CASCADE LOCKS — Following a brief work session to discuss the acquisition of a second electrical substation for the city, the Cascade Locks City Council met in chambers on Aug. 25 for its final summer meeting.
The group had a full agenda, with topics including several code changes, the architectural review process, grant applications and committee appointments, staff compensation, and once again, the city’s water rates.
To start, Leslie Naramore and Sarah Kellems, representing Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (MCCAC), shared the scope of services their group provides with the council. Of note were the group’s emphasis on stable housing and numerous community partnerships. The Gloria Center in The Dalles, touted as their “hub of social services,” is the single best go-to for anyone seeking information or assistance, they said.
Code changes
Several code changes were up for vote as action items; each required a unanimous vote to pass. Ordinance 465 updates the language surrounding building height for clarity and passed easily; Ordinance 466 eliminates the need for a formal Architectural Review, and puts the onus on city staff to review architectural standards. It also passed unanimously.
Ordinance 463 creates a new “Downtown” zone, similar to that recently added in Parkdale, at the advice of the Downtown Revitalization Plan, which has been underway for the last three years. It changes 15 tax lots from mixed zoning to downtown zoning; all property owners were involved in the process.
Only Councilor Marianne Bump voted against the code change, saying, “I feel that we need to fix our current downtown before we add more to the downtown zone. I do not think that the current residences should be added to the new downtown zone.”
Since code changes must be unanimous, this ordinance did not pass and will be revisited at a future meeting.
Money matters
After a lengthy discussion, the council agreed to provide a letter of support for city staff to apply for two grants. One of the grant-funded projects, a solar-powered mini-grid at the community fire house, particularly concerned Councilor Tiffany Pruit, who asked for additional information on the life expectancy of the panels. Pruit eventually agreed to support the grant application.
City Administrator Jordon Bennett’s annual raise was next up. With the same COLA (cost-of-living adjustment) increase as all staff, a merit raise of 2.8%, or $1 per hour, had previously been suggested for Bennett. Following Councilor Bernard Seeger’s suggestion that they offer the city administrator half of that, or .50 cents per hour, Pruit concurred, saying he had received too great of a raise the previous year.
Mayor Brenda Wood and Bump agreed with Pruit and Seeger; only Councilors Eric Keller and Pete Happy voted to approve the 2.8% raise. With no agreement reached, the topic will be revisited at the next meeting.
The council continues to struggle to pass an updated water rate increase. After hiring a consultant, Trilogy LLC, at a cost of $24,562.50 to analyze the city’s water rates, the councilors cannot agree on how to implement their recommendations.
The water rates study found that the city was not charging high enough water rates to break even, and was paying too much additional principal toward the city’s 2018 loan for water system improvements. Despite the study and a previous work session, the council could not agree on how much to increase the rates, at what speed, and how much to reduce the extra money paid toward the loan. The subject will be discussed again at a later meeting.
Other items of note
Two additional appointments to the Tourism Committee were up next. Harry Troeger was unanimously approved as an appointee, but the application of resident Norman Bourque drew ire from Councilor Eric Keller, who cited Bourque’s lack of decorum in various social situations and characterized his appointment as “a disservice to the great work that this community does.”
With Mayor Wood, Pruit, Bump, and Keilman voting yes, and Keller, Happy, and Seeger voting nay, Bourque was appointed to the community’s Tourism Committee. Mayor Wood thanked both applicants for being willing to participate.
In his report to the council, Bennett introduced the idea of an in-house EMT and paramedic school being delivered at the Cascade Locks firehouse. Bennett has reached out to Mt. Hood Community College and found interest in a partnership. He further reiterated the city’s need for a Master Facilities Plan.
PCT Days dominated council comments, kicked off by Pruit’s concerns about the management of the event, saying, “I really am excited about how much it has grown, but at the same time, this weekend was a disaster,” citing traffic and crowd control concerns, and adding that “We should really push back on the port.”
Other councilors, Keller in particular, emphasized the importance of the event to local businesses, with the majority of the group concurring. The Port of Cascade Locks does not manage the event, but does lease space to Outdoor Viewfinder, LLC to organize the event. Bennett agreed to meet with Port Executive Director Jeremiah Blue to discuss the event.
The next regular meeting of the Cascade Locks City Council is set for Monday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m.
Commented