The INDEPENDENT, March 21, 2012
Page 11
Banks Council told public works building now has solar panels
by Jodi Boylan
Mayor John Kinsky opened
the March 13 meeting of the
Banks City Council by pro-
claiming April 21 as Banks Ar-
bor Day, marking the 140th an-
niversary of the the nation’s
first Arbor Day. City Manager
Jim Hough presented the
proclamation to Tree Board
Chair, Denise Holmes.
At a recent meeting of Ore-
gon Association of Water Utili-
ties, Banks Public Works Su-
pervisor Tom Tuski received
the 2011 Rookie of the Year
award. Tuski was presented
the award at the meeting by
Hough. Hough commented that
“Tom has really earned this.
Tom has brought programs to
the City of Banks that we have
never had before.” Hough and
Tuski unveiled the 2012 aerial
photo of the City of Banks.
Washington County Deputy
Todd Hanlon’s for March in-
cluded 93 incidents in Banks,
with 23 public requests and five
arrests, 30 traffic stops with 11
citations, and 17 reports were
generated. After reviewing the
incidents with council, Mayor
Kinsky commented that the
“variety of events is a little bit
more bizarre each month.”
Ray Deeth reported that
there was not a Planning Com-
mission meeting because of
lack of a quorum.
City Manager Hough’s re-
port included:
• The city’s request for
recognition as a Council-Man-
ager form of government was
granted by the International
City/County Management As-
sociation (ICMA) as of Febru-
ary 2012.
• The City plans an open
house to present the proposed
Banks Readdressing Plan Or-
dinance to the citizens of
Banks. The open house will be
held in Council Chambers, April
5 at 7:00 p.m.
• ODOT is making new park
signage arrays, which should
be installed in about a month.
The northbound upgraded
school zone signage has been
installed.
• Solar panels have been in-
stalled on the Public Works
Building, which is now operat-
ing on solar power. If there is
not enough solar power, the
building automatically receives
power from PGE power. If there
is a surplus of power, the sur-
plus is automatically sent to
PGE. PGE will compare the
building’s two meters, annually,
and if there is a net power
transfer to PGE, the city will be
credited with that amount at the
wholesale rate.
• The Budget Committee last
week, discussed using Traffic
Impact Fees to redesign the
Main Street/Oak Way intersec-
tion. The city has checked with
the planners at Washington
County Land Use & Transpor-
tation (LUT) regarding use of
the funding, and found that the
intersection project is on the
Base List. The city will be able
to request authorization to use
our TIF funds for the project.
With the assistance of LUT
staff, a letter has been drafted
requesting the county coordi-
nating committee to authorize
the expenditure.
• The city is in the process of
getting all of its transportation
projects on the state Major
Streets Transportation Im-
provement phase 3d project
list. Immediate funding is not
anticipated, but the proposed
projects will be documented
with the Washington County
Transportation Planning Sec-
tion for future reference and
potential funding. The next step
will be to get the projects onto
the Northwest Area Commis-
sion on Transportation project
list.
On behalf of the City, Hough
presented the city-owned Otto
Galaway York Business Col-
lege Diploma to the Banks His-
torical Society. Deeth accepted
the document for the historical
society.
The revised Park Manage-
ment Agreement with Village
Homeowners Association was
tabled to next month’s meeting.
Council unanimously ap-
proved the purchase and in-
stallation of a new telephone
local exchange system. The
contract was awarded to Ma-
trix, Inc. at a cost not to exceed
$12,690.71.
Council approved a City
Manager Recruitment Profile
prepared by the League of Ore-
gon Cities, based on informal
discussions by the Council.
A motion to adopt an Auto-
mated External Defibrillator
Program Policy carried unani-
mously. Hough expressed his
“appreciation to Councilor Mark
Gregg for steering us in the
right direction with this.”
Council also approved a
Memorandum of Understand-
ing with the Washington Coun-
ty Emergency Medical Ser-
vices Office for Medical Super-
vision & Program Coordination
of an Automated External De-
fibrillator (AED) program. Kin-
sky ended with “thank you very
much, council, for bringing this
to fruition…it’s taken three
years.”
During round table discus-
sions, Kinsky presented coun-
cil with an outline for Banks
Joint Emergency Planning and
Incident Response. The goal is
to develop a coordinated re-
sponse to emergencies inside
city limits, among local govern-
ment agencies, including
Banks School District, Banks
Fire District #13, City of Banks,
and Washington County Sher-
iff’s Office. With a designated
representative from each
agency, Kinsky hopes to identi-
fy existing emergencies, gaps,
and plans for the future.
The next city council meet-
ing will be held in Council
Chambers, on April 10, at 7:00
p.m.
Banks City Manager Jim Hough (left) presented Public Works
Supervisor Tom Tuski with the 2011 Rookie of the Year award
from the Oregon Association of Water Utilities. Photo by Jodi
Boylan
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