Sean C. Morgan
The city Park and Tree Commission has reached its fund-raising goal of $132,000 to match a $243,000 grant the city will use to make substantial improvements to lower Sankey Park in the coming year.
As of Monday, the city had raised $133,191 toward the project through in-kind donations, cash, pledges and contributions. That included $26,150 in cash donations. The city contributed $22,891 cash and $75,100 of in-kind labor in addition to the $30,000 it had already budgeted toward the total match requirement – $162,000. Community members pledged 4,050, and Cascade Timber Consulting provided $5,000 of in-kind materials.
The project total is $405,000.
The Sweet Home City Council in February directed staff to prepare and submit the grant application, and then during its regular meeting on March 26, the council adopted a resolution authorizing the application.
Voting to adopt the resolution were Cortney Nash, Susan Coleman, Lisa Gourley, Mayor Greg Mahler, Diane Gerson, James Goble and Dave Trask.
The project will replace aging playground equipment with new accessible equipment, construct approximately 2,000 feet of paved and natural trails, and include lighting along paths, a historic Weddle Bridge plaza, tables, benches, bike racks and signage in lower Sankey park.
The plan is based on community feedback gathered in 2016 when the University of Oregon’s Community Service Center provided planning and technical assistance for a new vision at Sankey Park, 877 14th Ave., said city Associate Planner Angela Clegg said in a request for council action.
“Sankey Park has been an iconic public space for generations of Sweet Home residents. The park’s central location makes it readily accessible to members of the Sweet Home community and visitors of all demographics.”
While the park provides opportunities for recreation and access to green space in the heart of downtown, Clegg said, “this comes with serious concerns of inappropriate park use and poor stewardship by park visitors. Longtime residents share fond memories of the site while simultaneously noting concerns about the disrepair of current facilities.
“Issues of loitering and illegal behavior have caused concerns for residents who are apprehensive about bringing children, family members and visitors to the space.”
The city began implementing the Sankey Park Concept Plan in 2018, including the removal of a manufactured home, tree thinning, parking lot improvements, a new restroom and a new paved path.
City staff and the Park and Tree Committee created a seven-year grant plan using a capital improvement plan created by Staff Engineer Joe Graybill to plan future projects.
The list of specific projects is prioritized. The city will carry out plans based on the level of funding it receives for the poject.
In order of priority, the project will provide all new playground equipment for one playground at a cost of $120,000. A second playground will receive $30,000 in upgrades.
The third and fourth priorities are new pathways, lighting and bollards – short, sturdy vertical posts – at a cost $200,000.
Fifth is the Weddle Bridge Plaza at a cost of $30,000. The area in front of Weddle Bridge on the old gravel parking lot will receive a hard surface.
The sixth priority includes tables and benches at a cost of $20,000.
Seventh, the project would install bike racks and signs at a cost of $5,000.
Friday was the deadline to donate. The deadline to file the application was April 1.
Additional improvements, including those in Upper Sankey, are scheduled for later phases.
In other business, the council:
n Approved a plan of action and amendment to the city’s supplemental budget policy addressing issues in the city’s annual budget audit.
The audit found deficit fund balances, said Finance Director Brandon Neish, and state law requires the city to address the deficiencies.
In the General Fund, general government and the Finance Department were overspent by $53 and $394 respectively. Capital outlays in the Public Safety Fund was overspent by $59,403. The operations category in the Special Events Fund was overspent by $4,210, and the Community Center fund balance finished with a deficit of $772.
The overage in general government was caused by spending on training, Neish said. The budgeted amount for travel and training was $1,500, and the city spent $2,704, mostly offsetting the overage in other line items.
The overage in the Finance Department was cause by adjustments made after the fiscal year, 2017-18 was closed, related to personnel expenses, Neish said. The city had to pay retirement costs for the previous finance director. Those were not budgeted. Contingencies usually cover them but were insufficient to completely cover the additional costs.
The overage in the Public Safety Fund’s capital outlays was caused by how a patrol car was budgeted, Neish said. The city purchased an additional patrol car in an effort to return to a normal replacement cycle.
Using a lease, the expense falls under materials and services, Neish said, but because the city purchases the vehicles at the end of a lease, the expense really belongs in capital outlays. Counting it this way caused the overage in capital outlays. The materials and services categories were under-spent by $185,004.
The Special Events Fund had additional spending on events like the Zombie Zoup Run and the Sweetheart Run, above budgeted figures, Neish said, but they also generated funds to match the expenses. No additional expenditure authority was granted to spend the additional revenues.
The overage in the Community Center fund was caused by a current billing practice, Neish said. The Senior Center and the Boys and Girls Club are billed based on a flat rate established during budget development. Additional expenditures in the fund, coupled with revenues that were less than expenses, resulted in a fund deficit.
The billing practice will need to change to allow the city to charge actual costs, Neish said.
To address the deficiencies, the council passed a resolution adding the following text to the city’s financial policy: “All expenditures by the city occurring within a fiscal year shall by authorized by the adopted budget of the city or by a supplemental budget resolution adopted prior to the end of the fiscal year. Expenditures exceeding authorized amounts occurring near the end of a fiscal year that are necessary due to emergency conditions and where there is insufficient time to complete supplemental budget procedures and which are authorized by the city manager shall be exempt from this requirement.”
The city uses the supplemental budget process at the end of the fiscal year to recognize revenues and expenditures that were not budgeted. While it has been a practice, Neish said, it has not been adopted as part of the city’s finance policy.
The supplemental budget process was used to recognize one change to the 2017-18 budget prior to the end of that budget year, Neish said, but the other issues were not caught at that point.
Over-expended funds that could not be covered by other line items, including the training and travel expenses and the Community Center Fund, are carried forward and addressed in a subsequent budget, Neish said.
The resolution requires the finance director to present a quarterly report to the council outlining the budget status of all city funds and proposing any necessary transfer authorizations or supplemental budgets as needed.
– Heard the mayor declare April Child Abuse Prevention Month.
– Requested additional information about an agreement with Comcast to provide fiber optic Internet service to city facilities. The agreement would last five years except for Public Works, where it would be for three years, allowing the city the flexibility to move Public Works if it chooses to.
Mahler said he preferred the entire agreement be for three years, but Neish and City Manager Ray Towry said it would likely cost the city more up front for the fiber optic service. Gourley was concerned about the idea of moving Public Works and wanted further discussion about that idea.
The monthly cost would increase by $1,500, according to Neish. The city currently pays $2,000 per month.
He said the city also reached out to CenturyLink and Peak for quotes. Peak did not respond, and CenturyLink was more expensive.
– Approved updates to the city’s Total Maximum Daily Load Implementation Plan. TMDL defines the amount of a pollutant that can be present in a water body without exceeding water quality criteria. The plan is updated every five years.
– Authorized the city to post a request for proposals to solicit a new city engineer of record following the retirement of the previous city engineer, Erwin Consulting Engineering of Lebanon.