Benny Westcott
The Sweet Home City Council voted unanimously Tuesday, Aug. 23, to authorize staff to enter into an agreement with Pacific Excavation, Inc. of Eugene for emergency repair – not to exceed $60,000 – of a water main located inside Pleasant Valley Bridge.
All councilors were in attendance for the meeting except Angelita Sanchez.
The repairs come after an Aug. 22 event when a large water main inside the bridge broke, causing system pressures to fall below 20 pounds per square inch and requiring a boil alert notice to community members impacted by the failure. Linn County bridge engineers inspected the bridge’s structure, including the main. City staff have identified 22 pipe hangers that have failed or are failing, ultimately causing the incident.
According to Sweet Home Public Works Director Greg Springman, the necessary repairs are specialized due to the scope of work and confined spaces and are outside his staff’s skillset. Therefore, he said, it was necessary for an outside contractor to complete them and restore normal service to Sweet Home residents and customers.
Pacific workers were on site Aug. 23 at the bridge, determining the scope of work and to collect a material list and other information needed for pre-planning.
Service was restored to impacted customers on Thursday, Aug. 25.
In other action:
— The council voted unanimously to approve a city manager employment agreement with Kelcey Young, currently the finance director for Clearlake, Calif. Young anticipates a start date of Oct. 1.
The agreement is automatically renewed each Jan. 1 for a one-year term, unless either party provides written notice at least 30 days prior to Dec. 1 of the prior calendar year of an intent to not renew or if the agreement is terminated, amended or modified by either the city or city manager.
Young’s initial salary is set at $135,000.
— The council voted unanimously to appoint Police Chief Jeff Lynn as city manager pro tem from Aug. 24 through Sept. 13. He acted in that capacity on Aug. 23.
He replaced former city manager pro tem Christy Wurster, who was hired Feb. 23 following the Feb. 18 resignation of Ray Towry, who had held the position since November 2016. Per the Sweet Home City Charter, Wurster’s term ended Aug. 22, as “No manager pro tem shall hold his/her position for more than six months. No appointment … shall be consecutively renewed.”
— The council unanimously approved a “consulting transition city manager agreement” with Wurster, who offered her services to Young. The indefinite-term contract won’t extend beyond Oct. 14 and may be discontinued following Young’s first week of regular employment. The contract will pay Wurster $72.12 per hour.
n The council voted unanimously to accept a proposal by West Yost Associates of Lake Oswego to provide engineering services during construction for the Sweet Home Mahler Water Reclamation Facility Phase 1 Improvements Project.
The proposal for Phase 1 is $879,670. A separate proposal will be provided for the second phase. The anticipated total cost of construction support services is approximately $3 million.
— The council voted unanimously to authorize staff to advertise an Electronic Construction Document Control System Software and Support Services request for proposal for the Mahler WRF Improvements Project. Engineering Technician Trish Rice wrote in the request for council action that this would allow the project team to track and process essential project files in a timely fashion to avoid added costs, duration and legal consequences.
The software is anticipated to cost between $50,000 and $100,000 per year.
— The council unanimously approved a legislative amendment updating the city’s development code. Its first reading, which is projected to take seven hours, will take place during a special city council meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 30.
Community and Economic Development Director Blair Larsen said that the city has worked for the last couple of years on an overhaul of the code. The planning commission worked at length to revise it, eventually approving it to go before the city council.
“They reviewed every word,” Larsen said of the planning commission. “We read it all aloud and discussed it. That took approximately a year.”
He added that several modifications and adjustments were made during that time.
The city council originally directed the group to consider changes and updates to the current land-use documents. After auditing the material, a consulting team was hired to prepare a new one. Working with city staff and the planning commission, the result of this effort created a document combining Title 16 (Land Divisions and Lot Adjustments) and Title 17 (Zoning), as well as the Flood Hazard and Historic Resources provisions from Title 15, under a single, unified document, the “City of Sweet Home Development Code.”
Larsen said that the new document uses the current one’s core materials.
“Major changes revolve around the reorganization of material to improve usability for the staff and public and to incorporate recent changes in state law that apply, or will apply, in Sweet Home,” he said.
— The council voted unanimously to authorize the city manager pro tem to sign an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) with the Oregon Department of Transportation’s Transportation and Growth Management Division and the Department of Land Use and Conservation for an update to the city’s Transportation System Plan and a North Sweet Home Area Refinement Plan.
The city’s Transportation System Plan (TSP) is a council-adopted document outlining needed improvements and changes over the next 20 years to accommodate expected growth. It was last updated in 2005, and changes since then necessitate an update, Larsen said.
He added that the transportation system is particularly weak between the railroad and the South Santiam River, an area that includes most of the city’s undeveloped land.
In 2020, the city applied for a grant with the Transportation and Growth Management program, which is administered by ODOT and the Department of Land Conservation and Development. The city was awarded the grant in late 2020, but a series of delays at the state level have prevented the project from progressing until now.
An update to the city’s TSP and a refinement of the land uses in the North Sweet Home area is expected to cost $289,700, most of which would be funded by the grant. The only match required from the city would be 12.95% of the project ($43,100), coming in the form of wages and salaries to city staff working on the project.
— The council unanimously approved an amended version of a proposed intergovernmental agreement from ODOT for the maintenance of the artwork on the latter’s maintenance building at 205 Main St., and the grassy area at the corner of highways 20 and 228.
The city and ODOT previously had an agreement for the maintenance of the ODOT-owned land on the southeast corner of the highways’ intersection, so that the city could maintain its landscaping and various items. That agreement also allowed the city to maintain the mural on the side of the maintenance building. That agreement expired Dec. 31, 2020.
That year, a citizen-led initiative to place a roof over the logger statue on that corner led to a discussion among city staff, the council and ODOT. ODOT suggested that the property be transferred to its adjacent property owner, the East Linn Museum, which would allow modifications to be made without negotiating an intergovernmental agreement with ODOT. This action was agreed upon and is now complete. Most of that corner, including the property where the various artwork stands, is now owned by the museum. Because of these changes, ODOT did not pursue renewing the expired IGA.
However, an agreement was still needed to maintain the mural on the ODOT building and a small remainder of the corner of highways 20 and 228. The city council expressed concern at its June 28 meeting over ODOT’s commitment to maintaining the landscaping in front of the mural at the Sweet Home maintenance station. ODOT has added a provision to the IGA stating that it agrees to do so “in a manner that is free of tall grass and weeds and allows for clear viewing of the mural.”
— The council unanimously approved an add-work agreement to have ODOT’s contractor perform the horizontal relocation of two valves, one water meter and six hydrants for $98,520 in order to facilitate the ODOT U.S. 20 / OR 228 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Curb Ramps project. Actual costs may be lower, in which case ODOT would reimburse the difference.
— Following the July 29 resignation of former Finance Director Brandon Neish, the council voted unanimously to authorize staff to enter into a contract with Matt Brown Consulting of Portland for finance services, with an expiration date of Dec. 31. The services will cost $100 per hour.
— The council voted unanimously to approve a contract with Merina + Co. of Tualatin for services to ensure that the city’s main operation account is reconciled for fiscal year 2021-22 in preparation for the audit.
Lynn said the contract should “help address some staffing shortages in the finance department.”
According to the contract, the employed firm’s services will be billed at its standard hourly rates of $300 for a partner, $225 for a managing consultant, $175 for a senior consultant and $125 for a consultant.