EIGHT - Heppner Gazette-Times, Heppner, Oregon Wednesday, February 15, 2023 Boardman city council meeting -Continued from PAGE ONE training focused on defen- Thirty-five gallon carts for “It’s been very refreshing county and see if there’s a surprise presentation to greet with the public. Boardman Councilor Cristina Cuevas said she ap- preciated all the community partners and residents who showed up to meet the can- didates and provide input. Keefer also mentioned the good community turnout to meet the city manager can- didates despite conflicting events in the city. “We had a lot of peo- ple in the community step up and be involved in our city manager search,” said Keefer. “That is Boardman coming out and saying, ‘We want to be involved in our community.’” He also noted that ev- ery person asked to be on an interview panel came. The interview panels alone consisted of 30 people. “That was a big effort,” he said. “People took time off to come and be part of a panel and give their input.” Kevin Miracle of Waste Connections was present at the meeting to request the increase and give updates on what the company has been doing since Waste Connections purchased Sanitary Disposal in De- cember of 2021. Miracle said they have spent $2.8 million this past year on equipment, wage increases, facility upgrades, equipment at the trans- fer station and improve- ments to the bailer. Includ- ed in that $2.8 million is $670,000 in roll-off boxes and rear-load containers, as well as four rear-load trucks, two roll-off trucks and three automated trucks. “So the company has spent a lot of capital within all the cities and counties that we’re in,” said Miracle. He said they have also placed drive cams in the trucks, which record to the front, inside the cab, and have an alley camera. “So there’s an almost 360 view that we have that we’re able to actually pull that up if a customer says, ‘Hey, I think your guy bumped into my car,’” he said. “The drive cam is also in place to make our good drivers even better,” he add- ed, “which is a great thing. We’ve spent quite a lot of money on training for the drivers.” Aside from normal training, he said they also bring in a trainer from the California Highway Pa- trol to conduct a four-hour sive driving. He said proposed spending for this year is $1.4 million, which will include two more roll-off trucks and another $670,000 in carts, containers and roll- off boxes. The City of Board- man’s last recorded rate increase for Sanitary Waste was 9.2 percent in Septem- ber of 2019, and Miracle said Waste Connections is requesting a 16.13 percent increase March 1, 2023. He said he realized that was a short window. “We’re doing what we can to improve when it comes to our employees, making sure that our wages are at a competitive rate,” he said. “We had some is- sues when we first started where we had to increase wages in order to keep the employees.” Boardman Councilor Cristina Cuevas questioned why, if the company wanted the rate increase in March, the council was just hearing about it now. “It’s taken us a year to kind of get our feet under- neath us,” said Miracle, and added that it was during budget discussions in Octo- ber that they decided to look at rate increases this year. “When we’re looking at the residents, as a resident, I would appreciate notice,” said Cuevas. “Two weeks. That time frame seems pretty short.” “That time frame is negotiable for us, as long as we know we’re getting where we need to be,” Mir- acle replied. “But the longer we push it out, the more that it could go up because of the CPI (consumer price index).” Boardman Cty Man- ager pro tem Rick Stokoe added that costs like this are typically included in the city budget, so a rate increase now could create a budget shortfall between March and July. “Preferably, notice at the beginning of the year is great,” agreed Boardman Finance Director Marta Barajas, “because that’s when I’m putting together the budget.” She added that the budget committee usually meets in May. Utility clerk Toni Con- nell provided a breakdown of the new rates. For resi- dents with 90 gallon carts, the difference will be $1.49, from $13.22 to $14.71. seniors will increase $1.26, from $9.38 to $10.64. Consensus among council and city staff seemed to be that March 1 was too soon to implement a rate increase, and that it would be better to have it take affect at the beginning of the fiscal year. Stokoe and Barajas said they would need numbers by April in order to prepare a resolution for the council to approve the rate increase. That rate would go into effect July 1. Barajas gave the De- cember financial report, noting that the big activity in December was the bud- geted interfund transfers. Those transfers, such as from the general fund re- serve to the water reserve, show as an expense in one fund and revenue in the oth- er, which made the month appear as if it had a lot of activity. The city also opened escrow accounts for the two contractors current- ly on the general obligation fund projects. Barajas said the city is finished with the expenses for the dog park, and that project is complete. Rick Stoddard of Bar- nett & Moro was also pres- ent and gave the council the 2021-2022 financial audit report. “When we do this, we compare what the city has recorded with supporting documents,” he explained. Those supporting docu- ments included documents from third parties, such as bank statements, invoices, etc. Stoddard said that, aside from a couple of mi- nor issues, there were no problems with the audit. One issue Stoddard did bring up was the absence of a 2021 single audit that should have been complet- ed but wasn’t. “The testing that me and my team member did gave me nothing that I felt needed to be communicated here today,” he concluded. Barajas added that Bar- nett & Moro was a new firm the city had hired, replacing a previous firm. The previous firm was close to finishing the 2021 audit. She said one reason the city had moved to a new firm was because the previous one was no longer doing municipality audits. “The difficulty of get- ting our audits completed by them was definitely a second reason,” she said. to get the 2022 audit filed.” Stokoe said the city manager search process had “enveloped” city staff over the past few weeks, but he did report that they are working on a wastewater receiving station. Previ- ously, wastewater trucks from around the area would come and dump at the city’s lagoons, which took up a lot of staff time. “That go to be problematic,” he said. The city stopped re- ceiving wastewater, so the only place for local com- panies to dump was either Pendleton or Arlington. The wastewater receiving station would be a place in Boardman that companies could access with a key card without having to call city staff. He said the city re- ceived up to $400,000 fund- ing for that project from one of those companies, and engineering firm Anderson & Perry is currently in the design phase for it. The project should be com- pleted soon, he said, and should not be a cost to the city. Companies would be charged per gallon to use the station, but that fee has to be determined. Stokoe said he had also discussed the Columbia Ave. water and sewer up- grade at a work session with Anderson & Perry. The project will go out for bid and the city will try to get that wrapped up quickly. “We’ll see how that goes,” he added. “It’s a process. Nothing happens in city government over- night.” Stokoe also said city staff is in the process of ob- taining easements to com- plete a new loop road. Boardman Councilor Brenda Profitt brought to the council’s attention that the West Extension Irri- gation District is burying their line out on Paul Smith Road. The city and county each have responsibility for a piece of Paul Smith. Profitt said this would be an excellent opportuni- ty to put in some kind of walking path for residents, which had been one of the council’s goals. While no plans had been put in place previously, she said she thought it would be a good time to find out what it would take in terms of planning and funding. “At least start the con- versation, possibly, with the any way to work coopera- tively about getting a safe walking path down Paul Smith Road,” she said. “There’s a possibility that we could capitalize on an opportunity.” The council heard the police report from acting Boardman Police Chief Loren Dieter. Stokoe ap- pointed Dieter as acting chief when he himself was selected as city manager pro tem. Dieter reported that the police department is main- taining a busy pace. He also said the BPD opened a new position recently, anticipating the retirement of school resource officer George Shimer later this year, and that he would be reviewing applicants at the end of the month. He also reported that he and officer Shane Brandon had attend- ed an Active Shooter Level 1 train the trainer class in Idaho and can now train other Boardman police for those situations. In other business: -The council approved a resolution authorizing and intergovernmental agree- ment (IGA) for Oregon Public Works Emergency Response Cooperative As- sistance. The IGA is an agreement among member governments that if the city has a disaster or natural haz- ard issue, then the city can use resources from other jurisdictions to help with the disaster. -Boardman Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Torrie Griggs gave Boardman PD Officer Lo- ren Dieter. The chamber selected Dieter as Front Line Worker of the Year for 2022. -Keefer recognized Karla Jimenez for her work on the Boardman Planning Commission. Jimenez was unable to attend the meet- ing, but Keefer displayed a framed certificate and plaque she would be re- ceiving. “It’s just one way that we’re trying to recog- nize the individuals who are volunteering for their community.” Keefer said he remembered her as a “great kid” in high school and said, “She’s grown up to be a very good young woman.” -The council also ap- pointed Edith Velasco as a budget committee member for the city and Boardman Urban Renewal. Velas- co’s term will end Dec. 31, 2025. The city is still look- ing to fill budget committee vacancies. -Building clerk Jackie McCauley said the city had sold quite a few building permits, mostly for new townhomes at Tidewater. Twelve units are being built there. She said the city is seeing new homes come in, though not as quickly as last year. The city also broke ground on its city hall expansion. -Keefer again wel- comed visiting students from Riverside High School and encouraged them to be involved in their commu- nity. cation Service District is currently accepting nomi- nations for InterMountain Regional Teacher of the Year. Nominations are open statewide through Feb. 28. Anyone can nominate a teacher by visiting https:// oregonteacheroftheyear. org/nominate/. Nominated teachers will be notified and will submit their applications by March 31. Each Oregon ed- ucation service district will select a winner from their region in May. Regional teachers of the year will be honored across the state in September 2023. Regional winners receive a cash prize of $1,000. In October 2023 one the year will be named the 2023-24 Oregon Teacher of the Year and will be eligible to apply for the honor of the National Teacher of the Year. Time to nominate your favorite teacher InterMountain Edu- of the regional teachers of Death Notice Bruce D. Bergstrom— Bruce D. Bergstrom died on Feb. 10, 2023, at his home in Stanfield at the age of 69 years. He was born on May 12, 1953, in Heppner. At his request there will be no service. Please share memories of Bruce with his family at burnsmortuaryhermiston. com. Burns Mortuary of Hermiston is in charge of arrangements. Qualifying families who reside within our fiber footprint can sign up for special pricing. 100 Mbps x 100 Mbps fiber internet for $45 a month. Households that receive the full $30 ACP benefit will only pay $15 a month. Price includes a WiFi router. High Speed Fiber Internet to the home Visit gorge.net or call 541-436-0223