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City of Columbia City 1840 Second Street,
PO Box 189, Columbia City, OR 97018 (503) 397-4010 |
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City Council Meeting Minutes
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THURSDAY,
MARCH 15, 2007
CITY
HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS
CITY OF
COLUMBIA CITY, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON
AGENDA ITEM 1 CALL
TO ORDER/ROLL CALL:
CONVENED:
Mayor Young called the regular meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Mayor Young delivered the invocation and led
the flag salute.
COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mayor
Cheryl A. Young
Councilor
Bill Guy (by telephone)
Councilor
Bob Schmor
COUNCIL
MEMBERS ABSENT:
Councilor Gary Hudson
Councilor
Tyra Schroeder
ALSO
PRESENT:
Micah
Olson, Public Works Superintendent (arrived 7:42 p.m.)
Leahnette
Rivers, City Administrator/Recorder
ATTORNEY
PRESENT:
None.
A
quorum was present and due notice had been published.
AGENDA ITEM 2 PUBLIC
HEARINGS:
2.1 Public Hearing: To
gather public testimony relating to a proposed water rate increase.
Public Hearing opened.
Leahnette Rivers said the
proposed increase is equal to approximately 3% in the base rate and the first
usage rate, and no increase is proposed for the higher usage charge.
No comments were heard from the
public.
Public Hearing closed.
3.1 Enterprise Zone:
Brian Little, City Administrator for the City of St. Helens, regarding a
proposal to renew the St. Helens/Columbia City Enterprise Zone.
Brian Little explained that
Columbia City, Columbia County and the City of St. Helens have been partners in
an Enterprise Zone for the past 20 years.
He said Enterprise Zones are an economic development tool that the State
of Oregon has allowed, and this was one of the first zones developed within the
State in 1987. He said the zone was
reauthorized in 1997, and we have the opportunity to again reauthorize the zone
for another 10 years.
The Council reviewed a map
showing the territory to be included within the zone.
Brian Little said the zone
includes all of the St. Helens Urban Growth Boundary (UGB), all of the Columbia
City UGB, and the Rural Industrial Planned Development zoned lands located to
the north of Columbia City. He said the
Enterprise Zone only applies to industrial development and hotel
development. He said since the zone was
created in 1987, we've had over 92 million dollars of investment within the
zone, and 192 jobs were created. He said
the Enterprise Zone is just one of the tools we use to attract business. He said we have good land, good access, and
a good workforce here, and this is just one more thing to attract jobs so we
have more people that work here and live here, as opposed to live here and work
someplace else. He said if Columbia
City is willing to continue to sponsor the zone, the Council will need to adopt
a Resolution during their April 5, 2007 meeting.
Brian Little said they have
received one letter of support, but no opposition from any of the special
districts. He said he will forward all
comments he receives to the City of Columbia City. He continued to discuss the proposal at length with the Council.
Mayor Young thanked Brian Little
for attending the meeting and explaining the proposal.
3.2 Other citizen input: Mayor Young asked four students who were in
the audience where they were from, whether or not they were required to attend
this meeting, and if they had any questions.
One student asked if any decisions will be made at this meeting, and
Mayor Young explained that some decision may be made, and other decisions may
be postponed until a future meeting.
AGENDA ITEM 4 COUNCIL
REPORTS:
4.1 Parks Committee: Councilor Schmor asked if we have heard anything further about
the Trestle Beach park. Leahnette
Rivers said nothing is new, and she is waiting to hear from ODOT.
4.2 Water Source and Development Committee: Micah Olson said they have started to
develop the well. He said they have a
pump in there and they are surging water back and forth to clean up the
sand. He said they videoed the well on
Wednesday and it all looks good. He
said they plan to finish developing the well on Monday, and then they will
conduct a three-day drawdown test. He
said during the drawdown test they will take measurements on all three of the
wells on site, and they will also track the river level during the test
period. He said this data will be
included in the water right application.
Leahnette Rivers said the
preliminary design report for the use of the 45 gpm well to the health division
for their review, and then we will move forward with putting that well on line
once we get their comments.
Leahnette Rivers said the City
of St. Helens has adopted a new wholesale water rate of $1.71 per 100 cubic
feet.
4.3 Streets Committee: No report.
4.4 Sewer Committee: No report.
4.5 Library Committee: No report.
4.6 Other reports: Leahnette Rivers said we talked about revising the "A"
Street Improvement Project to size the storm drain for future drainage off of
Sixth Street. She said the engineer has
come up with an additional estimated project cost of $37,000 to accommodate
future storm water from Sixth Street.
She said they also looked at upgrading the 4" sewer main to 6"
to prepare for a direct flow system, which would increase the project costs by
approximately $88,000, and upgrading 300 LF of 8" water main to 16"
water main would increase project costs by approximately $100,000.
Leahnette Rivers said we have
plenty of hydrant pressure at the north end of town, so rather than investing
in the 16" main we could install a sleeve under the street for future
use. She said the Five-Year Capital
Improvement Plan is on the agenda for adoption tonight, and she said staff is
recommending that the project description for "A" Street Improvements
be changed to include an additional $37,000 for upsizing the storm drainage and
another $88,080 for upsizing the sewer main with the project.
AGENDA ITEM 5 CONSENT
AGENDA:
5.1 Approval of the Bills Paid during the
month of February 2007.
5.2 Approval of the Financial Reports for
the period ending February 28, 2007.
5.3 Approval of the Minutes of the Regular
City Council Meeting of February 15, 2007.
5.4 Approval of the Minutes of the Regular
City Council Meeting of March 1, 2007.
5.5 Written report from the Chief of
Police.
5.6 Written report from the City
Administrator/Recorder.
MOVED (SCHMOR), SECONDED (GUY)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY ROLL CALL VOTE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA.
AGENDA ITEM 6 UNFINISHED
BUSINESS:
6.1 GIS License Agreement:
GIS License Agreement between Columbia 911 Communications District and
other parties, including Columbia City.
The Mayor and Council reviewed a
letter dated March 8, 2007, from Sue Reedy, Data Specialist with Columbia 911
Communications District, explaining the need for the GIS Data License
Agreement.
Councilor Schmor said the
explanation provided by Sue Reedy goes along with a recent article in The
Portland Oregonian entitled, "Can you write that again? In English this time?" He said Ms. Reedy's explanation was clear
and understandable, and it should have been included with the Agreement in the
first place because the Agreement was impossible to understand.
MOVED (GUY), SECONDED (SCHMOR)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE SIGNATURE TO THE GIS LICENSE AGREEMENT.
AGENDA ITEM 7 NEW
BUSINESS:
7.1 Council Bill No. 07-431; Resolution No. 07-881-R: A Resolution setting a date for a public
hearing pertaining to the proposed vacation of "K" Street between
Third and Fourth Streets, excluding the Third Place alley.
MOVED (SCHMOR), SECONDED (GUY)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 07-881-R.
7.2 Council Bill No. 07-432; Resolution No. 07-882-R: A Resolution providing for water rates and
charges for the City of Columbia City, Oregon; rescinding Resolution No.
06-859-R.
MOVED (SCHMOR), SECONDED (GUY)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 07-432.
7.3 Council Bill No. 07-433; Resolution No. 07-833-R: A Resolution adopting a Five-Year Capital
Improvement Program for the 2007-08 fiscal year for the City of Columbia City,
Oregon.
MOVED (SCHMOR), SECONDED (GUY)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AMEND THE "A" STREET IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
TO INCLUDE STORM DRAINAGE IMPROVEMENT VALUED AT $37,000 AND SEWER MAIN
IMPROVEMENTS VALUED AT $88,000 AND ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 07-433.
7.4 Groundwater Solutions, Inc. proposal: Ratification of the Proposal for Water
Rights Related Services from Groundwater Solutions, Inc., dated March 1, 2007.
Leahnette Rivers explained that
the Council clearly discussed approving this proposal during the last meeting,
but when she did the meeting minutes she realized they never voted on it.
MOVED (GUY), SECONDED (SCHMOR)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO RATIFY THE PROPOSAL FOR WATER RIGHTS REALTED
SERVICES FROM GROUNDWATER SOLUTIONS, INC., DATED MARCH 1, 2007.
7.5 Executive Session:
Executive Session to consider records that are exempt from public
inspection pursuant to ORS 192.660(2)(f); and to consult with legal counsel
about litigation likely to be filed pursuant to ORS 192.660(2)(h).
It was the consensus of the
Council that this item be postponed until the next meeting.
AGENDA ITEM 8 OTHER
BUSINESS:
Public Works update: Micah Olson said they have been busy working
on the well project, and attempting to finish up a variety of other on-going
projects.
Recommendation to re-hire
Jeffrey Mansheim: Leahnette
Rivers said Jeffrey Mansheim has been a reserve officer for the City since
1995. She said there was a period of
time when he was hired as a paid officer, and then he decided to resign from
paid status and return to reserve status. She said he is now willing and able
to return to paid status and work between 20 and 25 hours per month. She recommended the City re-hire him as a
Police Officer, effective April 1, 2007, and pay him the top of the salary
range in light of his many years of contributed service to the City.
MOVED (SCHMOR), SECONDED (GUY)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO HIRE JEFFREY MANSHEIM AS A PAID POLICE OFFICER,
WORKING BETWEEN 20 AND 25 HOURS PER MONTH, AT THE TOP OF THE POLICE OFFICER
SALARY RANGE EFFECTIVE APRIL 1, 2007.
Seasonal Utility Worker: Leahnette Rivers said the current budget
includes a full-time seasonal utility worker for six months. She said we have three months left in the
budget and we are currently preparing to fill the position. She said the Public Works Department has a
very heavy workload right now with the water project and additional seasonal
tasks, and the staffing changes add to the workload. She said she would like authorization to hire one full-time
seasonal worker, and she said she would like to hire a second one for an
additional 30-45 days if possible.
MOVED (SCHMOR) AND SECONDED
(GUY) TO HIRE ONE FULL-TIME SEASONAL UTILITY WORKER.
MOVED (SCHMOR), SECONDED (GUY)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AMEND THE MOTION TO INCLUDE HIRING A SECOND
FULL-TIME SEASONAL UTILITY WORKER IF NEEDED.
MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AS
AMENDED.
Public Works Superintendent: Leahnette Rivers said the Interview
Committee, consisting of Councilor Schmor, Councilor Hudson, Micah Olson and
herself, met yesterday to interview candidates for the position of Public Works
Superintendent. She said the Committee
unanimously agreed on a recommendation to promote Jeff Anderson into the
position of Public Works Superintendent as immediately, which will allow Micah
Olson to work with him in a training capacity until May 10, 2007. She said the recommendation is to pay Jeff
Anderson at the entry level of the Public Works Superintendent salary range,
and there will be a 12-month probationary period.
MOVED (SCHMOR), SECONDED (GUY)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO PROMOTE JEFF ANDERSON INTO THE POSITION OF PUBLIC
WORKS SUPERINTENDENT EFFECTIVE TOMMORROW, AT THE ENTRY-LEVEL WAGE FOR THE
PUBLIC WORK SUPERINTENDENT POSITION, AND IN A TRAINING CAPACITY WITH MICAH
OLSON UNTIL HE LEAVES, AND WITH A 12-MONTH PROBATIONARY PERIOD ACCORDING TO THE
PERSONNEL POLICIES AND PROCEDURES.
Community Hall fee schedule: Leahnette Rivers said the fee schedule for
the Community Hall includes an additional $20.00 for dancing, but it is unclear
as to whether or not this is an additional fee or a refundable deposit. She recommended the $20.00 additional requirement
be dropped because "dancing" isn't defined, and she thought
basketball and other sporting events might be equally as hard on the floor as a
dance. She noted that tap dancing is
not permitted in the hall.
MOVED (SCHMOR), SECONDED (GUY)
AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO DELETE THE $20.00 DANCING FEE FOR THE COMMUNITY
HALL.
AGENDA ITEM 9 ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business
to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 8:42 p.m.