Canby's State of the City Address 2016

On Tuesday I had the honor to present the State of the City address to the Canby Area Chamber of Commerce.  It is one of my favorite events and at the same time I get super nervous and anxious.  There is so much going on in Canby!  Enjoy the read.

Good afternoon,

Thank you all for being here today.  Thank you to the Canby Area Chamber of Commerce for allowing me time to give you an update on how we are doing as a city.

          I would like to thank our City Councilors.  These men and women volunteer their time at a number of meetings each week, preparing for those meetings, and often times staying awake at night trying to figure out course corrections to issues in or city.

o   Council President Tim Dale,

o   Councilor Traci Hensley,

o   Councilor Tracie Heidt

o   Councilor Todd Rocha,

o   Councilor Greg Parker,

o   Councilor Clint Coleman,

Additional Guests here today that I would like to acknowledge and thank for coming are:

o    Commissioner Paul Savas

o    Commissioner Martha Schrader

Thank you to our guests for coming today.  Canby really appreciates the support.

I want to personally thank our City Staff.  Our City Manager Rick Robinson, his team, and all the city employees do so very much to keep our city going strong.  In every department of the city we are running 1-4 positions short because of budget cuts each of the last 3 years that WE made.  They, the city team, show up and make sure the lights are on, the buses are running, the water is flowing, and our streets are safe.

This past December during the heavy rains our Public Works team members were on it!  They were working 24 hours a day for 3 days straight.  They went and checked all the trouble spots around Canby.  When they cleared the last spot, they turned around started all over again.

Please, will all the City Team Members that are here stand – Give them a round of applause, please!

Last year I while giving the State of the City I talked about ‘WE’ and ‘US’ as it pertains to ‘WE’ the city and ‘US’ its community members.  I will continue this because I believe it is up to ‘US’, all of ‘US’, on how Canby grows and how it keeps its small town feel and values as we grow into a city.  ‘WE’ all must be involved and engaged.  It is a challenge, when we all balance work, family, and other activities.  How do we fit in anymore?  We are a participatory form of government, those that participate shape and mold what happens.  Sometimes it can be full contact.  I want US to be engaged.  I want to know what WE are thinking as a community.

I am often asked ‘Mr. Mayor – How is the City doing?’  My response is often – “You tell me, how are WE doing?”.  This is often times responded to with a surprised look on the persons face.  Not quite sure how to answer.  Sometimes I am given what I ask for and my quick run to the grocery store takes a little bit longer.  I do not mind it one bit.

(Side note - If you ever want to get a feel on how we are doing, visit the Facebook Page ‘Canby Now’.  This page has covered everything from Parks to Housing to Business Development.  Those people on there are not afraid to tell you what is up!)

I am still filled with a cautious optimism.  Canby is a good city (some have said great) to live in and live near.  We have challenges that WE will work on and are working on, we will make course corrections, and do our very best to keep Canby improving.  Canby has always been thoughtful and deliberate in how WE grow.  That is not going to change.  We cannot afford to be hap-hazard or accidental about our growth. 

Over the course of the State of the City I am going to give you a recap of what we have accomplished and paint a picture of what we are faced with and what we are working on.  There are so many things to be excited about – New civic building, development of the city block, new business ventures coming to the industrial park.  It is an exciting time to be living in Canby.

Here is how we done over the past year and where we are headed:

This year, 2016, started with some excitement as our Police force with support from multiple agencies brought a tense hostage situation to a successful end.  Thank you to Chief Smith and the Canby Police Department for a safe conclusion to that situation. 

In addition to the aforementioned situation our Police Department has been busy this past year.

Ø  Added a New Narcotic K9 to assist officers in searching and locating illegal drugs.  With the legalization of Marijuana, many Police Departments have to switch out their K9 units to ones trained NOT to detect Marijuana.

Ø  Our PD joined Clackamas County Inter-Agency Task Force.  A coordinated group of local and federal law-enforcement officials to reduce illegal drugs and related crimes -- including child endangerment -- in Clackamas County

Ø  Implementation of Social Media (Facebook) - Using social media to deliver important information and events. Adding this has helped Canby PD capture several wanted subjects with the help of citizen’s tips.

Ø  Awarded several traffic safety Grants for the enforcement of Impaired Driving, Occupant Safety and Pedestrian Safety.

Ø  Traffic Safety Projects included collaboration with Traffic and Pedestrian Safety Committee, Public Works and Canby School District to install sidewalks and crosswalks in front of Canby High School to improve safety. Also added flashing crosswalk sign on S. Ivy St in front of Lee School.

Ø  Total calls for service –  21,544

Ø  Total reports taken – 2,013

Ø  Total citations issued – 2,834

Ø  Total arrests made – 339

Ø  This has led to Canby being rated one the safest and most livable cities in Oregon due in part to our continued low crime rate as compared to other Oregon Cities.

On the necessary infrastructure front we have several other Infrastructure improvement pieces that are occurring and being worked on:

We’ve replaced some (sewer lines) this year to address specific problems in areas where we have noticed recurring problems.  We are also replacing or rebuilding wastewater lift stations where we’ve seen ongoing maintenance costs begin to be climb or have identified multiple system failures.

Our wastewater capital improvement plan is proceeding with additional improvements to our treatment plant this year.  We are improving the way bio-solids are handled and disposed.  Several of you have indicated that the odors from the treatment facility seem better than in past years, and the improved odor control is a byproduct of the improvements that have been made to the plant.  We continue to have one of the most cost-efficient treatment operations in the region.

The Street maintenance fee is a big help in addressing the paving needs of existing city streets.  We still are in a constant battle to keep up though and try to get to the worst of our paving needs based on available funding.  An increasing issue for Canby, and other cities, are the county roads that are within the city of Canby.

Canby currently has approximately 3.25 miles of County roads that are within the City Limits.  Some of those roads will be updated when annexation occurs and new developments go in.  Still there are others that will need to be brought up to our standards.  I have been working with County Chair Ludlow, Commissioner Savas and others across the county regarding this issue for the last four years.  The cost to install curbs, gutters, sidewalks, and reconstruct the County roads to City standards would run in the millions of dollars – funds that could be spent on repairing other City streets and even be used for additional improvements.  If the county cannot come up with the funds to make the improvements and the City does not assume responsibility for the roads they will continue to deteriorate.

As you saw when you arrived today we have walls going up on the new civic building!  This is a very exciting stage for this project.  We broke ground on our Civic Building just this past year.  This 2 story building, with its 25,000sqft footprint, will be a huge addition to downtown.  This is one of several additions that are planned for our downtown.

On January 27^th we executed the GMP amendment and set the Guaranteed Maximum Price for the Library/Civic Building at $6.91 million. This includes a construction contingency of $243,000, sets the building completion date of late August and building occupancy for the end of September. 

The two factors that could influence the project completion date are weather and material availability.  We have already taken into consideration the time lost due to both factors in December.  The heavy rains in December did delay some of the work as did a delay in receiving structural steel to start framing the new building.  Structural steel and other specialty materials needed for the project are now keeping up with the rigorous construction schedule that we have set for this project.

Once this is complete and we have moved in, this will leave all but two buildings on the city block vacant as well as the old library building.

After the signing of the land purchase for the new City Hall and Library, we immediately began conversations with a developer, The Hanlon Group, to develop the city block.

Our goal of this very exciting project is that it will be a catalyst for future downtown improvements.  This is a Master Developer driven initiative with a design concept that could add:

     Ø  First floor retail space,

     Ø  Several floors of market rate apartments, plus

     Ø  The City Hall and the old Police Department building could be part of the development, or they could be developed separately depending on the ability of the master developer to invest in building improvements.  We have interest in both of these properties already.

Additional downtown developments include interest by several businesses in what will become the Old Library Building and the development of the block at NW 1^st and Elm which could include additional office space, updating the restaurant, street improvements, and possible railroad quite zone.  These will be transformational projects and make for some very exciting changes to come to downtown in the coming years.

In the meantime activities continue to drive business downtown.  The Big White Goose brought to life Junk Refunk Street Market that drew almost 5,000 visitors to our downtown this past August.  Plans are underway for this event again this year.

Our Main Street Program, led by Jamie Stickel, continued to organize 1^st Friday events, coordinated with the Canby Arts and Culture Advisory Council the installation of 3 new sculptures on 1^st Ave, and continued the Halloween Spooktacular in pouring down rain.  With the help of a number of community members and business owners, WE added “Canby’s Big Night Out!” to kick off Canby’s Big Weekend and it was a huge success!  This year WE will see this event grow I am sure.

Light up the Night saw another tremendous turnout and more parade entries than in many of the previous years.  This continues to be a marquee event for the city.  One of our other Marquee events this year, General Canby Day, is going through some changes.  In the fall the General Canby Board announced to the City Council in a work session that they wanted to move on.

It is my honor to announce the CANBY INDEPENDENCE DAY CELEBRATION that will take its place.  With the help of a great many community volunteers Canby Main Street will host this event and the event will once again be closed out by a Fireworks display with Western Fireworks Display and the Canby Volunteer Fire Fighters.

The topper to all this, was that Jamie Stickel was awarded Oregon’s Main Street Manager of the Year award back in October.

I am going to turn to Economic Development and our Urban Renewal Agency.  Since its inception in 1999, the URD has added over $60M in value to the tax rolls and hundreds of jobs to the city of Canby.  The Façade Program saw 1 more project completed this past year and 1 more started in 2015 for completion in the coming months.  The Canby Liquor store has been completed and looks great, Trinity Counseling is underway and the Kiwanis Store is working on a proposal to bring forward for their façade improvement.

This past year the Urban Renewal Agency, in working with Canby Fire District, agreed to terms on providing funds from the URD to the Fire District.  These funds will enable the Fire District to make capital improvements to their building and purchase overdue equipment.

Also, Chief Davis with direction from the Fire Board was able to lower the cities ISO rating down from a 5 to a 2 with in the city and from a 10 in the rural area to a 3.  What this means is that the city will save money on insurance and so will you.  This is a big savings.  Thank you Chief Davis for your hard work on this.

The Canby Pioneer Industrial Park is currently full with no empty buildings.  We are actively working on numerous projects to help businesses locate in Canby.  With Metro's recent decision not to expand the Urban Growth Boundary, it makes our Industrial Park all the more attractive and increases our competitive advantage.

     Projects that are happening or very close to a decision are:

• ·         The Stratus Development will be located along Sequoia Parkway.  This 60,240sqft building will be opening Winter of 2017
• ·         Bowen Building Expansion will add 26,400 of warehouse space and construction will begin this spring.
• ·         Trend Business Center will be adding building C to their portfolio.  This building will be 33,000Sqft and will enable 3 spaces for small to midsized users.
• ·         Canby Mini-Storage is planned for this summer, with a square footage of almost 47,000sqft.

1. ·         Canby Commons Industrial Park will have 3 buildings estimated at 78,400sqft total.  This will be located on land after Fred Meyer and the Park on Sequoia.  The developer has interest already and wants to plan ground preparation when they start work on the Canby Commons Apartments this spring.

·         Leads that we have pursued have made on to the selection list and in some cases we are 1 of 2 cities being considered.

o   Project Blue Ice: This company would invest about $40 million in a 400,000 square foot building at Sequoia and 4th Avenue. They could employ over 100 workers in first two years. The city would extend 4th Avenue and utilities using state grants for most of the costs.  We have support from Oregon Business Alliance and Clackamas County for this project.  Yesterday, Monday, I lobbied support from the Regional Area Commission on Transportation to support our efforts to seek money to assist us with these road improvements.

o   Project Borealis: A high tech company is considering a 40 acre site to build a 350,000 square foot facility that could create 200-250 jobs. They plan to investment $140 million.

o   Project AK:  A clean tech manufacturer is looking for 6 to 8 acres for a 100,000 square foot, $30- 40 million building. They would employ 60 and grow to 150 over the next 3 years.

o   Compressed Gas Production Company:  An acetylene manufacturing / distribution Company is looking at a 7+ acre site. They would invest $10-15 million and hire 25-50. 

o   Project Crimson: A manufacturing / distribution company is looking for an 800,000 to 1 million square foot building and would employ 250- 500. Decision in approx. 2 years.

Stratus Development, Project Blue Ice, Borealis, and AK – should they come to fruition, will be over one million square feet of new development, over 600 new jobs to Canby, and almost $250 million is assed value.

Here is one item that has been keeping me awake at 2am in this area.  Regarding two of these projects, they have narrowed their choices down to Canby and one other city.  We are one of 2 cities to be chosen between.  The other city in both of these situations is Vancouver, WA.  My Concerns stem from some of the legislation currently proposed in Salem right now.  I know Senator Olsen spoke about it last month.  Specifically, the minimum wage increase and IP23, the gross sales tax on sales over $25 million.  There are others, too.  How does this keep US competitive as a state?  That isn’t even a level playing field when we as a city are looking to bring jobs here.

I attended the Clackamas Chamber state of the Cities luncheon the other day and 4 of the 5 Mayors expressed these same concerns.  On Thursday I attended a dinner with four of our State Senators and 3 of the 4 felt these were going to be happening.  Foregone conclusions if you will.

What happens to a Puddin’ River Chocolate or a Backstop or a Thriftway?  They will adapt, for a short time.  Then what?  Increase prices or worse.  I want to see prosperity up and down the spectrum for sure.  Setting a new wage floor and then selling it as “bringing up the lower income” just sets the new floor level that fewer will ever get off of, or worse will have not job at all.  I have shared these concerns with Senator Olsen and Representative Kennemer.  I have asked the Chamber Board to take a position and I ask you to do the same.

    

      The other wake up, stare at the ceiling at 2Am challenge is housing.  We have a number of developments under way and more to come.

     

     o   Canby Commons Apartments will break ground in late spring early summer.  This will be 166 Market rate apartments that will be built.

     o   Scott Territorial Apartments will begin construction of 48 2 bedroom apartments in fall of 2016.

     

     o   Franz Meadow Development on North Pine. 18 lots being platted for construction to begin March 2016.

     o   Addition development is occurring at

o   Northwoods Phase 2.  10 Permits issued of 33 lots

o   Poplar Townhomes, six townhomes planned.

o   Feist Addition #6. 3 Permits issued of 30 lots

o   Emerald Garden Townhomes, fifteen planned.

Late this past year Metro decided not to expand its Urban Growth Boundary.  Metro has a target of 50 dwellings per acre which is consistent with their desire to go up, not out and maximize services.  What this will mean for Canby is yet to be totally determined.  WE have room within our Urban Growth Boundary and we have the capacity to grow.  With Oregon being one of the best places to live and Canby ranked #5 on the list of the best cities to raise a family in Oregon, we need to be prepared.  That means WE will need to be tasked with watching what goes on around us in Wilsonville, Oregon City, etc. 

This topic leads me into what WE will be working on in the coming months and years.  There are several items that WE are tackling and grappling with as a community.  These will take planning, lots of discussion, money, and time.

     

     Ø  Park Funding:

o   The City currently has funding to support acquisition and initial park improvements but not ongoing maintenance.  Until we figure out the direction here we cannot develop more parks and make them inviting.

o   We will be exploring options to ascertain the level of support for funding of ongoing maintenance costs in existing and new parks.

     Ø  Housing mix:

o   Affordable/Workforce/Equitable housing whatever name is being used, is a concern for many in Canby.

o   There are many wanting Multi-family housing – more duplexes, triplexes, and apartments

o   Thoughts and ideas to address potential housing shortage that are being discussed are:

§  Smaller houses

§  Smaller Lot sizes

§  Planned development communities

§  Other thoughts and ideas welcome.

  Ø  Road Maintenance and Enhancements 

         In April the Council will be holding a day long retreat to discuss the concerns

mentioned here today – Housing concerns, continued road maintenance, Parks and park maintenance, Job growth, and continued Economic Development. I will be bringing forward an idea that may start to address how we may be able to develop entry level housing.  Housing is a very big conversation across the county and the region.  Canby has seen the development of a number of higher end homes.  There will need to be discussion on how to address this situation.  I understand that the market sets the tone.  The conversation is more along the lines of what the city can change so as to not to have to legislate and make things happen that way.  It will not happen overnight.   We have been working with our City Attorney to investigate how we can return foreclosed properties back into being viable home purchases sooner instead of later, we have been sharing thoughts and ideas around Parks and what are possible things we can do.

There are a great many things going on in Canby.  I am excited about what the future holds for Us.  WE are a community of doers.  WE want to see Canby prosper.  It takes each of US to make prosperity happen.  WE do this by finding your favorite business and telling your friends about it.  Send them there, here in this town first.  We have had a number of people and will have a number of people that move to Canby.  We need to help them.  Teach them about what makes Canby special.  Teach them to not just come home at night, drive into the garage, and stay inside.  Tell your employees about what is going on in this City.  It will take all of US to help each other and Canby be successful today and in the future.

Thank you for being here today.  God Bless you all and may He bless Canby abundantly.

State of the City

Yesterday, I delivered the State of the City address at the Canby Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon.  It was a full house and I was excited (and maybe a little anxious) to share my report, analysis, and glimpse of the future of Canby.  I have only been "on the job" since January 2nd.  I did have a lot of help from city staff with much of the technical information and I am confident that my passion for what lies ahead and that we be solutions minded on our future challenges came across.

Below is the "hard copy" of what I presented.  I welcome your feedback, praises, and concerns for what I have presented.  Thank you for reading.

State of the City Address January 8, 2013

Mayor Brian D. Hodson

Before I begin I want to thank Walt Daniels and Randy Carson for their service to our community.  They have contributed a lot to Canby.

If you would have told me 10-15 years ago that I was going to be a city councilor or Mayor, I would have said “No way”.  Well, it has happened.  This has something I have thought about pursuing and even joked – “Some day I will run for office”. Who knew?  What I will not joke about is that I take this responsibility very seriously and appreciate the trust you all have placed in me.  I’m excited and energized to take on this role for the city and for you.

Our world has shown that it can change in a flash.  In the last 6 months I have run a campaign, been elected, decided to change jobs and work with the Chamber Board to plan a Christmas Light Event.  Since November, we have selected a new mayor and council members, changed the leadership of our county, and re-elected President Obama.  We witnessed tragedy at the hands of desperate, hurting individuals that touched some in this room, and every one of us across the country.

There were several Canby detectives and officers that assisted in the investigation at Clackamas Town Center and several churches in Canby that united to support the city of Sandy Hook, Connecticut.  I want to thank those officers and churches for lending a helping hand and support.  It’s amazing what can be accomplished when we come together and unite for a good cause.

On Sunday January 6^th in an interview with my Pastor, he asked what excited me about Canby?  It is the heroic, heartfelt acts I just mentioned, like those by our Police Team and our community to reach out across our nation. Such actions say we are thinking of you in this time of need.  I become excited and proud about our city when the Canby Center is able to meet its financial need to continue its operations because of donations by the community. I am excited when we have talented youth that pour their hearts into theatre, music, art, sports, and science. I am even more excited when the community shows up in support; and when one of our community members, Francisco Zamora is recognized as a local hero by local media.

I am filled with excitement and optimism when I hear of new businesses expressing interest in Canby and existing ones staying open or expanding in this continued tough economic climate.  These are the things that lay our foundation.

What I will present to you today is a city that is in good shape and that I am proud of.  We can always do better and we will do our very best, to be better.  I will go out on a limb for the council and for staff when I say we can always do better.

Financially Speaking: Our city is holding the course.  We were faced last year with a higher than anticipated increase in health care costs that impacted us.  Mr. Ellis and his Leadership team presented a balanced budget to the budget committee this past spring with further cuts to expenses all the while working hard at maintaining our high levels of customer service. 

For the remainder of the fiscal year that began in July we have already begun to look ahead to next year and the next couple of years after that.  We will be having a supplemental budget coming to us in February to capture the $1MM in county capital money for the new library and the savings of over $250,000 through the restructuring of debt on projects from 2003 and 2004, combining transaction fees and taking insurance on our library and Sequoia projects.  The restructuring can be looked at like refinancing your home for an interest rate below 3% and this will be a huge savings.  Thank you to Mr. Ellis, Haley Fish our Finance Director and her team for pulling this together.

The city’s budget committee has already held its 1^st meeting of the year in November to discuss the potential impact that PERS, Cost of Living Adjustments, and Health Care Costs will potentially have on us.  As of now these items could have a tremendous negative impact on services.  I am stressing ‘potential’ and ‘could’ because they are our best guess numbers as of right now.  Our State legislature will be weighing in when session convenes, we enter into contract negotiations with our Police Union this year and I am confident that conversation will give way to dialogue with the City Employees Union, where all of these will impact that overall number.

Our city leadership are working from the position of what are the “have to do” versus the “want to do”.  They are being frugal and a spend it all mentality has not, does not, and will not work.  They understand that we need to work now to set up the future so Canby will continue to be successful.

A large aspect that we provide for is public safety and this year was no exception. 

Canby Police Department

We completed the new police station where police staff moved in the week of August 14-17^th.  Our Police had an average response time to all calls within the 2011 calendar year of 114 seconds, or 1 minute 54 seconds.  Over 14,000 calls were dispatched to Canby Police Officers. That is about 1,170 calls per month.

GREAT Program – Gang Reduction Education and Training –has been maintained with Canby Schools due to an overtime grant funded by a partnership with the Clackamas County Juvenile Department.  Taught in the classroom by a trained uniformed officer, the goal of this program and curriculum is to prevent youth crime, violence, and gang involvement while developing a positive relationship among law enforcement, families, and our young people to create safer communities. 

In an effort to improve efficiency, cost savings, and prepare for the development downtown the Municipal Court, to include court personnel and City Attorney, is now under the direction of the police department.  Court hearings with will now temporarily take place at the police department beginning January 7 of this year. 

Chief Smith and the department continue to mold our police force through hard work on the identification and implementation of the police department’s “new” Mission, Values, and Vision Statement.  This will give shape and direction to the Police Department’s future.

In September 2012, the department implemented a patrol shift that will allow for the better movement of sworn personnel to other shifts.  Such rotation of assignment will minimize fatigue, create opportunities for personnel growth and development and promote oversight and familiarity of personnel by supervisors.

We are committed to continuing the School Resource Officer at Canby High School.  The placement of a law enforcement officer, Greg Larrison, within the school system is a very proactive and preventive decision.  The officer works in partnership with the high school and typically will focus their duty related functions on a model consisting of law enforcement, student counseling, and law-related education. 

In the upcoming year our Police Department is working toward accomplishing the following important goals:

·         Fill police officer vacancies that will promote better shift coverage, increased officer safety, provide better service to the community due to decreased response times and allow for multi-agency partnerships and collaboration.

·         Create a new web page for the police department to interact with the city’s web page.

·         Implement the Citizens/Community Academy that is a series of classes designed to give community members and City Leaders a peek into the inner working of the Canby Police Department. 

·         With a grant from Oregon Department of Transportation, will begin implementation of an Electronic Ticket System that will issue traffic citations in less than 60 seconds and enables officers to return to service faster. 

Other public safety measures taken this year include the completion of sidewalks and walkways at the area called the Triangle that separate 3^rd and 4^th and extended them past the Fairgrounds.

Canby School District and the city partnered together to improve several of the routes to area schools.  With more children walking to school this school year, additional striping, cross-walks, stop signs and flashing pedestrian indicators were added.  Canby Police also increased patrols around the schools before and after school for safety, monitoring, and presence.  I am confident these helpful additions will be evaluated at the end of the year by the school district and the city so we can course correct as needed for future needs.

Within the Urban Renewal District we saw the completion of our Police Station.  This modern and updated facility places Canby at the forefront of public safety with improved technology, improved evidence storage, protection to our officers and it came in under budget to name a few important elements.  The 1st Avenue Redevelopment project brought new streets, streetlights, parking lot, wider sidewalks, landscaping and seating areas. The project also undergrounded utilities, and replaced sewer, water and stormwater lines.   I want to thank the businesses along 1^st Ave and in the Downtown area for their patience; I know it was not easy. 

Economic Development headed by Renata Mengleberg, continued to be an important focus for the Council and Staff this past year.  A Canby Business Survey was conducted last spring to gather input from all sections of Canby’s business areas. Over 70% of businesses rate Canby as an excellent or good place to do business, and appreciated the quality of life, proximity to customers, amenities and local vendors. New resources that have been developed to support local businesses include:

·         “Shop Canby” was launched in January. This searchable website lists all Canby businesses. This enables each business to have a micro website that they can customize to promote their services.  65 business have customized information on the site that attracts 200-400 each month.  On average 65% are new visitors customers. 

·         The Canby Retail Market Analysis was completed last summer. Over 900 residents and 221 employers responded to the survey to help with this analysis. The study provided recommendations on types of business to attract based on the survey feedback and marketing materials to promote Canby to new retailers.

·         The city now has an updated online inventory of vacant retail, industrial space and land available to promote Canby.  This is being updated quarterly so potential businesses can see what is available.

·         A Canby Revolving Loan Program was launched in July to support local business investment.  Loans from $10,000 to $250,000 are available with 10 year terms for building expansions, new construction, building code upgrades, fixtures and seismic retrofits.

·         Three Industrial Forums were held for major employers that provided expert presentations on operational excellence.  Thank you to local manufacturers including MEC Northwest, Pioneer Pump that have hosted the forums. The program was successful and will continue for a second year in 2013.

Industrial Business Expansions and Additions have fueled our economic development this past year also:

·         Pioneer Pump completed its $2.7 million expansion in March. The 34,500 square foot warehouse will support 54 new jobs over time.

·         Shimadzu celebrated its 54,000 square foot expansion in June. The company invested $4.4 million and will add 45 new jobs in Canby.

·         Hawksoft, an insurance agent software developer, moved in to its new 15,000 square foot building in June bringing 42 jobs to Canby. Their goal is to grow to 100 over time.

·         Bold Ideas - a precision metals manufacturer moved in to the Canby Pioneer Industrial Park in bringing 15 jobs. They are projecting to add 40-50 employees over time.

·         Dragonberry Produce broke ground on their new 12,384 square foot building in the Canby Pioneer Industrial Park. They will invest $2.5 million in the new building which will be completed in June bringing 15 jobs to start with.

·         The Habitat for Humanity ReStore opened a shop in Canby this Fall.

·         The 6.1 acre former police site has been cleaned up to make it more competitive for sale.

·         The city promoted Canby to 10 industrial business leads and met with or assisted 13 larger Canby companies.  

·         The Canby Pioneer Industrial Park is now home to 17 companies that employ almost 850 people and have invested over $74 million in buildings and equipment. The park is 35% developed at this point.

Staff is currently developing an economic development plan that will be brought forward for adoption in March so that we can have continued success in the future.

Included in the umbrella of the Urban Renewal Agency is our Main St Program, headed by Jamie Stickle.

2012 brought many exciting successes to downtown Canby.

·         The Façade improvement program continued to gain steam with several projects completed – including the new Bricks and Minifigs building and Canby Station. Many more façade improvements were approved by the Urban Renewal board including the American Legion, T-Line Design, Trinity Counseling, and Canby Music that we will see this year.

·         Ten new businesses opened within the downtown commercial district, spanning everything from hair salons to accounting firms, wellness centers to health clinics.

·         Downtown events promoted downtown including the ongoing First Friday program, Halloween festivities and a new Halloween costume parade, the Cruise In and the annual Light the Night parade and tree lighting.

·         Two rounds of the artistic banner program brought art from local artists and high school students to the streets of Canby, while forging key community partnerships.

·         The Main Street program currently has 18 active volunteers supporting the Promotion and Design committees. Involvement is always encouraged to expand existing committees to leverage Canby’s assets.

Looking ahead, the Main Street Program will focus its efforts on a wide variety of projects, including a blade sign program, creating a sign that will be stationed at the Event Center to direct visitors to the downtown core, adding two additional Main Street committees – Economic Restructuring and Organization,  To expand the Main Street Program, staff will provide additional funding sources including pursuing various grants, and holding special events throughout the year.

Additional accomplishments and items on the horizon for Canby – we adopted the 99E Corridor Plan; we started and are close to the completion of a series of city visioning meetings that will direct our planning and goal setting efforts in the coming years; The Ford Family Leadership Foundation completed a year long bike rack project bringing new and unique elements around Canby.  Here in 2013 we will be moving forward with Stormwater Master Planning, the planning for the new library is progressing forward with community meetings starting this month, and we will begin the Sequoia connection to SE 13^th Ave this spring. 

There is much to be proud of for the past year and there are a number of things that will need our attention, we need a new level of detail, and the ability for government to do the work differently.  What worked in the past may still not be a viable option.  We must realize that we have to prioritize the “have to do’s” before we do the “want to do’s”.  It is not easy.  It means delayed gratification in most instances and it may not be a “No” answer.  It may be a “not just yet”. 

I encourage the council to take a detailed look at how we are setting up Canby for success in not only the city budget and use the Urban Renewal District funds but how we need to plan for the future.  The District closes in about 7 years and as we have seen, the planning we do now will very well be executed by a different council.  Let’s be great in the little things as well as in the big things.  We are building for another generation.

For us to grow Canby’s economic engine we have to be aggressive to draw businesses here to our Industrial Park.  At a state level, the legislature must focus on how to make Oregon a desirable place to bring and open businesses.  Our state as a leader in manufacturing must continue to grow this by becoming more business friendly.

We need our County Commissioners to come together and change the image and reputation that our county is not business friendly.  When a business is looking in the Portland Metro area, we want Canby to be one of the top three places they look into. Canby is not just “shovel ready” we are “Job Ready”. 

On a city level if the draw of new businesses to the state is a trickle, we must appeal to businesses in Washington and Multnomah County to bring them to Canby.  If we can be more attractive to draw the right community minded businesses here then let’s do that.  We have a tremendous amount of Economic know-how at our disposal – our Economic Development Director worked at the county, our former Economic Development Director is currently at the county, and our Chamber Director has ten plus years of promoting Canby across the state.  This is an incredible team that we must leverage for Canby and Clackamas’ benefit.  Let’s “coach up” the members of the Planning Commission so that when businesses do come knocking and housing starts begin we can be ready, without any delay.

For eighteen years I worked for a company that stressed we answer the question – “How do we stay small as we grow bigger?”.  Through the visioning process we have heard it come across that we want to keep our small town feel.   We stay small through making connections in our neighborhoods, being involved by going to community events, and by being engaged in solutions for what is happening in our community.  We will grow positively together on our terms and in a way that is best for Canby!

Thank you to the Chamber for allowing me to speak today, thank you to city staff for all your hardwork this past year, thank you to the city councilors that work hard for all of us, and thank you to the citizens of Canby for your passion.  God Bless you, your families, and Canby.  Let’s get to work!

Sincerely,

Brian Hodson

Mayor

City of Canby, OR.