Even though there is no rush, right now the School District is free to sell Oppenlander to whoever comes their way. We need to make sure the District knows “good faith” goes both ways and they need to lead by re-exerting their desire to keep Oppenlander a city park, and coming back to the bargaining table one more time with the city.
Two things for you to do
1) Click to send an email to both organizations.
click here or button below
We’ve set up an email forwarder that, with just one click, will send individual emails to the five City Councilors & the City Manager, the five School Board members, the District Superintendent, and the District’s COO.
Your email will be more powerful of you edit it a bit before pressing send. Changing at least the subject will make your email not look like a form letter – and assure it is read.
2) Attend the Council & Board Meetings on Monday the 9th
The West Linn City Council and the School Board both meet on Monday evening the 9th. Your presence will show support – you don’t have to speak. We will be asking and demanding the Council & Board meet one more time in good faith to try to negotiate a
City Council meets at 6pm with public comments early on their agenda.
The School Board also starts at 6pm, but public comments are at the end of their agenda
We will show our support and ask/demand both that we be heard, and that another round at the negotiating table is the best way forward.
More instructions on attending these meetings will come later in the week.
Oppenlander Fields are slipping away – don’t let it happen!
I am leaving the settlement footnote here for the time being. While the Jury attacked the City’s Good Faith efforts, it was not able to be informed about the City’s repeated Good Faith contract resolution and settlement efforts. For the School District to turn its back on these multi-million-dollar offers is definitely not good faith.
More to come …
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SETTLEMENT FOOTNOTE
As a further reinforcement of the City’s efforts at good faith with the School District, we note for the readers that settlement discussions are not allowed to be shared at trial, i.e. the Jury does not know about settlement discussions. But we want you to know that last December the City offered to “start over” with two separate independent appraisers (per the PSA) and use the averaged appraisals as a new appraisal. That averaging process would have made the sales price at least $3M – the School District declined. And a second multi-million dollar counter offer from the City made earlier this month was also rejected by the School District.
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Oppenlander Fields, paid for in the 70s primarily by West Linn citizens, has been an active community resource for over 40 decades with three active softball fields and a walking path. The School District decreed the land surplus property and signed a sales contract with the City. The School District required the land to remain a park as a term of the signed sales agreement and was to be appraised as such. It was. But now the School District is getting cold feet and wants to tear up the contract and sell to developers for up to 60 homes to be built, all of whom will be demanding new park space. Oh, and that extra developer money will likely primarily go into Wilsonville schools.
Here’s a link to the city’s Oppenlander web page, which has all of the transaction’s details, including copies of key documents.
Without this purchase by the City, Oppenlander will become either 35 single-family R-10 homes or up to 65 duplex units per the new Oregon law requiring cities to increase housing density, regardless of a R-10 zoning. All these residents will be looking for more park access – and we will have just eliminated the only full-sized athletic fields in the central and north sides of the city.
Please continue sharing and asking your friends and neighbors to come alongside the 2529 of your neighbors who have already signed at SaveOppenlander.org
