Hood River City Council, left to right: Anna Cavaleri, Ben Mitchell, Gladys Rivera, Paul Blackburn, Douglas Stepina, Grant Polson, and Amanda Goeke.
Photo courtesy City of Hood RiverHOOD RIVER — As usual, the Hood River City Council meeting on June 23 began with a Land Acknowledgment followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
But this time, Council President Gladys Rivera noted steps the council is taking to make the Land Acknowledgment something more than performative.
“I want to add that we are not presuming assumptions of what we think will work to better serve and support our Native American communities,” Rivera said. “We are working with those government agencies to give us their recommendations on what they wish to see.”
After breaking for the Urban Renewal Agency agenda (story to appear in an upcoming edition), Mayor Paul Blackburn opened a public hearing on Resolution 2025-17, Schedule of Building Fees, Rates and Charges for the next fiscal year.
Planning Director Dustin Nilsen presented, saying the consolidated fee schedule includes city building fees that are authorized by the state and collected by the city.
This year, the city requested a fee update “to reflect the increases in inflation, administration costs, or to address technological investments,” Nilsen said. Unlike other fees, the state requires notice of changes as well as requires any adjustments made via resolution — thus the public hearing.
The city held its first public hearing on the fee schedule March 10, with no comments received; councilors recommended approval of the fees and directed staff to prepare the necessary resolution, he said.
Staff provided notice to the state Building Codes Division on April 29 and advertised another public hearing in the May 21, June 11 and June 18 editions of Columbia Gorge News (the newspaper of record for Hood River County). Again, no public input was received in person, online or ahead of the hearing.
Rivera asked if fee change information was available in English and Spanish; Nilsen said that was available on the city’s website, cityofhoodriver.gov/planning, which is how the department typically communicates with the public.
“More than the language barrier, I think that the tech barrier — in some ways, universal — is something we’ve been focused on, trying to accommodate technology and having permits come through exclusively electronically [as mandated by the state].” He said that while it’s handy for his department, it presents a new challenge for some of their customers.
After additional discussion, the council passed the resolution unanimously.
Upcoming meetings
In July and August, the city council will meet only once — on July 21 and Aug. 11 — instead of on the usual second and fourth Monday schedule.
Information from the News and our advertisers (Want to add your business to this to this feed?)
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sign up to receive notifications when a new Columbia Gorge News e-Edition is published.
Would you like to receive our news updates? Signup today!
Receive weekly updates on obituaries and death notices.
Oregon Capital Press presented by Columbia Gorge News
Receive updates on upcoming promotions and special sections.
Receive weekly updates on local sports news.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
Commented