Cascade Locks City Council swears in new members, gets audit update

Tiffany Pruitt was elected council president. In committee appointments, Dave Lipps and JoAnn Wittenberg were confirmed as Planning Committee members, and Sara Patrick for the Tourism Committee. Both of these committees have additional empty seats, and residents are encouraged to volunteer. Contact Bennett at 541-374-8484 if you are interested.

The next discussion focused on the Cascade Locks Museum Collection. The city currently owns the collection and pays annual insurance to protect it, but the port has the funds available to maintain the collection. Museum Director Janice Crane and Port Executive Director Jeremiah Blue addressed the council to discuss the benefits of the port taking over ownership of the collection, and the council unanimously approved the transfer.

Pruitt then requested to move the ratification of the bills from the consent agenda to action items so they could be discussed in greater detail. The council examined several specific bills per her request and ultimately approved all expenditures. Topics such as the cost of Overlook Park’s restroom utilities were noted for later discussion as a possible cost-saving measure.

After agreeing to workshop the topic of council procedures, the group tackled a review of the city’s financial policies. Mayor Wood asked the group to consider reducing the maximum purchasing authority of department heads, noting that the county administrator can approve large purchases in an emergency. Bennett pointed out the difficulties of staff having to wait for council approval for expenditures, giving a broken snowplow as an example. Councilor Denise Emmerling-Baker objected, pointing out that “We see all expenditures, receipts are provided, the process is already transparent.” Seeger argued that the current limits seem appropriate and expressed concern that additional limits would burden staff and create inefficiencies. Councilor Pete Happy concurred, and the proposal was tabled. He then asked about the city’s late payments to Hood River County for public safety services.

The City of Cascade Locks has come to an agreement with Hood River County to rectify a previous outstanding balance owed for contractual public safety services. Cascade Locks pays $12,859 per month for a dedicated sheriff’s deputy to patrol locally for 24 hours a week. Between 2019-2023, Hood River County erred in its billing and failed to collect the stipulated increase to these payments. County Budget and Finance Director Sheri Patterson explained that the combination of a difficult transition to a new software system, along with several new county staff members including a new administrator, finance director, and auditor, all contributed to the error. When the new staff, including Patterson and County Administrator Allison Williams, began sorting out the billing, the error was discovered.

Cascade Locks, also operating with new staff, successfully negotiated with the county to pay half of what is owed for fiscal years 2019-23 and all of what was owed for 2024, by making several installment payments. The Hood River County Commission approved of this plan at its Dec. 16 meeting.

Bennett then updated the council on its late internal audits. The 2021-22 audit is complete; the 2022-23 has begun and is expected to be complete by May 1, 2025; the 2023-24 will begin mid-year. Wood had notified Bennett that she wanted a forensics audit as well, which is typically used to gather evidence when fraud is suspected. Wood said that she requested a forensic audit because, “we were three audits behind. Additionally, the city has had multiple staff changes and contract services to get current.” Forensics audits are more detailed, more costly, and investigative in nature compared to internal audits.

The city council will hold a workshop on council procedures and lobbying on Jan. 27 prior to its next regular meeting at 7 p.m.