191095

The City of Portland ordains:

Section 1.  The Council finds:

1. To meet the needs of North Portland's diverse and growing population, Portland Parks & Recreation recognized a need for a full-service indoor aquatic center in the 1980s.
2. The one-hundred-year-old Columbia Pool has helped bridge the gap for aquatic programming in North Portland for generations. However, the building has been extended well beyond its useful life for decades and is now closed to the public due to life safety hazards identified by an independent structural engineer.
3. In the United States, Black children drown at a rate three times higher than white children. Many factors contribute to this unacceptable public health outcome, including the siting and accessibility of public pools. The North Portland aquatic center's service area consists of 24.4% people of color and 14.3% experiencing poverty. Both percentages are higher than City cumulative averages.
4. The service area for a new full-service North Portland aquatic center will provide aquatic programming to approximately 70,000 people. The service area includes New Columbia, one of Portland's largest affordable housing communities that serves a diverse community, with a large refugee and immigrant community.
5. By 2035, the service area will reach a projected total over 83,000 people. That represents a 34.9% increase in population demand for indoor aquatics in North Portland.
6. To responsibly, efficiently, and sustainably meet the aquatics needs of North Portland residents, PP&R has up to $16.7 million in System Development Charge (SDC) resources to develop a new, full-service aquatic center in North Portland. SDC resources are funding Project design, permitting, and robust public engagement.
7. The 2022 Oregon State Legislature approved funding for the construction of the North Portland Aquatic Center, through HB 5202, section 422 (2). This funding will be provided as a grant to the City of Portland Parks & Recreation in the amount of $15,000,000, to be financed by the issuance of State of Oregon Lottery Revenue Bonds which are expected to be issued in spring 2023, so long as lottery revenues are sufficient to cover the indenture requirements of four-times revenue to debt service coverage ratio.
8. A new full-service North Portland Aquatic Center is estimated to cost $50 million and the $15 million grant funding from the State of Oregon would move this Project closer toward "shovel-readiness." Development of a strategy to close the funding is currently being worked on through the Sustainable Future effort.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

1. The Mayor is hereby authorized to accept on behalf of the City and appropriate a grant in the amount of $15,000,000 from the State of Oregon through the Department of Administrative Services and to execute an agreement substantially similar to Exhibit A, financed by the issuance of State of Oregon Lottery Revenue Bonds, for the purpose of design and construction of the North Portland Aquatic Center.
2. FY 2022/2023 budget is hereby amended as follows:
              Grants Fund
              Fund 217
              Bureau Program Expense $ 3,579,179
3. The Office of Management & Finance Grants Management Division is authorized to perform all administrative matters in relation to the grant application, grant agreement or amendments, requests reimbursement from the grantor, and to submit required online grant documents on the Mayor’s behalf.
4. The Director of Portland Parks & Recreation of the City of Portland is authorized to accept on behalf of the City of Portland any subsequent modifications by the State of Oregon for the North Portland Aquatic Center Grant, provided such modifications do not increase the City of Portland’s financial obligation or risk. Any modifications that increase the City of Portland’s financial obligation or risk must be authorized by the Portland City Council.

Section 2. The Council declares that an emergency exists because a delay would unnecessarily hinder the City’s ability to accept and appropriate the grant funds; therefore, this Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage by the Council.