Sean C. Morgan
As Jim Gourley begins his third year as mayor, he believes the community is headed in a good direction in general, while the city is preparing plans to upgrade the Wastewater Treatment Plant to better accommodate high flows during heavy rains.
The City Council re-elected Gourley as mayor during a special meeting on Jan. 5 to swear in councilors who started new terms on Jan. 1.
Returning councilors are Greg Mahler and Bruce Hobbs. New councilors are Ryan Underwood and Jeff Goodwin.
“We’ve got new council members, and we’re going to need to all work together and come up with some solutions in the next few years,” Gourley said. “I think we’re going down a pretty good path.”
He points to the federal Livability Initiative, which will help provide action plans to improve Sweet Home. A planning workshop is coming up in March.
“I think it’s a big deal to the community,” Gourley said. “You look at yourself and look at how you can make yourself better. I think that’s always good to move in a positive direction.”
Along with the Livability Initiative is the Sweet Home All-Lands Collaborative effort initiated by the Forest Service, he said. It will possibly culminate in a new trail between Sweet Home and the National Forest while providing recreation and tourism opportunities as well as improvements in the ecosystem and economic opportunities through a proposed community forest.
The Quartzville Corridor recreation plans led by Linn County Parks will provide improvements and better access, Gourley said, and that will impact Sweet Home in the next few years.
This year will include more community engagement on the fate of hundreds of acres of Western States Land Reliance Trust property now owned by Linn County, Gourley said. The Sweet Home Economic Development Group, which owns the Oregon Jamboree and operates it as a fund-raising event for economic development projects, is looking at possibilities for developing a portion of the property along the South Santiam River.
“We’re seeing an uptick in residential and commercial project development,” Gourley said. The community added Bi-Mart and 10 to 12 new homes last year.
The city is preparing to begin a sidewalk project between 55th
Avenue and Shea Point soon, Gourley said.
One of the biggest things on the council agenda this year will be the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
“Our council’s going to have to look into what we’re going to do with the Wastewater Treatment Plant, and start going down that path one way or the other,” Gourley said.
The city has reduced inflow and infiltration over the past 15 years by repairing and replacing sewer pipes. At one point a heavy rainstorm could produce flows of up to 22 million gallons per day, while the Treatment Plant could handle 7 million gallons per day.
That forced the plant operators to bypass untreated but highly diluted wastewater into the South Santiam River and face potential fines. After a decade and a half of repairs in the sewer lines, the largest flows are 11.5 million gallons per day.
The city needs to reduce flows or handle another 4.5 million gallons somehow. According to Brown and Caldwell consultants, the best bang for the buck will be improvements and expansion of the treatment system. The price per gallon of reduction in the sewer lines would be higher.
Also coming up, the council will need to look at the City Hall Annex, a manufactured building that is nearly 20 years old and houses the council chamber and Municipal Court, Gourley said. “The annex is near the end of its lifespan. Are we going to upgrade it? Are we going to replace it with something else or do we throw a roof on it and make it last another 20 years?”
Near the end of the year, the city will need to seek renewals for the local option levies funding library and police services, Gourley said. Both levies, which fund operations for the library and police services, expire in 2016.
The council will need to set goals and then head down a path to achieve them, Gourley said. That will be one of the first things the council will do this year.
Gourley is in his second term as mayor. He served previously for two years. He has served continuously on the council since 1992.