City Council

City Council Meeting Minutes ___________________________________________________________________________________________ THURSDAY, JULY 18, 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. 1.1 Swearing In Ceremony: Swearing in ceremony for Police Officer Christopher Cowen. Chief McGlothlin said Officer Cowen has been with the department for nearly four years as a Reserve Officer, and donated thousands of hours of time to the City in that capacity. He spoke highly of Officer Cowen’s work ethic and dedication, who donated time to the City on his days off while he also worked full time as a supervisor in a security position in Portland. He said when the City was fortunate enough to be able to open up a full-time position, Officer Cowen applied and he consistently ranked the highest out of 42 candidates throughout the selection process. He said Officer Cowen stepped into the full-time position th on May 28 and has consistently done a fine job for the City since his date of hire. Chief McGlothlin noted that Officer Cowen successfully completed the motor carrier certification course and he is now fulfilling the motor carrier duties, and at the same time he is has already completed several quality investigations and made several arrests that resulted in prosecutions. He said Officer Cowen is a valuable asset and a tremendous addition to the department. He said Officer Cowen is not only a good person, he possesses the necessary qualities and the potential to be a very good police officer. Leahnette Rivers administered the Oath of Office to Officer Cowen. Chief McGlothlin presented Officer Cowen with a new Columbia City Police Officer badge. 2 - Regular City Council Meeting July 18, 2013 AGENDA ITEM 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS: None. AGENDA ITEM 3 CITIZEN INPUT: 3.1 Request from Cathy Lundberg, Head Librarian, Columbia City Community Library, for street closure during Columbia City Celebration: Gordon Thistle spoke with Council about a request dated July 10, 2013, from Cathy Lundberg, Head Librarian for the Columbia City Community Library, to block off a portion of First Street between “G” and th “H” Streets from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 14 for a car show featuring antique and collectible cars during the Columbia City Celebration. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (WHEELER) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE THE REQUEST. 3.2 Presentation from Sheriff Jeff Dickerson about the severe reduction in Columbia County Jail beds: Sheriff Dickerson spoke to the Mayor, Council, staff and audience about the recent severe reduction in jail beds resulting from the continuing budget crisis at the jail. He said they have not recovered financially from the cuts that were made two years ago, and they have reached a point where they cannot make any further reductions in staff, and must reduce the number of beds at the jail from 65 local beds to 25 local beds. He said the Sheriff’s office is responsible for many things in addition to the jail, such as arresting and committing persons to prison, investigations, safety patrols along the Columbia River, county court services, serving civil processes, hand gun licensing, search and rescue, etc. He said the Sheriff also has custody and control of all inmates in the County, and is responsible for providing bedding, clothing, wholesome food, utilities and medical services to the inmates. He said they are spending $400,000 just in medical services annually. In addition, he said they must provide sufficient staff to perform all of the audio, visual, security, control and custody supervision, which requires an hourly check on inmates at a minimum. He explained that 40% has been cut from the Sheriff’s budget since he took office, and they have run out of other places to cut. He said if they face the same cuts next year, they won’t be able to fund any local beds at the jail. He said the County may place a four-year local option levy equal to $0.58 per thousand assessed value on the ballot in November 2013. He said the levy would be strictly for jail funding, and it would provide the revenue needed to operate 100 local beds in the jail during the four-year period. Sheriff Dickerson distributed handouts and discussed the financial predicament that the Sheriff’s office is in at length with the Mayor, Council staff and members of the audience. AGENDA ITEM 4 COUNCIL REPORTS: 4.1 Parks Committee: No report. 4.2 Water and Sewer Committee: Co-Chair Fromm said the Water Committee is currently looking at bids that were received for the Water Meter Replacement Project. Leahnette said she mistakenly released the RFP without first asking the funding agency to review it. As a result, she had to distribute an addendum, but she later discovered that one of the attachments to the addendum contained the wrong material. To make matters worse, she said the funding agency just adopted some new contract requirements, which would require another amendment to the contract documents, and the bids have already been opened. She recommended all of the bids be rejected and we start the process over again with a clean slate. 3 - Regular City Council Meeting July 18, 2013 MOVED (WHEELER), SECONDED (MARSON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO REJECT THE BIDS RECEIVED FOR THE WATER METER REPLACEMENT PROJECT AND RE-BID THE PROJECT. Micah said we are pumping a lot of water. Co-Chair Fromm reported that the well is doing very well. 4.3 Street Committee: No report. 4.4 Sewer Committee: No report. 4.5 Audit Committee: No report. 4.6 Hazard Mitigation Planning Group: No report. 4.7 Other Reports: Mayor Young said she recently met with a representative of Portland and Western Railroad to discuss the City’s interest in obtaining access to Trestle Beach. She said the Railroad is looking at making improvements to the railroad trestle that would permit vehicular access under the trestle. Councilor Marson said the Friends of the Library have been meeting and the plans for the Columbia City Celebration are progressing well. AGENDA ITEM 5 CONSENT AGENDA: 5.1 Bills paid with check numbers 17343 through 17408 during the month of June 2013. 5.2 Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting of June 20, 2013. 5.3 Activities report for the month of May and June 2013 from the Chief of Police. 5.4 Activities report for the month of June 2013 from the Public Works Superintendent. 5.5 Activities report from the City Administrator/Recorder. MOVED (WHEELER), SECONDED (FITZGIBBONS), AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY ROLL CALL VOTE TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. AGENDA ITEM 6 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 6.1 Second reading of Council Bill No. 13-681; Ordinance No. 13-677-O: An Ordinance amending Ordinance No. 345, establishing rules and regulations to be observed and enforced within the public parks of the City of Columbia City, Oregon, and providing for punishment for violation thereof. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (FITZGIBBONS) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 13-681. AGENDA ITEM 7 NEW BUSINESS: 7.1 Application for an Exception Permit for Recreational Vehicle, Boat or Trailer Storage within the ROW as applied for by Jimmy Jeffrey of 1420 Second Street, Columbia City, Oregon. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (WHEELER) AND CARRIED TO APPROVE THE EXCEPTION PERMIT FOR JIMMY JEFFREY OF 1420 SECOND STREET. Councilor Fitzgibbons cast a nay vote. 7.2 Franchise Extension Agreement: Franchise Extension Agreement between Qwest Corporation dba CenturyLink QC and the City of Columbia City. 4 - Regular City Council Meeting July 18, 2013 Leahnette recommended Council approval of a second one-year extension to the existing CenturyLink QC Franchise Agreement because she still needs to get together with Harold Olsen to work on developing a Telecommunications Ordinance. If approved, she said this extension will expire on August 6, 2014. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (WHEELER) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE THE FRANCHISE AGREEMENT. 7.3 2012 Homeland Security Grant Program: Authorization to participate in the 2012 Homeland Security Grant Program for Emergency Operations Planning. MOVED (WHEELER), SECONDED (MARSON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE PARTICIPATION IN THE 2012 HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM FOR EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLANNING. 7.4 Ballot Title: Review draft Ballot Title for the City Charter. It was the consensus of the Council that the draft ballot title for the measure to adopt revisions to the City of Columbia City Home Rule Charter looked good as presented. However, it was the consensus of the Council that the measure be placed on the May 2014 ballot instead of the November 2013 ballot to avoid any costs associated with the election. 7.5 City Administrator Performance Appraisal: Review draft form for the proposed City Administrator Performance Planning and Appraisal, City Council Evaluation. It was the consensus of the Council that the draft performance appraisal form prepared by Council Wheeler looked good. The Mayor and Council Members will submit their st completed forms to Councilor Wheeler by August 1 , and Councilor Wheeler will consolidate the results. AGENDA ITEM 8 OTHER BUSINESS: City/County Dinner Meeting: The Quarterly City/County dinner meeting will be held in Columbia City on Wednesday, July 31, 2013 at 6:00 p.m. Reschedule City Council Meeting: Leahnette asked the Council for permission to nd th schedule the second meeting in August on the 22 instead of the 15 because she will be out of town. No objections were heard from the Council. AGENDA ITEM 9 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m. APPROVED: _______________________________________ Cheryl A. Young Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Leahnette Rivers City Administrator/Recorder