City Council

City Council Meeting Minutes ___________________________________________________________________________________________ THURSDAY October 20, 2022 – 6:30 PM COLUMBIA CITY COMMUNITY HALL – 1850 SECOND STREET CITY OF COLUMBIA CITY, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON AGENDA ITEM 1 CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL: CONVENED: Mayor Casey Wheeler called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:30 pm. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Casey Wheeler Councilor Gordon Thistle Councilor Sue Ziglinski Councilor Katrina Claridge Councilor Jeff Reinan COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None. ALSO PRESENT: Mike McGlothlin, City Administrator/Recorder Gerald Bartolomucci, Police Operations Sergeant Kim Karber, Office Supervisor/Finance Clerk ATTORNEY PRESENT: No. A quorum was present and due notice had been published. AGENDA ITEM 2 CITIZEN INPUT: None. AGENDA ITEM 3 COUNCIL REPORTS: None AGENDA ITEM 4 STAFF REPORTS: 4.1 Activity Report for the Police Department, as submitted by Police Operations Sergeant, Gerald Bartolomucci. AGENDA ITEM 5 CONSENT AGENDA: 5.1 Bills paid with check numbers 33951 through 33999 during the month of September 2022. 5.2 Expense v. Budget Report for the period ending September 30, 2022. 5.3 Minutes of the May 19, 2022 Regular City Council meeting. 5.4 Minutes of the June 16, 2022 Regular City Council meeting. 5.5 Minutes of the July 21, 2022 Regular City Council meeting. 5.6 Minutes of the August 18, 2022 Regular City Council meeting. 5.7 Minutes of the September 27, 2022 Audit Committee meeting. COUNCIL APPROVED THE CONSENT AGENDA BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE. 2 Regular City Council Meeting October 20, 2022 AGENDA ITEM 6 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None. AGENDA ITEM 7 NEW BUSINESS: 7.1 Review, discussion, and consideration for approval of the Renewal of City of St. Helens – City of Columbia City Intergovernmental Agreement for Building Inspection and Plan Review Services. MOVED (THISTLE), SECONDED (ZIGLINSKI) AND VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL RENEWAL AS SUBMITTED. 7.2 Council Bill 22-954: A Resolution Authorizing a Transfer of Appropriations within the General and Sewer Funds During the Fiscal Year Beginning July 1, 2022. MOVED (CLARIDGE), SECONDED (REINAN), AND VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE COUNCIL BILL 22-954. 7.3 Review and acceptance of resignation letter as submitted by Municipal Court Judge Cynthia Phillips. MOVED (CLARIDGE), SECONDED (THISTLE), AND VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO ACCEPT THE RESIGNATION AS SUBMITTED BY JUDGE PHILLIPS. 7.4 Presentation of “The Wisdom of Columbia County” by Margaret Trenchard- Smith (lyricist) and Kevin Bryant Lay (Composer) of the Columbia Chorale of Oregon. MARGARET TRENCHARD-SMITH AND KEVIN BRYANT LAY REVIEWED AND SHARED PERFORMANCE PIECES FROM THEIR WORK ABOUT THE HISTORY OF COLUMBIA COUNTY. AT THE CONCLUSION OF THE PRESENTATION, MS. SMITH AND MR. LAY ASKED THE CITY COUNCIL TO CONSIDER PROVIDING A LETTER OF SUPPORT FOR THE CHORALE AS THEY WORK TOWARDS A 2023 PERFORMANCE IN NEW YORK CITY. CITY COUNCIL UNANIMOUSLY APPROVED THE REQUESTED LETTER OF SUPPORT AND DIRECTED THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR TO ASSIST IN COORDINATING ITS COMPLETION. AGENDA ITEM 8 OTHER BUSINESS: The City Administrator discussed the following items with Council: 1. With the significant number of parks within the city’s system, the City Administrator discussed options for moving forward in light of the required maintenance demands. While no decision was reached during this City Council meeting, options discussed included: the addition of one part-time seasonal worker to the Public Works staff, to contract with a local lawn service provider during the growing season to assist in the maintenance demands, and to consider the abandonment of some city parks in order to curb the inventory and better meet maintenance needs. Further and future discussion regarding this topic will be conducted, starting with the Parks Committee who will make recommendations to the City Council. 2. From discussions during the city’s burn season, the City Administrator shared some follow up that he had gained in reviewing the issuance of burn permits for City residents. Burn permits may be gained at our City Hall, the local CRF&R Office, or online via CRF&R’s websie. When issued at City Hall the completed burn permit, after it is logged into a tracking form and after a copy is provided to the applicant, is forwarded to the CRF&R Office for inclusion into their database. The applicant must also check with the CRF&R Office on the day of a desired burn to ensure that no burn prohibitions are in place. During the review the City Administrator also contacted the CRF&R Office to see if their personnel could advise on how many Columbia City residents had applied for the burn permit through their office. At that time it was learned that 3 Regular City Council Meeting October 20, 2022 due to a large backlog of data there were no way to accurately get a count of the Columbia City residents with burn permits issued through CRF&R. The City will continue to log and track those that are issued through our City Hall. 3. A representative from the CRPUD contacted the City Administrator about a LED Streetlight Conversion Project that has the potential to increase safety and visibility within the community, to save the city on their monthly streetlight bill, and to take advantage of a rebate program where a portion of the costs needed for the conversion are returned to the City once the project is completed. The City Administrator is in the process of gathering financial data but wanted to share the opportunity with City Council due to the referenced positive impacts on the City and its residents. The City Council directed the City Administrator to proceed with gathering the necessary data and to present the project to them at following City Council meeting(s). 4. The City was approached by the St. Helens High Schools Band and Guard program about parking an equipment trailer at the Columbia City Elementary School as the proposed area for parking the trailer would involve a portion of the city’s right-of-way adjacent to the school. After discussion, the City Council, by consensus, approved the request. 5. By consensus of City Council, both Regular and Special City Council meetings are going to resume being held in-person and within the City Hall Council Chambers the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm; effective at the 11/17/2022 Regular City Council meeting. In addition, and also by consensus of the City Council, it was decided to resume the annual Christmas Dinner for employees and their families as hosted by the City Council. AGENDA ITEM 9 ADJOURNMENT: 9.1 There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm. APPROVED: _______________________________________ Casey Wheeler Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Michael S. McGlothlin City Administrator/Recorder