PRESENT: Mayor
Bob Jepsen; Council Members Kay Robinson, Rita Hedman, Tim Van Cleave, Tom
Wolff, Skip Matthews; Kari Keown; City Manager
Jerry Breazeale; Police Chief Merle Cowett; Fire Chief Rusty Estes; Public
Works Director Craig Canham; City Attorney Bill Kuhn
VISITORS: Dave Sykes
1. GENERAL BUSINESS
A)
Call to Order. Mayor Jepsen
called the meeting to order at
B)
Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Jepsen
led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
C)
Announcements:
1.
Mayor Jepsen
noted that there is a vacancy on the Planning Commission which needs to be
filled by the January meeting.
2.
City Manager
Breazeale asked Council members to fill out the League of Oregon Cities
directory form in their meeting packets.
3.
Manager
Breazeale pointed out materials additional to the meeting packet: Letter from
County Planner Tamara Mabbott, a communication from the Public Works Director,
list of accounts payable to approve, minutes of November 26 work session, and
proposed agenda for the public meeting regarding the library/city hall project.
D)
Approval of Minutes of November 13,
2001, Council Meeting.
Tom
Wolff noted that on page 3, sentence one, “Court Street” should read “Chase
Street;” and that under “Public Hearings,” “hearing” needed to be added to
“Public closed.”
Motion
to approve minutes as corrected by Tom Wolff, seconded by Kay Robinson. MOTION CARRIED.
E)
Report from the Planning Commission: No report.
F)
Correspondence: City Manager Jerry Breazeale presented the following
correspondence:
Notification
from Morrow County Planning Department that they are planning to revise the
site development ordinance and will require a site plan for developments in the
county. The hearing on the matter is
scheduled for December 20.
Letter
from Heppner TV notifying the City of an upcoming rate increase.
Certified
population estimates from Portland State University stating that as of July 1,
2001, Heppner’s population is 1,390, based on the April, 2000, census figure of
1,395.
Letter
from Gordon Smith regarding the economic stimulus package.
2. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC: None
3. PUBLIC
HEARINGS: None
4. COMMUNICATIONS
FROM THE CHIEF OF POLICE
A)
Activity Report: Chief Cowett pointed out that in the month November, there
were seven dog complaints with ten citations issued. In the first six days of December, 15
violations were issued. He said that
dogs running loose is the most common complaint. Letters will be going out to previously
notified persons regarding licensing their dogs. Regarding a report of a false alarm, Chief
Cowett noted that he has received inquiries from other departments as to
whether the Heppner department charges for responses to false alarms. He said that several cities charge for alarm
responses over a specified number and suggested that the City Council might
want to consider taking such action. Tom
Wolff suggested that Chief Cowett keep the Council informed about the frequency
of alarms for future consideration.
B)
Police Commission meeting for December is cancelled.
C) Code enforcement: Chief Cowett reported that the Hendricks` property
garbage problem has been alleviated by building a structure around the area.
Chief Cowett recommended that the property be removed from further code
enforcement action.
Chief Cowett expressed his concern
about properties that meet the requirements for enforcement action but whose
responsible parties suffer from health problems which preclude clean up taking
place. Kari Keown asked that action not
be taken until the Ministerial Association can provide whatever assistance they
have available.
D)
City Manager Breazeale reported that during annual evaluation, Chief Cowett
scored very highly as Acting Chief and it was recommended that he be promoted to Chief with a commensurate raise
in pay. Motion to promote Interim Chief
Cowett to Chief with the commensurate raise in pay by Skip Matthews, second by
Rita Hedman. MOTION CARRIED.
6. COMMUNICATIONS
FROM THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
City Manager Breazeale stated that Public Works Director Craig Canham came on board and immediately began the necessary work on the clarifier. Manager Breazeale noted the City’s appreciation of Director Canham’s willingness to forego any “break-in” period and get that critical job completed.
A) Activity
Report: Director Canham reported that he has concentrated on getting the sewage
treatment plant back online. He
estimates that his time will be spent 60% on the plant, 25% for needs and
concerns such as safety, traffic, water, etc., and another 15% available to Manager
Breazeale for meetings, technical support, etc.
He believes that the most priceless tool he has are the citizens and
therefore offers a form for a citizen’s
maintenance request. He requested input
from the Council on the form. He
reported on the process of repairing the clarifiers and getting the plant
online. He expressed his appreciation
for the work his crew has been doing.
B) Parks and
Lands Commission meeting will be held December 31. Tom Wolff reported that a
citizens group is going to meet for discussions of providing a bicycle/pedestrian
path to the pool and ball parks. He will
keep the City apprised of those discussions.
C)
Utility Commission meeting will be held December 20, 2001.
D)
Manager Breazeale reported that Shobe Enterprises will provide necessary
equipment and labor to remove and replace the gear box on the sewage treatment
tanks for a set hourly fee. Motion to
approve the Shobe Enterprises proposal by Tom Wolff, second by Kay
Robinson. MOTION CARRIED.
E) Manager Breazeale presented a list of
property for Council consideration as surplus: 1979 Chevrolet ½ ton pickup,
1967 GMC 1 ½ ton tanker truck and 1600 feet of chain link fencing so that the
property can be put out for bid and
sale. Motion by Kay Robinson to declare those three items as surplus, second by
Kari Keown. MOTION CARRIED.
7. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FIRE CHIEF:
A) Fire Chief
Rusty Estes reported that year end figures show that there were 65 emergency
page-outs this year, Chief Estes went on 46 calls, there were 12 in-town fires,
six rural fires, one water rescue, two mutual aids to Ione ( and two mutual
aids from Ione). The planned house
burning has been postponed to around the first of the year. The Department is accepting donations to help
with the purchase of fire structure gear.
8. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY MANAGER
A) Resolution #
480-2001, A Resolution Approving Accounts Payable for Payment; Motion to
approve by Skip Matthews, seconded by Kay Robinson. MOTION CARRIED.
B) Resolution
#481-2001, a Resolution Authorizing the Mayor and Council of the City of
Heppner to Execute and Endorse an Amendment to the Agreement With the League of
Oregon Cities Governing the League Status as a Unit of Local Government Similar
to Other Cooperative Intergovernmental Agencies in Which Cities Create and
Participate. Tom Wolff moved to approve, second by Kay Robinson. MOTION
CARRIED.
C)
Library/City Hall Project work session:
City Manager Breazeale reported that January 3 will be the first public
meeting regarding the Library/City Hall project. George Koffler will speak in favor of the
project, Bob Ployhar will speak against.
Larry Mills and Cyde Estes will make a presentation on the history of
the project thus far. Motion to approve
the minutes of the work session by Tom Wolff, second by Kari Keown. MOTION CARRIED. Motion to approve the agenda for the January
3, 2002, Public Meeting by Skip Matthews, second by Tim Van Cleave. MOTION CARRIED.
D)
Library/City Hall Project RUS Application Invitation: Manager Breazeale presented a letter from the
USDA Rural Development that the project is eligible to apply for funding. Tom
Wolff moved to table the issue until the January City Council meeting, second
by Rita Hedman. Tom Wolff noted that he
made the motion so that there would be no public misconception that the City
intended to move forward before the public meetings. MOTION CARRIED.
E)
Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Grant Application: Manager Breazeale presented a notification
from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department regarding grant applications
for parks. He noted that a path from
Hinton Creek to the Pool down Riverside and the development of the Unocal
property might fit under the grant guidelines.
Motion to pre-authorize the City Manager to apply for grants for pedestrian/bike
path to pool and athletic fields, the Unocal property development, and the
demolition and rehab of the old pool site by Tom Wolff, second by Skip
Matthews. MOTION CARRIED.
F) Water System
Grant/Loan Application: Manager
Breazeale reported that the City was invited to a “one-stop” funding process to
present the Water System Master Plan to a number of funding agencies. Several agencies laid out a plan for
financing the Master Plan. USDA has also
invited the City to apply for a grant. He
noted that if the City decided to proceed on the entire plan, it appears that
50% funding might be available. It was also noted that it will be necessary to
raise basic water rates in order to qualify for the grant money and that the
granting process will take a couple of years.
Motion to authorize the City Manager to apply for
the water system grant by Kay Robinson,
second by Skip Matthews. MOTION CARRIED
(one opposed).
G) Manager Breazeale presented the Goals for
2002 developed by the Council and asked for
adoption. Tom Wolff asked to
reword #4 to read “reach decision on how to proceed with City Hall facilities
by the end of 2002” and that #7 be reworded to refer to the subject property as
the “Unocal Property.” City Attorney
Bill Kuhn expressed his concern that the
goals do not address community economic development in a focussed manner. In ensuing discussion, Council members
pointed out areas in the Goals which they believe do address tangible ways the
City can pursue economic development.
Motion to approve the City Council Goals for 2002 by Rita Hedman, second
by Kay Robinson. MOTION CARRIED.
H) City Manager Breazeale presented the
financial report for the Council’s information.
9. COMMUNICATIONS
FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY:
City
Attorney Bill Kuhn reported that he had worked primarily on setting up the dog
control program. He has met with Chief
Cowett and Justice of the Peace Gray and will be checking back with Judge Gray
to see how the system works for her.
10. COMMUNICATIONS
FROM THE MAYOR/CITY COUNCILORS
A)
The
Beautification Commission met November 8.
The next meeting will be December 13.
B)
Mayor Jepsen reported that the Heppner Housing Authority will not meet
in December.
C)
Mayor Jepsen
presented the commission and committee appointments for 2002. Motion by Tom
Wolff to adopt Mayor Jepsen’s recommendations for appointments, second by Kay
Robinson. MOTION CARRIED.
D)
Tom Wolff reported that 20,000 mailings went out this year, primarily to
California,
soliciting businesses to move into the community. Wolff met with George Koffler, who suggested that the
Willow Creek Valley Economic Development Group buy a business rather than trying to
recruit one. WCVEDG will be
investigating business brokers and potential opportunities
in 2002.
Meeting
adjourned at 9:50.