Page 12
The INDEPENDENT, May 21, 2009
“You have pretty good water system,” Banks City Council told
Starting the May 12 meeting
of the Banks City Council, May-
or John Kinsky proclaimed the
week of May 17-23 as Emer-
gency Medical Services Week,
noting the vital public service
and the dedication of emer-
gency medical services person-
nel, who provide lifesaving care
to those in need 24 hours a
day, seven days a week, and
that access to quality emer-
gency care dramatically im-
proves survival and recovery
rate of those who experience
sudden illness or injury.
Gordon Munro of Kennedy
/Jenks Consultants, submitted
the draft Water Master Plan to
council, noting that “really you
have a pretty good water sys-
tem.” According to Munro, the
system is set for expansion in
all directions; but the biggest is-
sue is a 27 percent loss of wa-
ter. In 2008, the system served
1,875 customers with a reliable
capacity of 340 gpm. The city’s
water sources are the large
Green Mountain Spring, the
small Green Mountain Spring
(not used), and Behrman Well
no. 1. The sources have ade-
quate water to serve the exist-
ing population, including during
high demand periods. Existing
water storage should be ade-
quate for up to 15 years, but
North Star Reservoir has visi-
ble deterioration. For water
treatment, the slow sand filter
operates adequately, and has
adequate capacity for the avail-
able sources. Gas chlorine is
used at both the North Star
Reservoir and Behrman Well,
Munro said, which is “okay, but
most people are moving away
from [it].”
Acceptance of the draft plan
is contingent on the state of
Oregon's review. Consideration
of final adoption is scheduled
for the June 9, City Council
meeting.
City Manager Jim Hough re-
ported that the city is beginning
the next phase of the sidewalk
report project. Safe Sidewalks,
Inc., conducted a demonstra-
tion of a new, inexpensive tech-
nology for making minor side-
walk repairs using a concrete
cutting system, rather than
grinding or complete replace-
ment, and trimmed the side-
walk in front of city hall. The
company has been contracted
by the city to trim sidewalks
near the library and Log Cabin
Park.
The Washington County Re-
serves Coordinating Commit-
tee has endorsed scaling down
the urban reserves study area
from 107,000 acres to 47,000
acres; they have not begun re-
viewing specific properties for
recommendation to the Metro
Reserves Steering Committee.
The city is continuing to poll
surrounding property owners
as to whether or not they want
Washington County to desig-
nate their property as rural re-
serves. The property owners
who have been contacted, so
far, do not want to have their
property taken out of develop-
ment potential for the next 50
years.
The City has applied for a
FEMA grant for roof repairs ne-
cessitated by the heavy snow-
storm last December. Hough
credited Levi Eckhardt of the
Banks Fire Department for
communicating this grant op-
portunity to the city.
The City is working on a
grant from the 3M Corporation
to upgrade and replace all of
the traffic and street signs in
Banks. If the grant is obtained,
reflective material will be given
to the city without charge; the
city can use state gas tax funds
to make and install the signs.
Council held a hearing on
Banks proposed 2009-10 Fis-
cal Year budget. There was no
Yard Care Made Easy
citizen opposition during the
hearing. Council later approved
the proposed budget.
Hough brought Council an
agreement with Comcast of Tu-
alatin Valley, Inc., to provide
Public Communication Network
(PCN) services for the city. The
current agreement expires on
June 30 and, according to
Hough, the longer the lease,
the more money the city can
save. A Comcast representa-
tive pointed out that each time
the city renews the agreement,
the rate increases, and recom-
mended that the agreement in-
clude a provision for terminat-
ing the services sooner if the
MACC small cities grant were
to stop. Council approval car-
ried unanimously.
Mr. and Mrs. Cameron Crop,
customers of the Banks Water
Utility outside the City, disputed
water charges for leakage in
their water system. During rou-
tine water meter reading, Pub-
lic Works Supervisor Fred
Evers noticed that the meter in-
dicated excessive water use,
and notified the Crops, who im-
mediately fixed the problem.
The Crops’ water bill was
$5,589.55 but, under the city’s
new policy to encourage water
conservation, their amount was
cut in half because they
promptly remedied the prob-
lem. The Crops appealed for a
further reduction of charges be-
cause of mitigating circum-
stances described as: 1) “Our
catastrophic and hidden back
flow valve failure was obviously
not your run-of-the-mill leak.
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This type of failure could have
been identified by the Water
Department’s REQUIRED me-
ter reading. 2) The City of
Banks Water Department made
a conscious decision to entirely
SKIP our meter reading for the
month of December which is
normally done on the 25th of
every month. Our off-the-chart
meter reading was one full
month LATE.” Council denied
the appeal.
Mr. and Mrs. Scott Shellman,
who reside outside of the
Banks City Limits, requested
that the city allow the Banks
Fire District to access and draw
water from the city reservoir at
the end of NW Gould Lane for
firefighting purposes, in the
event of a house or forest fire in
that area. The Shellmans are
not customers of the Banks
Water Utility.
According to the City, it ap-
pears that the Shellmans are
attempting to comply with
county regulations to expand a
home of 3,600 square feet in an
unincorporated area, which re-
quires either an installed sprin-
kler system or a holding pond
on the property. Council, which
previously decided to ban addi-
tional service outside the city
limits, denied the request. This
is “not something the city
should be involved with,” Coun-
cilor Mark Gregg said, “the [fire]
codes are clear.”
Council approved an agree-
ment for service with GovOf-
fice, to provide web-hosting
service for the City of Banks.
See Council on page 13