SEPTEMBER 27, 2011 MINUTES WASCO CITY COUNCIL MEETING

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1 SEPTEMBER 27, 2011 MINUTES WASCO CITY COUNCIL MEETING The regularly scheduled Council meeting of September 20, 2011 was cancelled, and rescheduled for September 27, PRESENT: City Council Mayor Karen Kellogg, Ken DeGrange, Carol Olmstead, Fred Reser, Eileen Wainwright (Absent Dale Schuh): City Staff Clerk Cassie Strege, Mnt. Tech. Greg Gosson, Attorney Will Carey, Engineer Terry Angle; Visitors Judge Gary Thompson, Danee Rankin, Tom Lepinski, Ruth Bourgeous, Denny Riggs, Lisa D Arcy, and Dave Bergmann The meeting was called to order at 7:00p.m.with Mayor Kellogg leading the flag salute. A quorum was present; no news media were in attendance. Additions/changes to agenda: The Clerk presented a list of additions for the Council to discuss and suggested that they be placed in the agenda after the discussion regarding the Wasco School had taken place. The additions included: 1.) A request submitted from North Sherman Preschool asking permission to block off a portion of Wilson St.; 2.) A request for directional signs to be placed at the north and south entrance into Wasco; 3.) A request to discuss SIP money available for infrastructure projects; 4.) Receive a letter from Dave Bergman. Consent Calendar: The Council reviewed the additional bills received in September (and which had been paid), with the following action taking place: motion, DeGrange/Wainwright to ratify payment of August and September bills, and to approve the July 19, 2011 minutes. Unanimous motion carried. VISITORS: Tom Lepinski asked to be allowed to keep four laying hens at his home, with consensus of Council that this issue would be included in discussion of the Nuisance Ordinance. UPDATE FROM CITY ENGINEER Church St. Bridge Channel Reconstruction: Terry Angle reported that the final invoice had been issued from DeGrange Construction, and had been approved for payment. Angle referred to a section of geo-textile fabric that was exposed, and recommended to DeGrange that it be cut off. Angle also recommended that the City have two Narrow Bridge signs installed this would not be under DeGrange s contract. The Engineer presented the Corp of Engineers Compliance Certification which the Mayor signed. Discussion returned to the purchase of signs, with the following action taking place: motion, DeGrange/Wainwright to authorize City staff to purchase two Narrow Bridge signs in accordance with State traffic sign standards. Unanimous--motion carried. Sewer Line Replacement: Angle advised that the current sewer line replacement and Wastewater Collection System Study were one and the same -- the Mt. Tech. was currently installing priority lines that had been previously identified, and a few others, as the Study was being completed. Angle explained that the Mt. Tech. and City Clerk would

2 Page 2 ( minutes) be providing information to him (such as location of lines & materials/labor/equipment) so that he could track the actual costs expended for the replacement of those particular lines. With this information, he would be able to compare costs with expenses that would have been incurred under a normal Public Works Contract. Angle felt that the comparison would show that the City s costs would be substantially less by doing the line replacement themselves rather than going with a Public Works Contract. Angle advised that he had given the Mt. Tech. four map inserts to mark up the lines he had already completed, along with cost details these maps would be bound in the Study. Ultimately, Angle advised that there would be maps for the entire City (14 16 sections) that would need to be updated as work was completed. Decommissioning of Wells: Angle referred to the wells (in the old fire hall/jail) that had been decommissioned, and asked if the City had received a report yet, with the Clerk answering in the negative the only report that had been received was the one for the asbestos inspection. (The Clerk was directed to check with Person Well Drilling to see if they had filed a report with Water Resources Dept., and to ask for a copy). Cnc. DeGrange advised that all three wells (one located on the CenturyLink property 360 deep, and two on City property both 160 deep) had been concreted and seated. There was also a storage tank above the two 160 wells that had been buried with loads of rock and concrete. DeGrange also advised that the building had been taken down without any damage to the CenturyLink building Wastewater Collection System Study: Angle reiterated that the Study was ongoing and that he was waiting for information on the updated costs for the actual construction that Greg and Joe (the Mt.Tech & Assistant Mt. Tech) had incurred. CONSIDER REQUEST FROM FRANK & SONJA ASHBY ASKING TO EXTEND TIMELINE FOR STORAGE OF MANUFACTURED HOME SHELL: The Clerk referred to the initial request that had been submitted from the Ashby s in August of 2010 asking to temporarily store a shell on residential property located at 311 Deschutes St. At that time, the Council granted the Ashby s a one-year timeline in which to put up the manufactured home, and/or to return to the Council and discuss an extension of time. The Clerk advised that the Ashby s had since had a change of plans, and rather than piecing the shell together on the property, they would be moving it off the site. They were requesting an additional six months in which to do so. Cnc. DeGrange asked if there had been any complaints about the manufactured home shell from the neighbors, with the Clerk replying in the negative. Discussion ensued, with the Atty. recommending that, if an extension was granted, it should include a date certain. The following action took place: motion, DeGrange/ Wainwright to approve an extension of time to Frank & Sonja Ashby for storage of the shell to the date certain of March 31, Unanimous motion carried. USE OF WASCO SCHOOL: Sherman County Judge Gary Thompson announced that the County was interested in the School, but that, as yet, it was unknown whether they would be buying it, or getting it with some promises tied to it. The County was asking for all of the property with the exception of the bus barn approximately 6.7 acres. Uses that

3 Page 3 ( minutes) were being considered included: a Senior Center, a Community Center, and Senior Housing that would be built to the north and east of the facility. In addition, the building could be used for Preschool classes and adult education but, as a condition from the School District, No grades K-12 would be allowed in the building. Cnc. Reser felt it would be a shame to take out the playground, with Judge Thompson answering that one of the first things they would do would be to have Tenneson do a survey it may be that there would be room for both housing and a playground. Judge Thompson advised that the County would like to have the gym available as soon as possible, and they were considering installing a separate heating system for this building so that it could be used without having to heat the main building. The Clerk asked what would be the estimated timeline before organizations such as North Sherman Preschool, Cougar Camp, and Pioneer Potlatch (and, possibly, the Wasco City library) would be able to use the school, with Judge Thompson stating that the County would be agreeable to their use of the building, however, there was still a lot of footwork to do -- general walk thru, inspections, finalizing an agreement with the School District, and such -- so it would most likely be awhile. ADDITIONS Discuss SIP Money Available for City Infrastructure Projects: Cnc. DeGrange stated the City s appreciation of the $100,000 SIP money that had been received from the County adding that it had been put to use on infrastructure projects that the City otherwise would not have been able to complete. He referred to the City s Sewer line Replacement project, and asked if additional SIP money could be given to the cities for major infrastructure projects -- and stated that once the Engineer had finished the comparative cost report for the Sewer project, it would be very likely that the City would be putting in a request for additional money. Judge Thompson advised that the County did have some money set aside (about 1.2 million dollars) and that they were considering doing loans. The Judge stated that two other cities had asked the Court for money to pay down their high interest loans, or to offer a low interest loan the County was thinking of offering 3% interest loans, at terms of 10 years, with a $400,000 maximum loan. (The Judge added, that the annual $100,000 SIP revenue the cities received would remain as a grant). The Engineer gave an example of Infrastructure needs: the City had 27,000 feet of sewer line, with 16,500 of that needing to be replaced some of that was being done by the City crew right now. If the City went to a conventional Public works contract to have the line replaced, the cost would be 2.5 million dollars but with the City crew doing the work, using the figures he had received so far, the rough estimate would be $600,000. The Judge advised that the County felt it was important for the citizens of Sherman County, who did not otherwise benefit directly from the Wind Revenue, to receive some sort of compensation and one way was for the Cities to receive the annual $100,000 grant. In addition, the County was looking at Community-owned Wind Farms that would supply communities with power or at the least, buy down the price of their power. Also, the County was considering building rental houses (duplexes) in the near future, however there were still some issues that they were working out.

4 Page 4 ( minutes) Receive Request from North Sherman Preschool: Denny Riggs spoke on behalf of the Preschool that was currently housed in the basement of the Methodist Church, and specifically addressed the issue of limited space for outdoor play particularly, that there was no place for riding tricycles. The Preschool asked for permission to block off a portion of Wilson Street (commencing at the back of the Church and continuing North to the Church s rental house) for a half hour each school day weather permitting. Discussion ensued, with the Council voicing concern over safety issues. Riggs advised that she had already spoken with the Sheriff s Department, and they had offered to provide barricades to be placed in the street. (Atty. Carey recommended placing Road Closed signs on the street while the children were using it). Motion, Degrange/Wainwright to allow North Sherman Preschool to block off the western portion of Wilson Street in front of the Methodist Church for a brief period during the day, with assistance from the Sheriff s Deapartment. Unanimous motion carried. Consider Request for Placement of Directional Signs for Wasco along Hwy 97: Ruth Bourgeois, owner of the Gift Horse, advised that she, as well as other merchants in Wasco, had been discussing the need of Welcome signs near the entrances into Wasco -- Bourgeois advised that the general concept was for a large sign stating Welcome to Wasco, with smaller, individual signs for each participating business to be hung from the Welcome sign. In order to customize the signs, they would have to be located outside of the State right-of-way, and the Van Gilder family had offered to have the signs placed on their property. Bourgeois reported that the signs that Grass Valley had recently installed had cost $3,000 and she was hoping that funding assistance would be available through Countywide grants. Discussion ensued, with general consensus that additional information be gathered (specifically, to check with ODOT to see what requirements must be met even if the sign was placed outside of their right-of-way), and to then resume discussion at an upcoming Council meeting. NUISANCE ORDINANCE UPDATE: The Clerk advised that since the two previously scheduled workshops had been cancelled, there was nothing to report at this time. Possible dates/times were discussed for an upcoming workshop, and the Clerk was directed to set a date/time, and then simply notify the Council with consensus that it not be held on the same day as the monthly Council meeting AUDIT REPORTS: The Clerk handed out the audit reports that had been completed by Ron Bales, CPA. STAFF REPORTS: Cnc. DeGrange referred to the Sewer line replacement project and recommended that, should equipment (such as a small trackhoe) need to be rented and he was unavailable for a consult, the Mt. Tech. should go ahead and do it -- rather than hold up the project -- and then have the Clerk could let him ( DeGrange) know by phone.

5 Page 5 ( minutes) The Clerk presented a copy of the Oregon Public Works Emergency Response Cooperative Assistance Agreement, and advised that the City was being asked to renew the agreement at this time. Atty Carey read through the agreement, discussion ensued, and the following action taking place: Motion, Wainwright/DeGrange to approve the City s participation in the Oregon Public Works Emergency Response Cooperative Agreement. Unanimous motion carried. The Clerk presented information on the DLCD Planning Grant in the amount of $1,000, which was made available to small cities every two years. The application was due the first of November. Motion, DeGrange/REser to approve submittal of the DLCD grant application. Unanimous motion carried. OTHER: The Council voiced their concern over the hospitalization of Cnc. Schuh, and directed the Clerk to send flowers or a plant on behalf of the City. ADJOURN: The meeting was adjourned at 8:10p.m. City Clerk