FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2015
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 9
Local
Sumpter City Council handles variety of
business despite still-high tensions
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Items of business before
the Sumpter City Council
on Tuesday night included
updates on the IFA grant
and City Charter.
Council members Sa-
mantha Esposito, Robert
Armbuster, and Annie
Oakley were in attendance
with Carey Clarke absent
due to personal business.
Mayor Leland Myers
opened the meeting with
the Pledge of Allegiance
at 7 p.m.. He reminded
attendees that the meeting
was being recorded.
Myers asked City Re-
corder Julie McKinney to
read minutes of the Coun-
cil meeting on October 13
and a special meeting on
October 20. Both minutes
were approved unanimous-
ly with minor corrections
to the latter. After a few
questions, payment of bills
was approved unani-
mously.
Planning Commission
Appointment
McKinney read a letter
of intent from Dave Stell-
man expressing his desire
to serve on the Planning
Commission. His appoint-
ment was unanimously
approved.
Mayor’s Report
Myers stated, “I’ve
been trying to catch up
with everything we’ve
been doing the last couple
or three years.” He said
he met with Commis-
sioner Harvey to talk about
helping with the watershed
protection idea and that
Harvey is interested in
helping.
Myers said the Depart-
ment of Environmental
Quality (DEQ) is pleased
that Sumpter is progressing
with sewer upgrades.
Myers stated with the
recent extension, Sumpter
has until September 2016
to get engineering done
and till September 2017 to
complete construction.
Myers talked to Tom Si-
sul and Joe Hitz, engineers
who did the plan, to see if
they would be willing to
work with Sumpter again,
and they said they would
be.
Myers reported attend-
ing a League of Oregon
Cities (LOC) meeting
in Mount Vernon with
Esposito, Oakley, and Julie
McKinney.
A settlement conference
in regard to the lawsuit
was held last week, and
Myers said he felt it went
very well and that progress
seems to be being made.
Utility Manager’s
Report
Jeff McKinney reported
two mainline breaks in the
last month, each sev-
eral miles from town. The
breaks occurred about 12
days apart and both were
repaired within three days.
The tower main comput-
er is not working. Parts are
on order and McKinney
stated it should be fixed
any day now.
McKinney is working
on the sewer issue for Ron
Borello. He has provided
copies of sewer ordinances
to Council and to Borello.
The burn pile is open and
preparations for subzero
weather, including ready-
ing the snowplow, are
underway.
Fire Department Re-
port
Kurt Clarke stated the
fire danger is now low.
Permits are required to
burn in town. The spa-
ghetti feed went well. The
brush truck is winterized
and parked.
The Ford truck has
some brake issues and
Clarke stated he would like
approval to get it looked
at. He thanked Kevin
Ferguson from Gresham
Fire who brought out more
jackets and turnouts for
them.
Julie McKinney re-
ported that Sumpter Fire
Department’s work on the
Cornet-Windy Ridge Fire
brought in $1267.50 from
Oregon Department of
Forestry.
She stated there is more
time that will be paid
through FEMA and that is
going through the process.
Myers mentioned the
City will need a list of the
new fire fighters for insur-
ance purposes.
IFA Application Grant
Myers stated he has made
some contact on this ap-
plication. He said he was
assured that whatever
Sumpter needs will be
financed, up to a grant pos-
sibility of $750,000, not
that the funds received will
be a full grant.
Myers said he has a call
into LOC about whether
the City can continue its
relationship with Si-
sul without a new RFP
(Request for Proposal).
If a new one is needed,
the City will need to start
right away and then get an
engineer on board in about
two months.
Myers said he will up-
date the Council when he
hears back.
IFA Watershed Grant
Myers stated, “I feel like
we have an awful lot on
our burners,” and suggest-
ed setting this application
aside, but said he would
defer to the rest of Council.
After some discussion,
Armbruster agreed to
take the lead on finding out
more about this grant and
its possible benefit to the
City.
1972 Charter
Myers provided the
Council with copies of a
“weeded down version”
of the LOC model char-
ter. He stated it addresses
several things that haven’t
been addressed before
and updates other things.
Council scheduled a spe-
cial meeting on November
17 at 1:30 p.m.
The meeting is open
and anyone may attend.
Myers stated he would
like to later have one or
two workshops and get as
many citizens in atten-
dance as possible.
Myers then stated he had
several items that someone
had requested to add to the
agenda.
Bill clarification
Oakley asked about the
$149.99 on last month’s
bills for a phone upgrade.
Myers clarified that this
was for a replacement
waterproof phone after the
Utility Manager’s phone
fell in the water and quit
working. Jeff McKinney
stated this was not an up-
grade but a replacement.
Water Tower Repairs
Oakley stated she and
Esposito were taken up to
the water tower. She said
one valve was held open
by vice grips and men-
tioned a battery running
some computer stuff that
looked like a “rat’s nest” of
wires. Oakley suggested
ordering what’s needed to
get the tower working right
instead of needing “band-
aids” all the time.
Julie McKinney stated
that the temporary fixes are
needed to keep things run-
ning smoothly while wait-
ing for parts. Myers stated
he has performed plenty of
gerrymandering in his own
life. Esposito said sure,
the temporary fixes work
for now, but let’s get the
other stuff fixed, too. Jeff
McKinney stated that Oak-
ley said a lot when she said
she didn’t know what she
was looking at. He stated
the plant is designed to use
back up batteries for when
the power goes out.
Myers said he does not
want Council to try and
operate “systems and stuff”
during council meetings
and suggested leaving the
operating details to McK-
inney’s judgment.
Oakley asked Myers if
he has gone up to look at
the tower. He stated he has
not yet been able to do so.
At this point, audience
member LeAnne Woolf
asked if she had heard
correctly that Oakley and
Armbruster collaborated
on the additions to the
items of business.
Oakley said that was
not correct. She had some
items of concern and
Armbruster separately had
some items of concern.
Armbruster said that
when he asked to have
items added to the agenda,
he was told it was too late.
After some heated
discussion, Myers clarified
that it looks like everyone
is aiming toward getting
everything done on the
Friday before Council
meetings.
Julie McKinney posts
the meeting agenda Friday
before she goes home in
order to allow for 48 hours
notice before the Tuesday
meeting.
Jeff McKinney then
raised his hand and stated
he would like to invite
Oakley to ask him ques-
tions any time about opera-
tions.
Oakley stated she did go
up to the tower and speak
with McKinney.
McKinney said she
was mistaken about the
conversation they had had.
He also stated the parts to
repair the valve that was
held open with the vice
grips showed up today.
Update Handbook and
Job Descriptions
The Council sched-
uled a special meeting for
November 18 at 9 a.m. to
update handbook and job
descriptions. The meeting
will be immediately fol-
lowed by a closed Ex-
ecutive Session to update
personnel files.
Volunteer Park Rest-
rooms
Myers stated it has been
suggested that since hunt-
ing season is nearly over,
two of the Volunteer Park
bathrooms be locked, with
one left open for the rest of
winter.
Stellman asked about
Snowmobile Club events.
Clarke suggested leaving
one of the front bathrooms
open and opening up the
second one for special
events such as the Christ-
mas Parade and Poker Run.
Esposito asked who will
take care of the restrooms
since the Parks Manager
position has finished. My-
ers stated the City will
need to put out an adver-
tisement for a volunteer.
Employee Vacation
Schedule
Oakley said vacation
hours need to be taken
before the service date or
will be lost. She said she
spoke to individuals who
could help cover so McK-
inney and McKinney could
take time off together
while family is in town, if
wanted.
Jeff McKinney stated
they will decide their vaca-
tion dates and let Council
know and that Council will
not dictate their vacation
dates.
Jeff McKinney said he
has taken initial steps to
have a part-time temporary
assistant with experience to
come in and cover for him
while out. Julie McKinney
said she had a resume for
LeAnne Woolf to fill in for
her and that was her choice
for a replacement.
Armbruster asked if
Kathi (Vinson) could fill
in.
Julie stated that Vinson
does not work full-time for
the City and has other jobs.
Myers clarified that Vinson
said she would fill in the
occasional day when she
can to minimize the need
for outside help.
Oakley stated that Toni
(Thompson) would also be
available and has experi-
ence as City Recorder.
Myers stated he would
abstain from any decision
due to his relationship to
Myers.
Armbruster stated he
was not willing to make a
motion or a decision at this
time on this topic.
Myers said the Coun-
cil has not selected Jeff
McKinney’s assistants at
a City Council meeting,
and suggested they could
probably follow the same
process with the Recorder.
Armbuster concurred with,
“Go with God.”
Public Input
Myers, Armbuster,
Oakley, and Esposito will
attend the November 12
Mayor’s Council meeting
in Richland.
Clarke asked about
approval to take the truck
in for brake work. My-
ers stated as far is he is
concerned, “Maintenance
is something we do, espe-
cially with fire vehicles.”
Armbruster agreed and
said something to the effect
of brakes being important.
Myers thanked Sheriff
Ash for attending and the
meeting adjourned.
Wolves delisted
CONTINUED FROM
PAGE 1
Press release from
ODFW:
About 106 people came
to testify, limited to three
minutes each.
Commissioners thanked
the public for coming
to testify and asked that
interests on both sides of
the issue continue to work
with each other.
Chair Finley noted the
many people “some in
cowboy hats and oth-
ers in T-shirts supporting
wolves” who came out to
testify on opposite sides of
the issue because they care
about wolves. “The Wolf
Plan has been working well
and you are all responsible
for that,” he told the public
still in the meeting at the
end of the day. With the
Commission’s decision
made, the rule will be filed
with the Secretary of State
tomorrow, Nov. 10. The
filing removes wolves from
the state ESA but has no
other effect on wolf man-
agement at this time.
The Wolf Plan continues
to provide protection of
wolves into the future. Any
take of wolves is tightly
regulated in all phases
of the plan. Non-lethal
preventive measures to
prevent wolf-livestock
conflict are the first choice
of wildlife managers in all
phases of wolf manage-
ment. There is no general
season sport hunting of
wolves allowed in any
phase of the Wolf Plan.
Wolves in western Or-
egon will continue to be
managed with ESA-like
protections until they reach
the conservation objective
of four breeding pairs for
three consecutive years.
This is known as Phase 1
of wolf management.
Additionally, west of
Hwys 395-78-95 wolves
are also still listed under
the federal Endangered
Species Act and the Com-
mission’s action has no ef-
fect on their federal status.
Wolves in eastern Oregon
moved to Phase 2 of man-
agement earlier this year.
They will move to
Phase 3 after ODFW
documents seven breeding
pairs for three consecutive
years, which could occur
as early as January 2017.
In Phase 3 while wolves
are delisted, controlled
take of wolves in situations
of chronic depredation or
wolf-related declines of
prey populations is allowed
with approval.
The vote was not unani-
mous. Commissioner Greg
Wolley voted not to delist
while Commissioner Laura
Anderson supported delist-
ing only in the eastern
part of the state and voted
against the motion.
Other Commissioners
also expressed support for
delisting in eastern Oregon
only. However, they noted
that Oregon ESA law does
not allow for delisting in
only a portion of the state.
Commissioners will be
sending a note to the Or-
egon State Legislature ask-
ing that the law be changed
so that listing and delisting
would be allowed in only
a portion of the state for
other species in the future.
Commissioners also
asked that penalties for
unlawfully taking a wolf
be increased. Currently,
the maximum penalty is a
$6,250 fine and a year in
jail and that penalty does
not change with the delist-
ing of wolves.
The next Commission
meeting is Dec. 4 in Port-
land.