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About The independent. (Vernonia, Or.) 1986-current | View Entire Issue (June 17, 2004)
Page 14 The INDEPENDENT, June 17, 2004 City manager added before Banks council adopts ‘04-05 budget Banks City Council spent a fair portion of their June 8 meeting finalizing the budget and discussing the potential city manager position. Coun- cilors Ryan Birr and Pete Edi- son had previously reported that the committee examining the feasiblility of hiring a city manager unanimously agreed that there was enough work to justify creating the position at this time. However, the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) had suggested that the city might want to consider a coordinator Deeth says thanks for selection as Volunteer Citizen Candy Deeth appeared at the Banks City Council meet- ing to thank them for selecting her as volunteer citizen of the year. Deeth is active in a num- ber of city projects, including the Banks Community Foun- dation. This year, she has or- ganized a Family Fun Festival for the 4th of July, which will feature the city’s first Indepen- dence Day parade. According to Leah Perkins, of the Washington County Fair, the fair has asked cities to se- lect a citizen as volunteer of the year for the last four years. Deeth will be recognized publi- cally during the rodeo. position, rather than a manag- er, as an interim step and, at the time the committee finished its work, the budget was not complete so the recommenda- tion for a coordinator, rather than a manager, was made be- cause of lower cost. Throughout discussions at council and budget committee meetings, two councillors have taken opposing views of the co- ordinator vs. manager debate. Teri Branstitre has suggested that the city move directly to the manager position in order to avoid multiple transitions. Kirk Andrews has repeatedly said that a coordinator should be hired to perform a formal as- sessment of the city’s needs and begin work on critical needs. Andrews told The INDE- PENDENT that he felt the budget committee had agreed that a part-time coordinator should be hired to “give the 2005-2006 budget committee more infor- mation on the real need for a city manager.” Birr reported that LOC had recently said that, if the city can fund the manager’s position, they should reconsider the de- cision to proceed with a coordi- nator. Edison said that he is “willing to embark on the process” of hiring a full-time manager, including the devel- opment of job specifications. “The issue is, do we need it Jim’s Famous BAR-B-Q Fridays & Saturdays •Q B•B ib k R Por er n Din 50 *$7 1/2 Chicken or Beef Rib Dinner $ 50 5 German Sausage On a Stick $1.25 On a Bun $1.50 Give Dad A Break And let Jim’s do the Bar-B-Q 660 So. Main, Banks • 503-324-2171 now or in five years?” Edison said. Branstitre said that it made sense to have a manag- er in place prior to the time the need became urgent. Orlowski added that the $36,000 budget- ed for the coordinator would be adequate for a fulltime manag- er, since it would take at least six months for the city to fill the position. Council’s first action in re- gard to adopting the budget was to rename the line item for the coordinator position in the budget to include the word manager. Following discussion, council changed the budget ap- proved by the budget commit- tee to increase benefit expens- es in the general fund by $15,000 to cover benefits for a city manager for six months and to include the recorder’s in- surance benefit, which was in- advertently omitted from the budget. Contract services were increased $5,600 to cover re- cruitment costs and compensa- tion for the webmaster. An addi- tional change was made to re- move $200,000 from the traffic impact reserve that should not have been included in the cities budget as this money resides with the county. The budget was adopted, with Andrews voting in opposi- tion to make a public statement about increasing the scope of the administrative position from coordinator to manager. Abatement Council reviewed photos of the outside of 263 Wilkes Street, where last month they declared a nuisance existed. Though some improvement was apparent, some items that should have been removed re- mained evident. According to Mayor Bob Orlowski, this prop- erty has been through at least part of the nuisance abatment procedure four or five times since he has been in office. City attorney Jim Lucas told council that once the property is cited for non-compliance, it can be assessed a fine of up to $500 per incident/per day, not to ex- ceed $1000 per violation. Council directed the police de- partment to issue a citation de- tailing specific violations still present on the property. No de- cision was made on having city workers clean up the property. Miscellaneous In other business, the coun- cil: • Awarded the park mainte- nance contract to the low bid- der, Landscape Specialty Ser- vices of Forest Grove, with the stipulation that it was in the city’s best interest for the con- tractor to adhere to the prevail- ing wage law. • Agreed to compensate the webmaster $50 per month for maintaining the city’s web site. • Tabled discussion of leas- ing police vehicles until after the November election. • Approved a new contract with the city’s attorney. • Approved a two-percent salary increase for the public works superintendent and em- ployee, and the city recorder. • Approved the Special City Allotment grant application for road improvments on Oak Way. • Approved participation in the Washinton County Inter-Li- brary Information Network (WILInet) through July of 2009. Multi-user roads require common courtesy and common sense Cars, bicycles, farm equip- ment, pedestrians, buses, trucks – there are many users of roads. Traffic laws and sig- nals help, but common cour- tesy and common sense create safe roads all can share. Tips for cyclists: Obey STOP signs and STOP lights, use bike lanes whenever possi- ble, ride single file along the right hand edge of the road when vehicular traffic is pres- ent, always use hand signals. Tips for pedestrians: Walk BANKS MINI STORAGE For every month you pay we’ll give you an additional month FREE* (up to six months) Pay 1 Month get 2nd Month FREE Pay 2 Months get 3rd & 4th Months FREE Check us out and you’ll want to check in! * Specials available for a limited time only. Gates Operate Daily 7 AM - 9 PM Office Hours: Mon- Fri 10 AM - 6 PM Sat 8 AM - Noon 140 NW O AK W AY , B ANKS • 503-324-0552 on sidewalks and in crosswalks whenever possible. Make your- self visible by wearing bright or reflective clothing, especially when walking at night. Watch out for yourself because others may not see you. Look in all di- rections before stepping into the street. Tips for motorists: Remem- ber that bicycles have a legal right to be on the road. Obey speed limits and slow down as soon as you see a slow moving vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian in the road ahead. Pass only when the road ahead is clear and there is a dotted line on your side of the road. When passing, be extra cautious. Leave at least a 6-foot clear- ance when passing bicycles and pedestrians. Share the road and keep it safe out there for all users. Remember that special man on Father’s Day June 20
