Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home voters will decide whether to approve revisions to the Sweet Home City Charter, the city’s governing document, in the Nov. 4 election.
Voters in east Linn County will also be asked to decide on a $34 million bond measure for Linn-Benton Community College, which would fund instructional buildings and space, parking and “major maintenance.” Also up for election are three county officials who are running unopposed.
Linn County will mail the ballots to voters on Oct. 15.
In 2014, the Sweet Home City Council made the revisions a goal after former Councilor Scott McKee Jr. suggested it, said City Manager Craig Martin, primarily based on the existence of a 1992 amendment prohibiting minority status for homosexuality that has since been ruled unconstitutional by courts.
“They assigned a committee,” Martin said. “The committee chose to look at the whole charter, front to back.”
Among the revisions, the new charter eliminates obsolete amendments, including the 1992 amendment and others added from the 1940s to 1970s, when the city passed bond measures.
The proposed changes include minor language changes and various tweaks to bring the charter in line with current law. References to various city offices would become gender neutral.
The revisions clarify council voting procedures and quorums so that they are consistent throughout the document.
The revisions also remove a requirement for voters to approve debt, instead holding the city to debt limits imposed by state law.
The election does not cost the city any money directly, but the city has incurred some expenses in publishing required legal notices under state election laws.
The LBCC bond measure, approved in June by the college’s Board of Education, will finance a number of projects, including a health care occupations center in Lebanon and the second and third phases of construction of the Advanced Transportation Technology Center in Lebanon.
It will also fund improvements to existing buildings on the Albany campus and a planned expansion of the Benton Center in Corvallis.
Though college officials are prohibited by state elections law from advocating for or against the bond, a political action committee, LBCC For The Community, was formed last spring to work in support of the bond measure.
If approved by voters, the $34 million general-obligation bond measure would replace a $19 million, 15-year bond measure that voters passed in 2000, which will expire in 2016.
The bond will help meet a total project cost estimated at $41.05 million, of which the state has already allocated $8 million in matching funds and the college will fund-raise an additional $3.1 million.
If approved, the bond would raise an amount not to exceed $34 million, according to the PAC. The estimated property tax would be 18 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation, or approximately $36 per year on a home with an assessed value of $200,000 – approximately the same tax rate of the bond measure it would replace, according to current market information from investment bank Piper Jaffray, which underwrites public bonds.
Specifically, the measure would fund:
n Job training modernization, expansion and maintenance at the Albany campus, through the repurposing (not new construction) of 92,000 square feet of building space at a cost of $12 million.
According to information provided by the PAC, LBCC is aiming to double its capacity to provide job-training to fill needs for welding, machine tool and advanced manufacturing in local industry.
n Advanced Transportation Technology Center Phases II and III. These phases would add 37,000 square feet to the ATTC in Lebanon at a cost of $5.7 million ($2 million from bond funds and $3.7 million from other fund-raising.
Phase I of the Advanced Transportation Technology Center, which opened in 2013, addresses the training needs of automobile mechanics to work on both traditional and alternative fuel passenger vehicles. It was built with $6.7 million, which was a combination of $3.6 million of state, local and federal funds in addition to $3.1 million of private funds from individuals and industry.
Phases II and Ill will add the facilities for diesel/heavy equipment mechanics, and also provide the space to provide training in alternative fuel for mechanics already working in the community.
“When we look at repurposing the college, right now there’s a shortage in semi-technical fields, such as welding and engineering, where they can combine a mechanical background with a computer background,” said Doris Johnston, president of the LBCC Foundation and chair of the PAC. “We don’t have people to step into those. We can offer the students the classes the community is saying it needs.”
n A 40,000-square-foot Health Care Training Center proposed for the Samaritan Health Systems Campus in Lebanon, across Highway 20 from Samaritan Lebanon Community Hospital.
The $16.05 million facility would be funded with $8.05 million in bond funds and an $8 million state match, if the community approves the bond.
According to information provided by the PAC, the center would house nursing and allied health programs under one roof. It would bring all healthcare programs into one learning space and provide greater opportunity for collaboration between programs, sharing of resources, and creation of realistic learning experience to better prepare students for their careers.
“This will bring all the healthcare fields together under one roof,” Johnston said. “Hopefully, we’ll be able to build the center there on the Samaritan campus.”
n Corvallis classroom expansion and parking at the LBCC Benton Center.
The Corvallis branch of the college is short on classroom and parking, particularly with the growth of participation in LBCC’s partnership with Oregon State University, which allows students to take classes at both schools at the same time. This $8 million project would create 20,000 square feet of new classroom space and 300 additional parking spaces.
Also on the ballot, running unopposed for re-election, are Linn County Commissioner John Lindsey, County Clerk Steve Druckenmiller and Sheriff Bruce Riley.
Tuesday, Oct. 14, is the last day for new voter registration. Registered Oregon voters who have moved without updating their registration information have until 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4, to update, receive a ballot and vote.
Ballot drop boxes will be located at Sweet Home Police Department, 1950 Main St., and at City Hall, 1140 12th Ave.
Visit co.linn.or.us/elections for further information about registering and elections.