City Council

The City of Columbia City In Columbia County on the Columbia River Hazard Mitigation Planning Group Meeting Minutes – January 29, 2025 - 6:00 p.m. City Hall, 1840 Second Street Columbia City, Oregon 97018 Citizen Members City Staff Members ☒ Gary Hudson (Chairman) ☒ Jerry Bartolomucci, Chief of Police ☒ Chip Dryden (Vice Chairman) ☐ Micah Rogers, Columbia City Public Works ☒ Jazzmin Love (Secretary) Columbia County Members ☒ Connie Quick (City Council Rep) ☐ Josh Allen, Environmental Public Health ☒ Frank Hupp (Member at Large) ☐ Corey Padron, Emergency Management ☐ Margie Korpella (Member at Large) ☐ Eric Smythe, Columbia River Fire & Rescue ☐ Cindy Turula, GIS Specialist (☒ Meeting Attendees) Hazard Mitigation Meeting Minutes – January 29, 2025 • Meeting called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chip Dryden. • Aug 28 meeting minutes approved. • Citizens Neal Shervey, Karen Shervey, Wendy Wells, and Lowell Bauer brought forth a concern about some large trees that were planted many years ago at 2105 8th Street. The trees are now overgrown causing challenges in neighbor’s yard. Concerned about fire risk. Citizens asked neighbors to clean it up and nothing has been done. Branches continue to fall onto their roof in bad weather. As a result, citizen paid to have the impeding trees trimmed. o Upon review of the photos, it appears the trees were planted at least 40 years ago. Photos were also shared with Helen Johnson and Rob Forman prior to this meeting. o City Council requested the Hazard Committee look into this issue. Hazard group can investigate potential solutions and make a recommendation, but has no authority, budget, or resources to resolve. Oregon Department of Forestry might be the folks to do something. National Forest Dept also does brush work to remove debris. o The trees are within city limits. When upper Columbia was built, there were no policies implemented regarding residential tree height limits. Will review the plan related to private property and zoning? The City would apply the County’s emergency plan related to urban wildfire. o Committee recommended the presenting citizens talk to Kim Karber, city admin, and Helen to identify city ordinance regarding trees hanging over property. Connie will talk to Kim and Helen. Chip will contact ODF and request an action recommendation letter. 1 • Request by Chip to create a Small Community Emergency Response Plan for Columbia City. Will replicate the one he accessed from Columbia County. Includes contacts and resources at a quick glance, is water resistant, and much easier to reference than the large binder. Columbia County has spent a lot of money creating a plan that has not been updated in the past 12 years. Would like to create smaller grab and go reference tools for each community. Committee approved the request. Will begin with a contact list. • 25th City Celebration – In light of the recent disaster in California, the theme for this year will be fire prevention and response. Clear the space around your house. • Next meeting February 26, 2025 • Adjourned at 6:55 2