The INDEPENDENT, July 20, 2006
Page 13
Jason Short, Craig Stewart fill Banks City Council vacancies
City councilor Teri Branstitre
presided over the Banks City
Council meeting July 12 as
Mayor Mike Lyda was absent
due to illness. Councilor Brian
Biehl was also absent.
Branstitre rearranged the
agenda so the two applicants
for vacant council seats could
be interviewed first. Jason
Short and Craig Stewart an-
swered the council’s questions.
Council voted to appoint them
to the vacant seats and they
were sworn in and participated
in the rest of the meeting.
Short has lived in Banks for
one year and brings his experi-
ences with the Cornelius plan-
ning commission and the
Banks Parks Committee to the
position. Stewart is a life-long
resident of Banks with many
years of service as a volunteer
firefighter. His parents also
served on city council and the
planning commission. Both ap-
plicants expressed interest in
helping Banks through council
service.
Branstitre discussed the
schedule for the November
election. She pointed out that if
the city is to put forth a levy in
that election a decision will
need to be made at the next
council meeting because the
deadline for publishing is Au-
gust 20.
Council discussed putting a
levy for police services on the
ballot. The levy would be to pay
for contracting with Washington
County Sheriff’s Department,
as was done for the last fiscal
year. Due to lack of funding, the
contract was terminated June
30. Branstitire pointed out that
if the levy were to pass in No-
vember, police services could
be reinstated in July 2007. “As
a councilor and a representa-
tive of the safety of the city I
feel like I need to do everything
possible,” she said. Pete Edi-
son said that he feels council
needs to look at what is best for
the city. Short expressed con-
cern that having police services
on the ballot for Banks may hurt
the chances for the Washington
County Sheriff’s levy which will
also be on the ballot. The No-
vember election will not be sub-
ject to the double majority rule.
The Mayor’s position, as
well as three city council seats,
will also be up for election in
November. Positions held by
Dan Keller, Jason Short and
Pete Edison will be on the No-
vember ballot. August 29 is the
last day to file nominating pa-
pers. For more information con-
tact Banks City Hall.
Council heard a presentation
on the Banks/Sellers Road re-
alignment project from Wash-
ington County Project Manager
Barry Hennelly. He said that the
project is currently in the stage
of acquiring right-of-ways. The
project is scheduled to go out to
bid in April of next year. Con-
struction will start in May and
be completed by the end of
next summer.
Hennelly said that the re-
alignment will serve two pur-
poses: Increasing vehicular
safety at the railway crossing
and accommodating the trail-
head for the Banks/Vernonia
Linear Trail. To accomplish this,
Sellers Road will be rerouted to
the east and intersect Banks
Road at what is now the park-
ing lot of the Antiques Building.
The building will have to be ei-
ther demolished or moved to
make way for the road.
Representatives of the
Banks Historical Society asked
how the building could be pre-
served. Hennelly said that the
building now belongs to the
Oregon Parks and Recreation
District. He added that the
building had been modified too
many times to still have histori-
cal value. It is possible that the
façade of the building could be
removed and saved or incorpo-
rated into the trailhead parking
area.
Council also heard from
Dave Monson, engineer with
LDC Design Group, who re-
ported on the progress made
toward developing a Park Mas-
ter Plan. So far, he has com-
pleted the inventory and as-
sessment of what park facilities
are currently available to Banks
residents, and has started an
assessment of the community’s
future needs. Monson said he
will have a completed master
plan available by the next coun-
cil meeting.
Edison, who has been ap-
pointed to start the hiring
process for the new city man-
ager, brought a proposal from
the League of Oregon Cities to
facilitate the hiring process. For
approximately $3000, they
would draft and place adver-
tisements, work with council to
develop a job profile, perform
background checks and send
out rejection letters to the un-
successful finalists. Council
would be responsible for
screening and interviewing
candidates. Council agreed
that such assistance would be
beneficial to the city. Edison will
bring a contract to be approved
at a future meeting.
The Banks Planning Com-
mission wrote a letter to the
council regarding traffic block-
ages at the railroad crossing on
Banks and Sellers Roads. The
commission noted that Oregon
Administrative Rules (OARs)
limit rail car traffic from blocking
a public road to no more than
ten continuous minutes be-
tween the hours of 6:00 a.m.
and 10 p.m. and to no more
than fifteen continuous minutes
between the hours of 10 p.m.
and 6:00 a.m. The commission
was told during a public hearing
that overlong blockages are a
common occurrence, disrupting
school bus traffic as well as
regular traffic.
Council directed City Attor-
ney Jim Lucas to contact the
railway companies, and possi-
bly include letters from Shafer’s
Bus Service and the fire depart-
ment, about safety issues in-
volved with the blockages.
Oak Village
Laundromat
4 Jumbo
Washers
Air-conditioned
Easy Access with
Ample Parking
located next to
Jim’s Market
at the junction of
Hwy 47 & Hwy 6
Main Street, Banks