The regular meeting was called to order by Mayor Young at 7:33 p.m. Harold Olsen delivered the invocation and Mayor Young led the flag salute.

COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:

Mayor Cheryl A. Young

Councilor Bill Guy

Councilor Gary Hudson

COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT:

Councilor Bob Schmor

Councilor Bridgett Harkins

ALSO PRESENT:

Leahnette Rivers, City Administrator/Recorder

Jim Bundy, Public Works Superintendent

ATTORNEY PRESENT:

Harold Olsen, City Attorney

A quorum was present and due notice had been published.

AGENDA ITEM 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS:

2.1 Continued Public Hearing: To gather public testimony relating to the City of Columbia City Systems Development Charge Update for Sanitary Sewer and Water System report dated September, 2000 as prepared by Murray, Smith and Associates, Inc.

Public Hearing opened.

Leahnette Rivers explained that City staff is recommending the City Council not take any action relating to the SDC study tonight. She said as a result of testimony given previously during the public hearing, the staff determined that there are some changes that need to be made to the SDC study. She said those changes have not yet been made. She said the changes relate to a page that identifies the 8" and 10" waterline installed by the City during the 1990's, and changes that need to be made to the maps to bring them up to date. She said the Engineer needs to make those changes, and hopefully the changes will be available for the January 4, 2001 City Council Meeting. She said she would also like to invite the Engineer to the meeting to respond to questions.

Wayne Weigandt of St. Helens said he had submitted a letter a few weeks ago which contained several questions relating to the SDC's. He said Leahnette Rivers recently responded to his letter in her letter dated December 4, 2000. He said a fee increase of this size concerns him. He asked if the City Council could raise the necessary funds from another source. He said only about 120 more homes can be constructed within the City, and this seems to be a very large burden to place on a limited amount of construction. He said when a new subdivision is built, the developer builds all of the new infrastructure within the subdivision. He said the new development only impacts the storage capacity. He asked how these funds will be used.

Mayor Young explained that existing residents have been paying into the water and sewer systems for a long time, and they have made an investment into the systems.

Wayne Weigandt questioned the method of basing the water SDC's on the meter size instead of their equivalent dwelling unit (EDU) value. He said the proposed SDC's appear to be designed in a fashion that will discourage new commercial and industrial development. He asked if the Council had looked at other options, such as SDC's based upon EDU values. He said the number of plumbing fixtures can increase the required water meter size, even though the water usage would not require a meter of that size.

Jim Smith of St. Helens suggested the Council consider using EDU values instead of water meter sizes as the basis for the SDC charges. He said two separate businesses can each have a 1 1/2-inch meter, and one can be using less water than the average household, while the other uses 10 times more water than an average house. He said the SDC charge should be based upon the expected demand the particular business will place on the system instead of upon the meter size. In the interest of fairness, he said the Council should consider charges based upon the EDU value of the business. He said he found the rest of the report to follow accepted methodologies. He said he is satisfied with the corrections that are going to be made to the report which Leahnette Rivers mentioned earlier.

Leahnette Rivers said she will ask the Engineer to provide the Council with more information about what the water SDC would be if it was based upon the EDU value of each business. She said the report provides a recommended SDC which is equal to the maximum amount provided by law. She said the Council has the ability to shift those costs, or some of those costs, away from the developers and onto the current users.

Wayne Weigandt questioned the cost of the water meters. He said it costs the City less to install a water meter in a new subdivision than it does in an infill lot, and he asked why the SDC's don't reflect that cost difference.

Leahnette Rivers said the City Council will be discussing that very item later during this meeting. She said currently the City's SDC's include the cost of the meter and making the connection. However, the proposed SDC's do not provide for those costs. She said staff will be asking the City Council if they want to adopt water and sewer connection fees in addition to the proposed SDC's later during this meeting. She said if the City Council does want to adopt connection fees, staff will recommend the Council consider connection fees based upon the actual cost of making the connections. She said it costs approximately $100 to make a sewer connection. She said within a planned subdivision it costs approximately $115 to make a 3/4" water connection. Outside of a planned subdivision, she said it costs approximately $975 to make a 3/4" water connection if a paved street crossing is required and $740 if no street crossing is required.

Wayne Weigandt questioned how the City's current water SDC could include a connection fee that did not differentiate between a connection within a planned subdivision vs. outside of a planned subdivision. He said he has contributed a lot to the City through the years through connection fees and water and sewer main extensions related to his subdivisions.

Leahnette Rivers said she is not sure how the current SDC study justified the flat connection fees, but the current SDC's are far less than the proposed SDC's, so the fees could very easily be justified. She said some cities charge a connection fee based upon the average cost of a connection instead of based upon the average cost of a certain type of connection. She said the new study shows that the SDC's Mr. Weigandt paid in the past could have been a lot higher.

Mayor Young announced that this hearing will be continued to the next Regular City Council Meeting on January 4, 2001, at 7:30 p.m., to be held in the Council Chambers of the City Hall.

Public Hearing closed.

AGENDA ITEM 3 CITIZEN INPUT:

3.1 Citizen Request: Request for a streetlight at the corner of Pacific Street and Highway 30.

The City Council reviewed a letter dated November 6, 2000, asking that a streetlight be installed at the corner of Pacific Street and Highway 30. The letter was signed by five residents of the City, and indicated that the intersection is very difficult to see at night, especially with inclement weather conditions.

Jim Bundy noted that the Oregon Department of Transportation will be installing a streetlight at that intersection in April or May of 2001. He said that is one of the items remaining on the punch list from the highway-widening project.

Citizen Request: Request for streetlight at the corner of Third and "I" Street.

Jeanette DeLong of Columbia City asked that the City install a street light near her home. She said the street is pitch black at night. She said there are existing poles at 1815 and 1825 Third Street, and she asked if the City could have a light installed on one of those poles.

Mayor Young said usually the City requires the developer to install street lighting when development occurs, and she questioned why this didn't occur.

Ms. DeLong said they have paid the lighting bill for streetlights they have requested in the past.

Mayor Young said we will need to do some research and get back to Ms. DeLong with an answer at a later date.

AGENDA ITEM 4 COUNCIL REPORTS:

4.1 Parks Committee: No report.

4.2 Water Source and Development Committee: Chair Guy said we are still waiting for the well driller to begin work. Leahnette Rivers confirmed that the leak detection work was very successful. She said we have now completed one full meter-reading period, and we show less than 1% water loss in our system.

4.3 Streets Committee: Councilor Hudson questioned the progress of the Fifth Street project. Jim Bundy said Charbonneau Engineering has completed the preliminary construction cost estimate and redesign work for the Fifth Street project. He said the project is estimated to cost $35,000. He said they are recommending three feet of fill dirt to reduce the grade, which is currently at 23%. He said the Street Committee will review the recommendation at the next meeting.

4.4 Other Reports:

Lights: Jim Bundy said the Columbia River PUD staff assisted Public Works with the installation of Christmas decorations. He said the PUD crew noted that many of the City's streetlights were very antiquated. Councilor Guy said the Bonneville Power Company may have a program that will provide the City with funding assistance to update street lighting fixtures. Councilor Guy said he will check with Bonneville to get more information about their program.

County Jail: Mayor Young said she recently toured the new County Jail.

AGENDA ITEM 5 CONSENT AGENDA:

5.2 Approval of Financial Reports for the period ended October 31, 2000.

5.8 Approval of Planning Commission minutes and actions of November 14, 2000.

Mayor Young asked that Item 5.7 be changed to "appointments" to the Citizen Advisory Committee because she has three new appointments to make to the Committee.

MOVED (HUDSON), SECONDED (GUY) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY ROLL CALL VOTE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS AMENDED.

Leahnette Rivers explained that it was the consensus of the Council during the last meeting to make some revisions to Council Bill No. 00-184. She reviewed the changes as follows:

1) To Section 1, amend the last sentence to read, "In addition, the unique and rural character of Columbia City east of Highway 30 is important and should be preserved whenever reasonably possible."

2) To Table 7.2, the sidewalks on "E" Street from Highway 30 to The Strand shall be placed on the north side of the street instead of the south side.

3) To Table 7.5, the sidewalk improvements on "E" Street from Highway 30 to The Strand are shown on the north side instead of on the south side of the street.

MOVED (GUY), SECONDED (HUDSON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 00-184.

Mayor Young said Bill Guy has been re-elected to a four-year term, and Marian Calnon has been elected to her first four-year term. She said Bridgett Harkins will be leaving us, and commended her for her dedicated service to the City. She reviewed the votes cast during the election as follows:

Bill Guy 462

Marian Calnon 284

Don Cass 255

M. Bridgett Harkins 224

Pete Castellanos suggested the City provide more information about each of the candidates prior to the election. He said he is new to the City and did not recognize any of the names, and the candidates were not included in the voter's pamphlet.

MOVED (HUDSON), SECONDED (GUY) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ACCEPT THE CANVASS OF VOTES.

Leahnette Rivers explained that the subject property is the turnaround area on the north end of the bike path. She said the property was actually purchased from ODOT many years ago during the highway widening project.

Harold Olsen noted that the deed includes a waiver of all access rights related to the property. Council discussed this restriction, and it was the consensus of the Council that highway access would not be needed.

Harold Olsen recommended Council Bill No. 00-187 be amended to refer to document 00-02100.

MOVED (GUY), SECONDED (HUDSON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 00-187 WITH THE RECOMMENDED AMENDMENT.

The Council postponed action on this item until the next meeting.

The Council postponed action on this item until the next meeting.

Council reviewed a memo dated November 30, 2000, from Leahnette Rivers asking that the Council provide an interpretation of Zoning Ordinance No. 508. In the memo, Ms. Rivers explained that the ordinance states that a decision of the Planning Commission is final after 7 working days unless an appeal is filed. However, she said another section of the ordinance clearly requires the Council to review all Planning Commission decisions, and allows the Council to approve, alter, amend or overrule those decisions. She said this would mean that the decision of the Planning Commission would not be final until it is reviewed by the Council. She said another section of the Ordinance says that within 5 days of a Planning Commission or Council decision, she must provide the applicant with notice of the decision. She asked for clarification on these issues.

The Council discussed this matter at length. Harold Olsen said the City Council needs to decide whether or not they want to retain the ability to review authority of decisions made by the Planning Commission. He said if the Council does want to retain review authority, they need to decide if they want to review all decisions, or just some decisions. He suggested the League of Oregon Cities be contacted to see if they have a model ordinance and if they have an opinion about Council's having review authority over Planning Commission decisions.

It was the consensus of the Council that this matter be further reviewed and discussed again at a later date.

7.6 System Development Charges: Request for City Council policy decision relating to the prepayment of System Development Charges (SDC's).

The Council reviewed a memo dated November 30, 2000, from Leahnette Rivers regarding the prepayment of SDC's. In the memo, Ms. Rivers explained that the proposed changes to the SDC's has generated an interest in people pre-paying SDC's for future development. She said she could not find any established policy, and asked the Council to make a policy decision about this.

Wayne Weigandt said he attempted to pre-pay SDC's for lots in his subdivision, and Leahnette Rivers refused to accept the prepayment. He said he is only trying to protect his investment. He said the City Council should allow the prepayment of SDC's or should allow the old SDC's to apply to subdivisions, and require the new SDC's to apply to future subdivisions.

Leahnette Rivers said the City may soon be in the position of establishing a construction moratorium due to the water situation. She said if the City Council decides to allow the prepayment of SDC's, and is then in the position of establishing a water moratorium, it is highly likely that many property owners and developers will prepay their SDC's before the moratorium takes effect. She said the City will then be in the position of providing water, which is not available, to new construction during the construction moratorium.

Leahnette Rivers explained that the payment of SDC's should be made when a building permit is issued. She said Mr. Weigandt could come in and apply for building permits for each of his lots and purchase the building permit and pay the required SDC's and other fees if he chooses to do so. She recommended against allowing anyone to prepay SDC's without the issuance of a building permit.

Mayor Young said the City needs to keep fees up to date in order to properly operate, maintain and improve the water and sewer systems. She said several citizens have asked the City Council to establish a building moratorium until the water problems are resolved. She said fees such as the SDC's can help to prevent the City from taking measures as serious as a moratorium.

Councilor Guy agreed that a policy needs to be established.

Harold Olsen said he believes the City Council established a policy on this several years ago, but he could not remember the specifics of the situation. He said he remembers someone attempting to prepay connection fees, and the Council denying their request.

Wayne Weigandt said several years ago he installed 6,000 lineal feet of 10-inch waterline and shortly thereafter the City Council proposed a water connection fee increase from $400 to $1,300. He said he attempted at that time to prepay water connection fees, and the City Council denied his request. He said he has spent a tremendous amount of money in Columbia City on infrastructure improvements. He said other cities allow the prepayment of SDC's. He said he has not seen the City make any progress with needed water improvements, and asked where the SDC revenues have been spent.

The Council continued to discuss this matter at length. Councilor Hudson said it is not logical to allow the prepayment of SDC's. He said people are not allowed to prepay taxes to avoid future increases, and the City should not allow the prepayment of SDC's.

MOVED (HUDSON), SECONDED (GUY) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY THAT IT IS THE POLICY OF THE CITY OF COLUMBIA CITY TO NOT ACCEPT THE PREPAYMENT OF SDC'S.

The Council reviewed a memo dated November 30, 2000, from Leahnette Rivers regarding connection fees. In the memo, she explained that the City's current SDC's contain a connection fee in them. However, the new study did not take into consideration the cost of the connection. She asked if the City Council wanted to move forward with establishing new connection fees with the proposed SDC's. She said if the Council does want to establish connection fees, they should be designed to reimburse the City for the actual cost of making the connection. She reviewed cost estimates prepared by Jim Bundy and discussed earlier during the public hearing of this meeting.

It was the consensus of the Council that staff prepare a resolution to adopt connection fees as proposed by Jim Bundy.

8.1 Other reports or items:

League of Oregon Cities Legacy 2000 Time Capsule: Mayor Young noted that the League of Oregon Cities is asking for items from each city to place in a time capsule. It was the consensus of the Council that staff decide what to send, such as a City pin, T-shirt, or brochure.

Recommendation to rehire Dustin Hald: Council reviewed a letter dated December 4, 2000, from Chief Reedy recommending Dustin Hald be rehired as a Police Officer. In the letter, Chief Reedy explained that Dustin worked for us once before, but had to resign because he was too busy with the Sheriff's Office. Chief Reedy said Dustin believes he now has the time he needs to work for Columbia City.

It was the consensus of the Council that Dustin Hald be rehired as a Police Officer as recommended by Chief Reedy.

Water leak detection costs: The Council asked Jim Bundy to provide his input relating to the leak detection work performed by Wes Fischer on the Eastview Subdivision and previously discussed with Wayne Weigandt during the November 2, 2000, City Council meeting.

Jim Bundy explained that this occurred when he first took over as Public Works Superintendent. He said Mr. Weigandt had brought in his plans for the Eastview Subdivision, and a pre-construction meeting was held. He said he was in Sun River at a conference, and George LeMont called him and said we'd like to install some hookups off of this line, and those were installed. He said the City worked on Mr. Weigandt's line, and there was a leak at one of the City's connection points. However, he said there were three other leaks. He said out of the four leaks, the City's was the worst, but there were other leaks found. He objected to the cost for the leak detection work, which was $1,880 for only 800 feet of waterline. He said just recently the City had leak detection work performed on 10 miles of waterline for just over $2,000.

Wayne Weigandt said there were no other leaks found that would have caused the pressure test to fail. He said he could not control the cost of the leak detection work because his crew was out there and had to uncover every section of line, and unfortunately the leak was found at the very last section of line.

Jim Bundy said two other members of the Public Works crew were there, and they would agree that there were three other leaks found.

Wayne Weigandt said he would be willing to send this matter to binding arbitration.

MOVED (HUDSON), SECONDED (GUY) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO EXTEND THE MEETING UNTIL 10:00 P.M.

Streetlighting: Councilor Guy said we may want to talk with the PUD about them taking over our street lighting entirely. He said they would charge us a fee, but they would improve our lights with energy efficient fixtures.

Councilor Hudson said he would like the City to look into that program.

Basement costs: Leahnette Rivers said the budget provided $4,200 for improvements to the basement this year. She asked the Council if they would be willing to authorize an additional $2,000 for improvements to the basement. She said the money is needed to pay for additional electrical work, plumbing fixtures, doors, and other items that were not anticipated when the estimates were gathered for the budget. It was the consensus of the Council that an additional $2,000 could be transferred from contingency and appropriated for basement improvements.

Request to use Community Hall: Council reviewed a request dated December 5, 2000 from Laura Snyder, St. Helens Animal Control, for free use of the Community Hall for a low cost spay and neuter clinic for abandoned/feral cats. It was the consensus of the Council that the request be approved provided they pay a cleaning deposit.

Oregon Construction Contractors Board: Leahnette Rivers noted that the Oregon Construction Contractors Board is looking for an elected official to serve on their board.

Deer Island Preservation Society: Council reviewed a letter dated December 4, 2000, from the Evelyn Sanders of the Deer Island Preservation Society thanking the Council for the use of the Community Hall for their recent sale.

Measure 7: Leahnette Rivers provided the Council with copies of the Court decision from the Marion County Judge. Harold Olsen said he recently discussed Measure 7 issues with Mark Greenfield.

The City Council meeting recessed at 9:15 p.m.

The City Council meeting reconvened at 9:20 p.m.

The City Council convened in Executive Session in accordance with ORS 192.660 (1) (h) to consult with counsel concerning litigation likely to be filed at 9:20 p.m.

The City Council reconvened in Open Session at 9:51 p.m.

MOVED (HUDSON), SECONDED (GUY) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY THAT LEAHNETTE RIVERS NEGOTIATE A SETTLEMENT WITH WAYNE WEIGANDT ON THE DISPUTED WATERLINE AFFAIR.

There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 9:56 p.m.

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