Benny Westcott
Mask mandates and homeless camps were two major topics of discussion during the Tuesday, Aug. 10, meeting of the Sweet Home City Council.
“I’m concerned about the mask mandate that’s being handed down soon,” said Lori Martin, a Brownsville resident who works in Sweet Home, told the council. “I would like to know if there’s a way we can have a discussion about that, or a town meeting or something, to see what we can do, because the people of Sweet Home do not want this.”
Mayor Greg Mahler replied that the council would host a town hall in the near future to allow citizens to speak, as well as to explain everything it considers before adopting a resolution.
“Every citizen has a right to come before council to be heard,” he said. “We never reject anybody, unless they get out of line. Then, that’s a different story. But we allow all our citizens to communicate their feelings, opinions and positions. And we greatly appreciate that. Because we want to know what our citizens want.
“On the city level, we are working on a resolution that is going to put out our position regarding the mask mandate,” Mahler added. “We are very cautious on our resolution, because it involves way beyond just the city. It involves a lot of what we do in the community as a whole from the state level. There’s so much involved in what we do, that we cannot let emotions dictate our decisions.”
City Manager Ray Towry said, “Regardless of what one’s personal feelings are on the mask mandate, every legal scholar is in agreement, including the state Republican party, that these mandates are legal and lawful. Does that make them right? Every individual is going to have a slightly different take on that.
“The good thing is, as a city, we have no power over any type of enforcement,” he continued. “And we have said from the very beginning that the city does not enforce any kind of mask mandates. The governor (Kate Brown) has empowered other entities to do that, but not the city.
“So we’ve taken the stance from Day One, for lack of a better term, that it’s not really our business. It’s not what we do, it’s not what we’re supposed to do. But are we going to try to educate when we run into these situations? Absolutely. Are we concerned about public health? Absolutely. But we are not empowered in any way to do any kind of enforcement regarding the mask mandate.”
“I think we just need to have a discussion on it,” Councilor Dylan Richards said. “Let’s be honest: It doesn’t feel like the council is doing anything. And I get people who come to me very frustrated with what’s going on. And it doesn’t feel like we care, as a body. I think that I’m seeing more and more of that.”
Mahler replied, “Councilor Richards is out of line by making a statement that we don’t care as a council. That is not true. I personally have made efforts in trying to take care of this mask mandate. There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that a lot of citizens are not aware of, that have major repercussions to our community and our citizens. If he gets his facts straight, he would understand that.”
He added, “If we make one wrong decision as a council regarding a lot of things that go on in Salem, it could be very detrimental to our community.”
Homeless camp
Sweet Home resident Vince Adams expressed concerns about early plans for a homeless camp.
The Community Health Committee, which includes several citizens and Councilor Lisa Gourley, has met at City Hall over the past few months to discuss building a staffed “sleep center” near Bi-Mart that would provide housing and access to social services for the city’s homeless population. The group plans to present a blueprint of the center to the council for its consideration at an upcoming meeting.
“I’ve gotten wind of some homeless-camp stuff in the planning that will be happening here,” Adams said. “I want City Council to know that everybody I’ve talked to is totally against it.
“One of the reasons is the size of it, and from what I understood it’s going to be within city limits. It’s going to attract (them) like flies,” he continued. “And it’s going to exacerbate the problem that we have now.
“We don’t need something that big, and we don’t need something paid for with our taxpayer dollars. It needs to be done somewhere else, outside of the city limits, and not with my tax dollars. My tax dollars should be used for paying police department salaries, and infrastructure within the city, streets, plumbing, water – those types of things.”
“Some of these people are down and out,” he said of the homeless community. “They get the handout, and they move on. But the majority of them do not do that. You take away their dignity by giving them the handout, if you don’t receive something in return.”
Mahler replied, “I think we have a homeless problem in our community, and we are looking at all of our avenues and options available to us to address this problem.”
In other action:
– Towry swore in a new police officer to the Sweet Home Police Department, Savannah Brad, who comes out of Salem.
– The council voted unanimously to pay all city employees 5% of their 2020-2021 base salary in a lump sum on their August 2021 paychecks.
“I think we are all aware that our staff worked really hard through COVID and through the fire season. They have just gone above and beyond the call of duty. It’s incredible what they’ve been doing,” Gourley said.
– The council voted unanimously to award a contract to Knife River execute the 2021 Overlay Paving Project Phase 2. The engineer’s estimate for the project was $593,000, and Knife River was the lowest bidder at $559,000. Councilor Angelita Sanchez abstained from the vote due to a conflict of interest.
– The council voted unanimously to authorize the city manager to sign a land exchange agreement with Reliable Welding, Inc. (2324 Main St.) to expand 24th Avenue from the current 42-foot right-of-way to an 82-foot right-of-way. City staff deemed the expansion necessary to provide more access to the county-owned former Weyerhaeuser Mill site north of the city-owned property beyond.
As explanation for the expansion, the council action request stated, “The former Weyerhaeuser mill site currently owned by Linn County has long been vacant, and many efforts have been and continue to be made to redevelop the property. One of the weaknesses of the property is that the current access off Tamarack Street is small and inadequate for large-scale redevelopment.”
– The council voted 5-2 to purchase new ultrasonic water meters in the current fiscal year, replacing all of the older model meters, using an interfund loan. Councilors Richards and Sanchez cast the dissenting votes.
The city currently has approximately 3,500 meters providing water service to residences, businesses and other buildings and purposes. The existing units are sensus meters, which contain moving parts and have an expected lifespan of 10 years.
For the past year and a half, city staff has slowly been transitioning to ultrasonic water meters, which better identify leaks across the city’s water distribution system, log additional data for customers and better record low-flow water usage. The ultrasonic meters also have an expected lifespan of 20 years.