[5:49] All right, it's 7 o'clock.
Turn on the microphone so you all can be
[5:54] here.
Uh, it's 7 o'clock. It is uh welcome
[6:00] everybody to the Hermiston City Council
and Urban Renewal Agency
[6:06] uh Monday, August 24th edition. Um we uh
I'm going to call the meeting to order.
[6:13] We have a quorum barely. Um I do we are
expecting one one more member to uh be
[6:21] here prior to a whole lot of stuff going
on. Well, um but uh with uh Councelor
[6:29] Meyer, uh Hayward and Linton and Baron
uh currently
[6:36] uh absent with councelor Baron uh going
to be late. With that, can I get
[6:43] everyone to join me with flag?
[6:47] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
[6:51] republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
[6:57] justice for all.
Thank you. [sighs]
[7:01] Always inspiring to hear people
say that.
[7:07] Mr. Smith, do we have any changes to the
agenda?
[7:11] Okay,
first up, presentations. Um County Fire
[7:15] District number one on measure 30-175.
[7:21] Chief Stanton.
[7:27] Good evening, Mayor Pimemer, councilors,
and city staff. Thank you for allowing
[7:31] us to be here tonight. Give you a little
summary what's gone on this summer and
[7:35] what we're looking at for this fall with
me 3175.
[7:39] See if I get this right.
A little bit about the summer.
[7:42] Obviously, we've been real busy here
locally with several significant fires
[7:46] as well as our normal call volume of
medical and rescue calls as well. Uh
[7:52] several months approaching that 600 call
a month level, which is quite a bit for
[7:57] us, as well as supporting fires within
the county such as the large Hagen
[8:02] Paradise Fire Complex up on the
Umatillaa National Forest as well as
[8:06] other fires throughout the state. So,
busy busy year so far. Uh, and hopefully
[8:12] we're going to get to the end of that.
Usually by after Labor Day, it hopefully
[8:15] calms down and we're going to keep our
fingers crossed on that. Uh, talk a
[8:20] little about the apprenticeship program.
We're one of six places around the state
[8:24] that have apprenticeship firefighters
and that's going great. They finished
[8:28] their academy up this summer, started in
April, and that's five young men that
[8:34] are in that program. It's a two-year
program, grant funded by the state. So,
[8:37] it's a great program to see uh these
young men being able to develop their
[8:42] skills through that [snorts] program.
And for us, it's kind of cool because
[8:45] it's like a farm club. And if so, if we
have an employee leave, that's how we
[8:49] hire right from there. They're a union
member. It's kind of like having that
[8:52] apprentice electrician or plumber in a
way. So, very great program. We're
[8:56] excited about it. And then, of course,
we have our safer, those 16 funded
[9:00] positions through that large safer uh
FEMA grant that we got in 2024.
[9:05] And they're doing awesome. and they are
all on the line now. And some of them
[9:10] are still doing some training. They go
through a 15-month, I'll call it a
[9:14] probation. Starts with a three-month
academy and then a 12-month of
[9:17] probation, which is additional learning
classes, schools, testing before they
[9:22] get off probation. So, we're excited
about all their uh accomplishments and
[9:25] where they're at right now as their
season, their skills, and excited about
[9:28] what they do to help us and help our
communities provide that level of
[9:31] service.
So last year was pretty big, pretty busy
[9:36] year. 16 6,200 calls. Obviously what we
mostly do is medical calls. Over 5,000
[9:42] paramedic EMS calls. Uh of those 317
were critical care activations. Uh 239
[9:48] motor vehicle accidents. And that is
probably one of the things that
[9:52] continues to rise almost every year is a
lot of you know MVAs in our
[9:57] jurisdiction. um you know before I maybe
come before this body and talked about
[10:01] distracted driving or speeds and stuff
that continues to be the problem a lot
[10:05] with those motor vehicle accidents.
Something I want to be proud of and it's
[10:08] really for our men and women that do all
the work is we have a 14% cardiac arrest
[10:13] survival rate and you may think oh that
sounds horrible and we want it to be
[10:17] much higher but the across the nation
the average is 9%. So we are five points
[10:22] above the national average and we
continue to strive to make that beyond
[10:25] our goal. We'd like to be at 20% or
higher obviously. Uh but those are just
[10:29] tough numbers to to beat. So and
obviously last year 270 working fires.
[10:34] That's the difference between wildland
fires, structure fires, car fires, that
[10:37] kind of stuff. So
[10:41] one of the things that people don't
think understand is our busyiness. Uh
[10:44] 70% of the time our calls overlap with
another emergency in progress. Obviously
[10:49] we've talked about 80% of those calls
are require a paramedic EMS response.
[10:53] Now that will vacasillate up and down.
Some years it's been as high as 90% such
[10:57] as back I think 2021 high point of of
the pandemic a lot of EMS obviously 90%
[11:03] we ran that. So but that's about where
it lays 80 to 85% of our total call
[11:08] volume. Uh and the big thing is we
usually rely on our partners three to
[11:12] four times a week at least. Um, Echo,
Boardman, Pendleton coming in to help us
[11:17] too for some of the call volume. Uh, 56%
increase calls over the last 10 years.
[11:23] Some places have seen higher than that,
but that's a steady 5.6 if you average
[11:27] it out over 10 years, and we've been
seeing that for quite a bit. Most of my
[11:30] career here, Pendleton's always been in
the growth stage, it seems like, for my
[11:34] 32 years here. So, uh, but still it
keeps adding on and adding on. And the
[11:38] big thing I think of it is is you know
if you look at that bottom thing 27
[11:42] times last year we got another call
after we were on five right then. So
[11:46] that means six calls at a time. We can't
staff six calls. We can't really staff
[11:51] five calls. So it happens here. Um, but
that's one of the things great about
[11:55] these new 16 positions and being able to
staff that third fire station 247 is
[12:01] that reduces that times we have to rely
on our partners and have that where you
[12:04] have to wait that 20 to 30 minutes to
get an ambulance here out of Borman or
[12:09] Pendleton.
[12:13] So the safer grant, that's the big deal.
That's kind of what we're here tonight
[12:16] to talk about. 16 people we hired
through that uh darn near $7 million
[12:20] from a FEMA grant. Uh and that's a
pretty big we were only one of two uh
[12:24] departments in Oregon that got that
Woodburn being the other uh that year.
[12:28] So it's they don't give out a lot of
those and but it was huge for us to get
[12:32] that to jumpst start uh staffing a third
station and getting us to where we have
[12:36] enough people to really serve our
communities and we serve the four
[12:41] communities with Hermanston being our
biggest obviously 80% of our total calls
[12:44] are right here in the city limits of
Hermanston. So you are the center of
[12:48] everything we do here. [snorts]
Um so with that with those extra people
[12:52] they've helped us to reduce response
times dramatically. The year before we
[12:55] had to have 98 times we had to have
board member Pendleton come in here with
[12:59] an ambulance. Now that's a 20 to 30
minute delay. If you're having a heart
[13:03] attack that's not a place you want to be
waiting for. We have cut that down.
[13:07] We've only we're in single digits still
this year and now we're almost done with
[13:11] August eight months. So it's making a
difference having these extra bodies.
[13:15] Three staff stations. is obviously you
know the one downtown we have one out on
[13:18] east side station 22 on Pumpkin Center
and the one we're kind of new the new
[13:22] staffing I'll call it the one we're
staffing with these people is on is
[13:25] station 23 on Weston Road uh that
funding does expire at the end of 2027
[13:31] after a three-year stint of that money
from the feds.
[13:36] So obviously there's big funding gaps.
This is probably nothing new that you
[13:39] don't already know. I'm sure you face it
as well. You know, our revenues come
[13:43] from property tax, which is about 55% of
our revenues. About third of it then
[13:48] comes from ambulance billing. The rest
is miscellaneous income or grants. Uh
[13:53] the problem is, as you all see, is
rising cost of personnel, wages, benefit
[13:58] packages, the equipment that you use,
the materials and services you use, it
[14:03] just continues to go up. And that's
where the environment we're and it's
[14:05] outpacing what your revenue sources are.
As you can see up there, there's a chart
[14:10] from 2015 to 25 of an ambulance.
190,000 was the approximate cost in
[14:16] 2015. Last year, it's 375.
Uh, Battalion Chief Ed Clark handles
[14:22] that for me. He just told me uh last
Friday that the new one now is 410,000
[14:26] this year. That that's just crazy
because you that's not sustainable to
[14:30] pay stuff for that cost. So, um, and
obviously the bottom line, you know,
[14:34] grants are just not sustainable
long-term funding mechanisms.
[14:39] So, the reason we're here, uh, the board
of directors, even when I went to them
[14:43] about getting this safer grant, I told
them, "Hey, we're going to have to have
[14:45] a levy to back this up at some point."
They said, "We understand. Go for the
[14:49] grant." When we got awarded the grant,
we had to accept it by their obviously
[14:53] they had to go through a vote, accept
it. And I told them again, we're going
[14:56] to have to go for a levy to back this
grant up. And they said, "We understand
[14:59] that. Let's go keep moving forward." So,
we did or they actually voted. So,
[15:04] that's kind of where we stand before
you. Uh so a 5-year local option levy to
[15:08] replace that grant funding. This money
is not for any new programs. It's to
[15:12] keep us where we are today to sustain
our levels of service where we are
[15:16] today. Uh it's set at 89 cents per
thousand of assessed value. Uh we are
[15:21] told by the assessor's office on the
median home in Herston that's about 14
[15:25] bucks a month for a cup of coffee if you
will or a energy drink a week. So that's
[15:32] kind of where it breaks down. Again, it
talks about this is to retain our 16
[15:35] firefighter EMTs and paramedics,
maintain our current staffing levels and
[15:40] replace that grant funding that's going
to go away.
[15:43] If it's not passed, that's problematic
for us. We're going to have to lose
[15:46] those positions. That means fewer
respond responders available for all
[15:50] those emergencies we're running. And the
call volume isn't going down. And that
[15:54] means probably at station 23, we're
gonna have to turn the lights off and
[15:58] not have any 247 coverage out anymore.
just don't have enough people then if we
[16:01] lose those 16 positions which is what's
really on the chopping block here. So
[16:06] again it does not fund any expansion or
new programs. It's just keeping where we
[16:09] are today
[16:14] and that's really the bulk of what I
want to talk about tonight. Uh to kind
[16:18] of tell you where we're at and obviously
with the obviously that you're the main
[16:22] city we protect and you're our home too
and we are your fire department. So
[16:27] that's why I'm here and if be open to
any questions or comments you might have
[16:31] council questions
[16:37] councel
[16:43] I think you guys have done a beautiful
job at uh making sure that people are
[16:48] aware of the measure. I've seen signs
all over town everywhere I turn and it's
[16:52] like oh there's a sign. I wanted to know
um what information would you have um in
[16:59] Spanish about about this about the
measure? Have you thought about that or
[17:03] » Yeah, we have. We're getting ready to
roll out some stuff in uh Spanish to
[17:07] make sure everybody understands what
we're doing and it helps to have stuff
[17:11] like AI and stuff that to help us to
move through those translations. Yeah.
[17:15] » Thank you.
>> Other council questions?
[17:23] Okay. Um, so I think it's one of the
things we need to to bring up though is
[17:29] is that although you get this you get
this grant,
[17:36] what does that do to compression, how
does that affect, you know, what how
[17:40] does that affect you? How does that
affect us?
[17:43] You bet. Of course, we we had to work
through that as well. Um, if there's no
[17:49] compression at all, if everything was no
caps or nothing, uh, we wouldn't need
[17:54] that full 89 cents, you know, that was a
working trying to work with the
[17:58] assessor's office and I will tell you,
I'd be happy to send the emails. They
[18:01] were very little help with me trying to
find some estimates. So, good chat chat
[18:05] GPT and I worked with formulas and the
state laws and stuff and I did come up
[18:09] with some estimates um that I hope are
in the ballpark. uh the depart the
[18:16] district would lose around best figures
estimates about 700,000 to compression.
[18:22] So uh it gives us enough to keep those
16 employees but not a lot of extra
[18:27] money. So that's where we're sitting
there. As far as the city's concerned by
[18:32] my calculations and estimates, again I
couldn't get hard numbers at all from
[18:36] our tax assessor. It looks like it's
going to be around $140,000
[18:41] of compression, additional compression
to the city of Hermanston.
[18:46] » Did you concur with that, Mr. Smith?
[18:58] » Yeah. And I like I said, I careful. I
did talk to a prior assessor and he
[19:04] thought that the should had better
information back as well.
[19:11] I
[19:14] » you have an estimate for it from the
assessment office.
[19:17] » Yeah. I think it's important to to bring
forward though that uh no matter how we
[19:23] how this takes place uh the cost to the
taxpayer doesn't change there that the
[19:30] maximum amount is that the that the city
can or that the the taxpayer can be
[19:36] taxed at the current rate is is where
they're at.
[19:40] » Yeah. Obviously
>> in the city anyway
[19:42] » one of the things you know obviously
looking at all the tax codes within the
[19:45] city it's it's property by property.
It's not a certain area. It's and that's
[19:48] what makes it difficult, I think, to
figure that out. But yes, there'll be
[19:53] some that they're already in compressed
at $10. Anybody in that spot wouldn't
[19:58] pay any more in taxes.
>> Sure.
[20:02] » Uh just for the record, uh councelor
Baron has joined us on the dis as well.
[20:09] Thank you for getting here, sir. Do you
have any questions for Chief Stanton in
[20:14] regards to uh measure uh 30-175?
>> Not at this time. Thank you, though.
[20:21] » All right. Any other questions,
comments? Councelor Roberts.
[20:26] Just a comment. Um none of us like
paying more taxes. Um and I I think
[20:32] we've seen levies and even even the tax
increases that we do here get heavy push
[20:38] back. Um, I just want to say that there
are some things that just inherently
[20:43] cost more money. And um, I know in my
line of work, I also see the the
[20:49] expenses outpacing revenues. And that's
just a reality of of inflation. We see
[20:52] it in our personal lives at home, in our
pocketbooks. It's no different. Uh, when
[20:57] it comes to local government, uh, we
don't have the printing press, so we
[21:01] don't get to print extra money. So, we
have to unfortunately find those
[21:04] revenues. And uh you know funding public
safety is is critically important. So I
[21:12] encourage people to really look at this.
You know think about the importance of
[21:16] if you or your loved one were were in
need. Um you want help to be there. Um
[21:23] it it's just something that uh sometimes
we have to do and I appreciate you
[21:27] bringing this forward. I I I think that
uh you guys do a phenomenal job and uh I
[21:33] want to see the the citizens of of
Hermiston and the greater Hermiston area
[21:38] continue to get the level of service
that you guys are providing. So, thank
[21:41] you.
>> Good. Thank you,
[21:44] » Mr. Kelson.
>> Yeah, thank you for presenting tonight,
[21:47] Chief. That was a lot of good
information. I had a question, though.
[21:50] You said your call volume has grown
about 5% year-over-year for the last
[21:54] several years, and I think that pretty
briskly outpaces our population growth.
[21:58] How do you account for the discrepancy?
[22:02] » Well, we kind of got a jump start
through the pandemic and that one year
[22:07] it had a as I recall maybe 8% and then
it's kind of leveled off a little bit.
[22:12] Um, obviously everybody had to
experience that. Um, I think one of the
[22:18] things and it's kind of a double-edged
sword is the pop we're growing because
[22:23] we're in a spot that sees growth.
Whether it's data centers or advancement
[22:27] in agriculture, whatever it is, we're
lucky to be in that area here on the
[22:30] Columbia basin and in Hermanston and we
see the growth, but with that comes
[22:35] those issues like increasing call
volumes. So
[22:40] other than that, I don't know how we we
continue to look at cost containment at
[22:44] the fire district and continue to plan.
We just did a strategic plan a year ago.
[22:50] So we're working off that five-year plan
on how we combat some of that stuff.
[22:54] Some of it is using good data analysis
and we do that right now. We contract
[22:58] that out to a a firm so we make good
decisions based on hard data, not what
[23:05] our gut tells us. So hopefully that is
the the key part is making good
[23:09] decisions based on data where the
stations need to be staffed at where we
[23:14] put people to the to help the most
people the most of the time. So I think
[23:19] that's the best thing we hang our hat on
is using the data to help us make good
[23:23] decisions.
[23:28] Any others?
[23:31] Thank you, Chief. Appreciate it. Um
it's definitely you know the the
[23:37] citizens need to take a hard look and
and you know we we understand
[23:42] it it it could it could cost some of the
city services because it you know it
[23:46] will affect city services as well but at
the same time you know when you call you
[23:52] know when your your house is on fire
your loved one is hurt you want somebody
[23:57] to be there so yes sir
>> it's important
[24:00] » thank you sir
[24:07] All right, with that we are up to the
first opportunity for citizen input. And
[24:12] this is a citizen input on non-aggenda
items. And so anyone wishing to bring
[24:17] anything before the council that is not
on the agenda is asked to limit their
[24:21] comments not more than five minutes,
state your name and place of residence
[24:26] for the record and direct your comments
to me. Do we have anybody wishing to
[24:30] speak?
[24:38] Welcome.
[24:41] My name is Stacy Stanick and my address
is 330 East Carter Drive here in
[24:46] Heriston. I'm here tonight to comment on
the indoor aquatic facility that is
[24:50] being considered by the council and will
be voted on next month. I'm a swim
[24:54] parent. I've had the pleasure of
watching both of my children, who are no
[24:58] now college students, participate on the
Hermiston High School swim team for the
[25:02] entirety of their high school careers. I
have watched them make friends, learn
[25:06] how to become leaders, and discover
their own perseverance and grit. I have
[25:10] watched their teammates, some of whom
could not swim on the first day of the
[25:14] season, become proficient and race in
the district meet three months later.
[25:19] Being on the swim team here requires an
extra level of dedication. Both the
[25:23] girls and the boys teams must be bus to
Boardman during the week for their
[25:27] practices. In the winter, the boys team
travels to Wanachi, Cheni, and Pullman
[25:32] on a weekly basis for meets. They must
log a lot of extra practice time on the
[25:37] road without even being in a pool. Last
week, five swimmers from Heriston
[25:42] volunteered in Richland for the Icon
Swim program. This program offers an
[25:47] opportunity for individuals with
developmental disabilities to learn
[25:50] basic water skills and gain independent
aquatic movement with the help of a swim
[25:55] buddy. It is the third year that my kids
have helped with the program. The time
[25:59] spent is always fulfilling for the
swimmers and the buddies alike. When my
[26:04] kids were very young and learning how to
swim, we only had the summer to take
[26:08] swim lessons much like it is today. We
always cram them in as it's really
[26:13] important to have water safety skills
here in this area. But it would have
[26:16] been great to have access to winter swim
lessons, not just in the summer. An
[26:21] indoor facility here in town would be
such a blessing to our swim team and our
[26:25] community. I believe that surrounding
towns with swim teams like Pendleton,
[26:29] who are also being busted Boardman,
would book the time and pay to utilize
[26:34] our pool. We could bring swim team swim
meets to our area in the colder months,
[26:38] stimulating the local economy. We could
host programs such as I can swim, which
[26:43] also bolsters our sense of community. I
appreciate you taking the time to listen
[26:47] and thoughtfully consider adding this
benefit to our town.
[26:51] » Thank you, ma'am.
others.
[27:04] My name is uh David Hansen. I live at
1737
[27:08] West Alleuvia Avenue here in Herston.
And I would just like to ask the council
[27:14] to take a very hard look at uh voting on
measure 3175.
[27:21] As individuals, I would also ask you to
um
[27:27] put out publicly that you support uh
measure 3175.
[27:33] I happen to be a member of about a
committee of about 30
[27:38] individuals here in Hermiston who have
come together to support the levy to put
[27:44] the the manpower and the money behind
making sure this levy passes.
[27:52] This is your fire department. This is my
fire department. And as a guy who's got
[27:57] gray hair,
I really appreciate the paramedics.
[28:03] Um, I can tell you that they came to our
house, uh, actually out to the to the
[28:08] farm when my wife got kicked by a horse
and broke her femur. The one thing that
[28:14] she said was so amazing about having
been picked up by this fire district is
[28:21] how compassionate, how wellrained, how
caring, and how professional they were.
[28:27] She won't forget that. In fact, she's
now out campaigning on behalf of 3175 as
[28:34] well. So, I would ask the city council
to back up your fire department and uh
[28:41] put it in writing that you support it.
Thank you so much.
[28:46] » Thank you, sir.
[28:50] Others,
[28:55] seeing none, moving on to the consent
agenda.
[29:00] U do we have any council questions for
the consent agendas? Items A through E.
[29:08] Seeing none, public comment.
[29:13] Council comments.
[29:17] Does the council wish to remove any
items? Council Roberts
[29:22] like to remove items C and D.
>> Going to remove council uh consent
[29:27] agenda items C and D.
Okay.
[29:35] And
any others?
[29:39] Seeing none, can I get a motion to
approve items A, B, and E?
[29:46] » So moved.
>> Second.
[29:49] » Been moved by councelor McCarthy and
seconded by councelor Drone.
[29:55] » Roll call.
>> Yes. Yes.
[29:57] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[29:58] » Yes.
>> Motion passes unanimously.
[30:03] Okay, hang on here.
[30:09] Okay, Council Roberts, uh, Coun, uh,
consent agenda item C, you wish to
[30:14] remove?
>> Yes, Mr. Mayor. Um, I noticed a mistake
[30:18] in the minutes, um, in the section where
we, u took the vote to continue the
[30:22] meeting on uh, uh, to the August 10th
meeting. Um, it says that it was
[30:26] motioned by Mr. McCarthy seconded by
myself and then that councelor Linton
[30:30] and I were in opposition. I went back
and and looked at the uh video to
[30:35] verify. Um councelor McCarthy made the
motion. Councelor Hayward seconded. Uh
[30:40] the vote pass with counselors Kelso and
Baron in opposition. And so I would
[30:45] request that we amend the minutes with
those changes.
[30:50] Okay.
>> Any council questions or comments on
[30:54] that?
[30:58] Okay. Can
>> if we
[30:59] » Go ahead.
>> I'm curious if we can without
[31:02] independently
now verifying that because I don't
[31:06] » It has been It has been verified.
>> Okay.
[31:10] » Okay. And consent agenda item D.
>> Yes, Mr. Mayor. Um in the uh vote for
[31:16] ordinance 2383, it said the councelor
Linton and I were in favor. Um we were
[31:21] actually not in favor on that one. So it
looks like maybe a a typo.
[31:27] Okay. And again, that has been
independent or has been verified by the
[31:32] city recorder.
>> Okay. So, uh can I get a motion to
[31:37] accept
uh items C and D as amended?
[31:42] » I also have another observation.
>> Okay. for the August 10th meeting. Also
[31:48] under the council reports,
um I believe that councelor Linton asked
[31:55] to resend rece.
[32:06] Any others?
[32:14] » Okay. So, can I get a motion to accept
uh consent agenda items C and D as
[32:20] amended per council?
>> So, moved.
[32:23] » Second.
>> Moved by councelor Roberts, seconded by
[32:27] councelor McCarthy.
>> Roll call.
[32:31] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[32:32] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[32:34] » Yes.
>> Motion passes unanimously. 5-0 or 4.
[32:40] 5.
I can't count today. All right.
[32:45] Uh, no. I Well, those items were removed
and can taken care of. Uh, ordinances.
[32:51] Ordinance 2383
creating LI 324.
[32:58] Uh, this item was presented during the
public hearing on July 27th and again on
[33:03] August 10th. The public hearing was
closed on August or July 27th and as
[33:08] such no other evidence or test public
testimony will be taken. City Attorney
[33:13] Tubby will now read the ordinance by
title only. Mr. Tubby.
[33:18] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. First reading of
ordinance number 2383, an ordinance
[33:22] creating local improvement district
number 324, describing improvement,
[33:27] setting boundary, providing for payment
by benefited properties, securing such
[33:31] payment by lean against the benefited
properties, and calling for
[33:34] construction. Mr. Mayor,
>> do we have any further council questions
[33:39] or comments? Councelor uh Bron.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Um my comment is not
[33:48] to oppose the creation of the LI nor the
assessment of linear square footage for
[33:55] the LI. However, moving forward, I think
that's what this ordinance is is for is
[34:02] for creating the LI and the way that we
are assessing the LI. What I propose to
[34:07] council uh to consider in the future is
the way that we're doing this right now
[34:13] is the whole project is 1.2 million. The
city contributes 305,000
[34:19] thereby reducing
it to about 900,000 that is split
[34:24] amongst those five properties.
What my train of thought is is right now
[34:31] that 305 is being equally distributed
amongst the five properties and then
[34:36] they're being assessed by linear square
foot. What I propose in the future is
[34:43] instead of equally
spreading it out amongst the five
[34:48] properties is to try to do it in an
equitable way to support some of these
[34:53] property owners that would have uh an
undue burden. Um, what I'd propose, and
[34:59] again, this isn't to amend uh this LI or
anything, but it's for future
[35:05] consideration, is if there could be a
base credit of, let's just say the
[35:10] council could decide, but just for sake
of so you understand where I'm coming
[35:15] from, is if every property got a base
credit of $50,000,
[35:20] 50,000 times five properties would be
250. there'd be about $55,000 left to
[35:27] distribute from what the city has to
distribute the 305. And so I I would say
[35:32] that that $55,000 or whatever would be
left over would be equitably distributed
[35:38] amongst the five properties. Now,
obviously I I'm not here with a formula
[35:44] or anything like that. Uh, I think
that's something that we could consider
[35:49] in the future because I know what we're
voting on today is merely the creation
[35:54] of the L and how the council is going to
assess um that LI. And so I just wanted
[36:02] to merely propose that idea um of how we
how the city could distribute the
[36:07] 305,000 that it already has planned to
distribute.
[36:13] And so those are my comments. Um, again,
the ordinance 2383, I'm in favor of it.
[36:20] But in terms of how it's going to be
distributed once we get to that point,
[36:25] uh, I'd like to I'd like for us to get a
little bit creative and be it more
[36:30] equitable rather than equal for the five
properties.
[36:37] » Okay.
>> May I ask a question?
[36:40] » Sure, Counc.
Uh, city manager Smith, isn't it like
[36:48] whenever there's been a project like the
um ship project where after the LI was
[36:56] approved, after the project was
completed and after all the um I guess
[37:03] the result of how much the project cost,
didn't it come back to to the council
[37:11] for the council's consideration? to see
because um you know some of the some of
[37:17] the information that we get are
estimates,
[37:20] but it's not until the project is
finalized that you get the true numbers.
[37:25] And wasn't that at that point where the
council gets to also look at those
[37:30] numbers and make a decision then too?
>> That's correct. The um
[37:37] we're working off of estimates.
If this ordinance gets adopted, we move
[37:42] forward. Uh we put it out to bid and a
contractor builds the project, then we
[37:48] know exactly what it cost. And then we
um would allocate the cost based on the
[37:55] the first step would be this ordinance.
And then if the council wanted to make
[38:00] any changes, additions, subtractions of
city money or or other ways, then at
[38:06] that point they would the the council
would take action to actually allocate
[38:11] the cost to the individual pro uh
properties.
[38:17] » T Roberts.
>> Yes, thank you. Uh I was also thinking
[38:21] the same thing that uh you know we we
have this $35,000
[38:26] figure on there and that is also part of
the estimates and if if the project
[38:31] comes in much lower which a lot of times
it does because we tend to estimate on
[38:35] the high side um the city's contribution
also can end up being lower and and my
[38:43] suggestion like councelor Bran mentioned
is um you know we we consider when the
[38:49] time comes keeping that $35,000. We've
already allocated that as an estimated
[38:53] amount that we're willing to spend and
then we can discuss uh you know, how to
[38:58] allocate that when the time comes. Um
you know, I'm I'm a firm believer in in
[39:05] that the way we've always done it
doesn't have to be the the way we always
[39:08] do it. So, we we might have a little bit
of discretion here. I'm also a firm
[39:12] believer that, you know, laws,
regulations,
[39:15] um should not be viewed as absolutes.
That sometimes there are exceptions. And
[39:19] I think this could be considered an
exceptional case. Um that would be for
[39:24] the council to decide. But you know that
said um you know on August 10th we
[39:28] decided the linear foot model. I opposed
it but the decision was made. And so um
[39:35] since the decisions made I'm ready to to
go forward with the LI. Nobody's been
[39:40] opposed really to the LI. Uh even the
property owners um are for the L. It was
[39:46] just the allocation model. And so, um,
you know, tonight I'm I'm ready to move
[39:51] forward with that just with the caveat
that when the time comes to allocate
[39:54] those costs, we we consider those
mitigation factors.
[40:02] Any others?
[40:05] Okay,
with that, uh,
[40:11] can I get a motion to adopt
ordinance number 2383
[40:19] and become effective 30 days after
adoption
[40:23] by the city council?
>> So moved.
[40:27] » Second.
>> Then moved by councelor Barone, seconded
[40:30] by councelor McCarthy.
>> Roll call.
[40:33] » Yes. Yes. Yes.
>> Yes.
[40:36] » Yes.
>> Motion passes unanimously.
[40:49] Okay. Moving on to
ordinance number 2384, annexation for
[40:57] 4N2814
BC TL602
[41:03] Bounds Trust
uh 1225 South First Street. Mr. Tvy will
[41:10] now read the ordinance by title only.
Mr. Tubby.
[41:19] » First reading of ordinance number 2384,
an ordinance annexing certain real
[41:24] property on South First Street,
describing said real property,
[41:28] withdrawing said real property from
special districts, and designating
[41:31] zoning. Mr. Mayor,
are there any council questions
[41:35] regarding ordinance 2384?
[41:40] Seeing none, any public comment on 2384?
Seeing none, council comments.
[41:50] Seeing none,
[41:54] » can I get a roll call or can I get a
motion to approve the finding of facts?
[41:58] » So moved. Second.
[42:03] » Roll call.
>> Yes. Yes.
[42:06] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[42:07] » Yes. Motion passes unanimously.
[42:12] Uh, can I get a motion to impose
conditions of approval?
[42:16] » So moved.
>> Second.
[42:19] » Been moved by councelor McCarthy, second
by councelor Roberts again.
[42:24] » Roll call.
>> Yes.
[42:26] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[42:27] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[42:30] Finally, can I get a motion to adopt
ordinance number 2384 at a single
[42:34] meeting and become effective 30 days
after adoption by the city council?
[42:38] » So moved.
>> Second.
[42:40] » Moved by councelor McCarthy. I'm going
to give that one to councelor Kelso
[42:44] since he speaks so infrequently
[42:49] on these [sighs]
[42:53] and he was I heard him first anyway. So
uh roll call.
[42:56] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[42:58] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[42:59] » Yes.
Motion passes unanimously.
[43:05] Next up, [sighs]
uh let's see.
[43:10] July 2026 monthly financial report.
[43:16] Uh Mr. Smith and Mr. Palasios.
>> Thank you. Good evening, Mr. Mayor and
[43:22] counselors. Tonight I have the uh July
2026 financial reports for you. Um this
[43:29] is the first month of the new fiscal
year. We are 8.3% of the way through the
[43:34] the new fiscal year. Um
for Hermanson renewal, the North
[43:41] Hermiston Urban Renewal Area project,
we're awaiting bidding and anticipate
[43:45] that to go out to bid next during the
next construction season, next spring,
[43:50] summer of 2027.
um being the first month again as I as I
[43:57] shared earlier 8.3% of the way through
the fiscal year monthly revenues because
[44:02] of the timing of revenues property taxes
and primarily um franchise fees at this
[44:08] point in time we're about a million
dollars under budget but under
[44:12] projection
um but currently on track for for
[44:16] budget. though we're
so those are we're just hanging on till
[44:21] those property taxes come in in November
and then the quarterly franchise fees
[44:25] start to come in usually in August this
monthly
[44:31] expenses were under projection by about
$109,000
[44:34] several departments were over budget in
comparison to projection and those were
[44:38] those are flagged for further evaluation
um parks utility they were um those
[44:45] ended up actually over budget. That's
due to seasonal activity that happens
[44:50] because of the timing of the year and
when that work is being done. Municipal
[44:55] pool seasonal activity as well. All the
people are enjoying the pool during the
[44:59] nice month of during the night month
during the nice months of the year.
[45:04] Municipal buildings. We had a um
repair to our roof generator. So that
[45:11] was that took a bit uh that was an
anticipated repair, but we were um so
[45:17] that that was a large repair that was
not planned for and so that threw the
[45:22] budget off a little bit. City council is
the annual membership we pay for League
[45:26] of Oregon cities each year in July. Um I
want to assure you that that one we are
[45:33] watching that a lot more closely this
year and so that is just that will
[45:38] flatten out as the other line items are
well under anticipated budget and
[45:42] budgeted items for that for city council
um fund balance want to take a minute
[45:48] and share a little bit about this. So
the our our
[45:53] policy is to require 15% minimum
reserve. We try and plan for that and
[45:58] then we account for that throughout the
year um and have an estimate um for the
[46:04] for the for this current fiscal year.
That projection is set at $2.85 $85
[46:08] million of the prior year um reserve
balance was 2.94 and that dropped a
[46:15] little bit because we had that transfer
that went out that was an expenditure on
[46:19] a budget basis from the general fund
over to the building fund which did not
[46:25] occur this year. So that has been
removed from that calculation.
[46:29] fund balance so far um I don't want to
jinx myself but fund balance is
[46:35] estimated to remain above the minimum
reserve for the entire entire fiscal
[46:38] year but we do monitor that closely and
I will make sure I let you know well in
[46:44] advance if we we start seeing any issues
with that
[46:48] um special revenue funds EOTech event
revenues and timing of project project
[46:54] reimbursements was one of the causes for
them to be under under projection for
[46:59] the that first one
and the RV project continues. We just
[47:04] ended the fair and some other activities
out there that um I'm happy to report
[47:09] that um we did make use of the RV park
so that was good. So that's that's a
[47:15] good thing and that continues to be a a
project that's near completion.
[47:23] Um
utility and street funds observations
[47:26] for this is a street fund. This one as I
share at the beginning of every year and
[47:30] probably be sharing for the at least
through January. There is a timing of
[47:35] the federal allocation turnover that we
get that's based on federal gas tax
[47:40] turnovers that we get. We get a one-time
payment in January. So that's why these
[47:45] projections are low. All the other
revenues are on trending and on track
[47:48] and expenses are actually tracking below
um uh budget expenditures. Regional
[47:56] water fund. Um, I only point this out
because it was it did get flagged. It's
[48:00] $1,000 under revenue projections for
through the end of July and then but we
[48:04] are currently $29,000 under projection
for the expense side. So, they're
[48:09] offsetting each other. So, we're still
that's a positive. Um,
[48:15] with that, I will turn it over to Mr.
Smith.
[48:21] Mr. Mayor, members of the council, I
just wanted to let you know Mr. Morgan
[48:24] is at the uh conference in Ontario along
with councelor Linton and so I'll I
[48:32] don't know all the details of these
projects but I'll hit the highlights of
[48:35] the of the main ones. So Gear and
Harper's uh going well. Uh they they've
[48:40] I think completed most of the
underground work out on uh River Road
[48:45] and they're uh moving forward uh with
the the remainder of that that project.
[48:51] The 10th Street Bridge is under uh under
design and we're anticipating
[48:57] construction in the winter which is kind
of off cycle for us but we need to do it
[49:01] when there's no water in the uh canal.
Uh Dogwood's moving forward. That
[49:07] project's going well. Um
the backup generators are on order and
[49:13] they're continuing to prepare the
locations for those both at the uh
[49:19] regional water system intake pump
station and at the uh at the treatment
[49:24] plant out at 207 and feed bill.
Uh Orchard, I know that's been a bit of
[49:31] a pain point for a number of folks. So
uh I was just through there this
[49:37] evening. It looks like they've completed
the the extra work or the the work that
[49:42] was impacting the intersection at 207
and Orchard. I think that's uh that
[49:46] they've got it paved to to flat. Again,
there's no metal plates, so that should
[49:52] open up that that
uh to little easier traffic going
[49:57] through there. Um let's see what other
the East Evelyn uh gravity sewer line is
[50:06] moving forward uh as planned and is on
schedule.
[50:13] And let's see
uh the the couple that we want to flag
[50:17] just from a the well number four it had
been out. We' awarded it and it was
[50:23] supposed to be moving forward. There was
some problems with the contractor
[50:26] getting all of the parts and there's
been some tremendous delays. We may need
[50:32] to
um cancel that contract and and move to
[50:38] uh reschedu it, rebid it. Um we're still
trying to work through all the details
[50:42] on that, but it's just gotten so so much
delay, we we can't uh keep waiting on
[50:48] it. Uh lift station number five. We're
starting to design
[50:54] changes
and then
[50:57] Mr. Bum.
[51:01] Thank you, city manager. I just had a
question. I I don't have the timeline in
[51:05] front of me about Orchard, but when can
people anticipate it opening and be
[51:09] ready to go more or less?
>> Um I still fall. So I I but I don't have
[51:15] a better date yet, but it's it move it
has moved very well. Um we're very
[51:20] pleased with the work the contractor's
done, but just uh it's a long stretch of
[51:25] pipe that they're working on. So
>> thank you. And if I if I may follow up.
[51:30] » Sure.
>> Uh you should both allow yourself to be
[51:33] recognized before speaking or
you're recognized now.
[51:38] » Thank you.
uh was wondering about the rebid on on
[51:44] well number four
when bids are are made. I don't think
[51:50] anyone knows what the bids are until
it's finally
[51:54] released, right? And so if they rebid on
this,
[51:57] » well, it's been awarded and you you're
you guys have approved the contract, but
[52:02] there's been some delays in getting the
equipment
[52:06] and the and the the parts to do the
work. And so it's to the point where
[52:11] we're going to have to either do some
redesign or something to to get that
[52:15] project to move forward.
>> Thank you.
[52:20] » Was well I I don't remember offh hand.
Was well number four one of the ones
[52:23] that was going to get decommissioned
because of the PAS.
[52:30] » I want to say that
>> I believe it is.
[52:32] » Okay. And that might be part of that
discussion. I I don't know.
[52:37] » Okay. Thank you.
[52:42] » Any other questions at the moment before
he continues?
[52:46] Okay. Okay. Um now Sherman Park uh the
bids have been opened. were uh uh issued
[52:53] a notice of intent to award and and
um unfortunately they did come in a
[52:59] little bit high and so we're working
through the process with Anderson Perry
[53:03] to try to uh bring that down into the
range that we were anticipating with the
[53:09] grant funding that we had acquired. So,
we're still hopeful to bring that
[53:13] forward uh next month for uh a contract
award, but we have some work to do in
[53:18] trying to get it uh within budget.
[53:23] And with that, I'm happy to answer any
other questions.
[53:28] » Council McCarthy,
>> uh just I think it's remarkable that we
[53:32] have bids that are overestimated.
We were just talking about [laughter]
[53:39] » others
[53:43] Seeing none. Okay,
moving along.
[53:50] Any other things you need to bring
forward, sir? Okay. Um,
[53:58] can I get a motion or do we have any qu
council questions?
[54:05] Other other council questions? I'm
seeing none. Okay. Public comment.
[54:11] Did we forget anything?
>> No.
[54:17] » Oh, no. I haven't got haven't got there
yet. Getting close.
[54:21] » Council questions. C public comment.
Council comments.
[54:26] Okay. Can I get a motion to accept the
monthly financial report as presented?
[54:30] » So moved.
>> Second.
[54:33] » Been moved by councelor McCarthy.
Second councelor Roberts.
[54:38] Roll call. Yes.
>> Yes.
[54:40] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[54:42] » Yes.
>> Motion passes unanimously.
[54:48] » Okay. Next up, community survey report.
Mr. Smith.
[54:52] » Yeah, Mr. Mayor, members of the council.
Um, every
[54:58] uh six months, uh, Zen City does a a
survey kind of a
[55:05] kind of a survey that we can track our
services. How are we doing? and how are
[55:08] people feeling about it? Um, and so, um,
Lily's pulling it up, so just a second.
[55:18] Um, but that, um,
I think that I'm going to highlight the
[55:24] the complete report was in your packet.
I'm going to highlight a couple of the
[55:27] the items that I like to really pay
close attention to and to show that
[55:32] we're really staying pretty um solid uh
and steady even though this one we went
[55:39] down a little bit but it if we look at
it over time we're we're really tracking
[55:44] about in the same range. So, one of the
things it measures is a is a quality of
[55:48] life um item.
And
[55:54] is this gonna be good? All right. Okay.
So, this time we had about 412 residents
[56:01] uh completed the survey and this number
about 41% of them rated the quality of
[56:08] life uh in in this as positive. Now,
that's down 6% from the last six months.
[56:17] Um, and you can see the the negative was
up seven. Kind of looked like people
[56:22] flopped from one end one end of it to
the other. Uh, the the middle the
[56:27] neutral didn't move much. So, this is
just one that I like to watch. And if we
[56:32] take a look at this, but you take a look
at this over time, the the far left of
[56:38] the of the of the graph is 2022 is which
when we started these surveys.
[56:45] And so we're we're staying in the same
range. It goes up a little bit, comes
[56:49] down both on the positive, negative, and
in the neutral. So those swings, they
[56:55] they like this one is is uh noteworthy.
they mark those that are over 5%
[57:01] movement on positive or negative. So
just just wanted to uh show you that
[57:06] even though this is this time it moved a
lot, last time it actually moved up
[57:11] about the same amount. So
uh these are the demographics um related
[57:18] to that.
The um the others that go into kind of a
[57:24] quality of life area, how likely are you
to recommend Hermison as a place to
[57:27] live? 37%
did go down 4% this time. The negative
[57:32] went up two. So, a little bit less uh
solid on that. But again, if we I've
[57:39] looked at the the longer term, it's
really staying in that same range over
[57:44] time. How likely are you to be living in
Hermanson five years from now? 51% this
[57:49] time. This one came down seven. So, that
one's a big uh kind of a big drop.
[57:58] Now, some of these are some of the more
specific pieces of our community, things
[58:03] that people are pleased with oppos you
know, uh, you know, not as pleased with.
[58:10] Uh, you see there's three, two of them
have the double bars noteworthy
[58:15] moving the positive move down six and 7%
on uh, quality of parks and wreck
[58:22] amenities and access to quality
education.
[58:26] Um, I don't know what you can attribute
to these two. Um, I I don't I haven't
[58:32] seen it. I haven't observed a a dramatic
drop in the quality of our what what our
[58:37] parks are looking like, what our
services have looked like. So, it's kind
[58:41] of tough to see. It's a kind of a I
don't know, maybe it's a different set
[58:47] of people that answered the survey this
time. Yeah.
[58:51] » Um,
then we've got the waste and recycling
[58:55] services. Uh, I think we've had a lot we
had a lot of discussion about that. I I
[59:00] would imagine the rate change had an
impact on that one, making it stand out
[59:04] a little bit.
Then overall cleanliness and maintenance
[59:09] went down on the positive
and then the ease of getting around by
[59:14] public transportation. And again, I
don't know what changed. We didn't we
[59:19] didn't reduce the amount of
uh time or the amount of bus service or
[59:25] anything like that. Had no change in our
taxi rates during this time frame. So,
[59:31] I'm not sure what would have caused it.
But, you know, we just kind of watch
[59:35] this and try to see what we can do to to
uh
[59:40] meet the the interests of the community.
[59:46] Is there any questions on any of that so
far?
[59:50] » Questions?
>> Counc Roberts,
[59:54] » you'd already kind of mentioned the
demographics, but um do you look at the
[59:57] demographics to see if they're shifting
over time and that would give us an idea
[1:00:01] whether or not the same people are are
taking the survey, if we're seeing a
[1:00:05] shift in in who's taking the survey?
>> Well, I mean, I have not watched that as
[1:00:12] closely.
>> I do know what they do. They do some
[1:00:15] statistical work uh once they reach a a
a certain number of respondents. They do
[1:00:21] some statistical work to make sure that
we are meeting the demographics of of of
[1:00:26] a of the community as it as we find them
in the census and so forth. So I know
[1:00:31] they're trying to make it as close to
ours as possible. I'm not a
[1:00:36] statistician. And I don't know what that
all means, but I know that they that
[1:00:40] that they're trying to make sure that
we're it's a representative picture of
[1:00:44] our community.
[1:00:47] » Mr. Kel,
>> so are these people voluntarily going to
[1:00:51] a website and filling out the survey or
are they contacted by the survey company
[1:00:54] for their opinions?
>> These are volunteers.
[1:00:58] » Okay.
>> Self- selectors.
[1:01:00] » We really don't have any way of knowing
if it's the same group of people or not
[1:01:03] doing. Right.
>> Okay. Thank you.
[1:01:06] others.
I give everybody else a chance first.
[1:01:11] Any others? Hey, Council Roberts.
>> Um, do we even know if they're in the
[1:01:16] city? Is this only
>> they are geoence? They we they can um
[1:01:21] tell if they are in the if they live in
the city.
[1:01:23] » Perfect.
Councy,
[1:01:27] » I believe these are pushed out on social
media, for example, to people within the
[1:01:31] zip code um at the time that they see
the ad for the survey. Correct.
[1:01:37] » I think it's even also the correlated
with where their um where their cell
[1:01:42] phone is registered.
>> Right. Okay.
[1:01:48] » Others.
Okay.
[1:01:50] » Okay. So then each s each time we can do
some questions that we focus on so we
[1:01:57] can set up follow-up questions. So, we
were concerned a little bit just trying
[1:02:02] to understand what kind of arts and
cultural events people um what they'd
[1:02:07] like to see, how they are reacting. So,
this one was went up a little bit from
[1:02:14] the last time, but these this follow-up
question is is uh probably the more
[1:02:18] interesting part. Uh the number one uh
important thing uh that we could do to
[1:02:24] improve the availability of a variety of
art and cultural events is to do a
[1:02:28] better job communicating and promoting
the events that are already occurring. I
[1:02:33] that's uh something that's good from our
standpoint. Not trying to create new
[1:02:38] events, but try to do a better job of
getting the word out. Um and then uh the
[1:02:44] next two are programming for adults and
seniors and then children and families.
[1:02:50] And then you can see further down there
is support a museum or a cultural center
[1:02:56] things like that. So or invest at EOTech
in the community center. So all of those
[1:03:01] are um the options that the that that
were chosen by the respondents.
[1:03:09] So this one uh we focused on it because
we combined it. It used to be two
[1:03:15] separate questions. it was um ease of
getting around by foot, ease in getting
[1:03:20] around by bicycle. We've been scoring
very highly in both of those trying to
[1:03:25] understand that a little bit. So, we
combined it, but then did a follow-up
[1:03:29] question. What's the most important
thing that we could do? Improve the
[1:03:33] quality and condition of sidewalks and
paths is the number one. And then uh
[1:03:38] after that is just correct uh sidewalk
and and pathways
[1:03:44] adding those into the network and then
uh expand walking and and biking
[1:03:50] options. So again just information for
us as we look at services we're
[1:03:55] providing how we can do a little bit
better to meet the needs of the
[1:03:58] community.
This one uh I know uh the chief pays
[1:04:04] attention to this one. uh overall sense
of overall safety. Uh we went up about
[1:04:10] 3% on the positive uh but also went up
3% uh on the negative. So kind of a
[1:04:17] mixture.
And then the number one thing was um
[1:04:24] address public uh drug use and and
helping homeless individuals find
[1:04:29] services. That was the number one by a
long shot. So,
[1:04:33] uh, again, something that we work on and
I know the the chief tracks closely how
[1:04:38] much time we're spending with, uh,
homeless services
[1:04:42] and and I think also um, you know, as
we've I think the path and the stepping
[1:04:48] stones program is kind of getting
stronger. It's being it's on its feet
[1:04:54] um, moving forward. So hopefully we can
see continue to see maybe some of this
[1:04:59] uh improve and and see if there's some
other areas that we can do. Street
[1:05:03] lighting would be the number two which
has been on a council goal for a little
[1:05:06] while. So
[1:05:10] and then the last piece of the survey we
we can do rotate. So we asked a question
[1:05:14] related to health and wellness
facilities
[1:05:17] and um these aren't repeated over time
so not as much as far as changes but one
[1:05:23] of the top ones here is keeping it
affordable to the public and that's
[1:05:27] we've done some additional uh work
specifically talking about uh the health
[1:05:34] and wellness facility and so getting an
insight into what people uh consider to
[1:05:40] be important
[1:05:43] And then how do you do you feel
Hermanson's going in the right
[1:05:45] direction? This one maybe a little
concerning. Down 8% uh on the positive
[1:05:51] side, up 12% on the negative.
So here's some of the follow-up
[1:05:56] questions uh or options.
So what what do you like about growth?
[1:06:02] Expanded dining, shopping, new job
opportunities.
[1:06:07] Top two there.
And then the uh biggest concerns,
[1:06:12] traffic congestion, cost of housing and
rent, and then the ri just rising prices
[1:06:17] overall. So um a couple of those we we
can try to have a little impact on
[1:06:23] those. Um some of them we can't but um
again opportunities to see uh what we
[1:06:29] can do.
[1:06:33] Okay, that is
all I had. I'd be happy to answer any
[1:06:37] other questions.
Okay. Any other council questions on
[1:06:44] Mr. uh Smith's community survey report?
Seeing none, have any public comment?
[1:06:54] Seeing none, council comments.
Okay. No action is requested on this as
[1:07:01] this was presented as information only.
So, we're going to move forward. Next
[1:07:06] up, committee reports. It's from city
committees and liaison. Do we have any
[1:07:12] committee reports?
[1:07:16] Getting away cheap on this one?
Okay. None.
[1:07:21] Mayor's report. Well, let's see. We've
had a fair. We've had an rodeo. We've
[1:07:28] had Melonfest.
all of which I saw some of uh some parts
[1:07:35] of it in one way or another. Uh fair and
rodeo seemed to be a success. Uh from
[1:07:40] what I saw, we were uh it was well
attended and it was, you know, well
[1:07:46] taken care of. Uh thanks to the chief
for providing uh additional staff for
[1:07:52] working up there. that made, you know,
as somebody that was doing that, it made
[1:07:56] a big difference having, you know, those
extra bodies up there to take care of
[1:08:01] things. And so, uh, your your, uh,
assistance in that was greatly
[1:08:05] appreciated. I know by myself and, uh,
other members of other agencies. Um,
[1:08:12] again, the rodeo seemed to go well, too.
No real issues over there. So,
[1:08:18] Melonfest, uh, I was there for for a
short time. Um I did not participate in
[1:08:24] the seed spitting contest as I arrived a
little bit too late for it so to sign
[1:08:29] up. Um
maybe next year. Uh but it looked like
[1:08:36] it was very well attended uh extended
another block
[1:08:40] uh this year. A lot of lot of uh
participants when we arrived there was
[1:08:46] it was for all intents and purposes
wallto-wall people. And so it was very
[1:08:52] looked like a lot of it was a lot of fun
was had. You know, we got got a few
[1:08:55] sprinkles here and there and but the
wind wasn't too bad and the weather was
[1:09:00] very amenable.
So whoever took care of getting ordering
[1:09:05] the weather in for that, I appreciate
it. Um and then coming up we have a uh a
[1:09:12] ribbon cutting from what I understand.
If anybody wants to participate at it,
[1:09:16] it is at Hortensia's
on September 3rd at 11:30. I'm not sure
[1:09:23] I'm going to be available for that one.
So, if anybody else wants to go to that,
[1:09:27] wave our flag for us, that'd be
fantastic.
[1:09:31] Uh,
let's see. Thanks to everybody that's
[1:09:35] been participating in all of our
committees and such. I I know that this
[1:09:39] time of the year, we get really busy, so
some things tend to get pushed back a
[1:09:44] little bit. I know we've had a lot of uh
hard discussions over the last couple of
[1:09:49] week or a couple of council sessions and
so you know everybody participating and
[1:09:54] you know getting getting their two cents
worth and with inflation I guess we go
[1:09:58] four and a half cents but uh I can't I
can I cannot thank everybody that's
[1:10:04] participated in in all of our processes
as you know this is what we we signed up
[1:10:08] for this is what we were elected to do
make some of the hard decisions you know
[1:10:13] it isn't always to make. It isn't always
easy to make some of the unpopular
[1:10:16] decisions, but you know, we have a we
have a city that we have to take care of
[1:10:20] and and do what we think is best. And
and I think each and every one of you
[1:10:24] guys up here has taken that
responsibility to heart, and I thank you
[1:10:28] so much for all the work that you've
done. So, uh, with that, I will turn
[1:10:34] over to the council president.
>> Thank you, Mayor. You mentioned, uh,
[1:10:37] most everything that I wanted to
mention. Um uh but I do want to point
[1:10:41] out u on top of things organized by the
chamber tomorrow we have the resource
[1:10:45] lunch um 11:30 to 11 um and it'll be um
uh all about fraud prevention and
[1:10:52] financial wellness with guest speaker
Devin Bailey. So I encourage you all to
[1:10:58] take a look at that.
Excellent.
[1:11:02] Council reports. Anybody have anything
they want to bring forward? Councelor
[1:11:06] Brown,
[1:11:09] » I think it was councelor Kelso that
mentioned in the last meeting uh but
[1:11:13] about the softball team and how well
that they did. Um and so I just wanted
[1:11:18] to uh ask the council to formally invite
the team uh to acknowledge the the good
[1:11:24] things that they've done for the
community uh and representing not only
[1:11:28] Hermison but the state of Oregon. I've
been in communication with the coach a
[1:11:32] little bit and I maybe our city staff
could um work on some dates, but they do
[1:11:39] seem interested.
>> We've reached out and they haven't
[1:11:42] responded, so encourage them to respond.
>> Sounds good then.
[1:11:46] » Thank you.
>> Nice try.
[1:11:51] Others,
>> councelor Kelso.
[1:11:56] » Yeah, I just wanted to thank everybody
involved with the fair. I was there for
[1:11:59] the whole week and uh just had a great
time. It was uh well done again this
[1:12:03] year and I think you know if we don't
have the best county fair in the state
[1:12:06] I'd be shocked. I think it's just a
great time and it's awesome and u so
[1:12:11] thank you everybody involved with that.
Uh I spent Saturday of fair week um
[1:12:15] volunteering with the Kuanas uh doing
Rascal Rodeo which is a program for
[1:12:19] learning disabled adults and children um
that gives them a chance to ride a horse
[1:12:24] which is kind of really neat. There were
about 80 people, maybe a hundred people
[1:12:28] who participated all told. And um it was
just a great Saturday of people. I mean,
[1:12:34] I had a grin on my face the whole time
just seeing these people get on these uh
[1:12:38] horses and ride around, some for the
first time, some scared to death, and uh
[1:12:42] but they did it and um it was just an
awesome Saturday. So, I wanted to thank
[1:12:47] everybody involved with that, too.
That's all I had.
[1:12:50] » All right.
Any others?
[1:12:54] Councelor
[1:12:58] Roberts,
>> I can jump in on that. It's it feels
[1:13:01] kind of self- serving, but it's it's
it's not. Um, you know, obviously my
[1:13:05] role at the fair is different than
others and I don't always go as a
[1:13:09] spectator. I do get to interact with a
lot of really good people up there and
[1:13:13] it is fun, but uh I also want to take
the opportunity to thank uh Chief
[1:13:18] Edmonston and his staff. I want to thank
the responders from the other uh
[1:13:23] agencies that contributed personnel. Um
one of the big things that I hear from
[1:13:29] people is that they feel it's a very
safe event because of the presence of of
[1:13:34] security and and law enforcement up
there. And uh we couldn't have such a
[1:13:39] good fair um in my opinion a safe and
familyfriendly event without those
[1:13:44] people. So just publicly here tonight, I
want to thank all those agencies that
[1:13:48] contributed to make that a safe event.
[1:13:53] » Okay.
Councor Drum,
[1:13:57] » I want to echo what you guys have said
about um the fair and all the
[1:14:01] volunteers. It certainly takes a lot of
people to uh to make it run as smooth as
[1:14:06] it did. um starting from the parking lot
getting finding you know directing you
[1:14:12] to your spot and from there you know all
the civic groups also that gave of their
[1:14:18] time to uh sell burgers or whatever the
case was to be able to um you know help
[1:14:26] community members here. So, I want to
thank everyone, law enforcement,
[1:14:31] everyone, all the volunteers, the
employees that were working extra hours
[1:14:35] to, you know, so that other people could
have fun. Um, I also want to add that
[1:14:41] the city chat is going to be happening
on the se on September 4th at 11:30 at
[1:14:46] the Hermiston Food Pod. And I just want
to encourage people since you're going
[1:14:50] to go out and eat, why not um also uh
you know, partake in the food that is
[1:14:56] sold there. So, uh, we hope that we have
a better turnout. I'm still kind of not
[1:15:01] sure if I will be participating in that.
Um, but I would like to encourage other
[1:15:06] community members that might tune in or
read the minutes hopefully or actually
[1:15:12] that have read the minutes because this
has been mentioned before um that this
[1:15:16] is happening. So hopefully, you know, we
will have a good turnout and that's it.
[1:15:22] » That's at 11:30, right?
>> 11:30. 11:30 at the food pod across from
[1:15:26] the post office. Correct. High school
one of the high school parking lot
[1:15:30] entrances.
Yeah, that's I think that's I think that
[1:15:33] one will probably be very well attended
just if for no other reason having high
[1:15:38] school kids involved which I would love
to see. So
[1:15:43] all right, [sighs] last chance for
anybody. We've got everybody, haven't
[1:15:47] we? Yeah. Okay, Mr. Smith,
>> I have nothing further.
[1:15:53] All right. So with that, we are going to
recess for executive session. The city
[1:15:58] council of the city of Hston will now
meet in executive session in in the
[1:16:03] executive session room for the purpose
of discussing matters pertaining to the
[1:16:07] review and evaluation pursuant to
standards criteria policy directives
[1:16:11] adopted by the governing body. the
employment related performances of the
[1:16:15] chief executive officer of any public
body or a public officer or employee or
[1:16:20] staff member unless the person whose
performance is being reviewed evaluate
[1:16:26] requests
an open hearing.
[1:16:30] The executive session will convene
pursuant to OS 192.660 660 parentheses 2
[1:16:37] parentheses I
[sighs] to discuss matters pertaining to
[1:16:41] the review and evaluation of employment
related performance of city manager
[1:16:44] Byron Smith. Representatives of the news
media and designated staff will be
[1:16:48] allowed to attend the executive session.
All other members of the audience are
[1:16:52] excluded. Representatives of the news
media are specifically directed not to
[1:16:57] report on any of the deliberations
during the executive session except to
[1:17:01] state the general subject of the session
as previously announced. No final
[1:17:06] decisions will be made in executive
session. At the end of the executive
[1:17:10] session, the council will res return to
open session which the audience may
[1:17:16] attend. Executive session will last
approximately 30 minutes. With that we
[1:17:21] are in recess.
[2:09:25] Okay, we're going to reconvene the
regular city council meeting and to
[2:09:30] consider the approval of changes to the
city manager employment contract. Mr.
[2:09:35] Smith.
[2:09:39] » Yes, Mr. Mayor. Uh, all I would be
requesting this year, um, there's some
[2:09:45] things that I would like to do from a
health and wellness standpoint that
[2:09:50] aren't covered by our insurance that I
would like to ask for a small increase.
[2:09:55] I know it all will go into the salary B
box or whatever. It doesn't it wouldn't
[2:10:01] get separated out or separately
accounted for, but from my standpoint, I
[2:10:04] want to would like to call that out.
just some things that I would like to be
[2:10:08] doing that aren't covered by insurance
[2:10:13] and I be willing to answer any questions
if you have
[2:10:17] » council questions
[2:10:21] council
>> yeah I would um just like to ask how you
[2:10:26] arrived at this number of $550 a month
what I know it's all general salary but
[2:10:31] you have said it will be used for
wellness activities
[2:10:34] » uh it's it's bas basically um there's a
couple of wellness subscription type
[2:10:39] things that I would like to do that that
monitor things at a higher level and
[2:10:44] that that comes under that amount that
would cover that.
[2:10:47] » Okay.
>> Thank you.
[2:10:52] » Any others? Cerum.
>> Thank you, Mayor. Uh city manager, you
[2:10:57] said this was an increase, right? So,
what was the previous amount? And of
[2:11:01] course, we know the request is 550. No,
I mean there was there's nothing under
[2:11:05] this banner before. So this would be
that's the whole increase
[2:11:11] to 550.
[2:11:16] » Any others?
Councelor Roberts?
[2:11:21] » Mine isn't about the amount. It's just a
curiosity. This is amendment 12. Um
[2:11:27] what's the reason for amendments instead
of just new contracts as they come out?
[2:11:32] Um, that's just kind of how we started
doing it. Um, I I was just talking to
[2:11:37] them about it. What I'd like to do is
put it all back into a a contract that
[2:11:42] we can look at the whole thing and then
kind of start from there again, but I
[2:11:45] didn't get to that this year like I
wanted to. So,
[2:11:48] » okay, fair enough.
[2:11:53] Any others?
[2:11:58] » Any public comment? [laughter]
Seeing none.
[2:12:02] » I can tell.
>> Council comments.
[2:12:08] » Any council comments? Anything at all?
And okay. Uh, can I get a motion? Do I
[2:12:14] have a motion? Any kind of a motion?
>> I move that we adopt the amendments as
[2:12:21] requested by the city manager.
>> Second.
[2:12:26] » Okay. Been moved by councelor Kelso that
we
[2:12:31] accept the
uh amendments as as written and as
[2:12:36] requested and been seconded by councelor
Veron I believe. Oh, Veron. Okay.
[2:12:46] » Roll call.
>> Yes.
[2:12:47] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[2:12:49] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[2:12:51] » Motion passes unanimously
of those present.
[2:12:58] Okay. Uh, any other items for the order?
>> May I just I I just want to say thank
[2:13:03] you very much. I appreciate another good
year and look forward to more and no
[2:13:09] » really appreciate the evaluation. I
don't know if anybody's still watching
[2:13:13] online, but you know,
>> wanted to say thank you.
[2:13:18] » All right,
anything else? We are adjourned
[2:13:23] » and we give this back.