The INDEPENDENT, August 17, 2011
Page 13
Banks Council told demographic surveys will help get grants
Girl Scout Troop 41925 led
the Pledge of Allegiance at the
August 9 meeting of the Banks
City Council. Mayor John Kin-
sky recognized the troop for
their strong support of the City
of Banks, and presented them
with a certificate of apprecia-
tion for conducting the “Beauti-
fy Banks” Cleanup event on
June 30.
Deputy Todd Hanlon, the
city’s contract police officer,
told the council that crimes in
the city have seemed more se-
rious than normal, with nothing
to attribute the activity to, and
he has asked the graveyard
deputies, when they are in the
west end of the county, to drive
through the city and around
Greenville Park. No one should
be in the park after closing at
10:00 p.m. City Manager Jim
Hough commented that this is
over and above the contract
services that the city has nego-
tiated with the Washington
County Sheriff’s office, and is
an indirect value of having a
contract deputy on the scene.
July activity included 21 con-
tacts by public requests, five
arrests, 46 traffic stops in which
eight citations were written,
and 18 formal reports written.
Incidents included a criminal
mischief which included mixing
paint with fireworks at the high
school, a PCS/heroin traffic
stop which resulted in an ar-
rest, theft of a bicycle, a burgla-
ry/UUMV/criminal mischief at
Sunset Speedway, vandalism
to sprinkler heads at Greenville
Park, vandalism with spray
paint at Banks Elementary
school, and a hit and run.
Stephen Bechler, a graduate
student from Portland State
University, conducted a study
of the the city’s financial man-
agement policies and proce-
dures. Bechler did the study as
part of a 509 Organizational
Experience program, which of-
fers students an opportunity to
relate their academic experi-
ence in the master’s program
to practice. The city was very
pleased with the report. Kinsky
commented that this is a “valu-
able document” with Hough re-
laying that “Stephen did a su-
perior job” and that the report is
extremely responsive, some-
thing he can be proud of, stel-
lar.”
The City Manager’s report
included the following:
• Mayor Kinsky has accept-
ed an invitation to join the NW
Bicycle Safety Council Adviso-
ry Board as an Honorary Board
member. This is in keeping with
Council’s strategic goal of mak-
ing Banks a recreational hub
centered on the Banks-Vernon-
ia Trail and the Council Region-
al Trail.
• The third annual Banks Na-
tional Night Out event on Au-
gust 2 was the best yet. Coun-
cilor Greagor was, and is, the
driving force behind this suc-
G ET
cessful event.
• Roberta Sommer, the city’s
Sustainability Analyst, manned
an information booth at the Na-
tional Night Out event. She
continues to come up with in-
novative ideas and projects for
educating our citizens about
our Environmental Sensitivity.
She is scheduled to report to
Council at the September 13
Council Meeting.
• The quarterly “Pride in
Serving” joint City/Sheriff’s Of-
fice newsletter is being mailed
out in this month’s water bill.
• The ridership on the Tillam-
ook Transit District (The Wave)
bus route through Banks and
North Plains is constantly in-
creasing. For 2009-2010 (10
months) there were 187 one-
way trips to Banks. For 2010-
2011 there were 379 trips. This
is a 102.7 percent increase.
Ride Connection subsidized
the fare for Banks riders.
• The city is working with the
National Weather Service’s
Portland office to obtain flood
area signage. The specially
produced signage would be
available in a flood emergency
and is part of the pre-disaster
planning that the city is current-
ly conducting.
• The City of Banks experi-
enced an interesting economic
development opportunity a few
weeks ago. An independent
film company used Banks Bil-
IT WHILE
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liards tavern and part of Main
Street for filming a movie. The
permits were issued in quick
order and the process went
well. Some locals were hired as
extras in the movie.
• The Movies-In-The-Park
event scheduled for August
26th has been cancelled due to
lack of sponsorship. The event
costs $750 to conduct and only
$75 in pledges have been re-
ceived so far.
• The city is in the process of
installing a Mutt-Mitt dispenser
in Log Cabin Park. It is antici-
pated that it will be operational
by the September 13 Council
meeting. The city is awaiting
sponsorship of the dispenser
purchase.
• The semi-annual joint City
Council/Planning Commission
work session was “enlighten-
ing” according to the feedback.
The next meeting is tentatively
set for Tuesday, January 31,
2012, at 6:00 p.m.
• The city will attempt to con-
duct demographic surveys in
an effort to apply for CDGB
funding for limited sidewalk re-
pairs and for potential water in-
frastruction upgrades. The goal
is to have four applications
ready for submission in August
2012.
Council authorized the appli-
cation for a “Ready To Read”
grant from the Oregon State Li-
brary in the amount of $1,000,
and authorized the Mayor to
sign on behalf of the City, and
accept the grant when it is
awarded. This item was in the
consent agenda.
Council adopted an updated
City of Banks Safety Manual.
The manual was adapted from
a template recommended by
City/County Insurance Ser-
vices (CCIS). The revision in-
corporates five additional chap-
ters which include evacuation
safety, a fall protection
See Council on page 14
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276 S UNSET , B ANKS
503-324-9808