City Council

City Council Meeting Minutes ___________________________________________________________________________________________ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2013 CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS CITY OF COLUMBIA CITY, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON AGENDA ITEM 1 CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL: CONVENED: Mayor Cheryl A. Young called the regular meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Mayor Young delivered the invocation and led the flag salute. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Cheryl A. Young Councilor Shannon Fitzgibbons Councilor Josh Fromm Councilor Sally Ann Marson Councilor Casey Wheeler COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None ALSO PRESENT: Michael McGlothlin, Chief of Police Micah Rogers, Public Works Superintendent Leahnette Rivers, City Administrator/Recorder ATTORNEY PRESENT: None A quorum was present and due notice had been published. AGENDA ITEM 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS: None AGENDA ITEM 3 CITIZEN INPUT: Noah Crouse of Columbia City spoke to Council about the need for additional traffic enforcement on Tahoma Street. He said about a month ago, the speed radar trailer was placed on his street, and it helped to slow traffic while it was there. However, he said as soon as the trailer was removed, the speeding activities resumed. He said one of the drivers recently taunted a neighbor that complained about them speeding by revving their engine. He said they have noticed additional patrols on the street, but the patrols need to occur around 7:30 a.m. and between 4 and 5:30 p.m., which is when the speeding typically occurs. He said maybe an article in the Newsletter would be helpful to remind people about the 25 mph speed limit. He said there are children and grandchildren out playing on the street, and at 40 mph you are not going to be able to stop. Don Trudson (Swede) of Columbia City agreed with Noah’s comments. He said Tahoma used to be a cul-de-sac, but it was opened up as a through street when additional development occurred, and now they have traffic coming from other neighborhoods using 2 - Regular City Council Meeting February 21, 2013 Tahoma Street on a routine basis. He said the kids are out there playing basketball in the street, and the cars are traveling way too fast. Angela Crouse of Columbia City said one of the regular offenders gets out of school and heads home around 4:15 p.m. Chief McGlothlin suggested they provide him with specific vehicle information if they have it, and they’ll make contact with those individuals in addition to adding patrols during the specified times. Ken Gates of Columbia City said he used to live in Cedar Hills, which has a very strict homeowners association. He said his pickup truck has kayak racks on it because he loves to kayak in Scappoose Bay. He said his pickup truck was an illegal vehicle in Cedar Hills because of the racks, which made it a commercial vehicle, and no RVs could be parked on your property either. So he moved to Columbia City in rural Columbia County because he wanted to go someplace where he could have the things that he wanted. He said now it looks like we are considering becoming a homeowners association and passing more regulations about recreational vehicles, and he is concerned. He said the proposed ordinance changes dealt with the public’s property, and now the survey is dealing with private property. He said he is concerned that next we’ll be telling people what color they can paint their house, and that they can’t have any cars that are over five years old. He said in Cedar Hills, the regulations also pitted neighbors against neighbors because some people felt the need to go around and measure and report violations. He said that type of environment is not in keeping with the friendly neighborhoods we want to have in Columbia City. Joe Turner of Columbia City said the southbound stop sign at the corner of Sixth and “J” is faded and needs to be replaced. Mike Simpson of Columbia City commended the City Council for its transparency, openness and willingness to listen. He said the platted street near his property is 60 feet wide, which leaves 15 feet of platted street beyond the edge of the curb along his property. Under the proposed changes, RV parking would no longer be permitted within that 15 foot area, which would prohibit some RV parking within driveways. He said there are a number of ordinances that he’s reviewed, and in the development code section 7.100.030 there are some off-street parking requirements of two per unit. He said in 7.100.090, it specifically addresses recreational vehicles and says that parking restrictions shall not be interpreted to prevent the parking on-site of recreational vehicles at all single-family residences provided the applicable parking requirements are satisfied. He said that shows that the ordinance intended to regulate, not restrict, RV parking on private property. He said we already have a regulation on the books that says an unlicensed vehicle shall not be parked on the right-of-way. He said if we can’t enforce the regulations we have now, how will we enforce the regulations if we expand them? Councilor Wheeler said the City is currently collecting survey responses, and will tabulate those and review them, and the Council will consider the input during the month of March and rework the proposed ordinance. He said they hold a couple of hearings for public input during the month of April. AGENDA ITEM 4 COUNCIL REPORTS: 4.1 Parks Committee: Chair Fitzgibbons said the Parks Committee will meet on th Tuesday, February 26 . 4.2 Water Source and Development Committee: Chair Fromm said the Water Committee will be meeting soon to discuss the new Capital Improvement Plan. th 4.3 Street Committee: Chair Wheeler said the Committee will meet on February 28 . 4.4 Sewer Committee: No report. 3 - Regular City Council Meeting February 21, 2013 4.5 Audit Committee: No report. Mayor Young inquired about Councilor Wheeler’s possible interest in serving as a Budget Committee Member for the 9-1-1 District. He said he’s not sure as he is already serving on four or five different Budget Committees. 4.6 Hazard Mitigation Planning Group: Team Leader Fromm said Dyno Nobel has provided the City with a very timely response to our recent letter, and the Hazard Mitigation Planning Group Meeting will meet in March. 4.7 Other Reports: Mayor Young said she attended an Area Agency on Aging Committee Meeting this morning, and they discussed the lack of funds available for Veterans assistance. She said they will be asking communities to write letters or adopt resolutions of support for additional funding to share with their legislators. She said they also want to get the word out about the Stand Down event that is scheduled this weekend. She said a lot of information about a variety of services that are available to Veterans will be highlighted during that event. She said a large number of troops are scheduled to return to the states in the very near future, and so many of them are coming back with war wounds and post traumatic stress disorder AGENDA ITEM 5 CONSENT AGENDA: 5.1 Activities report for the month of January 2013 from the Public Works Superintendent. 5.2 Activities report for the month of January 2013 from the Chief of Police. 5.3 Activities report from the City Administrator/Recorder. 5.4 Corrected Annual Accounting of System Development Charge Revenues and Expenditures. 5.5 Appointment of Leahnette Rivers, City Administrator/Recorder, as Budget Officer for the 2013-14 budget year. 5.6 Letter of retirement from Josh Harper, Police Sergeant. Mayor noted that the Police Chief’s report contains a hiring recommendation, and unless anyone objects or wants to discuss it further, that hiring recommendation will be approved with the approval of the consent agenda. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (FROMM), AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY ROLL CALL VOTE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. AGENDA ITEM 6 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None. AGENDA ITEM 7 NEW BUSINESS: 7.1 Water and Sewer Rate Study and System Development Charge Updates: Introduction and status report on the Water and Sewer Rate Study and System Development Charge Updates as presented by Shaun Pigott of Shaun Pigott Associates, LLC. Shaun provided an overview of his progress on the development of the Rate Study and System Development Charge Updates to the Mayor and Council as outlined in his presentation dated February 21, 2013. The overview included a discussion of the financial snapshots for each utility, the 20-year capital improvement plan (CIP) for each utility, the rate structures, and the associated debt, and how all of those items factor in to the resulting rates needed to support the system during the planning period. In addition, he described how the growth related portions of the CIP, projected growth rates, and existing fixed assets are utilized to update the system development charges. It was noted that the City’s current well water and wholesale water supplies have the capacity needed to meet our projected future growth needs during the planning period. However, the City has had an interest in developing another source so that the wholesale water supply could just be used as an emergency backup supply. The cost of that additional well source is estimated 4 - Regular City Council Meeting February 21, 2013 at $1 million, however, and it does not appear to be a cost effective approach considering the significant impact that it will have on the required utility rates. In addition, the City of St. Helens has a more than ample water supply, and is currently serving Columbia City’s industrial site and should be able to supply future industrial development at the site. It was the consensus of the Council that the additional well supply be removed from the CIP due to the excessive costs associated with the project. Shaun will finalize his documents based upon that change, and propose a few changes to the basic rate structure associated with the tier 1 water rate, the rate for larger meters, and the commercial/industrial sewer charges, and come back before the Council with a proposed rate study and SDC updates during a meeting in March. In general Shaun said both utilities are in good financial shape, and he expects to propose future annual rate increases of about 3% for water and a little more than 4% for sewer. AGENDA ITEM 8 OTHER BUSINESS: Cities of Distinction: Leahnette said Columbia City is currently being considered as a candidate for Terry Bradshaw’s Cities of Distinction program. AGENDA ITEM 9 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned to a goal setting workshop at 7:15 p.m. APPROVED: _______________________________________ Cheryl A. Young Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Leahnette Rivers City Administrator/Recorder