Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council adopted six goals for 2012 during its regular meeting on Feb. 28.
The goals focus heavily on meeting needs of local youth and providing police and library services to the community.
The council met in three sessions with the help of facilitator John Morgan to develop its list of objectives.
The list includes specific goals and identifiable activities that are based on those discussions, said City Manager Craig Martin. “They become guiding activities and efforts for the city at least through the next fiscal year.”
Martin will report back to the council quarterly on how the city is doing with the list, he said. There are already some activities under way, and he will report on them this month.
The goals include the following:
n Explore stronger partnerships with the School District and community schools, which includes finding ways to create opportunities for youth and exploring collaboration opportunities to include the use of the city library as an alternate venue for education.
n Explore options for providing police and library services in light of inadequate revenue to maintain desired levels of service, including the creation of organizational stability within the department and initiating a process to identify and analyze options, develop an implementation strategy and implement the strategy.
This was adopted as two separate goals.
n Facilitate the development of a new Sweet Home Community Strategic Plan.
n Continue infrastructure improvements for regulatory compliance and economic development, including developing a strategy to achieve compliance with applicable rules and law, referring specifically to the city’s wastewater system; identifying funding to implement the strategy; and preparing to do what is necessary to get the job done.
n Enhance our culture of quality customer service programs. The city will conduct customer service surveys to achieve this goal.
The goals also include three specific projects.
Among them is preserving and protecting Weddle Bridge and completing the Hobart Management Plan to govern the development of Hobart Nature Preserve, a park located at the south end of 35th Avenue.
The council also plans to create a technology plan to increase the efficiency of city operations by maintaining software, training and support and keeping them current and by exploring the use of technology to make council operations more efficient while cutting paper and printing costs.
Present at the meeting were councilors Marybeth Angulo, Mayor Craig Fentiman, Jim Gourley, Greg Mahler, Scott McKee Jr. and Ron Rodgers. Mike Hall was absent.
In other business, the council:
n Declared a 2005 and a 2008 Chevrolet Impala surplus. The vehicles have odometer readings of 139,000 and 94,000 respectively. Both were patrol vehicles, and they will be auctioned.
n Appointed Alexander Seitz to an at-large position on the Youth Advisory Council. One junior high at-large position remains open. Call (541) 367-8969 for information.
n Appointed Andrew Allen to the Budget Committee. His term expires on Feb. 28, 2015. No positions remain open on the committee.
n Appointed Andrew Allen to the Parks Board. His term expires on Nov. 22. No positions remain open on the board.
n Held the third reading and adopted an ordinance granting a franchise to Comcast for operation of a cable system.