Tenneson Engineering approved for city planning

The council then confirmed a minor increase in garbage rates, necessitated by Waste Connections of Oregon’s request. A typical residential user would see the fee for one 35 gallon cart go from $25.02 to $25.54 per month for weekly pickup. Essentially, all rates are increased by 2.08%. Seeger introduced the topic of increasing the city’s franchise fee, which has remained at $1,000 since 2009 and that he deemed inadequate. Lacking further discussion and analysis of the franchise fee, Seeger voted against the rate increase, though it passed by majority. The fee increase is effective Jan. 1.

Next up was the task of hiring a city planner. City Administrator Jordon Bennett reported on the results of a Request for Proposal, or RFP. This means the city asks planners to submit a proposal to provide services. Bennett said that he and staff scored the four submitted proposals using three criteria: Cost per hour, consulting experience, and distance from Cascade Locks. The highest-scoring planning company was Tenneson Engineering out of The Dalles. Staff also favored Tenneson because they would provide a planner on-site at Cascade Locks City Hall for set hours each week. Seeger reminded the council that Mid-Willamette Council of Governments had attended a meeting and submitted a proposal in October, though they did not submit an RFP at this time. He favored them to provide city planning services after hearing their detailed proposal, particularly in terms of cost per hour.

Councilor Sean Crompton valued the opportunity to have an in-person planner, which Mid-Willamette would not provide. Ultimately, the council voted to hire Tenneson Engineering for Cascade Locks planning services, with Seeger voting no and Mayor Fallon abstaining.

After a unanimous vote to appoint Seeger as the Tri-County Hazardous Waste program representative, Bennett brought the council up to date on the city’s lagging audits. The 2021-22 audit is complete and clean, and the timeline for the 2022-23 audit will be set this month.

The Cascade Locks City Council’s next meeting is Monday, Jan. 13 at which the newly elected city officials will be sworn in.