Cascade Locks City Council work session focuses on finance department, deputy coverage

City Administrator Jordon Bennett offered several proposed structures for the city’s finance department. Discussion focused first on contracting out for payroll services with an app-based system. This system would allow employees to enter their hours electronically. Staff would review the entries, and then the system would calculate and generate the payroll checks documentation. City staff has been apprised of the potential change, and were reportedly in favor.

Hood River County Sheriff Matt English joined the work session to discuss the city’s contract with his department. Cascade Locks would pay $12,859 per month for the 2024-25 contract year for a dedicated sheriff’s deputy to patrol locally for 24 hours a week. This contract has been in place since the 1990s, English reported. He explained that, without the contract, the city would receive coverage dependent on resources, mainly staffing. The sheriff’s office is funded by county taxes, which are shared among numerous county entities. They also have to perform required duties like jail management, 911 services, prisoner transport, search and rescue and court security, all of which are mandated by state law. This leaves the staff spread thinly. With this contract, Cascade Locks has a guaranteed, dedicated law enforcement presence.

Council also discussed offering a stipend to deputies who choose to live in Cascade Locks. No decisions were made in the work session, and the council elected to hold another work session to further examine both topics.

The regular meeting opened with a presentation by travel trainer Sara Crook. Crook serves Wasco and Hood River counties to help folks get access to the public transit system, especially the CAT bus system. The website www.gorgetransit.com features videos to familiarize people with navigating the system, but Crook offers in-person, and even one-on-one help in five ways. She can assist with trip or route planning; with group trips, including the planning and even accompanying the group; train the trainer, if you are an educator or employee who needs to guide others; help folks navigate using the transit with a mobility device; and finally, provide one-on-one assistance to anyone who needs a companion to learn how to ride the transit.

After Crook's presentation was a discussion on a new contract for planning services. Bennett suggested reviewing new proposals for the city to contract for planning services. Council then discussed the minor glitch that resulted in the online utility pay system going down for two weeks. Though the glitch was resolved by city staff within 24 hours, provider XpressPay took two weeks to restore service.

Next, Bennett and Fire Chief John Logan plan to approach Multnomah County about inequities in their contract for the Cascade Locks Fire Department to cover the area from the city up to Multnomah Falls. Bennett reported that the Corbett Fire Department provides similar service but is compensated at a much higher rate. Bennet and Logan intend to bring this to the attention of the Multnomah County Commission this month.