City Council

City Council Meeting Minutes ___________________________________________________________________________________________ THURSDAY, MARCH 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: Micah Rogers, Public Works Superintendent Michael McGlothlin, Chief of Police Leahnette Rivers, City Administrator/Recorder ATTORNEY PRESENT: None A quorum was present and due notice had been published. 2.1 Swearing in Ceremony: Swearing in ceremony for returning Reserve Officer, Alex Bubar. Chief McGlothlin introduced Alex Bubar, and explained that he was a six-year veteran of Columbia City’s Police Department’s Reserve Program before he left the department a little more than a year ago. He said Officer Bubar did a fantastic job for the City, and was awarded the Life Saving Award from the Oregon Police Officer Association and the Columbia City Police Department. He said Officer Bubar spent the last year with the Scappoose Police Department as one of their Reserve Officer’s, and he recently decided he wanted to come back to our department. He said Officer Bubar left our department in good standing, and returns to us in good standing, and we are pleased to have him join our ranks again. Leahnette Rivers administered the oath of office to Reserve Officer Alex Bubar. AGENDA ITEM 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS: 2.1 Public Hearing: To hear comments about the proposed adoption of an updated Water System Master Plan and Wastewater Collection System Facility Plan. Public Hearing opened. 2 - Regular City Council Meeting March 21, 2013 Leahnette said the City’s been working on the development of an updated Water System master Plan and a Wastewater Collection System Facility Plan for a little more than one year now. She said the draft plans have been discussed during several City Council meetings during the past year, and they are available for review on the City’s website. She said last week the Planning Commission held a public hearing to accept testimony about the plans, which will become a part of the City’s Comprehensive Plan once they are adopted. She said the Planning Commission adopted Findings of Fact and the staff report dated March 5, 2013 during their meeting. She said the Planning Commission recommends City Council approval of an ordinance amending the Comprehensive Plan incorporating the updated Water System Master Plan and Wastewater Collection System Facility Plan as a part of the Comprehensive Plan. No comments were heard from the public. Public Hearing closed. AGENDA ITEM 3 CITIZEN INPUT: None. AGENDA ITEM 7 NEW BUSINESS: 7.1 Draft Funding Analysis: Presentation of the draft funding analysis chapter for the City’s Master Planning Project by Shaun Pigott of Shaun Pigott Associates, LLC. Shaun Pigott reviewed his results and recommendations regarding a Water and Sewer Rate Study as outlined in a presentation dated March 21, 2013, with the Council. He said both utilities are in reasonable financial shape and have been well managed. He provided a financial snapshot for both utilities, along with the capital plans that came out of the recent master planning work. He provided rate increase forecasts for both utilities during the next five years of 3% per year, which is close to annual increase in the cost of living. He noted that SDC funds will be drawn down to offset capital expenses in order to keep the necessary annual increases at 3%. He also outlined some suggested adjustment considerations to the City’s water and sewer rate structures which included an increase in the 101-500 cf water usage tier, an increase in the water and sewer base rate charges for larger meters with relation to meter size equivalency, and the calculation of commercial and industrial sewer charges based upon monthly water consumption rather than winter water usage calculations. Joe Turner said he’s a disabled veteran, and an increase of 3% per year is a lot higher than the cost of living adjustment he receives. He said the water bill should be itemized to show more information about the charges so they understand how they are being charged. Leahnette said she hopes to incorporate Joe’s recommendations about itemizing the charges on the utility bills when the Springbrook Software is upgraded. MOVED (WHEELER), SECONDED (MARSON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ACCPET SHAUN PIGOTT’S RECOMMENDATIONS AS PRESENTED AND DIRECT HIM TO MOVE FORWARD WITH COMPLETING THE RATE STUDY. Leahnette explained that Shaun was also hired to complete an SDC Study update, and as we got further into the process, we decided it might be more cost effective for us to postpone the SDC Study update, because at this point in time we don’t know where our discussions with St. Helens might lead with regard to the Ranney Collector, and if we are able to acquire it, we don’t know at what cost. Rather than complete the update now, and then update it again if we acquire the Ranney Collector, she suggested we postpone further action on the SDC updates until such time as we have additional information about the Ranney Collector. She noted also that we are already over budget on the master planning portion of this project. 3 - Regular City Council Meeting March 21, 2013 MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (WHEELER) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO POSTPONE FURTHER ACTION ON THE SDC STUDY UPDATE AS RECOMMENDED. AGENDA ITEM 4 COUNCIL REPORTS: 4.1 Parks Committee: Chair Fitzgibbons said members conducted a site visit at the Veteran’s Memorial Park site last Tuesday, and two Columbia River PUD representatives also attended. She said the Committee identified a couple of trees to remove from the site. She said Leahnette has prepared a Request for Proposal for the monument, and she is prepared to distribute it next week. Leahnette said several dangerous trees will be removed from Jim Bundy Memorial Park, along with some decaying trees at the Veteran’s Memorial Park site. She said the wood is being donated to the Columbia County Community Corrections Crew, who will cut it up and distribute it to needy families within the County. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (FROMM) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE RFP FOR THE VETERANS MEMORIAL MONUMENT. 4.2 Water Source and Development Committee: Chair Fromm said the Committee met recently and had a very productive meeting. He said they are pleased with the grant and all of the projects we are working on, as well as the streamlined capital plan. Councilor Marson said her neighbors are glad to have the water leak fixed, noting that Micah and his crew spent about 12 hours fixing the leak. Micah said the pavement should be patched within the next week or so. Leahnette thanked Councilor Marson for feeding the crew lunch while they were working on the repair. 4.3 Street Committee: Leahnette said she’s heard a lot of positive citizen feedback resulting from the street sign replacement work and alley maintenance work that the Public Works crew recently completed. 4.4 Sewer Committee: Micah said he recently discovered that the transformers that serve the RCE lift station are undersized for the pumps we are using, which may be the cause of several puzzling problems we’ve experienced at the site over the years since the pumps were upsized. He is currently investigating what occurred prior to the pumps being upsized, but it appears that a new transformer bank needs to be installed, which is estimated to cost about $35,000. 4.5 Audit Committee: No report. 4.6 Hazard Mitigation Planning Group: Team Leader Fromm said he was not able to attend the last meeting, and he needs to step down from the Hazard Mitigation Planning Group due to other personal commitments. Chief McGlothlin noted that the minutes from the last meeting were distributed in the packets as an attachment to the Police Activity Report. 4.7 Other Reports: Leahnette said the Charter Review Committee Minutes and Comprehensive Plan Review Committee Minutes are also included in the packet. AGENDA ITEM 5 CONSENT AGENDA: 5.1 Financial Reports for the month of February 2013. 5.2 Activities report for the month of February 2013 from the Chief of Police. 5.3 Activities report from the City Administrator/Recorder. 4 - Regular City Council Meeting March 21, 2013 MOVED (WHEELER), SECONDED (FITZGIBBONS), AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY ROLL CALL VOTE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. AGENDA ITEM 6 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 6.1 RV Regulations: Continued review and discussion concerning citizen survey results about RV regulations and proposed draft changes to current regulations. Staff and Council discussed proposed changes to clarify specific details at length. Staff will develop a newsletter article listing the proposed changes, and advertise two public hearings during the month of April. AGENDA ITEM 7 NEW BUSINESS (continued): 7.2 2013 Veterans & War Memorial Grant Agreement: 2013 Veterans & War Memorial Grant Agreement between the State of Oregon, Parks and Recreation Department, and the City of Columbia City. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (FROMM) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE SIGNATURE TO THE GRANT AGREEMENT. 7.3 Septic Tank Maintenance Services Agreement: Septic Tank Maintenance Services Agreement between the City of Columbia City and ABS Services, Inc., DBA St. Helens-Scappoose Septic Service. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (WHEELER) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE SIGNATURE TO THE AGREEMENT. 7.4 City Attorney Hours: Recommendation from the City Administrator/Recorder to increase the number of hours included in the City Attorney’s base pay. The Council reviewed a memo dated March 18, 2013 from the City Administrator/Recorder recommending the City Attorney base pay hours included in the monthly retainer be increased from five hours to seven hours per month, which are paid at the hourly rate of $95.88 per month. MOVED (WHEELER), SECONDED (MARSON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATION TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF HOURS INCLUDED IN THE CITY ATTORNEY’S BASE PAY. 7.5. Reappointment: Reappointment of Municipal Judge. Councilor Marson suggested this position be discussed further as a result of discussions made during the Charter Review Committee Meetings. Councilor Wheeler said the Committee as a whole felt that the Municipal Judge should be a member of the Oregon State Bar. Mayor Young said this is why she did not reappoint the Judge in January, when all of the other reappointments and reassignments were made. Councilor Wheeler said if this is a requirement that we can implement now, we should go ahead and do it now because it is an issue of liability. MOVED (WHEELER), SECONDED (MARSON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO TALK WITH THE CURRENT JUDGE AND LET HIM KNOW THE COUNCIL WOULD LIKE TO MOVE FORWARD WITH IMMEDIATELY FINDING SOMEONE TO MEET THE QUALIFICATIONS THAT ARE OUTLINED IN THE DRAFT CHARTER AS PREPARED BY THE CHARTER REVIEW COMMITTEE. 7.6 Seasonal Utility Worker: Request from the City Administrator/Recorder to hire a seasonal Utility Worker. 5 - Regular City Council Meeting March 21, 2013 The Council reviewed a memo dated March 12, 2013, from the City Administrator/Recorder requesting permission to hire a seasonal Utility Worker to work 30 hours per week to assist the crew with completing a backlog of project work and a long list of new projects that came out of the recent master planning work and water and park grant awards. The position would be filled as soon as possible and continue through October, and the position would pay $12.61 per hour. MOVED (WHEELER), SECONDED (FITZGIBBONS) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE THE REQUEST TO HIRE A SEASONAL UTILITY WORKER. 7.7 Council Bill No. 13-665; Resolution No. 13-1073-R: A Resolution authorizing a transfer of appropriations within the General Fund during the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2012. MOVED (FITZGIBBONS), SECONDED (WHEELER) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 13-665. 7.8 Council Bill No. 13-666; Resolution No. 13-1074-R: A Resolution by the City Council of the City of Columbia City endorsing the Columbia 9-1-1 Communications District proposal to renew operating funding on the May 21, 2013 primary election ballot. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (FITZGIBBONS) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 13-666. 7.9 Council Bill No. 13-667; Resolution No. 13-1075-R: A Resolution adopting policy goals and objectives for the City of Columbia City, Oregon, for fiscal year 2013-14. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (FITZGIBBONS) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 13-667. 7.10 First reading of Council Bill No. 13-668: An Ordinance amending the Comprehensive Plan for the City of Columbia City, Oregon, as adopted by Ordinance No. 03-585-O. The Council completed the first reading of Council Bill No. 13-668. AGENDA ITEM 8 OTHER BUSINESS: All Purpose Cleaner: Micah said they have a surplus of approximately 36 5-gallon pails of All Purpose Cleaner taking up room in the shop, and they’d like to get rid of it. It was the consensus of the Council that the cleaner be offered to interested non-profit organizations within the County. Police Department Update: Chief McGlothlin said they received 42 applications for the traffic grant Police Officer position. He said 28 applications have moved through the initial review, and he said about 20 applicants are expected to be invited to take the written test. th He said written testing is scheduled for April 27 and will be conducted in the Community Hall. AGENDA ITEM 9 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 7:34 p.m. 6 - Regular City Council Meeting March 21, 2013 APPROVED: _______________________________________ Cheryl A. Young Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Leahnette Rivers City Administrator/Recorder