City Council

City Council Meeting Minutes ___________________________________________________________________________________________ THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2014 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 Josh Fromm Councilor Nell Harrison Councilor Sally Ann Marson Councilor Gordon Thistle 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 Special Recognition: Recognition of Officer Christopher Cowen’s service to the Columbia City Police Department. Chief McGlothlin announced that Officer Cowen’s last day of work will be September 25, 2014. He said Officer Cowen’s excellent reputation is known county-wide, and the City of Scappoose Police Department recently went to fill a vacancy and successfully recruited Officer Cowen. Chief McGlothlin said he hates to see him go, noting that Officer Cowen has a tremendous amount of potential and has done an amazing job for Columbia City for more than five years. He said that fortunately, Officer Cowen was recruited to the Scappoose Police Department at this time because the Columbia City’s Motor Carrier Program grant funding is about to end. Chief McGlothlin said we are fortunate that Officer Cowen will continue to serve in Columbia County, and he presented Officer Cowen with a plaque in appreciation for his hard work, professional service and exemplary dedication to the Columbia City Police Department from January 4, 2009 through September 25, 2014. Officer Cowen thanked the Mayor and Council for providing him with the opportunity to serve the City. He said it has been a tremendous opportunity and he has loved every minute of it, and the community has been fantastic to work with. He said he will miss Columbia City tremendously. Officer Cowen said he has never forgotten the day he sat down with Chief McGlothlin to discuss his interest in serving as a Reserve Officer. He said 2 - Regular City Council Meeting September 18, 2014 Chief McGlothlin has been fantastic to work for and the officers of the Department are truly blessed to have him here. AGENDA ITEM 2 PUBLIC HEARINGS: None AGENDA ITEM 3 CITIZEN INPUT: Kit Gardes of Columbia City spoke as a representative of the Friends of the Columbia City Community Library. She thanked the Mayor, Council and staff for the support they have given to the Library throughout the years, and especially this year. She said the upcoming City Celebration is a benefit to the Library, and an involvement of all of our citizens. She said we will have beautiful weather for the car show, and the Celebration has been expanded to include craft vendors, music and an area with activities for children. She said some of the other activities include the pancake breakfast, plant sale, book sale, silent auction, and quilt raffle. Kit said the Library has more than 11,000 volumes, and they have added a year-round used book sale section known as Second Hand Pros. She said the Library is in need of a permanent space, and Leahnette has been helpful with identifying grant opportunities that might provide assistance. She said the Library operates with the assistance of approximately 40 dedicated volunteers, and they are open 16 hours per week. She said they hope to expand the Library’s hours to 20 hours per week, and they are looking for some additional volunteers to staff the increase in hours. AGENDA ITEM 4 COUNCIL REPORTS: 4.1 Parks Committee: Chair Marson reported that the benches and picnic tables at the Veterans Park are absolutely stunning. She said a great amount of work was completed during the LDS work party last Saturday. She said the event involved approximately 200 volunteers. 4.2 Water and Sewer Committee: Mayor Young suggested Councilor Thistle be appointed to the Water and Sewer Committee to fill Larry Preston’s position. MOVED (HARRISON), SECONDED (MARSON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Leahnette said she is hopeful that the Water Improvements Project will wrap up during the next month, and the design work is progressing on the Sewer Improvements Project. 4.3 Street Committee: Micah said he expects to have some quotes for crack sealing and street striping during the next meeting. 4.4 Audit Committee: Secretary Harrison said the committee will meet again in November. 4.5 Hazard Mitigation Planning Group: Councilor Fromm said three Committee Members met this past Monday to discuss the final plans for the Prepare Fair, which will be held this Saturday during the Columbia City Celebration. 4.6 Other Reports: None. AGENDA ITEM 5 CONSENT AGENDA: 5.1 Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting of August 21, 2014. 5.2 Financial Report for the period ending August 31, 2014. 5.3 Bills paid during the month of August 2014 with check numbers 18200 through 18254. 5.4 Annual accounting of system development charge revenues and expenditures during the 2013-14 fiscal year. 3 - Regular City Council Meeting September 18, 2014 5.5 Activities report from the Chief of Police for the month of August 2014. 5.6 Activities report from the Public Works Superintendent for the month of August 2014. 5.7 Appointment of Larry Preston to the Planning Commission. MOVED (FROMM), SECONDED (HARRISON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE THE CONSENT. AGENDA ITEM 6 UNFINISHED BUISNESS: 6.1 Second reading of Council Bill No. 14-739; Ordinance No. 14-685-O: An Ordinance amending Ordinance No. 504, regulating vehicular and pedestrian traffic, and providing penalties for violation thereof. Council Bill No. 14-739 was read by title only. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (FROMM) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 14-739. AGENDA ITEM 7 NEW BUSINESS: 7.1 Lien release: Release of lien against property described as Tax Account No. 5128-AC-02208, located at 1945 Fifth Street, Columbia City, Oregon, currently under the ownership of Leroy Ellis, Sr., Revocable Living Trust, as established by Resolution No. 13-1099-R. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (HARRISON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE SIGNATURE TO THE LIEN RELEASE. 7.2 Financing Contract Amendment: Amendment Number 1 to the Financing Contract between the City of Columbia City and the State of Oregon, by and through the Oregon Infrastructure Finance Authority, for the Columbia City Meter, Pressure Reduction and Line Improvement Project. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (HARRISON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE AMENDMENT NUMBER 1 TO THE FINANCING CONTRACT AND AUTHORIZE SIGNATURE. AGENDA ITEM 8 OTHER BUSINESS: Public Works Update: Micah reported they’ve been busy working in the parks, and they recently installed two new water services on First Street. He said the well is still keeping up with the water demands, and he is looking forward to cooler weather. Police Update: Chief McGlothlin said we’ll have eight community stakeholders that are responsible for emergency response participating in the Prepare Fair this weekend, along with one vendor. He said Reserve Officer Bubar will be hired as a part-time paid Police Officer to fill some of the hours worked by Officer Cowen. NW Natural Gas Franchise: Leahnette reported that a discrepancy was recently discovered in the new 10-year NW Natural Gas Franchise Agreement. She said in one area of the agreement, all industrial users are excluded from paying the franchise fee, and in another area of the agreement industrial users are required to pay the fee. She said the old franchise agreement excluded all industrial users from paying the tax, which is an incentive we’ve been offering for industrial users that none of us were even aware of, including the Port of St. Helens and West Oregon Wood Products. She said the cities of Clatskanie, Rainier and Scappoose currently offer this incentive in their franchise agreements, while the cities of St. Helens and Vernonia do not. She recommended the Council correct the agreement to eliminate the incentive. She said Columbia City has one of the lowest tax rates in the State of Oregon, along with the City of St. Helens, while the 4 - Regular City Council Meeting September 18, 2014 cities of Scappoose, Rainier and Clatskanie benefit from a healthy tax rate. She said the Columbia City industrial site is vacant with the exception of West Oregon Wood Products, and we have never advertised this incentive. Leahnette explained that the City’s franchise fee is 5%. She said the first 3% of that tax is included in NW Natural’s gross revenue factor, and is spread across their entire rate base within the State of Oregon. She said the next 2% of the tax is passed through directly to customers within Columbia City. She said if we lift the exclusion, West Oregon Wood Products would pay an additional $5,000 annually based upon their current usage. However, Columbia City would collect an additional $20,000 annually. In the event that the Council is agreeable to removing the exclusion, Leahnette suggested they grandfather West Oregon Wood Products in as an excluded customer for the first 7 years of the 10-year agreement. She said in the meantime, any new industrial development that might occur during the 7-year period would be subject to the tax. She said she is recommending the 7-year delay for West Oregon Wood Products because between 2002 and 2014 they were inadvertently overcharged a significant amount of sewer usage fees, and this arrangement will help them recover some of the excessive charges. She said the Port of St. Helens and West Oregon Wood Products have no objections to this proposal. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (HARRISON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH AMENDING THE FRANCHISE AGREEMENT TO LIFT THE EXEMPTION FOR INDUSTRIAL CUSTOMERS AND INCLUDE A GRANDFATHER CLAUSE TO EXCLUDE WEST OREGON WOOD PRODUCTS FROM THE TAX FOR 7 YEARS. AGENDA ITEM 9 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 6:42 p.m. to a workshop to review and discuss proposed Rules of Procedure for use at meetings of the Columbia City Council. The workshop adjourned at 7:00 p.m. APPROVED: _______________________________________ Cheryl A. Young Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Leahnette Rivers City Administrator/Recorder