FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 9
Local
Sumpter City Council holds January meeting
• COUNCIL HEARS
DEPARTMENT
REPORTS
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Temperatures were frigid
and attendees sparse at the
January 12th meeting of
the Sumpter City Council.
All council members were
present with mayor Leland
Myers presiding.
Minutes
After opening with the
Pledge of Allegiance, the
council began review-
ing minutes. Minutes of
11/10/15 City Council
meeting and 11/12/15
Emergency Council meet-
ing had been previously
held for corrections. After
reviewing the November
10th minutes, council
member Annie Oakley
stated there were some
things she still wanted to
see added, and pointed out
where. Council voted to
add the clarifications.
Minutes for Novem-
ber and December were
accepted. Bills were
reviewed and approved.
Sisul Engineering
Myers said he has been
discussing the engineering
work with Joe Hitz and
gathering needed materi-
als to make contracts. He
has talked with DEQ and
IFA about plans and asked
for clauses that they want
included in the contracts.
Oakley asked if the Coun-
cil will be able to look at
the contract. Myers replied
that it won’t be signed until
after full review before
Council, DEQ, and IFA.
The deadline to complete
the engineering piece
is 9/30/16 and deadline
for project completion is
9/30/17.
City recorder Julie
McKinney asked how the
construction will affect the
City’s ability to operate the
system. Myers replied that
the old system will stay
in place until the new is
usable.
OAWU Conference
The Council voted unani-
mously to send Utility
Manager Jeff McKinney to
the Oregon Association of
Water Users conference in
March.
Attorney Discussion
Myers explained City at-
torney Carol Skerjanec will
not take on any matters
not related to the lawsuit
facing the City and will
not continue working with
the City after the lawsuit is
settled. Health issues were
cited.
After checking into
the matter, it appears the
only option in the area for
someone versed in munici-
pal matters is attorney Dan
Van Thiel.
Councilmember Robert
Armbruster asked why the
City terminated an agree-
ment with Van Thiel previ-
ously. Myers indicated it
was an amicable separation
and that Van Thiel is quite
willing to take on the City
again.
Van Thiel has indicated
he knows of a younger
attorney at a different firm
that he could probably
bring along and “teach him
the ropes.”
Myers stated Van Thiel
will not be available for
too many more years,
saying, “He’s older than I
am.”
Armbruster replied,
“Holy Toledo!” drawing
laughter from those as-
sembled.
Myers motioned to ac-
cept Van Thiel as City At-
torney. Armbruster asked
if it would be possible to
have Van Thiel come meet
Council.
Myers replied that would
be an option. Councilper-
son Cary Clarke asked if it
would cost and Myers said
that in the past, Council
did go visit Van Thiel for a
remote meeting.
Myers withdrew his mo-
tion and Clarke motioned
that the majority of Coun-
cil meet with Van Thiel at
his convenience. Motion
carried and Council dis-
cussed what must be done
to make meeting legal,
including advertising it
and letting everyone know
what they’re doing.
Utility Manager
McKinney reported lots
of plowing last month
and good feedback from
citizens. Water is flowing
well. He reminded every-
one that when temps drops
below 20 or so, keep some-
thing running. He reported
no way to get into the
intake at McCulley should
something go wrong, but
said he hopes to have his
“personal sled up and run-
ning soon” to be able to
handle any problems.
McKinney asked the Fire
Department with assistance
in clearing hydrants. He
said he did not intend for
Kurt Clarke to go out on
Sunday on his own time
and use his own equipment
to do so, but that is what
happened. McKinney stat-
ed, “I want to thank him.
This was huge, and he did
a great job.” McKinney
also thanked the Clarkes
and Clarke Construction
for cleaning the snow off
the City Hall roof.
McKinney reminded the
Council of OHA require-
ment for effluent meters
at the water tower at the
treatment plant and said
their patience is running
thin. Council agreed to
have McKinney ask for
another one-year extension
and work on the problem.
Myers stated they will
try to have this issue on
the agenda each meet-
ing. McKinney stated the
quoted cost is $35,000 but
he is investigating other
options that may be less
expensive.
Fire Department Re-
port
Fire chief Kurt Clarke
reported Gary Timm of
Baker County Emergency
Management is working
on a grant for radios. A
Wildland Fire course is
upcoming, location to be
determined. The State
Fire Marshall investigated
one of their fire scenes and
there were a couple of fire-
fighters without turnouts.
Clarke stated everyone has
now completed Firefighter
1 training and knows not to
do that.
The department took a
class on high performance
CPR from Don Taggart.
This is the new protocol
and stats show it works
very well.
Planning Commission
Report
LeAnne Woolf reported
the Planning Commission
held a hearing 1/7/16 on
the Lucas alley vacation
request. After the hear-
ing, the regular meeting
opened. The Commission
recommended that the
request be approved.
The Commission has
received another applica-
tion that they need to get
more information on.
Woolf stated there have
been interchanges with a
“nonpermitted project”.
The Commission sched-
uled a training session
with Ken Hall of the Baker
City Building Department
to ask questions about
conflicting information
they’ve been receiving.
They hope to be able to
share minutes of the ses-
sion with Council soon.
Myers stated a public
hearing must be held be-
fore the vacation ordinance
can be approved. The first
few minutes of the next
meeting will be devoted to
this matter.
Clarke asked if he could
add something to his report
and thanked all firemen
and all auxiliary for all
they do. Myers stated,
“And we thank you, too.”
IFA Watershed Grant
Armbruster provided an
update and stated he had
in front of him a Sumpter
Water Protection and Wa-
tershed Management Plan
which he could hand out to
the rest of the Council. He
said after talking to DEQ
and others, he was referred
to a lady in Portland who
created the draft project
scope with a very specific
six-step procedure.
After studying the situa-
tion, she is highly confi-
dent that funding would
cover achieving the goal of
having a Sumpter Drinking
Water Protection Plan in
place.
The plan in its imple-
mentation phase would
include collaboration
between City personnel,
EOU interns, and regional
solutions DEQ staff.
IFA Grant Application
Myers stated they are
working on preliminary
reviews and putting con-
tracts together. Based on
preliminary engineering
reports, the estimated cost
of the project is $375,000,
50% to be a grant and 50%
loan. He has spoken with
Shannon Bailey of IFA and
she is working on finding
additional grants for the
project.
Superintendant’s House
Woolf read a letter from
Sumpter Valley Commu-
nity Volunteers, requesting
Council reconsider taking
over the Superintendant’s
House. Council previ-
ously voted to do so, and
then changed their minds
after election of a new
mayor. SVCV suggested
the house could be used
as exhibit and office space
for the Sumpter museum
and space for community
gatherings. Visitors to the
area have expressed inter-
est in donating to the work
of restoration, and SVCV
has members willing to
contribute to restoration
efforts. SVCV would also
suggest utilizing the build-
ing for their central office
and storage space.
Ambruster asked if issues
of structural soundness
hadn’t previously caused
some skepticism.
Kurt Clarke stated there
is some “underfloor stuff”
that needs to be addressed,
and a couple of ADA is-
sues, but that the upgrades
needed turned out to be
considerably less than
originally thought.
Myers asked Council
members to gather infor-
mation on the issue and
stated they will try for a
decision next meeting.
Roster
Council voted to accept
submitted Fire Department
roster (for insurance com-
pensation purposes).
Bill dispute
Myers stated from the
beginning of the City
sewer system being
Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press
Utility Manager Jeff McKinney giving his report to Council.
Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press
Fire Chief Kurt Clarke addressing Council during his report.
installed there have been
problems with restaurants
not regularly inspecting
and cleaning grease traps.
Myers said he received
a call from Ron Borello,
expecting to have part of a
bill for pumping his tank
waived. Myers said the
tank was “this deep with
solid grease” indicating a
measurement of about six
inches.
Myers stated that City
ordinance is very clear that
restaurant owners are to in-
spect grease traps and keep
them clean and keep grease
out of the interceptor tanks.
He said that when grease
is that deep, it indicates
that traps have not been
inspected or checked for
several years (the restau-
rant in question is now
under new ownership).
He said it would be up
to Council to approve
waiving the bill or standing
behind it.
Clarke said he did a lot
of research into the issue,
and was willing to work
on waiving part of the
bill, until he found this
has been an ongoing issue
since 1996. After further
discussion on the same
themes, the Council voted
to uphold the bill.
Resolution 322
Myers announced he
would open the meeting to
public discussion for any
questions concerning the
proposed charter. He ex-
plained the charter is based
on the League of Oregon
Cities model and follows
all current laws.
Rella Brown apologized
for not coming to the town
hall meeting on this subject
and asked if there would
be someone she could take
her questions to so as not
to use up all Council’s
time.
Jeff McKinney asked
what the timeframe is for
getting this on the May
ballot. The deadline is
March 28th.
Mike Hobbs he has heard
a lot of confusion over the
vagueness of the proposed
charter and cited for ex-
ample a paragraph under
the public property section
regarding condemnation.
After discussion, Council
found the concerning
paragraph was one that
had not been updated from
the 1972 charter and was
included in the new charter
for clarification purposes.
Council was of consensus
to remove the paragraph.
Dick Brown asked if the
charter is like an outline
rather than a list of specific
duties. Clarke explained
that is the case, with city
ordinances existing to
cover specifics. Rella
Brown suggested getting
something out to the public
that explains the charter
doesn’t cover every little
detail may help to put
minds at ease.
Myers stated there is a
forward that goes with the
charter explaining that, and
agreed it might be wise to
distribute. Hobbs stated if
it is sent out, he will also
put it on the Post Office
bulletin board.
Myers then closed the
discussion and returned to
the regular council meet-
ing.
Public Input
Hobbs handed out
information to Council
and asked if they would
be willing to consider the
feasibility of looking into
something like Sumpter
Valley Days. He said
he believes the town has
much more it can offer.
Myers responded that there
is a situation that needs
to be taken care of before
Council can address this
request.
Jim Sheller, Grooming
Chairman for the snow-
mobile club, reported that
they are pushing 900 miles
on the cat already this
season. Last year only 480
miles total were groomed.
Sheller said just this week,
they have 200 miles of
freshly groomed trails, and
the grooming is the best
he’s seen in years.
Jeff McKinney asked
how fast the cat trav-
els. Sheller said with the
groomer on, it’s about
eight miles per hour and a
gallon of diesel per mile.
He said they groom as far
as Anthony Lakes and In-
dian Rock lookout and that
he believes Sumpter has
some of the best groomers
around. McKinney made
mention that the groomer
is made available to search
and rescue members.
Rella Brown thanked
Woolf for everything she
does for the City, including
bringing back the Around
the Water Tower commu-
nication, all her work on
the Music in the Meadow
celebration that had to be
cancelled this year due to
wildfires, and the work on
the City charter.
Kurt Clarke thanked
Woolf and thanked Sheller
for smooth trails.
Dick Brown thanked
McKinney for keeping
their road clear.