Bandon Buzz: June 2008

City of Bandon

CITY MANAGER'S NEWSLETTER

June 6, 2008

This newsletter is an informal report by City Manager Matt Winkel on the news, issues, and other items of interest from the City of Bandon. It will normally be posted once each month (on the Friday following the City Council meeting) on the City's WEB Page at www.ci.bandon.or.us, and will be e-mailed directly to all subscribers. Subscribers will also receive copies of City Council, Planning Commission, Parks & Recreation Commission, Architectural Review Board, and Water Resource Committee agendas via e-mail in advance of each meeting.

To subscribe or un-subscribe, or if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please e-mail to citymanager@ci.bandon.or.us. Your e-mail addresses will be kept confidential and not distributed or used for any purposes other than e-mail communications with the City of Bandon.

FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE

Fiscal Year 2008-2009 City And Urban Renewal Budgets Adopted
State Revenue Sharing Expenditures Approved for Fiscal year 2008-2009
Bids For Kitchen Equipment At The Center In The Park Rejected
Center In The Park Renovation Project Update
City To Test Broadcasting Council Meetings Via Cable Television PEG Channels
Coos County Library Service District Funding Agreement Extended
New Public Trash Cans In Old Town
Bandon Public Transit Exploratory Committee
Public Paper Shredder At The Library
City Manager's Vacation Schedule
Linda's Church Joke

FISCAL YEAR 2008-2009 CITY AND URBAN RENEWAL BUDGETS ADOPTED

At their June 2^nd meeting, the City Council and Urban Renewal Agency unanimously adopted their respective budgets for upcoming fiscal year 2008-2009 (July 1, 2008 - June 30, 2009). The total City budget is $22,245,196, which represents a decrease of $314,633 (1.4%) below the prior year. The number of City employees is projected to remain the same as last year, and no electric, water, or sewer rate increases are anticipated. The combined total of the proposed budgets for Urban Renewal District No. 1 and District No. 2 is $1,294,336, which is $92,031 (7.7%) more than the prior year.

STATE REVENUE SHARING EXPENDITURES APPROVED FOR FISCAL YEAR 2008-2009

At their June 2^nd meeting, the City Council unanimously approved the list of projects for which fiscal year 2008-2009 State Revenue Sharing funds will be expended. Those funds come from the State, as a share of the liquor revenues. In recent years, the City has utilized its State Revenue Sharing Fund as the source of money contributed to various outside organizations for service to the community. In addition, the City has been trying to build some reserve funds for pothole and street repairs. The budgeted expenditures for fiscal year 2008-2009 are as follows:

Belloni Shelter Care - $600
Dial-A-Ride - $3,500
EAT (Everyone at the Table meals program) - $1,000
Bandon Historical Society - $3,500
Lions Club (4^th of July Celebration) - $1,000
Neighbor to Neighbor Dispute Resolution Center - $800
RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) - $1,000
Senior Meals Program - $3,500
Women's Resource Center - $420
Bandon Youth Center - $3,500
Pothole & Street Repairs - $5,000

The City Council also moved a $3,420 request from the SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) program into "Reserves," pending a final decision regarding some organizational changes which are being made within the SMART program.

BIDS FOR KITCHEN EQUIPMENT AT THE CENTER IN THE PARK REJECTED

The City went to bid for new kitchen equipment for the Center in the Park, and received two responses from Curtis Kitchen Equipment and from Bargreen Ellingson Food Service Supply & Design, in the amount of $203,534.00 and $194,745.96 respectively.

Since they exceeded the budget estimate of $126,799.00, the City Council unanimously rejected both bids, and authorized staff to re-bid the project with amended specifications. City staff is working with Richard Clarke, the kitchen designer, to refine those specifications by eliminating some items from the base bid and allowing them as "alternates;" utilizing the existing stove, hood, backsplash, and fire suppression system; broadening the specifications to encourage cost quotes for alternative, used or imperfect (dented, scratched, etc.) equipment; and making it clear that the City may negotiate with the successful bidder regarding which items will be purchased.

One of the Center in the Park Manager Nancy Evans' major immediate challenges is to secure funding for the kitchen equipment. She is proceeding in that regard, and is confident she will be able to raise sufficient funds to purchase the kitchen equipment in time for a bid award on August 4, 2008.

CENTER IN THE PARK RENOVATION PROJECT UPDATE

Scott Partney Construction is progressing very well on the Center in the Park renovation project. In addition to the initially anticipated costs, a number of change orders have been necessary, due to the addition of several "green" improvements, and unforseen items, such as asbestos flooring removal, water damage and rot repairs, structural changes due to differences between the as-built plans and actual conditions, re-roofing the existing "barn" section to match the new roofing, exterior design improvements at the entrance, and additional requests from the senior center such as adding a handicapped ramp and additional electrical outlets. To date, the total cost of these change orders is $96,249. The additional amounts are being charged to contingencies which were included in the original $1,130,550 renovation budget, and to the Urban Renewal and Capital Improvement Fund budgets. The additional work has necessitated combined extensions of the contract completion time for a total of 24 days. As a result, the Senior Center, kitchen, and dining room portion of the project is now scheduled for completion by August 24, 2008; and the meeting rooms are now scheduled for completion by October 4, 2008.

CITY TO TEST BROADCASTING COUNCIL MEETINGS VIA CABLE TV "PEG" CHANNELS

The City Council has previously discussed the possibility of dedicating some funds to videotaping and broadcasting City Council meetings over the cable television public, educational, and governmental (PEG) channels. At Mayor Schamehorn's request, PEG Broadcast Services, Inc. submitted a proposal for videotaping City Council meetings, and forwarding them to the cable television providers for broadcast. PEG Broadcast Services currently provides similar taping services for several other agencies, including Coos County, Coos Bay, North Bend, Coos County Regional Airport, International Port of Coos Bay, and South Coast Development Council. Charter Cable broadcasts these meetings over channel 14, and ComSpan would utilize one of the three PEG channels reserved for those purposes.

PEG Broadcast Services agreed to tape the June 2, 2008 City Council meeting at no charge, and as a test to gauge public response, to place in on the Charter Cable and ComSpan for broadcasting. The meeting will be broadcast on Charter Cable channel 14, along with the other government meetings. It will run for one week, beginning on Friday, June 6, and is tentatively scheduled to be shown four times each day, at 6:05 AM and PM, and at 12:05 AM and PM. Since no other governmental meetings are currently being broadcast on ComSpan, the City Council meeting will be run on a continuous loop on ComSpan channel 73, beginning on Friday, June 6.

Residents who get there television by satellite dish will not receive the City Council meeting broadcasts. The requirements for providing PEG channels only apply to the cable television networks, through their franchise agreements with the City. Since satellite television companies are not franchised by the City, they do not provide similar public broadcasting services. The City is, however, also looking into the costs and feasibility of providing streaming video of City meetings via our web site, which would enable everyone with high speed internet access to view the meetings.

The proposed cost for taping and transmitting the tapes to the cable television providers would be $3,480 per year for 12 meetings, which would be run for a total of 75 hours of air time, during the week following the City Council meeting. Additional meetings (special Council meetings, Planning Commission meetings, etc.) could be taped and submitted for broadcast at a cost of $45 per hour. For example taping and broadcasting one 2-hour Planning Commission meeting each month for one year would cost an additional $1,080. These charges cover the taping, scheduling, and delivery only, since there is no charge from the cable television providers for the broadcasting services. At this time, no funds have been included in the fiscal year 2008-2009 budget. After viewing the test broadcast during the week, and considering input from constituents, the City Council or a Councilor could request that this item be placed on the agenda for consideration at the July 7, 2008 or subsequent meeting. If the decision was positive, staff would work with the City Council to determine what budget adjustment(s) would be necessary. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the idea of broadcasting the City Council meetings, please e-mail me at citymanager@ci.bandon.or.us.

COOS COUNTY LIBRARY SERVICE DISTRICT FUNDING AGREEMENT EXTENDED

The primary source of revenue to operate the Bandon Public Library comes from the City's share of Coos County Library Service District funds. Those funds are generated by a property tax assessment against all properties within the Library Service District, and are distributed to Southwestern Oregon Community College for the Coastline Budget (for maintaining the county-wide automated computer system), the Extended Service Office (for operating the county-wide outreach, courier van, and inter-library loan program), and to the various libraries within the District. At their June 2^nd meeting, the City approved an amendment to the previous agreement for the receipt of these funds, to extend the term for the upcoming fiscal year 2008-2009. It is estimated that the City will receive approximately $250,000.00 during the upcoming fiscal year.

NEW PUBLIC TRASH CANS IN OLD TOWN

Mayor Mary Schamehorn has been working with Port of Bandon Director Gina Dearth to come up with what appears to be a great alternative to the large black public trash cans in Old Town. The older cans had been becoming more and more unsightly, due in large part to the type of garbage being placed in them, and the recurring damage caused by the automated arm on the self-loading garbage trucks. Folks recently visiting Old Town may have noticed that five of the old trash cans had been replaced by new "whiskey barrel" cans, which are of a design similar to the cans which have been used on the waterfront boardwalk. These cans were manufactured and donated by the Port of Bandon, which recently sold a large number to the City of Jacksonville, for use in their downtown.

In coming up with an alternative to the old black cans, the major problem revolved around the matter of getting them emptied. Under the City's garbage franchise agreement, Bandon Disposal & Recycling provided and emptied the public cans in Old Town, at no charge to the City. A primary requirement, however, was that the cans had to be capable of being emptied by the automated garbage equipment, since Bandon Disposal could not provide someone to hand empty them, and the City did not have the funds to pay someone to empty them. That whole problem appears to have now been resolved under an agreement between the City, the Port, and Bandon Disposal. In exchange for not having to empty each individual can, Bandon Disposal agreed to provide an additional dumpster, large enough to hold all of the weekly trash from the public cans, and to empty and dispose of that trash at no charge to the City. The Port agreed to assign their employee, who currently empties all of the public trash cans on Port property, to also empty the City's "whiskey barrel" trash cans, at no charge to the City. The City, in turn, agreed to allow the Port to deposit all of their public trash in the City's dumpster, at no charge to the Port.

Although only five of the "whiskey barrel" cans are in Old Town at this time, the City is hoping to replace all of the old cans, if they are preferred by the public and local businesses, and if and when funds are available for their purchase. Approximately 15 more cans would be necessary, at a cost of $350 each. One alternative which has been suggested is the possibility of allowing individuals or businesses to purchase them, and to have a small "donated by . . . ." plaque affixed to them.

BANDON PUBLIC TRANSIT EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE

Council President Blythe Tiffany has been appointed by Mayor Schamehorn to head up a Public Transit Exploratory Committee. The purposes of the Committee are to look at and categorize currently available public transit systems in the Bandon area; determine whether and how the effectiveness of currently available public transit in the Bandon area can be increased; explore whether there is a need for additional public transit services in the Bandon area, and what those services might be and how they might be provided; and provide a written report, including findings and recommendations, to the Mayor within six months.

In addition to Council President Tiffany, the other members of the Bandon Public Transit Exploratory Committee are City Councilor Mike Claassen, Bruce Bennett (Manager of Coos County Area Transit), Nan Rowland (Dial-A-Ride Driver), Patty Booth (Par 3 Transportation), Paul Pearson (President of the Bandon Senior Citizens), and Carolyn Goldwasser (representing transit users).

PUBLIC PAPER SHREDDER AT THE LIBRARY

A few months ago, when Councilor Mike Claassen recommended installing a paper shredder at the Library for use by the public, I had my doubts as to how many people would actually use it. However, I checked with Librarian Deirdre Krumper the other day, and it is apparently getting used quite extensively. It is located in the "quiet study room," and makes so little noise that it hasn't bothered anyone at all. The shredder handles paper, credit cards, and CDs. So, if you want to help protect yourself against identity theft, you can use the shredder by contacting a Library staff person at the front desk, where you can check out the power cord, plug it in, and shred away!

CITY MANAGER'S VACATION SCHEDULE

In case anyone needs to contact me over the next couple of weeks, I will be on vacation beginning on Wednesday, June 11, and will return to work on Monday, June 23. I will be checking my e-mail, and the front office at City Hall can get in touch with me by cell phone.

LINDA'S CHURCH JOKE

Linda couldn't come up with a joke this week, but fortunately, June Gregg (Ken Gregg's mom) sent this one in. Thanks June!

Reverend Ole and Pastor Sven

Reverend Ole was the pastor of the local Norwegian Lutheran Church, and Pastor Sven was the minister of the Swedish Covenant Church across the road. One day, they were seen standing by the road, pounding a sign into the ground, which read:

Da End iss Near!

Turn Yourself Aroundt Now!

Before It's Too Late!

As a car sped past them, the driver leaned out of his window and yelled, "Leave us alone you religious nuts!"

Then, from the curve down the road, they heard screeching tires and a big splash! Reverend Ole turned to Pastor Sven and asked, "Do ya tink maybe da sign should yust say 'Bridge Out'?

HA! HA! Ha! HO! Ho! HA! Ha! ha! ha! ha!

ANYTHING ELSE?

Do you have any questions, input, or suggestions? Are there any topics you want addressed or covered in the Newsletter? If so, please let me know at citymanager@ci.bandon.or.us. For more complex questions or issues that may take significant discussion, please feel free to contact me by telephone at (541) 347-2437, voice mail ext. 229, so we can schedule an appointment.

Also, remember to visit the City of Bandon WEB page at www.ci.bandon.or.us, where you can get more information on this wonderful place in which we live.

That's it for now. Have a good one!

Matt Winkel

City Manager

Bandon Buzz

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

June 26, 2008 Planning Commission Meeting Canceled

Friday, June 6, 2008

City Manager's Newsletter - June 6, 2008

Bandon Committee for Citizen Involvement Agenda June 10, 2008 & Parks & Recreation Commission Agenda June 12, 2008

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