Benny Westcott
The Sweet Home City Council last week approved an allocation of $20,000 in support of a Sweet Home Combined Community Leadership Program, which will be run by the Rural Development Initiative (RDI). RDI has customized a combined program that delivers a Sweet Home Community and Youth program concurrently.
RDI has been delivering leadership development programs since 2003 and many in the Sweet Home community have been participants. In 2019, RDI began a program in collaboration with the city for youth, using the same program format that had previously been for adults. Wurster said that 13 Sweet Home students gained valuable skills in the previous year of the program.
In the first year of the Combined Leadership Program, RDI will reach out to community stakeholders in an attempt to get sustainable buy-in for a program, followed by training in the fall.
“This would be modeled similar to the Ford Family Foundation program, and it’s very valuable to the community for collaboration and leadership building,” City Manager Pro Tem Christy Wurster said during the council meeting on Tuesday, June 28.
“One of the things I’ve observed here in my time as city manager pro tem is that there is a lot of relationship building that’s going to need to take place in the coming year. We have a new fire chief in the community, we may have a new school superintendent, we’ll have a new city manager, and we have a relatively new representative at the Chamber of Commerce. This is a council election year, so there’s potentially going to be some change in the council leadership.” She recommended the RDI program as a way to build relationships amidst all of this changeover.
RDI is a regional rural development hub organization working hand in hand with communities to strengthen rural people, places and economies in the Pacific Northwest.
“I believe we need to support our youth,” Mayor Greg Mahler said. “I think this would be a golden opportunity not only to support them, but also to combine that with mentors in our community at the same time.”
Voting in favor of the allocation were Mahler, Dave Trask, Susan Coleman, Diane Gerson and Angelita Sanchez. Councilors Dylan Richards and Lisa Gourley were not present at the meeting.
In other action, the council tabled discussion of an intergovernmental agreement submitted by ODOT that would ensure that a mural would continue to be present on the ODOT-owned Sweet Home Maintenance Station on the corner of Highway 20 and 1st Avenue. Any required work on that mural would be up to the city. The proposed agreement also specified that the city would ensure that the grassy area adjacent to the artwork, at that corner would be mowed.
“I have a problem with this, because I’m concerned about maintaining the mural,” Gerson said. “It’s been there a long time and is going to need some maintenance. We don’t maintain the murals for any other business in town; we don’t have a policy regarding this kind of thing, and we don’t have any money in the budget to maintain the mural.”
Councilors desired that city staff clarify that the agreement only includes the Sweet Home Maintenance Station mural and not others, and ask for a commitment from ODOT to maintain the landscaping underneath the mural.
Also during the meeting, Allen Cripe was sworn in as the Sweet Home Police Department’s newest officer. Cripe grew up in Michigan and Florida, graduating high school and playing college baseball in the latter state. After school he served in the United States Marine Corps.
Cripe moved to Sweet Home recently with his wife Emily to be closer to some of Emily’s family that lives in the area.
“We’ve been working really diligently to replenish our ranks that we’ve lost over the last few years,” Sweet Home Police Chief Jeff Lynn said. “We’re extremely excited to have Allen on our staff. We really look for the character of the person, and then hopefully we can make them into police officers, which I’m sure we absolutely can in this case.”
He said to Cripe “I think you’ll fit in fantastic with our department and the culture and values of our community.”
In other action, councilors:
— Voted unanimously, with Mahler abstaining, to name Sweet Home’s wastewater treatment facility the Mahler Water Reclamation Facility.
The Mahler family has had a five-decade association with the city. Businessman John Mahler first arrived from Los Angeles in 1971, purchasing Hoy’s Hardware, a local institution since 1939, that year. He also served on the City Council from 1973 to 1978, during the current plant’s construction, and his name is featured on a plaque in the operations building entryway.
His son Greg Mahler is Sweet Home’s current mayor, elected in 2017 after multiple council stints, first from November 1993 to December 1994, then returning in 2008. Greg Mahler is also a longtime volunteer with the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance District since 1987 and operates the longtime family business, now known as Hoy’s Hardware and Home Improvement Center.
Wurster noted that the resolution met all of the city’s criteria for naming public facilities.
Public Works Director Greg Springman and his team submitted the naming proposal in honor of the Mahler family and the work that they have done for the Sweet Home community over several years, both in service to the city and fire district, Wurster said.
“On behalf of my family, thank you,” Mahler said after the vote, from which he abstained.
n Voted to add language to the city’s Personnel Policies that states that “from time to time staff may receive, as a benefit of employment or service, safety incentives, tickets, or admission to various community events, including but not limited to, the City of Sweet Home Chamber Banquet, the Sweet Home Fire and Ambulance Awards Banquet, the Sweet Home Boys and Girls Auction, the Linn County Fair, or other events as part of their official compensation package.”
— Unanimously passed a transfer of appropriations resolution to amend the budget for 2022 in multiple departments.
The transfer moves $20,000 from the Contingency line in the General Fund to the Economic Development line within the Community and Economic Development Department.
Finance Director Brandon Neish said the reason for the move “is to cover some economic development expenditures that arose during the year that were not planned, initially.”
A total of $16,500 was reallocated from the Contingency line in the Internal Service Fund to a non-departmental personnel account to cover employee premiums per the AFSCME collective bargaining agreement.
A total of $58,341 was moved from the Internal Service Fund’s Contingency line to the fund’s Staff Pay line to cover the cost of hiring a city manager pro tem and the cost of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) premiums that were distributed to staff after city council action in August 2021.
Additionally, $5,235 was moved from the Contingency line to the Public Works’ department’s Staff Pay line to cover the ARPA premium for one employee in that department.
In the Wastewater Fund, $199,107 was added to the Debt Service – Principal line and $50,892 was added to the Debt Service – Interest line to cover debt service payments for the fiscal year, after one loan was not included in the initial budget plan. The money being added to the two lines is coming from the Transfer Out for Capital and Contingency lines.
In the Street Improvement Fund, $50,000 is being added to the Construction line and another $50,000 is being added to the Transfer Out for Capital line. The funds are being taken out of the Transfer In for Capital and Staff Pay lines.
Neish explained that $251,000 was budgeted for fiscal year 2022 in the Street Improvement Fund for the purpose of contributing toward construction of a new sidewalk along Main Street between 55th and 60th avenues. The city applied for this project in 2014-15 and successfully lobbied for it to be added to the State Transportation Improvement Program plan.
“Fast forward to 2022, and costs are significantly higher than previous estimates,” Neish said.
The City Council approved an amended contract in October 2021 and agreed to providing the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) additional funding.
“With the project currently ongoing and cost overruns to be paid by the city, staff has proposed a $50,000 adjustment to ensure there is funding for last minute changes from ODOT,” Neish said.
n Voted unanimously to authorize a supplemental budget covering unplanned expenditures for the 2022 fiscal year.
In the General Fund, $10,225 was added to the Federal Operating Grant revenue line, and the same amount was added to a Staff Pay line.
Neish said that the adjustment is necessary for Community and Economic Development to budget for revenue received from the federal government through the State of Oregon.
“In August 2021, the city council voted to approve the distribution of ARPA funds for the purpose of COVID-19 premium pay,” Neish said. “While some budget lines have been able to absorb the costs in their existing expenditure allocations, Community and Economic Development was unable to do so.”
In the Internal Service Fund, multiple adjustments were made for “unanticipated expenditures,” Neish said.
A total of $27,473 was budgeted to cover COVID-19 premium pay that will be distributed in the city’s Executive and Public Works departments. Subsequently for Public Works, additional expenditures related to premium pay for work functions require reimbursement funds of $23,492 from other Public Works funds to cover the cost of administrative expenses, Neish said.
The supplemental budget also includes an increase in $30,000 in the Finance Department to cover potential expenditures for legal and consulting needs. To offset this increase, the Internal Service Fund has received additional revenue, also $30,000, in natural gas franchise fees.
In the city’s Path Program fund, which is used for path and sidewalk development within the city, the supplemental budget contains a revenue increase of $500,000 and appropriations to match, Neish said.
He explained that in May 2022, the city received funding from the State of Oregon to be used to construct an improved crosswalk at the intersection of 22nd Avenue and Main Street.
“Staff is awaiting documents from ODOT to send the funds to them for the construction during sidewalk improvements that are ongoing, and is proposing this adjustment in case ODOT requests the funds in the remainder of the fiscal year,” Neish said.
In the Public Transit Fund, the supplemental budget increases revenue and expense by $225,000 to “ensure continued support for the Linn Shuttle program without violating local budget law,” Neish said. The added money covers additional grant revenue the Linn Shuttle was able to obtain during the 2022 fiscal year, as the organization was able to take advantage of grant funds related to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) and ARPA.
Lastly, the supplemental budget commits additional grant revenue of $342,000 distributed during the pandemic into the Economic Development Fund, which was the placeholder for funds received for the distribution of money and personal protection equipment for local businesses.
Neish said that the adjustment budgets this revenue to keep the fund in the black for budget law purposes.
After authorizing the supplemental budget, council voted to adopt a budget for fiscal year 2022-23, making appropriations and levying taxes.
— Voted to award cost-of-living adjustments to city non-represented employees.
The cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is 3.25% for the 2023 fiscal year.
This increase exceeds the 3% amount proposed during the budget process, and no changes were made to personnel budgets for the 2023 fiscal year to support the additional increase.
— Unanimously voted to receive State Revenue Sharing funds in 2022-23, as required by ORS 221.770. It also voted to certify the city provides four or more services, as required by Oregon law to receive said funds.
— Voted to certify that the city complies with sections of the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) related to marijuana production, processing, wholesale and retail sales.
— Voted to authorize Wurster to appoint a municipal maintenance worker to fill a current vacancy.