The INDEPENDENT, November 17, 2005
Page 13
Public Works head resigns; council reviews planning, funding
Banks City Council held a
public hearing November 8 to
consider an amendment to the
city’s comprehensive plan, up-
dating long term housing and
residential land needs. City
planner KJ Won explained that
a forecasting model had been
used with census 2000 data to
predict growth and housing
needs. Income levels and the
age of heads of households
were included in the model,
along with varying building den-
sities, to determine how much
land may be required.
The model predicts that
Banks will need an additional
104 acres of residential land by
the year 2024. Banks has 13
acres available now, so an ad-
ditional 91 acres will be re-
quired. The amendment is a
change in language only; no
boundaries are changed. It is
one step of the periodic review
dictated by the comprehensive
plan, and looks at future needs.
There was no public input.
Council convened their regu-
lar meeting following the public
hearing, and had a first reading
of the resolution adopting the
amendment.
Public Works Superinten-
dent Tim Grossnickle resigned
his position effective November
8. Council voted to accept his
resignation and is considering
how best to fill his position.
In the Service
Leah M. Orlowski
Leah M. Orlowski graduated
from the Army ROTC (Reserve
Officer Training Corps) Leader
Development and Assessment
Course, also known as “Opera-
tion Warrior Forge,” at Fort
Lewis, Tacoma, Wash.
The 33 days of training pro-
vides professional training and
evaluation in the aspects of mil-
itary life, administration and lo-
gistical support. Although con-
tinued military training and
leadership development is in-
cluded in the curriculum, the
primary focus of the course is
to develop and evaluate each
cadet’s officer potential as a
leader by exercising the cadet’s
intelligence, common sense,
ingenuity and stamina. The
cadet command assesses
each cadet’s performance and
progress in officer traits, quali-
ties and professionalism while
attending the course.
Orlowski is currently attend-
ing the University of Oregon,
Eugene. She is the daughter of
Robert C. and Pamela A. Or-
lowski of Banks. She is a 2002
graduate of Banks High
School.
Mayor Mike Lyda will bring an
updated job description to the
next council meeting, when var-
ious options will be discussed.
The city’s annual audit
process, now underway, has
revealed that funding for the
new public works building was
not handled correctly. The city
used city streets and roads
fund to pay for construction,
which the auditor determined is
not a valid use of street funds.
To pay back the fund, Council
transferred $156,000 from the
water reserve fund.
Council also put a hold on
additional work on the public
works building, pending funding
and city hiring decisions. The
building can currently be used
for storage.
City recorder Jolynn Becker
presented information on codifi-
cation of the city’s ordinances.
Codification involves reviewing
ordinances to make them con-
sistent with each other and with
state codes and laws, and
helps avoid ordinances that are
unenforceable or out of sync
with the state. Ideally, ordi-
nances are codified on an an-
nual or semi-annual basis.
Banks has not codified its ordi-
nances for years.
Cost estimates for codifica-
tion services ranged from
$9000 - $11,000. Becker will
have a recommendation for
council at their next meeting.
Library commission member
Christine Fore appeared before
council to talk about how the
city might be able to pursue
grants. Fore, who has won
many grants for non-profit or-
ganizations, explained that the
best way to win grants is to de-
velop a clear image of what the
community needs. A proposed
project needs to be viable and
of clear benefit to the communi-
ty. It is also best if the project
will eventually support itself fi-
nancially. She cited community
buildings, youth recreation
buildings and swimming pools
as examples of projects that
are a benefit to their communi-
ty and can be self-supporting.
Fore suggested that a first step
for Banks would be to spend a
year gathering input from the
community and determining
what the city’s highest needs
are. A capacity-building grant
could be sought to help with
planning expenses.
Council approved a one year
deferral of the $13,000 fine
against the Wilkes Street Apart-
ments for nuisance violations,
as long as there are no addi-
tional nuisance citations. Jean
Lepschat, who has taken over
the apartments from her son,
appeared before council re-
garding the fine. Lepschat has
undertaken extensive repairs
and cleaning, and has paid all
abatement costs incurred by
the city for the property.
Council adopted the Chronic
Nuisance Ordinance after it
was read for the second time.
Another ordinance, regard-
ing business licenses, was
read for the first time. It pro-
vides penalties for violations of
the license agreement and also
requires that non-profit busi-
nesses and organizations get a
permit, although the fee will be
waived.
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