BROWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL

MEETING MINUTES

December 17, 2007

ROLL CALL: Mayor Ware called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. with Councilors Brenner, Cole, Shepherd, Hoyer, Hoffman and Pinnock present. Also present were City Administrator Scott McDowell, City Planner Bill Sattler and Public Works Director Karl Frink.

ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS: Mr. Scott McDowell added Resolution 594 under Legislative, employee safety bonus leave under Discussion and a discussion of park ordinances also under Discussion.

MINUTES: The Council reviewed the minutes of the November 19, 2007, City Council meeting. Councilor Shepherd objected to a statement in the minutes stating that the three property owners placing unpermitted fill had been contacted by the last Council meeting and said that Mr. Schilling had not been contacted prior to the meeting date. Councilor Cole moved that the minutes be approved with Councilor Shepherd’s correction. The motion was seconded by Councilor Brenner and was approved unanimously.

PUBLIC HEARINGS / PRESENTATIONS:

1. Chris Brugato – Westech Engineering – Wastewater Project. Mr. Brugato attended the meeting to update the Council on the wastewater projects. Mr. Brugato said that Phase 1 is 70 to 80 percent complete and that the major construction has been completed. What is left is finish work, electrical work, control panels and so forth. There are no major issues remaining. Phase 2 was declared substantially complete on December 7. A punchlist was completed and most of the punchlist items have already been taken care of with the remainder expected to be completed in the next week or two. Mr. Brugato talked about the funding package for the project and explained that the City had to spend the loan money before the grant money. Since the project had come in well under budget it appears that there is still some loan money left to be spent before the grant money is accessible, Mr. Brugato and Mr. McDowell are working at finalizing the current costs to get a better idea of how much is left to be spent. Councilor Brenner asked about the likelihood of approval to use the remaining grant money. Mr. Brugato said that it appears that so long as the addition work is related to the sanitary sewer system there appears to be a good chance of approval. Councilor Cole asked what the priorities are for additional work. Mr. Brugato said that it is too early to determine that but that he and Mr. McDowell would be working on a list of possible additional work and would then develop a list of priorities.
2. Linn County Extension Service – Mr. Mark Mellbye. Mr. Mellbye told the Council about some of the different work the Extension Service does for the residents of Linn County and told the Council that a substantial portion of the Extension Service’s budget comes from Linn County. As it appears the County will be losing their supplemental federal funding the Extension Service anticipates losing their County funding and is seeking to form a special service district with taxing authority to replace the lost funds. The special district would have a maximum assessment of seven cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation, or about $10 on a $150,000 assessed value home. The Extension Service is asking the Council for a resolution supporting placing the issue on the ballot for the voters to decide on the creation of the district. Councilor Cole asked how long 4-H has been active in the area. Mr. Mellbye said since 1911 and that about one fifth of area families had participated in the program. Mr. Bud Baumgarter said that he is a volunteer with the Extension Service and talked about different programs offered by the Service, particularly all of the different volunteers who participate in the programs.

DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS:

1. Administrator Report. Mr. McDowell submitted a written report to the Council. Mr. McDowell said that he is still in discussions with ODOT regarding the trees on Hwy. 228 that were affected by the sewer project. Mr. McDowell said that ODOT would prefer oak or maple trees planted there instead of the evergreens, or possibly a hedge for sound reduction.
2. Public Works. Mr. Frink submitted a written report. In addition, Mr. Frink told the Council that he has been doing inspections on the sewer project construction work. Mr. Frink said that a recent windstorm had caused a tree to fall on Loucks Way which the local residents had asked to cut but that ODOT had said was on their property and that their crew was to remove it. Unfortunately, their crew had still not arrived and it’s still a mess there. Mr. Frink said that the Public Works crew had hauled eight dumpster loads of leaves from the park for the Community Gardens group and that there are still quite a few more leaves left to go. One tree fell in Pioneer Park during the windstorm and several large limbs also came down. A tree crew has been hired to come and remove them as they are too hazardous for the Public Works crew to remove. The "Welcome To Brownsville" sign that was damaged is being repaired.
3. Planning. Mr. Sattler provided a written report and updated the Council on current projects around town. Mr. Sattler said that he had received applications for six new home permits in the last month. Mr. Sattler told the Council that the Olsen Fields subdivision is still moving forward slowing and reminded them of the land use hearing scheduled for the January, 2008, Council meeting.
4. Library Report. Mr. Smith provided a written report for the Council.
5. Sheriff’s Report. The Sheriff’s Department provided a written report for the Council.
6. Council Report. Mayor Ware said that the Cascades West Council of Governments is looking for a new representative from Brownsville for their regional transportation committee and asked if there were any volunteers from the Council. There were none.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION:

1. Resolution 591 – Utility Accounts for Rental Properties. Mr. McDowell explained that there has been a problem with getting landlords to have their renters set up utility accounts when they move in which has been causing trouble and additional work for staff. The proposed Resolution would keep the landlord on the bill until the new account is set up for the tenant and will clarify who is responsible for the bill. Mr. McDowell said that he will send a copy of the Resolution to each landlord in the City if it is passed to give them notice of the new policy. Councilor Cole moved that Resolution 591 be approved. The motion was seconded by Councilor Hoffman and was approved unanimously.
2. Resolution 592 – 4-H and Extension Service District. Councilor Hoffman moved that Resolution 592 be approved. The motion was seconded by Councilor Cole. Mayor Ware said that he was concerned about the language in the Resolution regarding the Council’s "support" of the District, when the intent of the Council was to support putting the question on the ballot, not to indicate support of the measure itself. Councilor Shepherd agreed with Mayor Ware. Councilor Hoyer suggested rephrasing that section to state that the Council supports putting the measure on the ballot. The motion passed unanimously as amended by Councilor Hoyer.
3. Resolution 593 – Supporting Economic and Community Development. Mr. McDowell said that he had not yet had a chance to meet with all of the Councilors to discuss this and requested that the matter be tabled until the next meeting. The Council agreed to do so by consensus.
4. Resolution 594 – Transfer in Water Fund. Mr. McDowell told the Council that there was an issue with last year’s budget in that the sand filter replacement work at the water plant should not have been paid with SDC funds. Resolution 594 creates a new account and will move money within the water fund to pay for the work. Councilor Hoyer moved that Resolution 594 be approved. The motion was seconded by Councilor Cole and was approved unanimously.
5. Proclamation – Mayor Ware issued a proclamation of birthday greetings to Margaret Lane Kelly, a former Brownsville resident, on her 100^th birthday.

ACTION ITEMS:

1. Receiving 2006-2007 Audit. Councilor Cole asked Mr. McDowell to discuss his impressions of the audit report. Mr. McDowell said that he was disappointed in the audit report because he had hoped the auditors would look at some of the internal processes that they didn’t review and that he thought the City didn’t get much attention as the person who had been doing our audits was leaving the firm. Mr. McDowell said that page 56 of the report discusses some problems, all of which have been resolved, and some other issues which aren’t accurate such as supposed errors in the budget forms and a need to republish the budget. Mr. McDowell said that the City’s internal processes are as good as the small staff size allows, with responsibilities divided between staff members with good oversight. Mr. McDowell said that he was concerned about Page 55, particularly item "F" and that he would be rebutting those findings as he relied on the advice of the Department of Revenue. Councilor Cole asked if he was satisfied with the internal processes. Mr. McDowell said not completely but that he hasn’t had much time to work on the issue. He said that he was looking at implementing a purchase order system. Mr. McDowell said that there should be a motion to formally receive the report. Councilor Hoffman moved that the audit report be accepted. The motion was seconded by Councilor Hoyer and was approved unanimously.
2. Motion to Request USDA Expand the Scope of the Wastewater Project. The Council discussed asking the USDA to expand the scope of the wastewater project as there was available funding left after the project was completed. Mr. McDowell said that it would be good to continue the work down Kirk Avenue further and also to replace the line from Hausman Avenue to the North Lagoon. Mr. McDowell said that USDA was not in favor of allowing the funds to be used for street resurfacing work but he’ll continue to look into that as a possibility. Mr. McDowell said that the City is about $300,000 away from accessing the remaining $1 million in grant funding. Mr. McDowell said that the City has saved quite a bit of money compared to the planned cost of the project. It will take some time to finalize the cost numbers but he would like the Council to pass a motion to approve his request to expand the project as there may not be much time to act and the City needs to be flexible. Any of the recommended work will need to be done at some time in the near future and if it is possible to do it as part of the project it will cost the City less money. Councilor Hoyer moved that Mr. McDowell be authorized to file a written request to USDA to increase the project scope and utilize the available funding. The motion was seconded by Councilor Cole and was approved unanimously.
3. Proposed Safety Bonus Leave. Mr. McDowell explained that the current City personnel policy provides for giving employees additional time off if they do not use any sick leave. Instead of that, Mr. McDowell suggested a system of providing additional leave time for employees when there are no work accidents. Mr. McDowell presented a proposed policy which gives an employee eight hours of bonus leave when that employee does not have a work accident within a year and gives all employees an additional eight hours of leave when none of the staff has an accident within a year. These hours could not be banked and would not be eligible for cash compensation. Councilor Shepherd moved that the proposed policy be approved. The motion was seconded by Councilor Hoffman and was approved unanimously.

DISCUSSION ITEMS:

1. Meeting Night Thoughts. Mr. McDowell noted that the normal meeting date for January is on a holiday so it would need to be changed to a Tuesday. Councilor Hoyer said he had another meeting on the third Tuesday of the month and asked if the first Tuesday would work for the other Councilors. The other Councilors agreed to start meeting on the first Tuesday of the month beginning in February. The January meeting willl be on January 15^th.
2. Transient Room Tax. Mr. McDowell said that the Council had asked him to discuss the matter with the Chamber of Commerce and he has not heard back from the Chamber so he was not prepared to discuss the subject tonight. The matter was tabled until the next meeting.
3. Park Ordinances. Mr. McDowell discussed the two proposed ordinances and said that he was asking for Council approval after which he would put the ordinances into final form to be considered at the January, 2008, Council meeting. Councilor Cole said her concerns about the parks were primarily the use of alcohol and commercial activity. Mr. McDowell said that alcohol is prohibited on all public property by another section of the Brownsville Municipal Code. Mr. McDowell said that one of the proposed changes involved how requests for commercial activities are handled. Under the new policy they would be referred to the Council and the Park Committee would have input. Councilor Cole said that she would like to see guidelines for what uses would be approved. Mr. McDowell said that he would refine the language for the next Council meeting.

COUNCIL COMMENTS: NONE

HANDOUTS:

EXECUTIVE SESSION: The Council adjourned to an executive session pursuant to ORS 192.660 at 9:00 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT: The Council returned from Executive Session and the meeting was adjourned at 9:20 p.m. with no further action being taken.

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City Administrator S. Scott McDowell Mayor Don Ware