Dayton City Council report for February

DAYTON-Dayton City Administrator Trina Cole had a number of items to share at the Dayton City Council last week.

Cole said her office has been proactively working with Jim Nelson at D. A. Davison regarding pool financing, to see whether the Dayton Swimming Pool can be repaired and how financing can work.

Cole said tree excavation will take place on the morning of Feb. 24 for some sections of the sidewalk including trees located at Banner Bank and at Home Street Bank.

She said a public meeting to discuss the findings will take place at 6 p. m. St. Joseph's Parish Hall, located at 112 S. First St.

Cole said a meeting took place between city staff, Washington Water Trust, the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation and Anderson and Perry & Associates to discuss a technical memorandum regarding whether constructing wetlands is an option for treating the city's wastewater.

Cole said the news was good and bad. A wetland can be constructed, however, the city will never meet the required Total Maximum Daily Load as required by the Department of Ecology.

She said the memorandum has been sent to the DOE, for review, to see if there is any leeway to allow for the construction of wetlands, or flood plain by design, for treating effluent.

A South Third Street Sidewalk Project open house was held on Feb. 11 and the design for that project is currently in process.

She said the City is moving forward with a proposal for having an energy audit of all city facilities and vehicles. Doing so will provide for grant opportunities to improve some of the city's physical properties.

Cole also talked about the flood recovery effort conducted by staff at City Hall. Staff distributed flyers about flood recovery resources to between thirty and forty households last week, she said.

She said the Basin Disposal containers for people to use during clean-up are being moved to behind Dingle's Hardware.

Dayton Chamber Manager Molly Weatherill-Tate provided the City Council with an update.

She said Lauren Parsons has been hired as the new Chamber assistant. Parsons has experience with website design, and she will be working on updates to the Chamber website and helping to promote Facebook and Instagram.

There have been inquiries about relocating to Dayton, from people living in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, California Oklahoma, Arizona, Texas, and Ohio, she said.

The Chamber continues general marketing through radio, television and print as well as ads at the Liberty Theater and the Dayton Visitors Guide.

She said the Chamber will be working in conjunction with the Port's Executive Director for monthly 'Cup of Joe' meetings.

The next Chamber event is Brix and Brew, which is on March 13 at the County Fairgrounds.

The City Council approved the mayor's authorization of the contract for Bartlett Tree Services not to exceed $4,862.

The Council approved the mayor's reappointment of Virginia Butler to serve as a Commissioner on the Dayton Historic Preservation Commission, through Feb. 28, 2023, and Russell Levens to serve as Commissioner on the Dayton Planning Commission through Mar. 1, 2021.

They also confirmed the Mayor's acceptance of resignation from JJ Dippel, vacating Seat 2 on the Dayton Historic Commission.

Scott Hudson, Shawn Brown, Vicki Zoller, and Garrett Warren have been approved to serve on the Dayton Affordable Housing Commission.

A public hearing about proposed legislation to authorize the collection of existing sales and use tax revenues for affordable and supportive housing per HB 1406 was held. There were no comments from the public.

A public hearing for City of Dayton surplus property was also held. There were no comments from the public.

At last week's meeting the Dayton City Council approved the following resolutions:

No. 1405, declaring three dump trucks surplus and authorizing the disposal of that surplus property.

No. 1406, authorizing GIS services with Anderson Perry & Associates, and authorizing the mayor to execute the agreement.

No. 1407, repealing resolutions, and adopting the City of Dayton Council Rules of Procedures and Ethics Handbook, adding a section regarding Code of Ethics. The Handbook will be provided to all city employees staff, and council members.

No. 1408, repealing resolutions and adopting the City of Dayton Petty Cash Policies and Procedures.

No. 1410 authorizing an agreement for Public Works Contract Services with Blue Mountain Environmental to perform city hall basement and mold remediation services, and authorizing the mayor to execute the agreement.

City Administrator Trina Cole said mold is impacting some sixty-year old documents, which are stored in a room located outside the building footprint, in an area that used to be a coal chute. The HVAC system is also located there.

The City has been advised by Labor and Industries about mold remediation and are recommending the HVAC system be cleaned, as mold has been distributed throughout the entire city hall. L&I also said the HVAC system should be relocated upstairs.

There is significant water seeping into the basement, as well, and that will have to be addressed.

Cole said that project will be expensive. It will be done in three phases.

The City Council also approved resolution No. 1411, temporarily waiving fees associated with building permits due to the flood until April 1.

Mayor Zac Weatherford said the city wants to help members of the community who were impacted by the flood.

"It's bad enough they have to throw away a lot of their personal belongings and do a lot of repairs. I feel it is in our best interest to temporarily waive our building permit fees for those people," he said.

"They do still have to get a permit," he said.

The City Council also approved the following ordinances:

Ordinance No. 1960, amending ordinances Section 06 of Title 1 Chapter 2 of the Dayton Municipal Code, Open to the Public Meeting Location and Time. City Council meetings will be held at 112 S. 1st St., indefinitely, due to crowded meetings at the City Hall.

Ordinance No. 1961, adopting legislation to authorize the maximum capacity of the sales and use tax authorized by RWC, for Affordable and Supportive Housing and creating Chapter 2-30 of the Dayton Municipal Code.

Planning Director Meagan Bailey said HB 1406 is not a new tax. The tax will be collected from sales tax the state currently collects from sales tax revenue the City generates.

The maximum amount the City can collect is $50,000 over the next twenty years. Monies collected may only be used for affordable and supportive housing purposes and will be administered by the City Council.

She said funds can be pooled with other government entities.

"If we don't take it nobody gets it. It just keeps going to the state," Bailey said.

Ordinance No. 1962, amending sections with Title 1-13 and repealing Chapter 1-6 of the Dayton Municipal Code. The amendment pertains to how the Planning Commission operates. This ordinance would allow for seven members, living within the city limits, as well as living within the urban growth areas to serve on the Commission.

This ordinance also repeals the Board of Parks Commissioners, and some of those duties are now under the Planning Commission, Rules and Responsibilities.

Ordinance No. 1963 declares a local emergency related to extensive damage caused by the 2020 flood and it was approved, as well.

Mayor Zac Weatherford thanked the city staff, administrators, the city council members, county officials and their public works department, Columbia County Public Transportation, and the many volunteers who worked long hours during the recent flood event.

"It was absolutely amazing to see everybody come together...I appreciate everybody's hard work on that," he said.