City Council

City Council Meeting Minutes ___________________________________________________________________________________________ THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2016 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 6:00 p.m. Jean LeMont delivered the invocation and Mayor Young led the audience in the flag salute. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Cheryl A. Young Councilor Sally Ann Marson Councilor Josh Fromm Councilor Nell Harrison Councilor Gordon Thistle COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None ALSO PRESENT: Michael McGlothlin, Chief of Police 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: Jean LeMont of 1525 Third Street, Columbia City, spoke about the upcoming Community Hall project. She suggested the basement of the Community Hall be considered as a place for the Community Library. Councilor Thistle said he and Mark Ebert did look at the basement to see what would be needed to accommodate the Library. He said it's doable, but it would be a very expensive job. He said you'd need to lift the building up and excavate further, and the building is set on post and beam and you would probably need to build a new foundation. AGENDA ITEM 4 COUNCIL REPORTS: Election of Council President: Mayor Young said it is time to elect a Council President for the new calendar year. She said Councilor Marson has served well in the position for several years. MOVED (THISTLE), SECONDED (FROMM) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ELECT COUNCILOR MARSON AS COUNCIL PRESIDENT. 2 - Regular City Council Meeting January 7, 2016 Committee Appointments: Mayor Young suggested the Committee Appointments continue unchanged for the 2016 year. No objections were heard from the Council. Appointment of Budget Officer: Mayor Young recommended Leahnette Rivers be appointed as Budget Officer for the 2016 calendar year. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (HARRISON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPOINT LEAHNETTE RIVERS AS BUDGET OFFICER. 4.1 Parks Committee: No report. 4.2 Water and Sewer Committee: Chair Fromm said the heavy rains will take a toll on our budget. Leahnette said we hope some of our costs will be reimbursed by FEMA. 4.3 Street Committee: No report. 4.4 Audit Committee: Secretary Harrison said the Audit Committee recently met and everything went well. She thanked Leahnette for her work with the Members. 4.5 Hazard Mitigation Planning Group: Team Member Fromm said the Group will meet later this month. 4.6 Other Reports: Leahnette said the Community Hall Committee has been very active in recent months. AGENDA ITEM 5 CONSENT AGENDA: 5.1 Financial Reports for the period ending November 30, 2015. 5.2 Investment and Cash Balance Summary for the quarter ending September 30, 2015. 5.3 Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting on December 3, 2015. 5.4 Minutes of the Regular City Council Meeting on December 10, 2015. 5.5 Reappointment of Laurie Falk and Dennis Capik to the Planning Commission. 5.6 Reappointment of Barbara Gordon and Suella Kovich to the Audit Committee. 5.7 Reappointment of Rich Bailey, Durell Kearsley, Randy May and Dave Sass to the Building Appeals Board. 5.8 Activities Report from the City Administrator/Recorder. MOVED (THISTLE), SECONDED (HARRISON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA. AGENDA ITEM 6 UNFINISHED BUISNESS: None. AGENDA ITEM 7 NEW BUSINESS: 7.1 Grant Agreement: Columbia County Cultural Coalition Grant Agreement. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (FROMM) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE SIGNATURE TO THE GRANT AGREEMENT. 7.2 Architectural Service Proposals: Proposals for Architectural Services for the Community Hall Improvements Project. The Council reviewed proposals received for architectural services related to the Community Hall Improvements Project submitted by Wm. Al Petersen of Akaan Architecture and Design, Inc., and Andrew Niemi of Lower Columbia Engineering. 3 - Regular City Council Meeting January 7, 2016 Councilor Marson said the Community Hall Committee met this afternoon to consider the proposals, and the Committee recommends Lower Columbia Engineering be selected to complete the work. Leahnette said Lower Columbia Engineering has the lowest hourly rates, and they are offering an additional 15% discount as a contribution to the project. Leahnette distributed a draft Contract for the Council to consider. She said she is still waiting to hear back from the City Attorney with regard to the form of the contract. She said in the interest of moving this project forward, approval of the contract, pending approval from the City Attorney, would be appreciated. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (THISTLE) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO SELECT LOWER COLUMBIA ENGINEERING TO COMPLETE THE ARCHITECTURAL AND ENGINEERING WORK AS OUTLINED IN THE PROPOSAL AND AUTHORIZE SIGNATURE TO THE CONTRACT PENDING APPROVAL FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY. 7.3 Council Bill No. 16-776; Resolution No. 16-1159-R: A Resolution adopting amendments to the City of Columbia City Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual dated April 18, 2002. Leahnette explained that this Resolution proposes changes to the City's sick leave policy to comply with new state law. She said the changes basically extend the current sick leave package to all employees, using a pro-rata share for part-time employees. She said the proposed changes exceed the minimum amount of sick time required by the new law, but basically mirror our current policy. She said the amendment includes some additional changes to the authorized uses of sick leave to comply with the new law. MOVED (FROMM), SECONDED (THISTLE) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL NO. 16-776. AGENDA ITEM 8 OTHER BUSINESS: Police Update: Chief McGlothlin said the Shop with a Cop program was very successful this year. He said they served 21 individuals, and officers from Scappoose, St. Helens, Columbia County Sheriffs Office, and Oregon State Police joined the Columbia City officers to accompany shoppers. Community Hall Rental Cancellation Request: The Council reviewed an email dated January 6, 2016, from Christina Sullivan, OPAS Dance Team President, requesting a refund of their January 9th Community Hall rental fees because they had some issues with their Zumbathon instructors and need to reschedule. MOVED (MARSON), SECONDED (HARRISON) AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE A RENTAL CREDIT TOWARDS THEIR NEXT RESERVATION RATHER THAN A REFUND. Vacant Property Registration Process: Council discussed whether or not to establish a fee for the registration of vacant property. Following some discussion, it was the consensus of the Council to not charge a fee for registering the vacant property, but to establish a penalty fee for failing to register and for late registration. Leahnette will draft something for Council to consider. Kudos to Public Works: The Mayor, Council and staff commended the public works crew for the fine condition of the City's streets during the past few weeks of snow and ice and the great Christmas light display. AGENDA ITEM 9 ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned 6:38 p.m. 4 - Regular City Council Meeting January 7, 2016 APPROVED: _______________________________________ Cheryl A. Young Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Leahnette Rivers City Administrator/Recorder