[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.

Hermiston City Council meeting for August 24, 2026

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