City of Bandon
CITY MANAGER'S NEWSLETTER
July 11, 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
- Committee And Commission Appointments
- The Community Center Is Re-Named "The Barn"
- Bid Awarded For Street Paving Projects On Ohio Avenue NE, Beach Loop Drive, And Old Town
- Contract Awarded For Annual City Landscaping Maintenance
- Workers' Compensation Insurance For Volunteers
- Response From State Parks & Recreation Regarding Lighthouse Colors
- Video Taping And Broadcasting City Council Meetings
- Dangerous Building Inspections Planned
- Task Force To Be Formed To Develop A Standards And Specifications Manual For Planting Trees In Public Rights-Of-Way
- City Receives Annual Coastal Zone Management Grant
- Public Transit Exploratory Committee Needs Your Help
- Bandon Day At The Coos County Fair
- Linda's Church Joke
COMMITTEE AND COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS
The City Council unanimously approved the re-appointment of Patricia Soltys and Jason Tree to their second term on the Planning Commission. These were the only applicants who responded to the City's advertisements for filling the vacancies. The Bandon Municipal Code limits serving on the Planning Commission to two consecutive full terms. These new four-year terms will expire on June 30, 2012. A sincere thanks to Patricia and Jason for all of her hard work and service, and congratulations on being reappointed!
THE COMMUNITY CENTER IS RE-NAMED "THE BARN"
In response to numerous requests, the City Council unanimously voted to reverse the action taken at the May 5th meeting, at which the Community Center was named "the Center in the Park," by re-naming the facility "'The Barn'- Bandon's Conference and Community Center." It was felt that it was appropriate to retain the historic reference to the original building, which served as a bunkhouse and stable for horses used by the United States Army to patrol the beaches to protect against the threat of a Japanese invasion during World War II.
BID AWARDED FOR STREET PAVING PROJECTS ON OHIO AVENUE NE, BEACH LOOP DRIVE, AND OLD TOWN
The City received two bids for overlaying Ohio Avenue NE (from 2nd Street NE to Fahy Avenue), overlaying a short portion of Beach Loop Drive (in the vicinity of Whale Watch Way and Caryll Court), and overlaying and seal coating streets in Old Town (First Street, Second Street, Alabama Avenue, Baltimore Avenue, Chicago Avenue, and Delaware Avenue). The contract was awarded to Laskey-Clifton Corporation, who submitted the low bid in the amount of $346,643.00. The funds for all three projects were included in the fiscal year 2008-2009 Local Option Street Tax Fund budget.
The most potential for disturbance involves the Old Town street projects, particularly the one-day closure of Second Street, Baltimore Avenue, Chicago Avenue, and Delaware Avenue, for seal coating. This work has to be completed during the summer, when temperature and humidity are within certain tolerances. City staff, along with the City Engineer and a representative from Laskey-Clifton, met with Old Town merchant representatives to discuss the project and keep the potential impacts as low as possible. It was agreed that as much of the grinding and paving work on First Street and Alabama Avenue as possible would be done at night, and the contractor agreed to keep the streets cleaned and accessible during the day. It was also agreed that the seal coating would not start until after Cranberry Festival in September, and would be done in several phases so only short segments of the streets would have to be closed at any one time.
The City often receives inquiries from citizens regarding how the City chooses its paving projects, since it sometimes appears that the streets do not need work. With the limited funds available, and the increasingly high price of street paving, the best way to maintain high quality streets and keep these costs as low as possible is to preserve the streets we have, and keep them in good repair before they completely deteriorate. In the case of these streets, as well as the streets the City has overlaid during the last few years, the City annually inspects the streets, and tries to allocate its funds to repairing those streets which are showing initial signs of failure, but can be preserved with surface treatment and minimal base work and reconstruction. It is significantly more expensive to repair streets which contain potholes, major cracks, and settling, since this involves completely removing the old pavement, reconstructing the base, and then re-paving the streets.
CONTRACT AWARDED FOR ANNUAL CITY LANDSCAPING MAINTENANCE
The City has found it much more cost effective to hire a outside contractor to maintain some of the major public landscaped areas, as opposed to having it done by the City's Public Works crews. These areas include City Hall, the Chamber of Commerce building, the Fire Memorial, the Second Street parking lot, the Alabama Avenue parking lot, the Old Town pedway, the Welcome-To-Bandon sign at Highway 101 & 42S, the 11th Street triangle entrances to City Park, Public Library, and the Fillmore Avenue parkway. It proved very difficult to adequately schedule the landscaping maintenance, when much of those employees' time and training is dedicated to their primary responsibilities of maintaining the streets, storm drainage system, water lines, and sewer lines. A few years ago, the City entered into a contract with By-the-Sea Gardens for providing these services, and the response from the pubic regarding the appearance of City landscaping has been very positive.
In May, the City issued a request for proposals (RFP) to provide an opportunity for other landscaping businesses to bid on these services. The only response was received from By-the-Sea Gardens, and, since the City has been very happy with the services they have been providing, the City Council unanimously approved an agreement for continuing with that contractual arrangement under an agreement which has an initial term of one year, with the option of two subsequent annual renewals. The cost for landscaping maintenance at the main City facilities listed above is $2,150 per month, including all labor, materials, and supplies. The contract also provides the City with the ability to utilize By-the-Sea Gardens for optional and one-time services such as supervising inmate crews on various clean-up projects, planting and installing the hanging baskets at City Hall, irrigation repair and installation, etc. The cost for the basic services has been included in the Beautification Fund budget, with the funds coming from the 5% franchise fee paid by the City's garbage disposal company, Bandon Disposal & Recycling.
WORKERS' COMPENSATION INSURANCE FOR VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers are one of the City of Bandon's major assets in terms of getting things done and providing service to the community. The City maintains workers' compensation insurance on all City volunteers, including police reserves, boards & commissions, library volunteers, community service workers, the park host, etc. This ensures that they are covered in the event they are injured while working for the City. The annual premium for providing workers' compensation insurance for all City volunteers is $1,836.66, which is certainly a bargain, considering all of the work they do!
RESPONSE FROM STATE PARKS & RECREATION REGARDING LIGHTHOUSE COLORS
On May 8, 2008, a letter was jointly sent to the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department from the City of Bandon, the Bandon Historical Society, and the Coquille River Lighthouse Keepers, requesting that the Coquille River Lighthouse be restored to its former white color. On June 13, 2008, the City received a response from Tim Wood, Director of the Parks & Recreation Department. He generally concluded that the State would not be repainting the Lighthouse at this time, but recommended a continued dialogue with all interested parties, additional research, trying to develop an approach which could be collectively supported, and securing funding for future repainting. A local Bandon resident has secured a donation of all of the paint necessary to re-paint the Lighthouse.
At their July 7th meeting, the City Council discussed the matter with representatives from the Coquille River Lighthouse Keepers and the Bandon Historical Society, although no formal action was taken.
VIDEO TAPING AND BROADCASTING CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS
At the June 2nd and July 7th meetings, the City Council reviewed a proposal by PEG Broadcast Services to tape and broadcast Bandon City Council meetings over the cable television networks. 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. Under the terms of their cable television franchise agreements, Charter Cable and ComSpan provide public meeting broadcasting services over their Public, Education, and Government (PEG) channels at no charge, although the City is responsible for taping the meetings, and scheduling the programming. Charter Cable broadcasts these meetings over channel 14, and ComSpan would utilize channel 73, which is one of the three PEG channels reserved for those purposes. To provide possible input from citizens regarding the usefulness of broadcasting the City Council meetings, PEG Broadcast Services agreed to tape the June 2nd meeting, and it was broadcast over ComSpan and Charter Cable for the subsequent two weeks.
At the July 7th meeting, the City Council decided to proceed with the taping, and approved a one-year agreement with PEG Broadcast Services for taping the City Council meetings, at an introductory cost of $3,000 for the year. Councilors Joe Briscoe, Mike Clasassen, Nancy Drew, and Geri Procetto voted in favor of the proposal, with Councilors Chris Powell and Blythe Tiffany voting in opposition. Funding will come from a miscellaneous contracts line item in the General Fund budget. On Charter channel 14, the Bandon City Council meetings will be run along with meeting of the Coos County Commissioners, Coos Bay City Council, North Bend City Council, Coos County Regional Airport Board, International Port of Coos Bay, and South Coast Development Council. On ComSpan channel 73, the Bandon City Council meetings will be run along with meetings of the Coos County Commissioners, Coos County Regional Airport Board, and South Coast Development Council. Although only one camera was used for the first two tapings, PEG Broadcast Services has acquired another camera, and will be using a two-camera system to provide better coverage. In addition to the cable television broadcasts, DVDs of the meetings are available for check-out at the Public Library, so those who do not have cable service can watch the meetings on their DVD players or computers.
DANGEROUS BUILDING INSPECTIONS PLANNED
The City has received complaints regarding several buildings that could be unsafe, and therefore subject to enforcement action in accordance with Bandon Municipal Code, Chapter 15.08 - Dangerous Buildings. These include several unoccupied residential structures and a motel. Although the City Manager is designated as the Building Official, the City does not have a building inspector, qualified to make a determination regarding whether these buildings constitute "dangerous buildings" under the terms of the Code. Therefore, the City will be acquiring the services of a qualified inspector to inspect these buildings in accordance with the provisions of the Dangerous Buildings Code. Staff may also be including other buildings in the community, if it is determined that any other such buildings could constitute unsafe structures. If the public is aware of any such potential violations that City staff may have missed, it would be appropriate to notify Code Compliance Officer David Kimes (compliance@ci.bandon.or.us), so those buildings could also be considered. Although no specific cost for these inspections has been determined, those costs will be charged to the Nuisance Abatement line item in the General Fund budget.
TASK FORCE TO BE FORMED TO DEVELOP A STANDARDS AND SPECIFICATIONS MANUAL FOR PLANTING TREES IN PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAY
At the July 7th meeting, the City Council unanimously approved a recommendation from the Committee for Citizen Involvement (CCI) that a task force be formed to develop a standards and specifications manual for planting trees in public rights-of-way. As envisioned, the manual will describe various aspects of public tree planting, including but not limited to what types of trees are desirable in various locations, using native plants, how they should be planted and maintained, separation and location relative to streets, sidewalks, driveways, public utilities, etc. The preparation of this manual will also serve as one of the initial steps in the City of Bandon becoming a Tree City. Esther Williams, who serves on both the Parks & Recreation Commission and the CCI, will chair the Task Force.
CITY RECEIVES ANNUAL COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT GRANT
Since portions of the City of Bandon are located within Oregon's federally-approved Coastal Zone, the City is eligible to receive a $5,000 grant from the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) to assist with land use planning activities in accordance with the grant agreement. The funds are being made available again this year, and, at the July 7th meeting, the City Council unanimously authorized an agreement accepting these funds.
PUBLIC TRANSIT EXPLORATORY COMMITTEE NEEDS YOUR HELP
The Bandon Public Transit Exploratory Committee is looking for input from the public regarding the status of public transit in Bandon. The Committee would like to hear from users and potential users of these currently-available services:
CCAT / DIAL-a-Ride - Local area service 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m, Monday - Friday, $3 (Bandon City Limits and South to McTimmons; North to Seven Devils)
Par 3 Taxi Service - 24 hours/day, 7 days/week, $7 inside City Limits - Additional fees outside of City
Curry Coastal Express - Monday, Wednesday, Friday from Brookings to North Bend - $4 per segment (Both North Bend stops are equal to one segment)
Please take some time to write to the Committee, and let us know, first, if you were aware of the services presently available. Were you aware that Dial-a-Ride is available to anyone not only senior and disabled persons? Do you now use any of the services listed? If you are just becoming aware of them, will you use them? Then, let us know if you feel that these services are sufficient, or if any additional services are needed. If you feel that additional transit services are needed, describe for us the kinds of additional services you would use. PLEASE RESPOND BY JULY 25TH to City Recorder Jo Anne Lepley at recorder@ci.bandon.or.us. The Public Transit Exploratory Committee very much appreciates your input.
BANDON DAY AT THE COOS COUNTY FAIR
Be sure and visit the City's booth during Bandon Day at the Coos County Fair in Myrtle Point on Thursday, July 24th, from 10 AM to 10 PM. Some of the displays will include:
- "All About Bandon" - hosted by Mayor Schamehorn and City Councilors
- The Bandon Cranberry Court promoting the Cranberry Festival in September
- A video from Bandon's Cranberry Growers showing cranberry growing and harvesting
- The Old Town Merchants with their "Put Your Feet Up" display
- Cranberry Wine tasting hosted by the Southern Oregon Wine Association
- A display featuring information on the new "'Barn'- Bandon's Conference and Community Center," together with a "Guess the Number of Cranberries in the Jar" contest to win a free one-day event at the newly renovated facility
LINDA'S CHURCH JOKE
Linda thought this one was pretty funny, so if you don't like it, blame her!
A man in a taxicab taps the driver on the shoulder to ask him a question. The driver screams bloody murder, loses control of the cab, and swerves onto the sidewalk before stopping just inches from a lamppost.
After checking to make sure the passenger is OK, the driver says, "I'm sorry, but you scared the daylights out of me!"
"I'm the one who should be sorry," replied the passenger. "I didn't realize a simple tap on the shoulder would freak you out so much."
"It's not your fault," replied the cabbie. "Today is my first day driving a taxicab after 25 years of driving a hearse."
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. Enjoy this nice warm weather and gentle cool breeze!
Matt Winkel
City Manager
