PRESENT: Mayor Bob Jepsen; Council Members: Jerri Sly, Rita Hedman, Tim Van Cleave, Skip Matthews; Police Chief: Doug Rathbun; City Manager Jerry Breazeale; City Attorney: Bill Kuhn

ABSENT: Councilor: Kay Robinson, Public Works Director: David Winters

VISITORS: Georgia Rathbun

(Unless otherwise noted, AMOTION CARRIED@ indicates all in favor.)

1. GENERAL BUSINESS

A) Call to Order. Mayor Jepsen called the meeting to order at 7:02 PM.

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

C) Announcements - Mayor Jepsen welcomed all to the Council Meeting and asked if there were any other announcements. City Manager Jerry Breazeale asked to add item (F) under Communications from the City Manager, Resolution No. 395-99, A resolution supplementing resolution no. 388-99, a resolution to jointly sponsor with Morrow County an application for designation of an enterprise zone, to include exemptions for hotels, motels, or designation resorts. He also announced that the Heppner Coordinating Council would be meeting Tuesday morning at 7:30 AM at the Heppner Ranger District office.

D) Approval of the Minutes from the October 11, 1999 Council Meeting. Councilor Skip Matthews pointed out that Bert=s Salvage had been misspelled. Motion by Jerri Sly to approve the minutes as corrected, seconded by Skip Matthews. MOTION CARRIED.

E) Report from Planning Commission - No report was given.

F) Correspondence

a) City Manager Breazeale stated that the City had received a letter from County Assessor Greg Sweek regarding 1999 Certification of Taxes. He explained that the certified amount of $349,587 was considerably more than the $241,000 included in the budget. He cautioned however, that this figure did not include the 7% expected loss due to unpaid taxes, and that the anticipated ending balance was much lower than last year. The City should not make plans to spend the additional revenue as it would be needed for cash carryover for next year=s budget.

2. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC

A) Oral communications from the public not on the agenda. - None offered

B) Nazarene Church-Leaking Fire Hydrant. Georgia Rathbun and Doug Rathbun were present to express the desires of the Nazarene Church. They stated that the fire hydrant located on Gilmore Street in front of the church has been leaking for a long time and is causing problems for the landscaping that they are trying to install. Mayor Jepsen stated that he had received a letter from the church and had forwarded it on to City Manager Breazeale who had responded with a letter. Essentially, the letter stated that repairs to the hydrant were planned as soon as money was available in the budget. The problem with fixing the hydrant immediately was that there was no valve to the hydrant and the repairs to the hydrant would require shutting down the entire 8 inch main. The plan is to install a valve in the main to allow crews to isolate the hydrant and do the repairs without having a large area of the city out of water. Breazeale estimated the cost of installing the valve, not including city staff labor to be $2,500. He assured the church that the needed repairs would be made as soon as possible when funds are available. Mayor Jepsen pointed out that the hydrant had been leaking for years and that the amount of water leaking was quite small. He stated that it was his understanding that repairs would be made this spring. Breazeale thanked the Rathbuns and the church for bringing the leak to his attention so that it could be repaired.

3. Public Hearings

A) Abatement of Nuisance at 1135 W Center Street, Map No. 2S 26 35 BB, Tax Lot #4500. Police Chief Rathbun stated that the owners of this property have satisfactorily cleaned up the property. He was requesting no further action.

City Manager Breazeale reported to Council that Allan Mathews had contacted him regarding the cleanup that had been ordered on his property at 220 W Willow. He had asked Breazeale to request that City Council allow him to have to the first of the year to complete the cleanup. Since he is an out of state owner he has been trying to have his son do the cleanup with little success. He said that the cleanup would be done before the year is out. Consensus of Council was to send Mr. Mathews a letter stating that he would have until January 1, 2000 to complete the abatement process. After that time there would be no further extensions and the Council would direct that the work be done by the City.

4. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CHIEF OF POLICE

A) Code Enforcement. This item was discussed under 3., Public Hearings.

B) Activity Report. Chief Rathbun distributed an activity report to City Council. Mayor Jepsen noted that dog complaints were down and that the City=s activities seem to have made a difference.

5. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR

Public Works Director David Winters was not present but supplied Council with a written activity report. A copy is on file at City Hall.

6. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE FIRE CHIEF

Chief Estes reported on the calls his department had responded to since December 1, 1998. He listed 25 calls for motor vehicle accidents, 13 City calls, 22 rural calls, 7 mutual aid calls, 1 ambulance assistance, 10 calls for AirLife and Lifeflight, and 47 calls that he had responded to which were not paged. He also reported that he had received 12 calls for out of district that he had to turn down.

In other business, he stated that he would be applying for a $12,000 grant under the SCERT process for pagers and a paging program. The current paging system is obsolete and parts are no longer available. Consensus on the Council was to add the pager system update to the City=s project list.

7. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY MANAGER

A) Resolution No.392-99, A Resolution Adopting the Transportation System Plan for the City of Heppner. Breazeale explained that the Transportation System Plan had been developed over many months of working with the Transportation Advisory Committee, the Planning Commission and consultants from Kittelson and Associates. Breazeale stated that he felt that the Transportation System Plan was a good document to guide the City as it develops its transportation system. Mayor Jepsen stated that the Transportation Advisory Committee had met additional times on Saturdays to make changes to be incorporated into the document. Cyde Estes had spent many hours on the computer at home to prepare wording to submit to the consultants. Breazeale stated that the consultants were impressed with the level of involvement from the City and commended the Technical Advisory Committee for their thoroughness. Motion by Councilor Tim Van Cleave to Approve Resolution No. 392-99. Second by Councilor Rita Hedman.

MOTION CARRIED

B) Resolution No. 393-99, A Resolution Approving the Contract Between the City of Heppner, Oregon Trail Library District, and Boothby Architecture for Programming and Concept Design Study for a New City Hall and Library Building Located at 147 North Main Street, Heppner as a Joint Project. City Manager Breazeale stated that at the last meeting the Council had approved entering into a contract with the library district and Boothby Architecture as described in the proposal from Boothby. The purpose of the study would be to investigate the feasibility of building a joint facility on City owned land between the Post Office and the Shoe Box. The architect would work with the two agencies to determine the needs of each agency and incorporate those needs into a design concept. The architect would develop a floor plan and drawings to show what the building could look like and would develop cost estimates. A meeting would be held with the Oregon Trail Library District, City Council, and the public to include input and to address questions. Breazeale stated that he felt that this was necessary to have something to talk about. Councilor Hedman inquired if this would be the only site that would be looked at and whether a two story building would be cost effective due to the need to provide an elevator for access for disabled persons. Breazeale stated that only one site would be addressed in order to save costs. The study would indicate whether the project would be feasible. If the public liked the proposal and it was affordable, the building could be tried at different sites later should that be indicated. He also stated that the architect had informed him that new, small elevators were available that were not very expensive and that there were significant cost savings to be gained by two story construction. Councilor Hedman inquired where the money for the study would come from. Breazeale stated that it would be paid out of the City Hall Equipment & Improvements line item under the Reserve Fund. Motion by Councilor Skip Matthews to approve Resolution No. 393-99. Second by Councilor Jerri Sly. MOTION CARRIED.

C) 2000 Needs and Issues Inventory. Jerry Breazeale stated that the inventory of needs for the coming year was due to the county by November 22. This was the process formerly used by the SCERT program. Projects not on the list will not be able to receive some federal funds, State funds and tippage fees. Jerry presented a proposed list of projects to be submitted for the City. (A copy of the list is attached as Exhibit A) Fire Chief Rusty Estes asked to include a request for $12,000 to pay for 20 pagers and a new paging system. Police Chief Rathbun asked that a request for $1,500 for hand held radios be added to the list. Motion by Bob Jepsen, seconded by Rita Hedman, to adopt the list as presented with the inclusion of the requests from the Fire Chief and the Police Chief. MOTION CARRIED.

D) Resolution No. 394-99, A Resolution Approving Account Payable for Payment. Motion by Skip Matthews, Second by Jerri Sly, to approve Resolution No. 379-99. MOTION CARRIED

E) Elm Tree Removal at City Park. Breazeale stated that proposals for removal of the elm trees at City Park that had Dutch Elm Disease were requested. Proposals were to include proper treatment and disposal of diseased wood. Only two proposals were received. One from Columbia Tree Service out of Umatilla, and one from Jim=s Tree Service out of Heppner. Both companies had the same estimate of cost. Jerry stated that he would recommend that the City hire Jim=s Tree Service since they had used this company in the past and were satisfied with their work and that they were also a local company. Motion by Councilor Rita Hedman to accept the proposal from Jim=s Tree Service. Second by Councilor Tim Van Cleave. MOTION CARRIED.

F) Resolution No. 395-99, A Resolution Supplementing Resolution No. 388-99, A Resolution to Jointly Sponsor with Morrow County an Application for Designation of an Enterprise Zone, to Include Exemptions for Hotels, Motels, or Destination Resorts. Jerry Breazeale explained that the resolution that had been passed earlier by the City Council did not make reference to the Hotel/Motel option which had been the City=s intent. This resolution would make clear to the Oregon Department of Economic Development that the City desired that the option be included. Motion by Councilor Matthews with a second by Mayor Jepsen to approve Resolution No. 395-99. MOTION CARRIED.

 

8. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE CITY ATTORNEY.

City Attorney Bill Kuhn reported that there had not been much activity since the last meeting.

9. COMMUNICATIONS FROM THE MAYOR/CITY COUNCILORS

Mayor Jepsen reported that there would be an observance of Veteran=s Day at the Memorial Park on Linden Way on November 11, 1999 at 11:00 AM. A reception would follow at Cal=s Restaurant with cake, and coffee.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 8:38 PM