Sean C. Morgan
The Sweet Home City Council appointed James Goble to fill a vacancy left by the resignation of Marybeth Angulo last week.
Angulo resigned from the council on March 8.
While discussing how the council might go about filling the position during its regular meeting on March 22, Councilor Bruce Hobbs noted that the election came down to a tie between him and Goble, who was present in the audience during the meeting.
Councilor Jeff Goodwin, who finished 12 votes ahead of Hobbs and Goble in the 2014 election, asked whether the council could simply appoint Goble.
“Can we do that?” asked Councilor Dave Trask.
Certainly, replied City Manager Craig Martin. The council also could hold off filling the position, which is up for election in November. The council’s done that before with short-term vacancies before an election.
Most typically, the council goes through an application process, but the previous election was not typical. With the tie between Hobbs and Goble, a series of coin tosses decided the election.
Goble continued his involvement with the city as a member of the Planning Commission. In February, he was elected chairman of the Planning Commission, succeeding Henry Wolthuis.
“Are you interested in the position?” Mayor Jim Gourley asked Goble, who nodded assent.
The council voted 6-0 to appoint Goble.
The council will swear Goble in at its next regular meeting, April 12.
In other business:
n Gourley read a proclamation declaring April Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month. A pinwheel garden planting event is scheduled for noon on April 8 at the Sweet Home Police Department as part of the month’s events.
n Approved a contract with ECONorthwest to develop an economic opportunity analysis for the City of Sweet Home.
The cost is $30,000, funded by a grant awarded by the Department of Land Conservation and Development.
Additional expenditures will include staff time and incidental costs associated with the development of materials necessary for public outreach events and project advisory meetings, said Planning Services Manager Laura LaRoque.
ECONorthwest was lowest bidder meeting the requirements and within the anticipated budget for the proposal, she said. The firm is the same one that conducted the economic opportunity analysis for Sweet Home in 2001.
The second bidder was E.D. Hovee and Company, LLC.
LaRoque expects the project to be complete by the end of March 2017.
n The council approved a temporary street closure during the Sweet Home High School’s Senior Alcohol-Free Entertainment party fund-raising event, the Super Hero Challenge, to be held at Sankey Park on April 30. (See photo on page 2.)
Fourteenth Avenue will be closed from Elm Street to Kalmia Street between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., during the event.
The committee preparing for the event anticipates several hundred participants and spectators in addition to many volunteers setting up the event area, said Finance Director Pat Gray, who is involved in organizing the event.
Through traffic will have to use alternate routes. Participants will be instructed to park in parking lots nearby and along the streets around 14th Avenue but not on 14th Avenue. Disabled participants and spectators will be allowed to park at Sankey Park.
The closure will allow participants an area to warm up and reduce safety issues associated with pedestrians and vehicles, Gray said.
Door hangers will be left at homes along 14th, Hawthorne, Grape and Fir streets informing residents of the event and the closure, Gray said.
Traffic will be allowed along Hawthorne, Grape and Fir streets, she said.
n Trask reported that the Traffic Safety Committee is requesting that Oregon Department of Transportation initiate a traffic study and decrease the speed limit from 19th Avenue to 24th Avenue from 35 mph to 25 mph, citing the construction of Bi-Mart and the use of crosswalks in the area.
If the city cannot do anything else, Goodwin said, then he suggested making crosswalks more visible.
Trask said residents of the apartments on the north side of the 2400 block of Main Street run across the road to Circle K there.
Police Chief Jeff Lynn said the city could ask for additional markings.
Councilor Greg Mahler suggested graduating the speed going up hill to the east, reducing the speed from 45 mph to 35 mph.