

DAN AND GERALD: DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD TO THE HISTORY PROVIDED BELOW? I already talked to Gerald…I don’t think he has anything new. Dan?

2014 PARKS AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN ADOPTED BY CC IN JANUARY 2014

2018 TSP

Regards,

Gerald Fisher, P.E. | Public Works Director

City of Molalla

117 N Molalla Ave. | PO Box 248 |Molalla, OR 97038

Office: 503.829.6855 | Direct: 503.759.0218

From: Alice Cannon <acannon@cityofmolalla.com>

Sent: Tuesday, April 21, 2020 3:14 PM

To: Spencer Parsons <spencer@gov-law.com>; Dan Huff <dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>; Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>

Subject: I just got off the phone with Gordon Root

rHi,

The main message I conveyed is that his attorney and Spencer will be talking later today and I don’t want to get ahead of that conversation. That said, I did highlight the steps I believe would get us to resolution. They are the ones I mentioned in the earlier email to you this afternoon:

a. Stafford needs to build the temporary gravel fire lane that was promised with Phase 1 (see above). As I mentioned on the phone, the alignment may need to be different because it is the same as the street alignment. It seems counterintuitive to have the emergency access be unusable during construction of the street. In any event, the temporary gravel fire lane needs to be approved by the Fire Marshal, in a location acceptable to the City, Fire Marshal, and Building Official.

b. Stafford needs to dedicate the right-of-way in an alignment acceptable to the City Public Works (Gerald) and ODOT. Stafford has already produced an alignment for the Ona Way extension that met the City’s needs. They simply need to dust that off and request another review of the City and ODOT. Upon approval of the final alignment, they need to take care of the dedication of that right-of-way to the City and ODOT, following processes established for both agencies.

c. Stafford needs to submit a preliminary design of the street, along with an engineer’s estimate with adequate line-item detail for City and ODOT review. The design for each agency will be different because the City is only responsible for improvements in its own right-of-way, while ODOT is interested in design in its right-of-way. The preliminary design and estimate should be accompanied by a project schedule, showing milestone dates for completion of design, submission of plans to ODOT and the City for approval, and the duration of construction. The final deadline should be inclusive of the projected time needed for each of the milestone items.

d. Following City approval of the preliminary design, milestone timeline, and cost estimate; Stafford needs to submit a letter of credit or bond (or financial guarantee that meets requirements for the City and ODOT.). The City’s financial guarantee will be for improvements in the City’s r/w. ODOT’s financial guarantee will cover improvements in its r/w. A performance deadline will be attached to the bond.

Gordon and Bryan countered with:

1. The properties along Highway 211 are not and were never in the PUD.

2. ODOT and the City have rejected the Ona Way right-in/right-out design, making it infeasible.

3. Molalla Forest Road was recognized as an approved secondary fire access on the final plat.

4. More generally, they believe the Final Plat shows secondary fire access meeting Fire Code.

I told Gordan and Bryan that our attorneys would be speaking this afternoon and that I didn’t want this phone conversation to interfere with anything they will discuss. I also told them that if they disagree with something we believe to be true, they are welcome to submit evidence otherwise. We are happy to review it. They reiterated several times that they don’t want the future homeowners for LGI homes to be held hostage by this issue.

We left it there….It was generally cordial.

Alice