Sean C. Morgan
Sweet Home voters will decide on Nov. 4 whether or not to revise the city charter.
The City Council voted 5-0 to send proposed revisions to voters during its regular meeting on Aug. 26.
The council appointed a charter review committee early this year to review and recommend changes to the current charter, said City Manager Craig Martin.
The committee, including three citizens, two past councilors and two current councilors, met three times to create a draft of recommended revisions.
Changes to the charter must be approved by a majority vote of Sweet Home citizens, Martin said.
The proposed changes include minor language changes and various tweaks to bring the charter in line with current law.
Among them, references to various positions will become gender neutral if voters approve. Amendments that were once required for bonded debt, from the 1940s to the 1970s, will be deleted along with a 1992 amendment prohibiting minority status for homosexuality that has been ruled unconstitutional.
The revisions clarify the number of councilors who must vote to make various decisions, the most substantive changes.
It also removes a requirement for voters to approve debt, instead holding the city to debt limits imposed by state law.
The election will not cost the city any money directly, but the city has incurred some expenses publishing legal required notices under state election laws.
The Linn County Clerk’s Office will mail long-term and military ballots on Sept. 19 and out-of-state ballots on Oct. 6. The clerk will mail local ballots on Oct. 15.
Oct. 14 is the last day for new voter registration. Registered Oregon voters who have moved without updating their registration information have until 8 p.m. on Nov. 4 to update, receive a ballot and vote.
Visit co.linn.or.us/elections for further information about registering and elections.
Present at the meeting were councilors Marybeth Angulo, Craig Fentiman, Bruce Hobbs, Greg Mahler and Dave Trask.
Absent were Mayor Jim Gourley and Scott McKee Jr.
In other business, the council awarded a contract to low bidder Pacific Excavation, Inc., of Springfield a bid for $198,412.70 for the replacement of 870 feet of 4-inch waterline with 8-inch pipe on Cedar Street between Eighth and 10th avenues.
The project includes three cross-street tie-ins, three fire hydrants and 16 water services, including meters and boxes.
The project will also include limited storm drain construction.