Increased brake lights will be the future for 1st Avenue as the City Council on Tuesday, May 27, officially approved “traffic speed humps for the stretch of the street between Highways 20 and 228.
All seven council members voted unanimously to approve a staff proposal to follow a recommendation from the Dyer Partnership, one of the city’s engineers of record.
City Manager/Police Chief Jason Ogden noted that the council last August approved installation of temporary speed tables along 1st Avenue.
At the May 13 council meeting, councilors received six possible temporary options proposed options from Dyer: speed humps, offset speed humps, and speed cushions that either would be temporary modular rubber or asphalt installations. Dyer proposed that the modular options could be installed for a six-month trial period.
Councilors on May 13 decided that the city should simply install permanent speed humps and that, at an estimated $8,400 – before engineering and installation costs, asphalt was a much cheaper option.
Ogden said that funding would come from the city’s Transportation Fund or General Fund.
According to Dyer’s recommendation, each speed hump is expected to slow traffic to 15 to 20 mph. Four humps will be spaced about 250 feet apart so as not to conflict with driveways or utilities, according to the consultants’ proposal.
Council Member Chelsea Augsburger recalled that parking on 1st Avenue was at one time limited to one side of the street and she asked “why that went away.”
City Attorney Blair Larsen said the move to allow parking on both sides was an effort at “traffic calming.”
“By making the travel lanes narrower, it makes you feel more claustrophobic as you’re driving down that street, which theoretically would slow people down,” he said. “Obviously, it didn’t have quite the effect that people hoped it would.”
Frank Gallagher, chair of the Traffic Safety Committee and a longtime 1st Avenue resident, thanked the council and staff on behalf of himself and other residents of the street “for stepping up and approving traffic calming devices for 1st Avenue.”
“Not only will it make our street safer, but it will improve the quality of life for every resident and their families,” he said. “Thank you all again. I really appreciate it.”
Councilors also held a first reading of an ordinance that would renew a 10-year franchise agreement with Pacific Power.
Ogden said the current agreement with the company will expire in September of this year and the proposed ordinance is largely identical
The city would receive a franchise fee of 5% of the gross revenues the company derives from within the city limits, which is the same as the current agreement, and is non-exclusive, meaning the city is not prevented from allowing other electrical utility providers, “should that opportunity arise,” Ogden said.
The agreement also would continue to ensure that Pacific Power would cover the costs of damage or disruption caused by its activities in the public right of way, and protects the city from responsibility for any damages, injury or death caused by the company’s activities.
In response to a question from Councilor Angelita Sanchez about the amount of the franchise fee, Ogden said he did some online research and “did find that 5% seemed to be the standard rate for cities that worked with Pac Power.”
“I couldn’t find any that were higher than 5%.”
The council also approved a second reading, by title only, and unanimously agreed to conduct a third reading on June 10.
Councilors also approved, with Sanchez the lone “no” vote, the finalization of an ordinance regulating camping within the city, which is intended to “bring the city into compliance with state law” while continuing the Family Assistance and Resource Center group facility on 24th Avenue and the camping site next to the police station, to which people camping on public property anywhere else in the city are directed.
The ordinance bans camping “on any public property or public right-of-way if the person has access to reasonable alternate shelter , has means to acquire reasonable alternate shelter, or has otherwise been offered, rejected and/or been disqualified from reasonable alternate shelter.”
Permitted camping, such as at the police station, is limited to 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. and must be on public property designated for that purpose by the city manager when no alternative shelter is available.
In his report as police chief, Ogden told councilors that the police department is still short two sworn positions following the hiring of Tylier Mendenhall, who was sworn in at the council’s May 13 meeting and who is now in the police academy. Ogden said.
“He will probably be out on his own sometime towards the end of the year,” said Ogden, adding that “we are actively recruiting” to fill the vacancies.
He said the traffic enforcement officer has been moved to patrol “just for coverage.”
Ogden also reported that the department saw a 24% increase in calls for service during March, which was 22% over the first three months of the year as a whole. Person crimes were up
“a whopping 83%” and property crimes were up 52%.
“I’m not sure why, but the best guess is that with the weather warming up, people are out, going about, and there’s just more calls we respond to,” he said.
He noted that traffic citations were down, but attributed that to the fact that the traffic enforcement officer is working patrol shifts.
Ogden thanked Sweet Home voters for passing the police and library levies.
“I think it’s entirely appropriate to appreciate the trust that’s been put into all the hard work that the staff does at the library and the police department,” he said. “We really try hard as a city government to serve the people the best we can and to give them high-quality customer service, and I think that is reflected in those numbers.”
Sanchez also thanked voters for their support.
“I wish the voter turnout was a little bit higher than it was, but that’s usually what happens for special districts,” she said. “However, overwhelming support for the police department and the library, and I’m really grateful for that, and probably the first time ever – or the rumor is least 100 years – that we’ll have an opportunity to vote for our mayor. I’m pretty happy about that as well.”
In other action:
- Ogden reported that the city is seeking historical designation for Weddle Bridge, a “step-by-step process” that is expected to take more than a year, he said.
- Agreed by consensus to pursue a proposal by Councilor Dylan Richards to “get rid of the fluoride system.” The matter will be put on an agenda for a future meeting, Mayor Susan Coleman.