FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 9
Local
Sumpter City Council tackles full agenda
Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press
L - R: Parks Manager Anna Stafford, Councilor Carey Clarke, Councilor Samantha Esposito, Mayor Leland Myers, Councilor Robert Armbruster, Councilor Ann
Oakley, City Recorder Julie McKinney.
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Tuesday evening saw
Sumpter’s new mayor’s
second City Council meet-
ing. Mayor Leland Myers
opened the meeting with
the Pledge of Allegiance.
The Council reviewed
and approved minutes from
the September 22 Council
and October 9 Emergency
meetings before hearing
reports and discussing sev-
eral items of business.
A Letter of Intent for
serving on the Planning
Commission was submit-
ted by LeAnne Woolf.
Myers stated this would
give the Commission a
quorum again.
Councilperson Robert
Armbruster asked how
many are on the Commis-
sion.
Myers stated that Woolf
would make three, with
five being the goal. The
Council is willing to re-
ceive more letters of intent.
Woolf’s addition to the
Planning Commission was
approved unanimously.
Myers stated that before
hearing reports, he wanted
to propose a policy that
written reports be attached
to the minutes instead of
trying to rewrite the con-
tent of the reports into the
minutes.
Utility Manager Report
Jeff McKinney stated
September and the first
part of October have been
challenging. The City
truck has had “driveability
problems,” which were
finally identified and re-
paired by Clark’s Electric
in Baker City. Pumping is
occurring as scheduled at
the sewer lagoon.
Seasonal water shut-offs
are ongoing.
On September 19, the
valve at the treatment
plant that controls water
coming in broke, believed
to be due to a broken limit
switch.
McKinney received a
$1600 repair estimate and
stated he will change out
the replacement circuit
board himself. On Sep-
tember 24, the main com-
puter went down. McKin-
ney got it back up in two
days and will send out the
main board for repair and
replacement as necessary.
On Thursday, October
8, McKinney received a
report that water was run-
ning across the entrance
to McCully Forks. The
main transmission line was
broken.
Lee German assisted
with that repair, which
was completed Saturday.
McKinney also thanked
Carey Clarke for his as-
sistance and Myers for his
expertise.
Michelle Clarke reported
on Saturday, October 10
that the Volunteer Park toi-
lets were plugged. Baker
Sewer was able to come
out Monday and fix them.
The main line was backed
up, with the problem ap-
pearing to be due to paper
towels in the line.
McKinney asked if the
City would consider elec-
tric hand driers.
Barbara Malone asked
if there are signs in the
bathroom to remind folks
not to flush paper towels.
McKinney stated that
there are not and that the
perception is that these
incidents are due to van-
dalism.
Councilperson Samantha
Esposito suggested locking
the bathrooms at 5 or 6
p.m., stating that would be
sad but may save the City
some expense.
Woolf asked how durable
hand dryers are.
Parks Manager Anna
Stafford responded that so
far nothing in the bath-
rooms has been broken.
Incidents have been limited
to plugging the line.
Armbruster asked
how many times this has
happened. It is the third
incident.
Myers stated the City
will continue to look into
ways of resolving this
issue and asked citizens to
be aware.
Parks Manager Report
Anna Stafford reported
that on Monday, Septem-
ber 28, the Fairgrounds
Building had to be shut
down due to continued
plumbing leaks. As of
now, there are a few items
to do to finish winterizing
the building.
Numbers are still coming
in on the Labor Day Flea
Market. At this point,
they are showing about a
$1000 loss. Stafford again
thanked all volunteers
who helped with the Flea
Market.
Stafford said the water
truck project went smooth-
ly this year thanks to the
“whole bunch of folks
who worked on putting
it together.” She said it’s
time to get the equipment
broken down and turn the
truck back into a snow-
plow. Stafford asked that
Council please be proac-
tive in thinking about next
year.
Stafford thanked mem-
bers of the Sumpter Valley
Blue Mountain Snowmo-
bile Club for purchasing
and installing windows at
the Schoolhouse.
She mentioned one of
the microwaves at the
Schoolhouse died. It was a
commercial wall-mounted
wall-vented unit.
Stafford asked that any-
one with ideas or sugges-
tions for replacement share
them.
Stafford said she has
accumulated a pile of items
that haven’t been used in a
long time, including older
chairs and electrical equip-
ment. She has them stored
in the City shop.
Armbruster had e-mailed
a list to the other Council
members and handed out
pictures of the items at
the meeting. Myers said
some of the items have
historic value, including a
little table that sat up at the
schoolhouse.
Members of the Council
agreed to meet at the City
shop on Friday to visually
inspect the items.
No decisions as to their
disposition will be made at
that time.
Fire Department
Report
Jim Sheller gave the Fire
Department report as Chief
Clarke was attending a
CPR training.
Six or seven individuals
completed the Firefighter 1
class, passing their test two
weeks ago.
Sheller thanked John
Young for teaching the
class and estimated he put
about 2,000 hours into
preparation and teaching.
Sheller said the Depart-
ment has 20 members, well
above the average for most
cities.
John Hellgerson donated
a Jaws of Life that will
eventually be installed in
the QRU.
Sheller’s friend Kevin
Ferguson at the Gresham
Fire Department donated
15 red $300 jackets for use
by emergency responders.
The Annual Fire
Department Auxiliary
Spaghetti Feed is Tuesday,
October 27. The money
raised will go to the Fire
Department for equipment,
etc. Myrna Clarke stated
the Auxiliary would like to
have baked goods brought
for serving and for sale to
hunters.
Sheller said there were
a couple call outs for burn-
ing this weekend. There is
still a burning ban in town.
The fire danger is also
back to high. Sheller
thanked the Fire Depart-
ment, EMRs, and Auxil-
iary for everything they do,
saying “we wouldn’t have
the insurance and policies
we have without them.”
Jeff McKinney stood
and said Galizewski, the
911 coordinator for Baker
County, told him Sumpter
has the quickest response
of any City in the County
by five minutes.
McKinney said Sumpter
has a lot to be proud of in
their volunteers.
Myers mentioned that
the next Council meet-
ing night would occur the
same night as the Spagetti
Feed. The Council agreed
to forego October’s second
monthly meeting.
IFA Application
The IFA Application to
finance sewer upgrades
required by DEQ is getting
ready to be sent in. Woolf
said she has not heard back
yet from Shanna Bailey
if the engineering details
and specs expense can be
incorporated into the loan
request.
City Charter
Myers stated his goal is
to be able to have a new
City Charter on the ballot
in May. He said the chang-
es will be minor and that
City-wide workshops will
be held to help everyone
learn about it. He looked
at the newest League of
Oregon Cities model char-
ter and said it addresses
several things the City has
had problems with. He
said the City Charter was
last updated in 1972 from a
1902 model.
Newsletter
Myers asked if the
Council would like to
recommence sending out a
monthly letter to the citi-
zenry to be included with
the water bill. Councilp-
erson Carey Clarke stated
it was a good idea and
Armbruster said, “the more
communication, the better
off we’ll be.” The rest of
the Council concurred.
Employee Harassment
A complaint was re-
ceived regarding harass-
ment of City employees.
Myers forwarded the
information to the City
Attorney. The issue was
tabled to allow the attorney
time to respond.
Wage Request
The Council then turned
to discussing a wage
request received by Lori-
Jean Pruitt. Myers stated
that in his opinion, Pruitt
worked for the City in the
belief that she was going to
be paid and that BOLI says
if person has expectation
of being paid, they are to
be paid.
He suggested agreeing
to the $598.50 payment.
Armbruster said he has
done a lot of investigation
and interviewing and that
he could not verify that
Pruitt was hired or that
anyone agreed to pay her
anything for being part of a
Flea Market committee.
He stated there is never
a recorded decision made
by the Council that anyone
is to be paid anything until
the hiring of the Parks
Manager on April 14, 2015
effective May 1, 2015.
Armbruster stated he
would not vote in favor of
paying Pruitt at that time.
Esposito and Ann Oakley
shared information from
February and March 2015
City Council Meeting
minutes.
Then-Mayor Melissa
Findley had challenged
two individuals (Pruitt and
Stafford) to form a com-
mittee. March’s minutes
stated the committee had a
list of goals and opportuni-
ties and was going to meet
again the next Monday.
Clarke stated that as a
business owner who has
had to be involved in hir-
ing and firing and dealing
with BOLI, “they don’t
play fair.”
He stated that on both
occasions that he dealt
with BOLI, he swore he
was in the right and both
times it cost him money.
He suggested paying
Pruitt and making it clear
in the future who is and
is not an employee. After
further discussion, Clarke
made a motion to pay the
full amount. Myrna Clarke
asked if there is a conflict
with Pruitt being Clarke’s
brother’s significant other.
The Council agreed that
there was not a conflict,
but in the interest of cau-
tion, Esposito made a mo-
tion to pay the full amount
and Oakley seconded.
With three votes in favor
(Myers, Esposito, Oakely),
one against (Armbruster),
and one abstention due to
perceived conflict (Clarke),
the motion passed.
Brooke Hewit, EOU
Master’s Thesis Project
There was some discus-
sion on Brooke Hewitt
presenting the findings of
her EOU Master’s Thesis
Project. She will bring
the finished product to a
meeting in December or
January.
Sewer
Chuck Everson, a grade
4 Sewer Operator, has
been signing off for the
City while Jeff McKin-
ney works on getting his
wastewater certifications.
Everson is retiring at the
end of the year.
McKinney stated he
should be receiving his
certifications within the
next 45-60 days. In case
there is a gap between
Everson’s retirement and
McKinney’s certification,
McKinney will coordinate
with the sewer operator in
Haines.
Council input
Clarke stated that either
at the next meeting or in a
special session, they need
to talk about having an
application and making
employment with the City
a “cut and dried deal.”
Oakley stated job
descriptions and the em-
ployee handbook need to
be updated.
Public input
Jim Moore asked why
the City burn pile is closed.
McKinney stated the pile
is too full currently and is
almost backed up to the
shop. There has also been
some abuse of the pile,
dumping off trash, tires,
etc.
Barbara Malone sug-
gested that a statement be
included with the newslet-
ter letting people know
what is going on with the
burn pile and encouraging
people not to burn needles
and pine cones in their
own yards as the Fire De-
partment will be stretched
to the limit.
Ron Borello asked why
he is being billed for septic
tank pumping at Borello’s.
McKinney stated the septic
tank was full of grease
in violation of the sewer
ordinance.
Borello responded
that he informed the City
whenever he cleaned his
grease trap. He said the
tank had not been pumped
for over four years.
He stated he also told
McKinney that he would
uncover the septic tank
with his backhoe whenever
McKinney wanted to in-
spect and also talked about
the two abandoned septic
tanks, but that nothing was
ever done.
McKinney stated he
will compile a report and
file for the review of the
Council and they can make
a decision as to how to
proceed.
Woolf announced that
Arnie from the County
will be in town on Friday
October 16th from 9 a.m.
to 2 p.m. or until he runs
out of the herbicide con-
coction for killing spotted
knapweed.
Each household can
receive up to five gallons,
and food containers for
storing the herbicide are
not allowed. Knapweed
is an A-listed invasive in
Baker County and property
owners are required to help
in the control of this pest.
Sumpter’s next City
Council meeting will be
November 10th at 7 p.m.