Scott Swanson
City Council members reviewed options for possible changes in management of the city’s Water and Wastewater Treatment facilities at their Sept. 24 meeting.
Public Works Director Greg Springman presented three options for the council to consider: remaining with Jacobs Engineering Group, the current operator; find a new contractor to operate the treatment facilities; or have city staff take over the operations.
The city turned operation of the plants over to CH2M Hill in 2006. Jacobs Engineering Group purchased CH2M Hill in 2017 and now operates the plants. Last March, city staff conducted an audit of the Water Treatment Plant and identified multiple deficiencies. In June, Jacobs requested a 3-percent increase to its annual fee.
The city paid $1.06 million to Jacobs in fiscal year 2018-19, which ended on June 30.
The council rejected the request and asked city staff to look into different options for operating the plants, and city staff formally requested that Jacobs renegotiate the base fee.
Springman offered timelines for each scenario, all ending July 1, 2020, when Jacobs’ current contract will expire.
Councilor Diane Gerson asked how many staff members would be needed if the city were to take over.
Springman answered that it would be six full-timers, costing a little over $1.86 million. The other cost, he said, would be an estimated $90,000 annually for repairs not already included in the budget.
All of the operational staff would need to be trained and certified, he said.
He said he would like to develop a system in which in-house staff could be trained, “kind of like minor leagues.”
“These people are at a premium right now,” Gerson said, adding she was concerned that staff members might jump to other jobs after the city invests in them.
That prompted discussion of what steps could be taken to guarantee staff members would stay for a specified period of time.
City Manager Ray Towry said that nondisclosure clauses are sometimes used in employment contracts, but “courts have ruled there has to be some give and take. If you restrict somebody, there would have to be something they gain.”
He noted that Linn-Benton Community College offers certification training in the areas the city would need staff.
Springman added that there are companies available to provide support as staff are being trained.
Gerson said that while she realized that the takeover process could be complicated, she liked the idea of the city controlling the treatment plants.
Jacobs Regional Manager Brian Helliwell told the council he would make a presentation at its Oct. 8 meeting and that he planned to take them on a tour of the plants.
Mayor Greg Mahler said, “This is a big decision to make. We can’t drag this on forever. It’s important that (Jacobs) have that opportunity to make their presentation.”
In other action, the council:
– Voted 5-2 to approve a supplemental budget for the Building Reserve Fund to cover furniture and signage for the new City Hall.
Despite the fact that cost of the new City Hall exceeded the roughly $1.1 million original estimate by $100,000, the purchase and renovation of the property at 3225 Main St. stretched over two fiscal years and Finance Director Brandon Neish said that, at the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year, $38,833 remained in the city’s Building Reserve Fund, plus an additional $14,703 in interest earnings, for a total of $53,536.
Niesh said the new City Hall has a lobby and three conference rooms, which need furniture because the old City Hall only had one conference room. Plus, signage is needed for the new facility, he said.
Office furniture is needed to replace folding tables currently in use, as well as furniture that does not fit new office space and furniture that “is not industrial” in quality and got damaged during the move from the old City Hall.
Voting in favor were councilors Susan Coleman, Diane Gerson, Lisa Gourley, Mayor Greg Mahler and Dave Trask. James Goble and Cortney Nash voted no.
– Approved city ownership of a wooden carving of two loggers, located in the right-of-way at Main and Holley Road, to comply with Oregon Department of Transportation requirements.
City Engineer Joe Graybill said the project has been “ongoing” for a couple of years and that, due to the proximity of the statue – 50 feet – to Main Street, which puts it under ODOT control.
The art sculpture of two men standing on springboards, using a crosscut saw to cut a tree, was originally made as a fund raiser for the 2018 Boy & Girls Club of the Greater Santiam.
Graybill told the council that because the statue is in ODOT right-of-way, the city needs to commit to its maintenance, which, he said, would likely amount to an annual “treatment” to prevent decay and maintaining the surrounding landscape.
Council members wondered if the individuals who put up the statue a year ago, Mike Melcher, Robin Miller and Bill Horak, could help with the maintenance.
“In my discussions with them, that was kind of the idea,” Towry said.
– Unanimously approved an agreement with the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments for technical services.
Towry said Sweet Home has only used the OWCG services once during his nearly three years with the city, when the city’s computer system was hit by a Trojan virus that 0“almost entirely took over the system. The agreement, which has been in place for five years, will be updated with new hourly rates for services: Technology Service Manager ($115.22), Network Support Specialist ($117.95), Information Support Specialist ($99.14), Workstation Support Specialist ($85.57), and Technology Support Specialist ($77.39).
– Voted 5-2, with Nash and Goble dissenting, to approve an agreement with LBCC for business advising and training services by the college’s Small Business Development Center.
Towry told the council a $2,500 payment to SBDC has already been negotiated and budgeted. The agreement puts the commitment in writing, and outlines the deliverable services that the SBDC will provide, which include one-on-one business advising, and business participation in SBDC structured programs.
City Economic Development Director Blair Larsen told the council that he had met with SBDC representatives to work out the specifics of what LBCC would provide.
Gerson asked how SBDC differs from RAIN, with which the city has a $7,124.76 annual contract to provide economic development consulting services.
Larsen replied that SBDC’s focus is not as heavily on entrepreneurship as RAIN’s. He said SBDC provides business training and assistance to people trying to get businesses off the ground.
“RAIN is more about the culture of entrepreneurship, fostering that,” he said.
– Unanimously approved minor changes in the city’s Limited English Proficiency Plan, which were necessary for the city to receive grant funds from the Oregon Department of Transportation Rural Transit Program (RTP). The RTP funds are used as grant match to assist in funding the Sweet Home Dial A Bus Program operated by the Sweet Home Senior Citizens Inc.
A Title VI plan, adopted by the council in 2015, aims to ensure that no person is excluded from participation in, or denied the benefits of the busing program and services on the basis of race, color, sex, or national origin as protected by Title VI in Federal Transit Administration. The adoption of the revised Title VI plan will bring the City into compliance as a sub-recipient of these Federal Transit Administration funds.
– Voted 6-1, with Nash dissenting, to hold a first reading of the city’s proposed Voice Ordinance, which would add the human voice to the city’s existing noise ordinance to enable police, when warranted, to cite a person as a city violation for making unnecessary noise by human voice which disturbs another person or otherwise violates the provisions of the noise ordinance. The council then voted unanimously to hold a second reading on Oct. 8.
– Unanimously approved a first reading of a proposed ordinance that would allow police to cite a person for urinating or defecating in a public place, with exceptions for restrooms or toilet facilities.
The new ordinance would give police the option of citing a violator as a city code violation (maximum fine $500) or arresting him or her under state public decency law banning the placement of “offensive substances in waters, on highways or other property.”
Council members voted unanimously to hold a second reading on Oct. 8.
– Voted 6-1, with Goble dissenting, to hold a second reading of an ordinance allowing Class IV ATVs may be operated on city streets subject to applicable state laws, with the exception of Highways 20 and 228.
– Voted unanimously to hold a second reading of an ordinance entitled the “Traffic Safety Ordinance,” which would prohibit occupants of vehicles from handing anything to someone outside the vehicle. Councilors voted to hold a third and final reading on Oct. 8.