Council Minutes 06-03-08
The meeting was called to order by Mayor Virginia Carnes at 7:00 PM. Council members present were Kacie Moss, Lorin Newberry, John Standley, Nancy Lankford and Shawna Kirk. Also present were Public Works Supervisor Steve Draper, City Recorder Jackie Carey, Chief Darren Richman, Paul Koch, Gary David, Officer James Gourlie, Jim Carey, Mary Lue Slabik, John Taylor, Don Bensel, Glen Snively, Andrea Bartlett, Marvin Golter, Darlene Golter, Bob Montgomery, Jennifer Gourlie, Deacon Gourlie and Jon Mitchell.
Councilor Kirk asked that the minutes be corrected on page 2, # 4 by adding city license plates. On a motion by Kirk and seconded by Standley the Council approved the minutes with the correction. All members present voted yes.
Consultant Paul Koch addressed the Council on the status of his 5 step process. Koch has interviewed all the council members, the Management Team, one staff member, and people in the coffee shops. All interviewed agreed there is a problem that needs to be fixed. He will review his notes and then come back with a proposal. He will first present the proposal to the Management Team. His proposal will be a road map on how to fix the problem. Part of the problem is the lack of faith and trust between the Management Team and the Council, lack of policies from the Council, elected officials and staff are overlapping into areas they shouldn’t, no community vision.
Some things he suggested were to challenge the Management Team to work at a higher level, have council orientation for all councilors, forecasting agendas, and standard staff reports. Koch stated the City is not the worst he has ever seen and actually in pretty good shape. Koch advised he should have his road map and recommendation within 4 weeks.
The budget hearing was opened at 7:05 PM and closed when the meeting adjourned. There were no comments regarding the approved budget.
1. Major repairs on the Ford Crown Vic and also on the Caprice.
2. Chief Richman advised he has implemented a 45 day education for the public, where they will receive warnings on some violation, however after 45 days, if they violate the same law they will be cited.
3. The titles for the Reserve pickup and Caprice is being changed into the City’s name.
4. Chief is working on a deadly force packet from the County to present to the Council for their review.
5. We have a community service worker that has 160 hours to complete.
6. The Chief will be doing some training at the county on the CAD program tomorrow. The department has not been reporting UCR’s, he will learn how to report UCR from the system.
7. The Chief will be attending Crime Prevention training in Hermiston next week.
8. The bicycle rodeo is all set for community days. We need 8-10 people to volunteer to help.
9. There have only been minor incidents in the past 2 weeks.
10. Chief would like to purchase a basic Lexipol police manual for $4950. Pendleton and Milton-Freewater both have the Lexipol manual. The second year there will be a cost of $1950 for yearly maintenance that keeps the policies current with new case law. Also there is a training charge of $1000.
11. Chief Richman did a sound measurement on Tim Reynolds band. The highest reading was 62 decibel and at the property of the complaint it was 60 decibel. He would qualify for the sound variance.
1. The Management Team will be looking into increasing sustainable revenue for public safety. The two options that will be researched will be a public safety surcharge or an increase in the tax base.
2. The City had two broken water mains this last weekend. Steve had to pay $1700 for new couplers.
3. The water main going up to the reservoir is decaying and needs to be replaced. Steve has saved a piece of the pipe if anyone wants to look at it.
4. The Management Team does not recommend that the police department move to the other building as per the memo in the council packet.
5. The council chambers are getting closer to being done. Tim and Adam are painting now and carpet will be installed on June 11, 2008.
6. City of Pendleton borrowed the City of Pilot Rock’s jetter truck. The City of Pendleton loaned us some couplers this past weekend.
Gary David stated at the last meeting the Council offered Darren Richman a conditional offer of employment pending a background report. The background has been completed and it has been determined that Richman is qualified to be our chief on the condition that he have a mentor since he has not been a chief before. David is volunteering to be his mentor. David has been working on a work plan for Richman. David presented an employment contract for the Council’s review. On a motion by Kirk and seconded by Moss the Council accepted the employment contract with Darren Richman along with Gary David as his volunteer mentor. All members present voted yes.
Don Bensel addressed the Council regarding the new officer and finding consistent funding for the police department. Bensel is against a surcharge to the water bill. Bensel does not think the water department should pay for the police department. Bensel advised the City has $815, 807 in the Masonite money, why are they not funding the officers out of that money. Bensel read the Council their vision statement.
Lankford stated the Council is in the process of looking at all their options. No decision has been made.
Draper stated the surcharge would help pay for the police department, but it would be placed on the utility bill. We are looking at sustainable funding for the police department. If the City starts to use the Masonite money, once it is gone there will be no renewable resources.
Bensel stated the Council needs to set goals and then direct the Management Team to accomplish those goals.
Lankford advised there has been no decision made at this time on how they are going to fund the increase costs for the police department.
Chief Richman advised the officer he wanted to hire would not come to work here for the amount of money that was approved at the last meeting.
John Taylor from Neighborhood Watch Committee is in favor of spending the extra money for a qualified officer. However, he is opposed to putting a surcharge on the water bill. Taylor stated inflation is 17%.
Gary David stated the city attorney would like to see the ordinance book codified. He had a conversation with him this week and he asked for a copy of the ordinance be sent to him because he has trouble finding the ordinance in the book. David recommends the City have their ordinance reviewed and codified.
Lankford wants to know the additional cost of the full-time officer. Chief Richman advised $25,000-$30,000.
Koch suggested the Council make a motion to direct the Management Team to analysis the funding of the police department, give 3 options and come back in 30 days with a staff report. Once the staff report is completed invite the public to review the options and get their input. Do not spend a lot of time micro managing the staff.
On a motion by Standley and seconded by Lankford the Council approved hiring a lateral police officer with a starting wage of $3977 per month. All members present voted yes. Chief Richman advised the officer has an advance certificate.
It was suggested to look at funding resources, existing budget for any changes, work loads, and a itemized list of the $25,000.
Standley would like to see priority list on the water projects. He would like to see a list of maintenance items and a list of capitol items. On a motion by Standley and seconded by Kirk the Council instructed the Management Team present a maintenance impact study listing priorities of questionable water lines within 30 days. All members present voted yes.
Bob Montgomery and Andrea Bartlett have both applied for the one vacancy. Each gave the Council a presentation on why they would like to be selected for the Council. The Council voted unanimously for Bob Montgomery.
City Recorder Jackie Carey administered the oath of office to Bob Montgomery.
Standley stated as per the memo from the Management Team and the engineer the building next door would not be up to standards for the police department. On a motion by Kirk and seconded by Newberry the Council instructed the Management Team to bring back different options for housing the police department within 60 days. All members present voted yes.
RESOLUTION NO. 470 WORKERS COMP FOR VOLUNTEERS
On a motion by Lankford and seconded by Kirk the Council approved Resolution No. 470 a resolution extending workers’ compensation coverage to volunteers of the City of Pilot Rock. All members present voted yes.
Mary Lue Slabik asked if the Council had a worksheet for the reason for the increase. Lankford stated the budget figures are based on the $1.00 rate increase. Taylor stated the proposed budget did not state there was going to be an increase in water and sewer. Draper read the budget message which stated both the water and sewer would increase by $1.00.
Taylor had a complaint about the water at the shop that the farmer uses. He stated if the City is going to raise the city rates they need to raise the farmer’s rates. Draper stated those rates have also been raised. Taylor did not think letting people get water on the honor system was a very good way of doling business. Draper advised he has replaced the padlocks numerous times. People forget and leave it in their vehicle. The cost for a card lock is too expensive.
Paul Koch suggested having the rate schedules included in the proposed budget, so everyone knows there will be an increase. On a motion by Lankford and seconded by Standley the Council would like to see in next year’s budget the rate schedule included in the proposed budget. All members present voted yes.
On a motion by Lankford and seconded by Kirk the Council approved Resolution No. 471 a Resolution setting the water rates. All members present voted yes.
On a motion by Lankford and seconded by Kirk the Council approved Resolution
On a motion by Kirk and seconded by Lankford the Council approved Resolution No. 473 a Resolution setting the water connection fees. All members present voted yes.
On a motion by Standley and seconded by Montgomery the Council approved Resolution No. 474 a Resolution transferring $2000 from Contingency to the Police Equipment Repair line item for repair costs on the patrol vehicles. All members present voted yes.
On a motion by Kirk and seconded by Lankford the Council approved the bills. All members present voted yes.
Paul Koch stated he would send Jackie a sample copy of a staff report.
Don Bensel stated the Council needs a lesson on Robert’s Rules of Order.
On a motion by Kirk and seconded by Newberry the Council adjourned at 8:40 PM. All members present voted yes.