BROWNSVILLE CITY COUNCIL

MEETING MINUTES

May 21, 2007

WORK SESSION: A work session was held beginning at 6:00 p.m. to review matters on the meeting’s agenda.

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

ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS:

MINUTES: The Council reviewed the minutes of the April 16, 2007, City Council meeting. Two corrections were noted. Councilor Brenner had actually voted No on the transient room tax vote and Ms. Kay Fox noted that it has been her and not Carol Monroe that spoke at the end of the last meeting. Councilor Hoyer moved that the minutes be approved with those changes. The motion was seconded by Councilor Cole and was approved unanimously.

PUBLIC HEARINGS / PRESENTATIONS:

  1. Westech Engineering – Chris Brugato. Mr. Brugato told the Council that the bids had been opened for both phases of the wastewater project, that the bids were lower than the engineer’s estimates and the contractors with the low bids were both qualified bidders. Emery & Sons was the low bidder on Phase 1 and Pacific Excavation was the low bidder on Phase 2. The Phase 2 bid was around $400,000 below the engineer’s estimate. Mr. Brugato said that the Council could award the contracts and construction could start in June. Contracted construction time is five months for Phase 2 and nine months for Phase 1.
  2. Linda McCormick – Chamber of Commerce – Stand By Me Event. Ms. McCormick was present to answer any questions regarding the Stand By Me event. There was a brief discussion but no questions were raised. Ms. McCormick introduced Dave Furtwangler, another officer of the Chamber of Commerce.
  3. Brownsville Rural Fire District – Land Use Hearing. Mayor Ware opened the land use hearing by explaining the process to be followed. He then asked if there were any conflicts of interest, ex parte contacts or biases. None were declared. Mayor Ware then read the required statement regarding preservation of issues for appeal. Mr. Sattler provided a very brief summary of the staff report, stating that the BRFD had passed a bond to build a new fire station and training area south of the Calapooia River and that the only suitable parcel was partially inside the City Limits and partially outside the City Limits. In order to make the site work it was found to be necessary to annex the 1.3 acre parcel. Mr. Dave Dodson made a presentation to the Council on behalf of the applicant. Mr. Dodson explained the necessity for the annexation, explaining that the application was for a UGB expansion, annexation and rezoning to Public zone. The new fire station will be located directly south of the southern end of Hume Street and will use Hume Street for access to Hwy. 228. Mr. Dodson said that ODOT is requiring that the eastern end of Blakely be closed off to stop access from Hwy. 228 directly onto Blakely Avenue. Mr. Dodson said that many of the residents in the area had been concerned with cars exiting the highway at high speed and continuing down Blakely at that speed, so he didn’t believe there would be any issues with the closing of the access. Councilor Shepherd asked about visibility at the Hume Street intersection with Hwy. 228. Mr. Rogers, Brownsville Fire Chief, said that after a couple of bushes are trimmed the visibility will be fine. Councilor Shepherd also asked about the installation of a flashing light on Hwy. 228. Mr. Dodson said that ODOT has specific requirements for the amount of emergency traffic to warrant a light and it did not appear that this situation would qualify for a light. Kathleen Swayze was in the audience and asked about noise from sirens. Mr. Rogers said that they would follow the same protocol used now, meaning that sirens would be used when absolutely necessary but otherwise they would only use their emergency lights. Mayor Ware asked if anyone else wished to speak for or against the application, no one else did. The Council then discussed the application. Councilor Cole was concerned about the potential impact to the reopening of the Brownsville School. Mr. Dodson said that having emergency services close by could be seen as a benefit. Councilor Cole moved that the application be approved based on the proposed findings of fact in the Staff Report. The motion was seconded by Councilor Hoffman and was approved unanimously.
  4. Budget Hearing. Mayor Ware opened the Budget Hearing and invited public comment on the budget or the use of State Revenue Sharing funds. There was none. Ms. Kay Fox asked how many full time employees the City has. Mr. McDowell said that there are six full time employees. Ms. Fox asked about the changes in the contingency funds. Mr. McDowell explained that in the past the budget had included one large contingency fund and that he had distributed that among a number of smaller contingency funds in various areas of the budget to give the Council more flexibility should it be needed.

CITIZEN INPUT: Ms. Kay Fox asked what the City was doing about her neighbor getting grass clippings in the Tail Race. Mr. Sattler said that he wasn’t aware of any City ordinance being violated and didn’t know what action he could take in the matter.

DEPARTMENTAL REPORTS:

  1. Administrator Report. Mr. McDowell submitted a written report to the Council.
  2. Public Works. Mr. Frink was present and updated the Council on recent activities of the Public Works Department. Mr. Frink said that Public Works had just acquired a new smaller pickup truck which will get much better gas mileage. The new caretakers have arrived and are working in Pioneer Park. Public Works is busy mowing and preparing for Memorial Day and Pioneer Picnic. Mr. Frink noted that he had recently been successful in upgrading his state licensing to Class 2 in Wastewater Treatment.
  3. Planning. Mr. Sattler provided a written report and updated the Council on development activities around the City. There was a discussion concerning the City’s water rights on the Millrace and the impact of the dam removal project.
  4. Sheriff's Report. Sgt. Lawler provided a written summary of calls.
  5. Library Report. Mr. Smith submitted a written report.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION:

  1. Resolution No. 582 – Award Wastewater Improvement Contracts Phase 1 and Phase 2. Councilor Cole moved that Resolution 582 be approved subject to any final conditions set by the funding agencies. The motion was seconded by Councilor Hoffman and was approved unanimously.
  2. Resolution No. 581 – Award Wastewater Improvements Financing. Mr. McDowell explained that this was a followup to Resolution 580 and had the effect of awarding the interim financing to Key Bank, subject to final negotiations regarding rates and conditions. Councilor Cole moved that Resolution 581 be approved, subject to the City Administrator’s successful negotiation of final terms. The motion was seconded by Councilor Hoffman and was approved unanimously.
  3. Resolution No. 583 – Transfer Within the Sewer Fund. Mr. McDowell explained that the cost of required testing has been more expensive than anticipated and he wished to transfer money to that line item. Mr. McDowell explained that this has been a problem for some time and needs to be corrected in the next budget. The money will be transferred from contingency funds. Councilor Hoffman moved that Resolution 583 be approved. The motion was seconded by Councilor Cole and was approved unanimously.

ACTION ITEMS:

  1. Authorize "Stand By Me" Contract With Contingencies. Mr. McDowell said that Tim League of the Rolling Roadshow production company had met with staff and representatives of various agencies to go over some of the production details. Mr. McDowell said that he would like the City added as an additional named insured on the liability policy and Mr. League had agreed. In addition to the showing of the movie in Pioneer Park, the Chamber of Commerce will be running a number of additional activities around town during the course of the day, including a dance, a Cruise-In and a competitive eating contest. Mr. McDowell told the Council that the Chamber was requesting various exceptions to normal operating policies in order to allow the event to happen and provided a list of the exceptions to the Council, such as allowing a certain amount of merchandise to be sold in Pioneer Park and specifically exempting the showing of the movie from the ban on profane language as the movie is rated "R". Ms. McCormick told the Council that an edited version of the movie with a PG rating would be shown at the same time at another location. Councilor Cole moved that the Council approve the list of exceptions in order to allow the event with the stipulation that the exceptions are for this one event and that Mr. McDowell be authorized to execute the contract with the Rolling Roadshow production company. Councilor Hoffman seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.
  2. Authorize Sale of Goods in Pioneer Park for "Stand By Me" Event. Covered under (1) above.
  3. Recreation Center Agreement. Reset for the Council meeting of June 4, 2007.

DISCUSSION ITEMS:

  1. Carlson’s Tree Concerns. Mr. Sattler provided some background, stating that there is a small alley running along the east side of Carlson’s Hardware’s property where the neighboring property owner has planted a row of trees. The trees are growing quickly and Mr. Carlson is concerned about them undermining his retaining wall and possibly damaging the City’s sewer line running through the alley. Mr. Carlson has been asking the City to remove the trees for some time. Mr. McDowell said that he would look into the matter further, contacting the neighboring property owner and may send the matter back to the Park Committee.
  2. Vacation Accrual. Mr. McDowell told the Council that two employees are currently at the maximum accrual for vacation time of 160 hours and that with the amount of work coming up over the Summer he didn’t see how they could schedule much time off to reduce their accrual level. Mr. McDowell suggested that as a one time event the City buy back one week of vacation time so that they could continue to receive the benefit of vacation accrual. Mr. McDowell noted that the City has one of the more restrictive vacation accrual policies, the State of Oregon and many cities cap vacation accrual at 240 hours. Councilor Shepherd stated that employees just need to manage their time and take time off as needed to stay below the cap. There was some discussion about increasing the accrual cap and Councilor Shepherd moved that the accrual cap be increased to 200 hours. The motion was seconded by Councilor Brenner and failed on a 3 to 4 vote, with Councilor Hoffman, Councilor Pinnock, Councilor Cole and Mayor Ware voting no. Councilor Cole then moved that as a one time exception the City buy back a week of vacation from the employees who are at the accrual cap and look into raising the accrual cap. The motion was seconded by Councilor Hoffman and was approved unanimously.

CITIZEN INPUT: Pat Kirk asked if the Council was going to hire the Senior Center to provide traffic control at the Fourth of July event in Pioneer Park. Councilor Hoffman moved that the City do so and pay $225 for their services. The motion was seconded by Councilor Shepherd and was approved unanimously. Mayor Ware announced that the Fire Department had been successful in their grant request and had obtained funding for three of the units.

HANDOUTS:

  1. Westech Monthly Report.
  2. April Financials.

ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m..

 

 

___________________________ ____________________________

City Administrator S. Scott McDowell Mayor Don Ware