PRESENT: Mayor Bob Jepsen; Council Members Kay Robinson; Kari Keown; Tom Wolff; Rita Hedman, Tim VanCleave; City Manager Jerry Breazeale; Police Chief Doug Rathbun and City Attorney Bill Kuhn.

ABSENT: Skip Matthews and Dave Winters.

GUESTS: Cyde Estes (on behalf of Planning Commission), Roni Jones, Mike Jones & their children

1. GENERAL BUSINESS

A) Call to Order. Mayor Jepsen called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

B) Pledge of Allegiance. Mayor Jepsen led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

C) Announcements.

Mayor Jepsen said that although there were a few absences, there was still a quorum.

Manager Breazeale will try to get representatives to carpool to Salem on January 16th to attend a Rural Oregon day.

Mayor Jepsen asked for approval of Kari Keown for City Council. He said he selected Kari because she took Leadership Training through RDI and is a very involved citizen. Councilperson Wolff moved for ratification of the mayor’s recommendation. Councilperson Robinson seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED

D) Swearing in of City Councilors & Mayor

Manager Breazeale swore in Bob Jepsen as the mayor of Heppner for 2001. Mayor Jepsen swore in council members Kari Keown, Tom Wolff, Rita Hedman and Kay Robinson. All members signed the oath of office.

E) Approval of Minutes.

Mayor Jepsen asked if there were any corrections to the minutes. There was a typographical error in 2B. Police Chief Rathbun noted that #4 should state "Communications from the Fire Police Chief." He also noted that the word "Morrow" should actually say "AOD (Assist Other Department) in the Activity Report. Councilperson Robinson moved approval of the minutes. Councilperson Keown seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED.

F) Report from the Planning Commission - Measure 7 Discussion.

Cyde Estes gave a brief overview of the report given by City Attorney Bill Kuhn. Kuhn suggested that the commission do as they always have done, implement ordinances but if there is a possibility of a Measure 7 lawsuit, think seriously about whether to implement it. The Planning Commission would like to continue to update their ordinances but they will not be sent to be codified until more decisions have been made regarding Measure 7. All voted unanimously that the Planning Commission could go ahead with the updating of the ordinances.

G) Correspondence

SAIF refunded the city $1,911.00, which was a result of decreased workplace claims.

The League of Oregon Cities sent a request from the Oregon Construction Contractors Board for an elected official to be a member of their board. Manager Breazeale asked if anyone was interested.

According to the Certified 2000 Population Estimate Heppner had 1,412 residents on April 1, 1990 and 1,510 on July 1, 2000.

SOLV is sponsoring a clean up with "Down by the Riverside” on May 19, 2001. If Heppner decides to take part, SOLV will do the advertising.

Manager Breazeale asked for the City Council's approval for him to serve on the GEODC Board of Directors as a replacement for Don Eppenbach. Councilperson Wolff moved that Breazeale volunteer to serve as the representative to GEODC. Councilperson Keown seconded the motion. THE MOTION CARRIED.

2. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC

There were no communications from the public.

3. PUBLIC HEARING

There were no public hearings to report.

4. COMMUNICATION FROM THE CHIEF OF POLICE

A) Swearing in of New Reserve Officer. Police Chief Rathbun introduced Roni Jones who said that she wants to join the police force. Mayor Jepsen swore her in as a volunteer police reserve officer. Rathbun said all three reserve officers want to join the police force.

B) Activity Report - The activity report was reviewed. Councilperson Wolff asked if 14 complaints was an unusually large number. Rathbun said that every time they are called in to check for anything at all, it is recorded as a complaint and that 14 was not a large number. Rathbun stated that John Looney has not cleaned up his property. He said that it looks like nothing has been done other than moving things around. The city will hire someone to clean the property up.

C) Police Commission - Next Meeting cancelled.

5. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR

A) Activity Report. The activity report was reviewed. The Telemetering system at well #1 had a signal problem, which is being repaired. Main Street was swept for the Christmas Parade. They will do it again before the St. Patrick's Day celebration. The sewer main in the Paulus Addition is not up to code. When the port purchased the property, the agreement was made that the sewer would be fixed. The port will still be responsible for the portion that leaves the highway. If the pipe is put in to city standards, the city will maintain it. The city had to lower the signs near the hospital to make room for Air Life. The city will be putting an 8" polyethylene pipe on the Morgan Bridge that wont corrode or rust. This will assure better quality water and should last forever. The sewer line main on Summit Drive is a continuous problem and will be replaced in the spring. Commissioner Wolff suggested that it would be a good time to put conduit around the electrical cable. Breazeale will inform the electric company.

B) Utilities Commission Meeting - Cancelled until March.

C) Parks & Lands Commission Meeting - Cancelled until March.

6. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FIRE CHIEF.

There was no report.

7. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY MANAGER

A) Resolution # 444-2001 A Resolution Approving Accounts Payable for Payment. The current bills were reviewed. Commissioner Wolff moved that Resolution 444-2001 be approved. Councilperson Hedman seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED.

B) ODDA Special Projects Meeting. ODDA is preparing a marketing plan for Heppner. The first decision will be the logo. The one chosen shows the Blue Mountains, which seems to be the draw for the area and it also has the shamrock. Breazeale received the draft of the marketing plan, which the group went through to see if they wanted clarifications. Once the plan has been finalized, it will go to a committee of 10 and eventually to the community.

C) HCC Report. The meeting will be tomorrow, January 9 at 7:30 a.m. at the Forest Service. The discussion on gasoline tax on countywide level will continue. Jill Miles OED___ will report what is going on in the region. There will be a report on how well the school district is doing i.e. percentage of graduates from high school (Ione -100%) and the amount of students who graduate and go to college. This will be good when preparing a marketing plan for attracting business to Heppner.

D) Goal Setting The goals in the packet were the ones adopted by HCC. Although there were more goals than the city usually adopts, it is a good representation of what is going on in Heppner. All projects were listed that could be included in the SCERT process. Manager Breazeale said that the city council could say "yes" we will support these goals and if you need additional support we are there. Attorney Kuhn suggest that city council adopt the HCC goals that they city can participate in. They could be common community goals that the city council can effect & influence. The city council endorsed the goals and will cooperate in those ares in which it is appropriate. Councilperson VanCleaved moved that the HCC goals be endorsed. Councilperson Hedman seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED.

8. COMMUNICATIONS FROM CITY ATTORNEY

Bill Kuhn said that most of his work over the last month was related to Measure 7. He said the legislature will meet very shortly but he doesn't know if the legislature will be looking for revenue increases. According to the League of Oregon City mailings there appears to be some agreement on edcuation and funding is up. He said that the all the gas tax proposals died. Everyone must realize that there will be less money from Salem, which means fewer programs. Jail spaces will be cut because the cost has become so high. That will put more pressure on the municipal police. He said that cities have to be creative with economics. Kuhn said that the League of Oregon Cities has a website which has an ongoing dialogue regarding Measure 7. He also encouraged everyone to look at the mailings from the League of Oregon Cities to see what they will be doing.

9. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR/CITY COUNCILORS

A) Resolution No. 445-2001 A Resolution Ratifying Appointments to City Committees, Boards, Commissions, and Positions There was discussion regarding Committee and Commission appointments. Councilperson Wolff moved that we adopt Resolution No. 445-2001. Councilperson Robinson seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED.

B) Beautification Commission . The next meeting was cancelled. The meetings were cancelled because of the Heppner Identity and Marketing project. There is a cleanup project planned before St. Patrick's day that will be done to clean up the city. The mayor encouraged everyone to get involved in cleaning up the city. Mayor Jepsen complimented John Edmundson on his commitment to keeping the city clean.

C) Heppner Housing Authority - Bob Jepsen Chairman - Ratify Contracts for improvements. Hermiston Glass bid $7,378 to repair and install automatic doors in the St. Patrick Senior Center. Richard Bondurant Construction bid $74,298.26 to put new flooring and do general repairs of the senior center. This amount didn't include the cost of linoleum for the dining room, but does include the subfloor, painting up to the ceiling and installing double pane windows. There were no local contractors that bid on the jobs. Many of the smaller contractors don't want to be involved in jobs that require so many regulations. Breazeale said he received insurance papers from both contractors. He received a Performance Bond from Hermiston Glass and a check from Bondurant Construction. They have heard good reports about Bondurant. Councilperson Wolff moved we ratify the recommendations of the housing authority for the contracts. Councilperson Hedman seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED.

D) HEDC Current Activites. The Willow Creek Valley Economic Group annual meeting will be Wednesday, January 17th beginning at 8:30 a.m. at the Forest Service. They will outline the goals for the coming year.

10. ADDITIONAL DISCUSSION

Tom Wolff contacted Robin Baker-Krebs regarding the flood memorial and conveyed the council's decision to back the project.

Bill Kuhn said that it would be nice to send Gary Wight a thank you note for plowing the streets of the city and side streets. Jerry Breazeale said he sent a thank you after the first snowstorm and the city council will send a thank you to him again. The state said that they will plow main street if we have a big snow storm.

Manager Breazeale said he is excited about what is going in Heppner. HEDC is continuing with the Zero Money Market Plan. He said people aren't giving up because they want Heppner to thrive. He said there is a lot of positive energy. He said we could do as the Oregonian headline said "Rural Towns hold to past, miss the future" but that we can't let that happen. There are many nice things about Heppner and no one wants to lose that. We need to encourage development and growth without losing the feeling.

Councilperson Van Cleave said that many older people don't want change, but there has to be change to keep the city thriving. There is a small group of negative people but they can't ruin our vision. Anyone who has a vision has power. Hopefully, the city council will have forward vision. We can't get complacent.

Rita Hedman reported that she wont be at the February meeting. The mayor excused her absence.

ADJOURNMENT - Meeting adjourned - 8:48 p.m.