Ashland City Council Study Session - October 19, 2026

The Ashland City Council held a study session on October 19, 2026, to prioritize city projects for the next eight months amid staffing and finance-department capacity constraints. Staff proposed evaluating off-the-shelf project-management software within 30–60 days to improve internal tracking and public visibility; Monday.com and Trello were mentioned as examples, but no purchase or funding was approved. Council discussed pursuing a request for proposals (RFP) for housing at a city-owned parking-structure site, with additional capacity potentially needed to prepare and manage the solicitation. The City Manager said staff would first examine existing staff and cross-departmental capacity before seeking temporary staff or outside assistance. Staff also expects to bring a utility-billing software contract to Council, accompanied by a consultant presentation on implementation; no vendor, contract amount, or award was identified. A banking-services RFP was raised for consideration, but no decision was made.

The Council generally supported a proposed priority list, including housing-related work and time-sensitive budget and policy tasks, while discussing when to advance other projects such as gateway-district improvements and economic-development work. Staff will develop an operational work plan for Council review; no procurement awards or spending approvals were made. The only recorded vote was to extend the meeting by 30 minutes. The discussion also noted the need to hire a finance director, but timing and staffing plans remain under consideration.