City Council

City Council Meeting Minutes ___________________________________________________________________________________________ THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2024 – 6:00 PM COLUMBIA CITY, CITY HALL – 1840 SECOND STREET CITY OF COLUMBIA CITY, COLUMBIA COUNTY, OREGON AGENDA ITEM 1 CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL: CONVENED: Mayor Katrina Claridge called the Regular Meeting to order at 6:00 pm. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Council President Rob Forman Councilor Gordon Thistle Councilor Jeff Reinan Councilor Connie Quick COUNCIL MEMBERS ABSENT: None ALSO PRESENT: Kim Karber, City Administrator/Recorder Jerry Bartolomucci, Chief of Police ATTORNEY PRESENT: None A quorum was present and due notice had been published. AGENDA ITEM 2 CITIZEN INPUT: 2.1 Jan Schollenberger- Lignetics truck traffic Jan talked about the issue of the 18- wheeler truck traffic going in and out of Lignetics on ‘E’ Street and the street not being constructed for that type of traffic. It is common for the trucks not to be able to make the turn, they cut it too close, they circle the block in the residential areas. It has been brought to the attention of The Port and Lignetics and they do not disagree with it not being the best situation for them. If there are several trucks trying to get in/out they back up onto ‘E’ Street and cars coming off Highway 30 are stuck-they cannot go around. She talked about how all the truck traffic used to enter on Pacific Street and at some point, they switched and started coming in on ‘E’ Street. Jan is asking the City to step in and take action and ask for the truck traffic to be moved back to Pacific Street. She also made the point that the trucks contribute to the dust pollution issue when dumping the product and it blows out of the trucks as they are coming and going. Jan also touched base on the pollution issue, stating Lignetics is going to be making some improvements to reduce pollution from the plant, but it is not scheduled to be completed until after the summer, which is the worst time for dust pollution. She is asking the City Police Department to issue citations again when the dust pollution is bad and a neighbor reports it. She realizes, after dealing with DEQ, that pictures on the day of the complaint should be taken. Chief Bartolomucci explained that it would be helpful after they take the picture to clean the area off so then it will show it is continuing to happen again the following day, otherwise it is hard to decipher when the issue occurred. Jan also explained that all the improvements Lignetics is planning to make are permitted through DEQ. Elaine Go is the contact at DEQ, and her phone number is 503-860-0716. Call Elaine and leave a message anytime there is an issue with dust pollution. 2 Regular City Council Meeting March 21, 2024 Earline Lunsford wanted to add that most of the 18-wheelers do not stop at the stop sign when coming out of Lignetics and she is afraid they are going to end up hitting someone. AGENDA ITEM 3 COUNCIL REPORTS: 3.1 Audit Committee: Councilor Forman reported the audit committee watched a training video about fraud by CIS. They will move forward by looking at the guidance from the auditor’s letter and see what items are not already in place. Rob inquired if there was any other direction from Council they would like the committee to take and there was none. 3.2 Hazard Committee: Councilor Quick reported they would be meeting March 27th. 3.3 Parks Committee: Councilor Reinan reported there was a lot of discussion about the Parks Master Plan of 2001. There is a focus to replace play equipment in Harvard Park and the committee is recommending the City secure funding for new equipment. Public Works inspects it regularly to make sure it is safe. Signage about park and trail use being at one’s own risk is being purchased and placed at the trails and parks. The committee also discussed the five-year plan and the Memorial Day event. 3.4 Streets Committee: Councilor Forman reported the five-year plan was discussed and some crack seal work will be done this summer. Next meeting will be March 26th. 3.5 Water & Sewer Committee: Councilor Thistle reported everything is on track. AGENDA ITEM 4 CONSENT AGENDA: 4.1 Bills paid with check numbers 34775 through 34821 during the month of February 2024. 4.2 Expense vs Budget Report for the month ending February 29, 2024. 4.3 Revenue Analysis Report for the month ending February 29, 2024. 4.4 Combined balance sheet for the month ending February 29, 2024. 4.5 Minutes of the February 15, 2024, Regular City Council Meeting. 4.6 Activity Report from the Chief of Police for the month of February 2024. 4.7 Activity Report from the Public Works Superintendent for the month of February 2024. 4.8 Activity Report from the City Administrator. 4.9 Minutes of the February 13, 2024, Audit Committee Meeting. 4.10 Minutes of the March 12, 2024, Audit Committee Meeting. 4.11 Appoint Jim Wills to the Parks Committee. 4.12 Reappointment of Sally Ann Marson to the Parks Committee. THE COUNCIL APPROVED THE CONSENT AGENDA BY UNANIMOUS ROLL CALL VOTE. AGENDA ITEM 5 UNFINISHED BUSINESS: 5.1 Second reading of Council Bill No. 24-976; Resolution 24-737-O: An Ordinance limiting liability for the City of Columbia City and other parties from private claims resulting from use of trails in a public easement or unimproved right-of-way under ORS 105.668. The Council completed the second reading of Council Bill No. 24-976. MOVED (REINAN), SECONDED (THISTLE), AND CARRIED UNAMIMOUSLY TO ADOPT COUNCIL BILL 24-976 AN ORDINANCE LIMITING THE LIABILITY OF THE CITY AND OTHER PARTIES FROM CLAIMS FROM USE OF TRAILS IN A PUBLIC EASEMENT OR UNIMPROVED RIGHT-OF-WAY. 3 Regular City Council Meeting March 21, 2024 AGENDA ITEM 6 NEW BUSINESS: 6.1 Review OLCC Temporary Use Application for The Watering Hole, LLC. MOVED (FORMAN), SECONDED (QUICK), AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO GRANT THE REQUEST FROM THE WATERING HOLE, LLC’S APPLICATION FOR A TEMPORARY LIQUOR SALES PERMIT. 6.2 Council Bill No. 24-977: Resolution 24-1310-R; A Resolution authorizing a transfer of appropriations within the General, Street, Water, and Sewer Funds during the fiscal year beginning July1, 2023. Kim explained this transfer of funds was for the purchase of the $100,000 backhoe. Micah did find one and it has been delivered. It is three years old, only has five hundred hours on it, and is a little bigger than what they were looking for. Micah priced out what it would have cost buying the backhoe, buckets, etc. separately and he came up with a figure of $192,000. MOVED (THISTLE), SECONDED (FORMAN), AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO AUTHORIZE THE TRANSFER OF FUNDS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING JULY 1, 2023. 6.3 Council Bill No. 24-978: Resolution 24-1311-R; A Resolution adopting hourly bill rates for Public Works equipment and crew for The City of Columbia City, OR. MOVED (QUICK), SECONDED (REINAN), AND CARRIED UNAMINOUSLY TO ADOPT THE HOURLY BILL RATES CHANGES FOR PUBLIC WORKS EQUIPMENT AND CREW. 6.4 Columbia City Police Department duty weapon recommendation. Chief Bartolomucci explained that currently some of our police officers own their duty weapon and for other officers the City owns them. The calibers of the weapons are not consistent across all duty weapons. He is recommending that all officers have department firearms. The new firearms are more accurate with the Red-Dot sight, and it reduces the City’s liability because they are more accurate with the point and shoot instead of having to line up the sights like the current weapons. MOVED (THISTLE), SECONDED (REINAN), AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF NEW DUTY WEAPONS FOR THE POLICE DEPARTMENT. 6.5 League of Oregon Cities request letter. MOVED (THISTLE), SECONDED (FORMAN), AND CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY TO DENY THE LEAGUE OF OREGON CITIES REQUEST FOR A DONATION. AGENDA ITEM 7 OTHER BUSINESS: Columbia County Economic Group: Kim explained that Paul Vogel will be doing a presentation at April’s Council meeting about what the Columbia Economic Group does. The City used to be a member and they would like us to rejoin. City/County Dinner: Kim asked the council to let her know if they would be attending the city/county dinner in Vernonia on April 30th. City Hall/Community Hall Bids: Kim explained that Micah has had different companies come out to look at the buildings to do the repairs and he has only got one turned in as of 4 Regular City Council Meeting March 21, 2024 today. He can now start having painting contractors come out, since he has an idea of what is going to be replaced and what will not need prepping. Accounting/Court Clerk Position: The position had been filled and Nechelle started on March 18th. Objective and Goal Setting: The final committee to meet and discuss the five-year goal planning will be on March 26th, so Council will need to meet after that to do their goal setting for budget year 2024-25. They will meet on April 4th at 4:30. AGENDA ITEM 8 ADJOURNMENT: 8.1 There being no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 7:08 pm. APPROVED: _______________________________________ Katrina Claridge Mayor ATTEST: ___________________________________ Kim Karber City Administrator/Recorder