8 — THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017
Local
City Council seats full again Sumpter City
BY GINA K. SWARTZ
Gina@TheBakerCountyPress.com
The regular City Council
meeting on February 14
began with Mayor Down-
ing calling the meeting to
order at precisely 7 p.m.
with all Councilors pres-
ent.
City Council Appoint-
ments
Two seats on Council
were vacant due to the
departure of Daniel Lowe
on Jan 13, 2017 and Jaime
Ostrander on Jan. 24,
2017. Three people applied
to fill the two open seats
Dan McQuisten, Daniel
Buck and Adam Nilsson.
Each candidate attended
the Council Orientation on
Jan 31, 2017 at which time
Council decided to wait
to appoint until the next
official meeting. Just prior
to the February 14, 2017
meeting Smith received
a withdrawal letter form
Daniel Buck.
Councilor Joseph moved
that McQuisten and Nils-
son be appointed. A second
to that motion was heard
by Councilor Thomas with
a unanimous vote cast by
Council. McQuisten and
Nilsson were sworn in
by Smith and took their
seats with Council for the
remainder of the meeting.
Consent Agenda
Downing called for a
motion to approve the min-
utes from the last regular
Council meeting held Janu-
ary 24, 2017, with no cor-
rections or changes noted.
Councilor Thomas moved
for approval. Councilor
Joseph seconded then the
motion was unanimously
passed.
Citizen’s Participation
There was no citizen
participation.
FBLA Week
Downing read a procla-
mation declaring February
13,2017 thru February 17,
2017 FBLA Week. Ashlie
Chastain of BHS FBLA
was present to accept the
signed proclamation.
Boards and Commis-
sion Appointments
A. Parks and Recreation
– One vacant seat. Kim
Mosier applied.
B. Historic District De-
sign Review Commission
– Two vacant seats. Daniel
Buck applied.
C. Planning Commission
– Two Vacant seats. Shem
Carlson applied.
D. Economic Develop-
ment Committee - The
City and the County have
been working together to
expand this committee. At
the last County Commis-
sioners meeting five new
members were appointed.
The appointees have been
presented to the City for
approval as per a City/
County contract. Those ap-
pointees are Karen Owen,
Martin Arritola, Scott
Thatcher, Tyler Brown and
Randy Daugherty.
City Manager Fred War-
ner advised Council of the
desire to have at least one
realtor on the committee,
but it could wait until next
time there were vacancies.
Joseph moved to ap-
point all volunteers to
the position applied for
and approve the five ap-
pointees to the Economic
Development Committee.
Abell oved to second the
motion with a unanimous
vote cast. Seats are still
available on the Historic
District Design Review
Commission and the Plan-
ning Commission interest-
ed persons should contact
Julie Smith for more infor-
mation and an application
at 541.524.2033
Task Order #11 Waste-
water Facility Plan
Public Works Director
Michelle Owen was unable
to attend this City Council
meeting therefore Warner
addressed Council on the
matter. The City recently
entered an MAO with
DEQ which requires an
update to the wastewater
facility plan. That plan
must be completed by De-
cember 31, 2017 and will
address both wastewater
effluent disposal land ap-
plication feasibility study
and the wastewater facility
plan update.
The City already has a
professional services con-
tract with Anderson Parry
for engineering services
as needed. Brett Moore
with Anderson Parry has
worked with the City on
various water projects over
the last ten years and has
extensive knowledge of the
City’s system will serve
as project manager of the
project.
Anticipated costs for
these services is $100,000.
Dollars were allocated
in the budget for these
projects and to date one
grant in the amount of
$20,000 has been received
and another in the amount
of $30,000 is anticipated.
Thomas moved to approve
the task order. Joseph made
the second. The motion
passed unanimously.
Third Reading of Ordi-
nance #3352 Modifica-
tion to Dangerous Dog
Ordinance #3327 and
Third Reading of Ordi-
nance #3353 Modification
to Truancy Ordinance
#2976
Baker City Police Chief
Wyn Lohner addressed
Council stating no further
input had been received
regarding the proposed
changes to the Danger-
ous Dog Ordinance that
would give the hearings
officer and or Judge more
flexibility with rulings and
the ability to authorize
euthanasia if necessary.
Smith read the ordinance
for the third time by title
only. A unanimous vote
passed the modification.
An emergency declaration
was included in the modi-
fication that will allow the
changes to become effec-
tive immediately.
Lieutenant Dustin New-
man of the BCPD then
addressed Council regard-
ing proposed changes to
the Truancy Ordinance
that will allow the School
Resource Officer as well
as other officers better op-
tions in handling truancy
and curfew issues.
Joseph stated, “I’ve
had citizens approach me
concerning this have you
heard any feedback?”
Newman advised the
only feedback he’d heard
was from school admin-
istration asking when this
could take effect.
Newman stated there was
a declaration of emergency
added to the proposed
changes that would also
allow it to take effect
immediately. Smith again
read the ordinance by title
only for the third time.
Again, Council voted to
unanimously approve.
Budget Resolution
Jeanie Dexter, City
Finance Director, spoke
to Council asking for a
Budget Resolution to
allow transfer of an ad-
ditional $150,000 from
an unappropriated ending
fund balance. Due to the
unprecedented snowfall,
the costs for snow removal
and maintenance have
shop collapses
Gina K. Swartz / The Baker County Press
Adam Nilsson and Dan McQuisten bring sworn in.
far exceeded the amounts
budgeted. At the January
24, 2017 meeting a state of
emergency was declared.
ORS 294.481 allows for
any funds to made avail-
able in the event of an
emergency including unap-
propriated ending fund bal-
ances. Dexter noted that all
the final numbers were not
yet in as far as complete
costs due to payroll issues
and the fact that it was
only mid-February and in
all likelihood, there would
be additional snow requir-
ing the City’s resources
before the winter season
ended.
Dexter advised that at
that January 24th meet-
ing Public Works Director
Michelle Owen had agreed
money from her street
fund allocation could be
utilized, however after
closer consideration felt
in this particular situation
unappropriated ending
fund balance dollars were
a better choice that would
allow projects already
slated in her department be
continued. Thomas agreed
that it was a better choice
to allow for already funded
public works projects to
proceed uninterrupted.
He then made a motion
to approve the Budget
Resolution with a second
heard by Joseph. The mo-
tion passed by unanimous
Council vote.
Adopting Revised Pub-
lic Contracting Regs
Dexter advised Council
that City Attorney Brian
DiFonzo had been asked
to review new federal
regulations related to the
Uniform Grant Guidance
for federal awards and
incorporate them into the
City’s public contracting
regulations. In addition,
he was asked to review the
regulations for any other
federal or state law or other
suggested changes. This is
an important update due to
the Airport apron project
which will be funded in
part by federal dollars
and a review of the City’s
public contract
Regulations are subject
to review prior to receiv-
ing the funds. Dexter also
noted a resolution passed
in 2013 decreasing the
limit the purchase manager
(City Manager) was au-
thorized to spend without
prior approval that was
decreased from $50,000 to
$20,000. Dexter advised
Council they may wish to
raise that limit once again
to $50,000 and that most of
those purchases consisted
of vehicles. Warner assured
Council any item that
was close to the limit he
intended to seek Council
approval first anyway.
Joseph motioned to ap-
prove the resolution and
restore purchases made
by the City Manager back
to $50,000. A second was
heard by Abell. Council
agreed by unanimous vote.
Development Code
Planning Director Holly
Kerns presented to Council
advising that updates and
minor changes to the code
are necessary from time to
time. The last update was
done in 2015. This update
includes corrections of
clerical errors, omissions,
and inconsistencies includ-
ing document structure
changes.
According to Kerns,
Baker City Development
Code also requires updates
to reflect relevant court
cases and changing com-
munity conditions. Aside
from the clerical errors,
the majority of the minor
changes include things like
signs in residential areas
concerning businesses, a
minor change in structure
sizes to be more consistent
with building standards in
residential area and RV al-
lowances such as how long
an RV can be occupied on
residential property or city
streets. As required a se-
ries of work sessions were
held with ample public
notice given. The Depart-
ment of Land Conservation
and Development were
duly notified of proposed
amendments, at least 45
days before changes are
planned. Property owners
were notified by mail at
least 20 days before the
first public hearing. City
Council is required to hold
a public hearing before the
first reading of the ordi-
nance.
Downing then opened
a public hearing however
with no one present to tes-
tify the hearing was closed.
Councilor Thomas stated
it was his opinion “the ma-
jority of changes appeared
to be housekeeping.”
Downing asked Kerns
if her public meetings had
been “Well attended?” to
which she replied atten-
dance had been on the low
side. Joseph moved for a
first reading of the ordi-
nance updates. Thomas
seconded and with all
Councilors agreeing to a
reading. Warner read in
full the ordinance. Joseph
then moved to accept the
first reading with Abell
voicing the second for that
motion. Council was unan-
imous in their acceptance
of the first reading. Joseph
then moved for a second
reading by title only that
was seconded by Thomas.
All of Council agreed.
Warner then read again
the ordinance by title only.
Abell moved to accept
the second reading with
a second by Thomas. All
Councilors voted in favor.
A third reading is set for
the next regularly sched-
uled Council meeting.
Manager Comments
Warner congratulated
the newly appointed Coun-
cilors.
Dexter advised she
would be scheduling a
budget orientation meeting
soon and seeing as how all
City Councilors are Budget
officers the orientation was
extremely important.
Councilor Comments
Downing advised that He
and Councilor Abell had
spent time recently in Sa-
lem meeting with legisla-
tors where topics included
PERS and the Chaves call
center.
Meghan Andersch / The Baker County Press
The collapsed City shop.
BY MEGHAN ANDERSCH
Meghan@TheBakerCountyPress.com
As of last Monday afternoon, Sumpter Utility Manager
Jeff McKinney said he could think of about seven struc-
tures right off hand that had collapsed due to heavy snow
loads. Those include two homes and the City shop.
No one was injured, though one couple vacated their
home just fifteen minutes before the roof crashed into the
living room. McKinney said Sammi Rowan, local Red
Cross liaison, worked with Chris Galiszewski to ensure
those whose homes collapsed received all necessary as-
sistance.
Sumpter City council held an emergency meeting
Saturday after the City shop caved in. They declared an
emergency and named McKinney emergency coordina-
tor. McKinney said the insurance adjustor is booked up
and not available right away but had them go ahead with
getting contracts to extricate equipment.
Items in the shop at the time of collapse included the
snowplow, backhoe, antique fire truck, and various shop
equipment. The backhoe was extricated and McKinney
said though it is damaged, including hydraulic leaks and
bent components, it is still usable. The extent of dam-
age to the other equipment had not yet been assessed as
recovery efforts are ongoing.
McKinney said, “Baker County saved our bacon. Jeff
Smith and Baker County Road Department are the best.”
The county not only agreed to let Sumpter borrow their
road grader, but within two hours of the call on Saturday
had a grader operator in Sumpter. He plowed the city
out, allowing McKinney and local resources to focus on
the shop.
One end of the shop is still standing, with McKinney
estimating about 90% destroyed. He said the shop roof
had been cleaned of snow previously, but challenging ele-
ments, including 12 inches of wet snow received in one
night, have made it difficult to keep up. He said there are
two individuals keeping track of the accumulative totals
for Sumpter and that they are up to 120 inches of snow
for the year.
All other City buildings are fine, and McKinney said
he would like to urge everyone to get the snow off their
roofs. Sumpter’s high percentage of residences occu-
pied only in summer or as vacation homes pose a special
challenge. McKinney said they are “constantly on the
phone,” letting people know their buildings are bulging,
twisting, or sagging.
McKinney also mentioned the need to keep a pencil-
thin stream of water running. He said people think that
because the air warms up, it’s okay to turn their water off,
not realizing that the frost in the ground runs four feet
deep. As of Tuesday morning, there were six freeze-
ups. The process to get water restored is labor intensive,
including excavation of the frozen ground.
Cary Clarke, mayor and owner of Clarke Construction,
has also been putting in long hours assisting McKinney
and many others in the area. McKinney said Clarke is
out working “from dark to dark” using his own equip-
ment and with much of his labor volunteer. On Tuesday
morning, McKinney pointed out a home that had been
bulging from snow accumulation the day before. Clarke
had used his equipment to remove the snow. Clarke also
removed snow from the top of a City water tank, helping
ensure continued water service to local residents.
Speaking Wednesday morning, February 15th, Mayor
Clarke said all the rolling stock has been recovered from
the City shop. Clarke said the weight of the snow coming
down was amazing. It crushed pumps, battery chargers,
and saws. He estimated about half of the hand tools in
the structure were damaged.
The snowplow is safe to run again, though Clarke said
it’s “not pretty.” Lights and exhaust pipes were knocked
off but the plow is patched back together. The antique
fire truck is also salvageable, though it is bent up and
Clarke said it will definitely need some body work.
‘Odd Couple’ to
run over weekend
Neil Simons great hit "Odd Couple, Female Version"
will run one more weekend at the Iron Gate Theatre in
the Basche Mall. Produced by the Eastern Oregon Re-
gional Theatre it will run this Friday(17th) and Saturday
night(18th) at 7pm and Sunday Matinee(20th) at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $12 Adults, $10 members and $8 students and
are available at Betty's Books, on line at bakerlivetheatre.
com and at the door. This show is rated PG 13.