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The Portland City Council on Wednesday passed its fall supplemental budget – an $18 million infusion that included funding for 16 new positions at the Bureau of Development Services and one position to support the Equitable Contracting and Purchasing Commission.

Staffing at BDS tends to ebb and flow with development activity, and the bureau was cut in half during the last recession, from about 330 staffers in 2008 to 160 three years later. The 2016 fall supplemental budget, or “bump,” calls for reinstating positions across the board, from administrative specialists to senior engineers.

Also, an allotment of $42,170 will go to the Office of Equity and Human Rights to hire a full-time staffer dedicated to assisting the ECPC.

The ECPC has had a rocky 12 months of existence since its first meeting last October, including a bureau relocation and front-page stories publicizing a no-confidence vote in the city council. Members have criticized Mayor Charlie Hales for appearing distant and not giving the commission the tools it needs to be successful.

ECPC member Maurice Rahming said the staff person would likely be involved in data collection, fine tuning reports to council and inter-bureau communication.

“That’s one of the things that Charlie promised, and it looks like he’s going to deliver,” Rahming said.

The new staff positions will grow total city staff to 6,175.38 FTE.

Other bump funding includes $1 million for “Vision Zero” traffic planning efforts to reduce fatalities in East Portland, and $120,000 to replace 10 overhead doors at five Fire Bureau stations.

Commissioner Nick Fish said three bump-funded positions in the Water Bureau will aid with the added burden of lead testing, which has been a hot-button subject since lead was found in the drinking water of Portland Public Schools facilities.

In other business:

• The council ratified an agreement between the Portland Bureau of Transportation and the Laborers International Union of North America Local 483 upping pay for dangerous sewer work.

The $2 per hour premium will apply to confined space work (CSET) and work with hazardous materials from sewers (CHMS). It will be applied retroactively through July 1, 2015.

Forecasters expect the premiums to cost the city approximately $16,500 per year.

• The council agreed to proceed with construction of the $3.7 million Woodlawn-King Alleys Sewer Rehabilitation project.

About 15,000 feet – or 11.5 miles – of 90-year-old sewer pipe in North Portland will be replaced as part of the Bureau of Environmental Service’s much larger Large Sewer Rehabilitation Program.

The work is expected to heavily impact the Woodlawn and King neighborhoods. The city has sent informational mailers to approximately 6,000 residents and businesses.