City Council - Regular Meeting

Tuesday, April 7, 2026

The Coos Bay City Council approved three proclamations, including National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month, National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, and National Library Week. The council also enacted an ordinance to vacate a portion of South First Street and another ordinance establishing mitigation rates for the fire department, along with a resolution to amend the city's fee schedule to include these rates.

About this meeting

Government Body
City Council
Meeting Type
City Council
Location
Coos Bay, OR
Meeting Date
April 7, 2026

Transcript

61 sections (from 158 segments)

0:00 – 0:38Speaker 1

I'm going to call the Kuzbay City Council uh meeting to order. Uh just to let everyone know uh Mayor Benetti and councelor Kribbons uh will not be joining us this evening and we do expect councelor Stevens and our city manager Nicole Rutherford shortly. With that said, uh we'll begin with the flag salute. Are you all right to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

0:36 – 1:42Speaker 1

Thank you. Uh the next item on the agenda is public comment. Uh Christine, I think we have some public comments this evening. Okay. Okay. We have two people for public comment this evening. Before we begin public comment, uh I will uh let everyone know that the public comment period is intended for the public to share ideas and concerns and it is not intended for an interactive discussion with council. There may be opportunities for public comments during specific agenda items that require a public hearing. Members of the public are requested to confine the remarks to questions or issues under discussion during this time. During any designated comment period, individuals shall not engage in personal attacks, shall not impugn the motives of any speaker, and shall at all times while in session conduct themselves in an appropriate manner. No person shall make personal, impertinent, slanderous or unauthorized remarks or become boisterous uh while addressing the council. And with that said, I think the first person that we have this evening is Robert Trout.

1:40 – 1:55Speaker 1

That's me. Okay, Robert, will you please come up to the podium and give us your full and last name and the city in which you reside in? Robert Scott Trout, Cous Bay. Wonderful. You have three minutes, Robert.

1:52 – 3:50Speaker 1

All right. What is a stem cell transplant? If you or someone you know has ever had blood cancer, you probably heard of stem cell transplants. But what actually are they? In simple terms, it is a treatment where sick or damaged blood making cells are replaced with healthy ones. These new cells can give someone with leukemia, lymphoma, milo dysplasia, or other blood cancers and disorders another shot at life. At the TLR Foundation, we're all about making stem cell donation accessible and breaking down the myths. We focus on getting more young, diverse Aussies to sign up because that's what saves lives. So, here's the lowdown on how stem cell transplants work, why they matter, and how you can help. Stem cell transplant basics. A stem cell transplant is a way to restart someone's blood and immune system. Doctors remove unhealthy blood forming cells and replace them with healthy ones from a donor. Once they enter the body, these new cells get to work. They start creating red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. As a result, they rebuild what the body can't make on its own. Doctors use donor stem cell transplant to treat serious blood cancers and disorders. This includes leukemia, milo dysplasia, lymphoma and inherited conditions like dalismia or severe alastic anemia. Many of these cases find in many of these cases finding a matching donor is the only way for someone someone can survive. How does it work? To put it simply, stem

3:45 – 4:27Speaker 1

cells are your body's allrounders. They they're like blank templates that can turn into whatever blood type your body needs. Doctors can collect these cells in three ways. Peripheral blood. This is the most common method and feels similar to a long plasma donation. Bone marrow stem cells are taken from your hip while you are under anesthetic or cord blood. These cells are collected from umbilical cord after the baby is born and stored for future use. One minute. Uh that's all. That's enough. Thank you,

4:25 – 4:44Speaker 1

Robert. Thank you for your comments this evening. Scott Frasier, not a stranger to this count these council chambers. Try not to be. Scott, will you give us your first? Scott Frasier, Cousay, Oregon. Great. Thank you.

4:41 – 6:16Speaker 1

So, um good evening to everybody. Uh on March 31st, ODOT had a safety listening session uh and it was a Zoom meeting uh that contributes to their three-year safety plan. Um it was open to everyone in the southern southwestern Oregon and uh that includes Cous Douglas County, uh Curry County, Josephine, Jackson. Um the feedback provided was a required piece for ODOT's three-year safety plan and everybody facilitating the the meeting was awesome. Um I was able to express my top concerns regarding safety in the Kous Bay area and out of the whole region that I just all these it was amazing because there was only three participants. Um there was uh Trooper Young from the Oregon State Police, a resident from Roseberg and myself and uh it was about an hour and a half, but uh it was informative and we got to express our concerns with the area and that's hopefully going to make an impact on what they decide in the future. But I was just shocked that there was so few participants. I don't know if they didn't get the word out or what. I've got an email and uh so it just gave me the opportunity to express my concerns mostly about the east side bridge and the traffic in the morning over there. So, thank you.

6:15 – 6:56Speaker 1

Thank you, Scott. And thank you for representing the region uh for us at that meeting. I appreciate it. I'll I'll mention that Trooper Young was awesome. I mean, he detailed a lot of the stuff that I I brought up and uh it was great to have somebody else with, you know, having your back. Yeah, he's a great man. Thanks. Um Nicole, are we notified of those meetings as well? You know, I'm not certain. I'm on a list of projects in the area following uh not having information related to the work that was done last summer during one of our festival seasons. Um but I don't know that I'm on a meeting, so I'll have to check on getting on that mail list.

6:54 – 7:34Speaker 1

Okay, great. Thank you very much. Thanks again, Scott. Uh are there any other comments from the public this evening? Okay, being that there are none, we will move on to the action items. Uh the first item on the agenda is the approval of the National Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month proclamation. Um and I think Julie Marshall is going to lead that for us. Hi Julie. Hello. Okay, we're forgive me. I should say that you are the executive director of the Kids Hope Center. Um, and Nicole, is there any background you want to give before we before we have Julie read the proclamation?

7:31 – 8:14Speaker 1

Uh, certainly. So, uh, historically for the month of April, the city of Kuspay has made it a point to acknowledge the, uh, the month of April as child abuse prevention month. And we have had a long uh, standing partnership with the kids hope center. I know we have folks that are regularly interacting there. um if you got to be a member of leadership or participate in leadership coups, they open the doors for folks to come and learn um there. So, they're an asset in our community and um do a lot of great work with the with the kids and families who just need an extra lift in really challenging times. So, really appreciate their work here.

8:12Speaker 1

And thank you for being here tonight, Julia. Now, I will turn it over to you.

8:16 – 10:14Speaker 1

Okay. Whereas children are vital to the future of our community and their safety, health, and well-being are a shared responsibility. And whereas child abuse and neglect continue to impact children and families in Kous County, Oregon, and across the nation, making prevention efforts more important than ever. And whereas the month of April is recognized nationwide as national child abuse prevention month dedicated to raising awareness, educating communities, and promoting the so social emotional well-being of children and families. And whereas the 2026 theme, doing things differently, believing in communities, emphasizes the importance of proactive community-based support and the role we all play in strengthening families and preventing abuse before it occurs. And whereas communities are encouraged to take part in prevention efforts through activities such as wear blue day which occurred on April 3rd, 2026. And by displaying Pinwheel Gardens, the national symbol representing the bright future every child deserves. And whereas individuals and organizations can make a difference by supporting families, raising awareness, and advocating for policies and programs that help prevent child abuse and neglect. And whereas Barry Hospital's Kids Hope Center and other partners in the child advocacy and abuse abuse prevention movement work to support children and families and encourage community involvement in prevention efforts. Now therefore, I, Lucinda Denovo, uh, council president of the city of Kuz Bay, hereby proclaim April 2026 to be National Child Abuse Prevention and Awareness Month in the city of Kous Bay and encourage all residents to work together to support families, participate in prevention activities, and help ensure every child

10:11 – 10:51Speaker 1

grows up in a safe and nurturing environment. Um, thank you for being here and thank you for all the work that you do uh for the children of this community. Um, council, how would you like to proceed? I move we approve the proclamation designated April 2026 as child abuse prevention and awareness month. I'll second. Okay, we have uh a motion and a second. Any further discussion? Okay, I uh will ask call for the question. All in favor say I. I. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you again for being here. And I do have a couple of stats I was asked to um just

10:49 – 12:15Speaker 1

I would love for you to share that. Thank you for the group. Um so um in 2025 the Kids Hope Center served 332 children. Um that was up from 291 in 2024. Of those 332 children, 105 children were seen oh excuse me. 103 children were seen um with for allegations of sexual abuse. 116 of those children were seen for um physical abuse and 35 were seen for um witness to domestic violence in the home. Um of those children that we saw um Kusby Police Department were um actively investigating 102 which is the second highest in the county. Um we do have a couple of events. Um being that it is child abuse um awareness month, we um do have our annual benefit dinner this weekend. Um Saturday at the Wildflower. Um we're also hosting an open house at the center on the 22nd of April. Um we invite all community agencies and individuals from the community to drop in um just kind of have a tour and see who we are and what we have to offer for the children in Kous County. Um, and then we also have our uh I think we're about year 22 23 for family funday. Um, which is going to happen the last Saturday of April on April 25th at John Dobis Park.

12:13 – 12:47Speaker 1

What time is the open house? The open house will be from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Um, as well as family funday will be from 10:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. Okay. Thank you. Those are sombering um um numbers, but we really again appreciate the work that you do. Thank you. Um, the next item on the agenda is the approval of the National Public Safety Telecommunications Week Proclamation. Nicole, I'll um turn it over to you to um explain a little bit about this proclamation.

12:44 – 14:42Speaker 1

Yes. So, um I would start just as a reminder that um the city of Kuzay and the Kuzbay police department um expanded our telecommunications work by bringing in all of dispatch activities from the county to um our dispatch center. and our um strong team stood up uh added a bunch of members and just really figured out how to do that work in a in a better way to serve the larger community. So that being said, there has been traditionally a week set aside in the month of April to acknowledge uh National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week and the city of Kuz Bay through the council has for several years uh supported that uh via proclamation. Um, this is really just an an an awareness campaign much like most proclamation work is to acknowledge the work that the telecom telecommunicators do on a regular basis to preserve the community safety um make sure that there's folks responsive in a time of need. So, all of that said, probably Tessa is, you know, she's our administrator of that uh program and probably has some uh better words to share beyond the proclamation if she wishes. So, good evening. I'd just like to thank uh all the city council for the opportunity to be here tonight. Um I'm honored to speak on behalf of Northeast 911 as we recognize April 12th through the 18th, 2026 is National Public Safety Telecommunicator Week. This is a week designated to honor dispatchers everywhere who serve as a first point of contact during emergencies. For those who may not be familiar, Northwest 911 is what is known as a primary PAB, more commonly known as a 911 center. While we are part of the Kuspay Police Department, we also serve all of Kous County, answering both emergency and non-emergency calls and coordinating responses for nine law enforcement

14:40 – 15:48Speaker 1

agencies, 15 fire departments, and three ambulance service providers. Over the past year, our dispatchers handle handled nearly 129,000 calls, including more than 30,000 911 calls, resulting in dispatching for over 108,000 incidents. Those incidents range from a simple parking complaint to major events such as a plane crash, multiple fatal traffic accidents, including the UCCC bus crash, uh, and numerous complex multi- agency operations. And this is only representing a small portion of what they are actually dealing with and facing daily. Our center is staffed by a dedicated team of dispatchers, supervisors, and leadership who work around the clock to keep our community safe. We currently have 19 team members with experience ranging from less than one year to more than 40 years on the job. They truly are the first first responders providing calm guidance, life-saving instructions, and coordination during moments of chaos. This week gives us the chance to recognize their skill, resilience, and compassion. On behalf of Northwest 911, thank you again for your continued support. And at this time, I'll read the proclamation.

15:45 – 17:36Speaker 1

Great. Thank you, Tesla. Whereas public safety telecommunicators are the first and most critical contact our citizens have with emergency services. And whereas these dedicated professionals serve as a vital link between people in need and emergency responders. Calmly gathering information, prioritizing calls, dispatching law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical services, and providing life-saving life-saving instructions to callers. And whereas public safety telecommunicators work around the clock, often under intense pressure, to protect the lives and property of our residents and to support first responders in the field. And whereas public safety telecommunicators face intense and often traumatic events while maintaining professionalism and composure, carrying the emotional weight of each call to keep our community safe. And whereas National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week was established to recognize the invaluable contributions of public safety telecom communicators and is observed annually during the second week of April. Now therefore, I Lucinda Denovo, city president of the city of Kuzbay, hereby proclaim April 12th through the 18th, 2026 to be National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. Uh, and I encourage all residents to join in honoring the public safety telecommunicators whose knowledge, skill, and service help keep our community safe every day. And I believe we have some of those individuals uh in the back of the room. So, I would like to just give them a big round of applause. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, council, uh, how would you like to proceed?

17:34 – 17:58Speaker 1

Move to approve the pro proclamation naming the week of April 12th through 18th, 2026 as National Public Safety Telecommunications Week in Goosebay. Second. Okay. I have a motion in a second to approve the proclamation. Uh, any discussion? Okay. All in favor say I. I I

17:55 – 18:36Speaker 1

thanks Carmen. Opposed. Um motion carries. Again, thank you for being here this evening. Uh we so appreciate everything that you do and obviously law enforcement as well. So thank you. Truly we we are so fortunate to have such a dedicated team uh keeping the citizens of this community safe. Thanks. Um the next item on the agenda uh this evening is and yet another proclamation of another another important topic which is the approval of the National Library Week proclamation. Um Nicole, would you like to um start and then we'll turn this over to Sammy?

18:33 – 19:47Speaker 1

Okay. Yes. Thank you. Uh so National Library Week has uh been celebrated since 1958 and the city of Kousbay has acknowledged that for a number of years. This year it is the week of April 19th to the 25th and essentially we get the opportunity to um show support for all that libraries are in our communities. Um opening the doors and access to a variety of topics and items. Um we are really fortunate that our library adds a lot of programs that the community can access at no cost or very low cost. Um it becomes a social social kind of gathering place for for most folks beyond just what we traditionally would presume a library is is a location for books. So for us without a community center it is our community center in Kouspay. So, um, acknowledging their importance, I think, is a really, uh, significant piece and speaking to the the, uh, greater fabric of our community is kind of interwoven by having a library here. So, I don't know, Sammy wants to pick up.

19:44Speaker 1

Thank you. Um, all right, jump right into the proclamation. Okay. Thanks, Sammy.

19:49 – 21:45Speaker 1

All right. Whereas libraries spark creativity, fuel imagination, and inspire lifelong learning, offering a space where individuals of all ages can find joy through exploration and discovery. And whereas libraries serve as a vibrant community hubs connecting people with knowledge, technology, and resources while fostering civic engagement, critical thinking, and cultural enrichment. And whereas libraries provide free and equitable access to books, digital tools, and innovative programming, ensuring that all individuals, regardless of background, have the support they need to learn, connect, and thrive. And whereas libraries partner with schools, businesses, and organizations to maximize resources, increase efficiency, and expand across essential services, strengthening the entire community. And whereas libraries empower job seekers, entrepreneurs, and lifelong learners by providing access to resources, training, and opportunities that support career growth and economic success. And whereas libraries nurture young minds through story times, steam programs, and literacy initiatives, fostering curiosity and a love of learning that lasts a lifetime. And whereas libraries protect the right to read, think, and explore without censorship, standing as champions of intellectual freedom and free expression. And whereas dedicated librarians and library workers provide welcoming spaces that inspire discovery, collaboration, and creativity for all. Whereas libraries, librarians, and library workers across the country are joining together to celebrate National Library Week under the theme find your joy. Now therefore, I, Lucinda Denovo, council president of the city of Kousbay, hereby proclaim April 19th, 2025 to be National Library Week in the city of Kuz Bay and encourage all residents to visit their library, explore its resources, and celebrate all the ways that the library helps our community find joy. And Sammy, thank you for always championing uh the work at the library.

21:43 – 22:17Speaker 1

Well, I would like to thank you all and and the staff at the library. They really we wouldn't be the same without them. Indeed. Indeed. Uh, council. Yeah. I'd like to make a motion that we approve the proclamation designating April 19th through the 25th, 2026 as National Library Week. Okay. I have a motion and a second to approve um April 26 as uh National Library Week. Any discussion? Okay. All in favor say I. I.

22:15 – 22:36Speaker 1

Opposed? Motion carries. Thanks again, Sammy. Uh the next item on the agenda is a public hearing for consideration to approve the vacation of a portion of South First Street. Uh and that will require an enactment of an ordinance. And Jennifer, I will turn it over to you.

22:33 – 23:39Speaker 1

Thank you very much. Um on January 20th, city council on behalf of the property owner Waste Connections initiated a rightaway vacation request for South First Street between Lockhart Avenue and Coang Slooh. Waste Connections is proposing upgrades to their facility andification of this portion of South First Street is necessary to accommodate a modernized facility and improve circulation. Comments were sought from all city departments and staff is recommending approval with conditions. Comments were also solicited from local utility companies. Pacific Power requested that acceptable access to their facilities is maintained. Remaining utilities stated no objections. As the vacation is with one is within 1,000 ft of a shoreline, the city is required to seek input from the international port of Kus Bay. The port commission considered and approved the vacation application at their February 19th commission meeting. At the writing of the staff report, city staff had received no public comments for or objections to the proposed vacation. And um there's representatives from Waste Connections in the audience and online as well if you have any questions.

23:36 – 24:01Speaker 1

Okay, great. Um, are there any uh questions before I open up the public hearing? No. Okay, I will open up the public hearing. Are there any is there anyone who would like to make comments? Okay, since there uh seems to be no comments this evening, does the representative want to make any comments?

23:58 – 25:55Speaker 1

Yes. Thank you, councelor. Uh my name is Jay Harland with CSA Planning now an AKS company and we are um representing waste connections in this matter. Uh I think everyone has probably at some point had something that in Kousbay that needed to go to the landfill and they've used the the transfer station. So I'm going to presume the council is familiar with the site. Uh essentially what this does is um there are plans that we're working on to um to make some pretty significant upgrades to the transfer station going forward. That'll obviously require a land use application. Um and having this right away available for maneuvering um will be I think a pretty big benefit to the city. Uh the other thing that I would add as well is just the way the property is used currently. I mean it's it it obviously dead ends at the Slooh and then has a lot of cross traffic um with the operations of the of the transfer station a lot of which is commercial traffic. So this vacation will facilitate sort of improvements to the transfer station and then also uh allow for sort of a little more direct um onsite control by waste connections um for uh both the commercial traffic and then the the public's use of the transfer station. So, I think overall it will allow for a pretty big safety benefit uh to the city. And uh Mark Fweiler is in in the audience there. He can answer any questions if you have any of him. And also um Jennifer Stuber is also online and she's the regional uh engineer for uh waste connections. So, I'm happy to answer any additional questions and we would respectfully request the council approve the vacation tonight.

25:52 – 26:31Speaker 1

Thank you m very much Jay. Uh, council, do you have any questions? No questions. Uh, I think it makes perfect sense. So, I would entertain a motion. You need to close the hearing if there's nobody else. Oh gosh. Thank you, Jay. I appreciate that. I'd like to close the hearing now. I was just trying to beat Jennifer to it, right? Like it was coming. I could feel it. Thank you. I will close the hearing. There are no comments. Council, how would you like to proceed? I move to enact an ordinance providing for the vacation of South First Street between Lockhart Avenue and Colbang Slooh. Second.

26:28 – 27:13Speaker 1

Okay, we have a motion and a second uh to uh approve the excuse me uh ordinance providing for the vacation of South First Street between Lockhart Avenue and Colink Slooh. And I believe we will do roll call. Correct Christine? That's correct. Wonderful. An ordinance providing for the vacation of a portion of South First Street found in the southeast quarter of the southwest quarter of section 35 township 25 south range 13 west of the Wamtt Meridian Cous County Oregon. Councelor Matthews I. Councelor Denovo I. Councelor Kilmer I. Councelor Stevens,

27:12 – 27:40Speaker 1

I. Councelor Nebergo, I. Ordinance number 596 has been duly enacted. Great. Thank you very much. Thank you for being here this evening. Thanks for keeping me in line, Jay. Appreciate it. Um, okay. Uh, the next item on the agenda is a public hearing uh to consider enactment of the fire department mitigation rate ordinance. Chief Atkins,

27:37 – 28:39Speaker 1

good evening. Uh at both the February 24th and the March 24th council work session, a draft ordinance was brought to council to authorize the fire department to be able to bill for recovery rates for certain emergency and non-emergency responses that we have. uh with feedback from both of those, we have adjusted the ordinance and the appendix A which was included in the packet uh that outlines what we would be billing for and that uh primarily it would be insurance driven uh cost recovery uh with only a few exceptions. It would be direct build to uh the the person or the citizen. um primarily for illegal burns, excessive use of public assistance or lift assists and then also for commercial um uh care facilities. So pleases the council, we request that you open a public hearing to enact the ordinance for mitigation rates.

28:36 – 29:10Speaker 1

Okay. Thank you, Chief. I will now uh open the public hearing. Are there any comments? Scott, come on up. Hi. Um, Scott Fraser, Cous, Oregon. Um, do you have any idea how much revenue you're going to get from this? Uh, we're estimating anywhere between like 20 and $50,000 a year. Um, and you'll be building people's insurance. Is that correct? Correct.

29:08 – 29:50Speaker 1

And that'll make everybody's insurance go up, maybe. Um I don't know exactly what all the impact would have on it but most of those things are being built already by ambulance service or hospitals um for the services they provide and you're trying to recover revenue that future revenue that you need is uh primarily trying to recover uh just some of expenses that we for services we provide. Okay. Are you still going to all the medicals that uh Bay Cities is going to and that kind of thing? No, we've stopped going to some low acuity calls because the ambulance is still going. So, it's not

29:48 – 30:03Speaker 1

we don't feel it's warranted to send out the fire engine and staff along with an ambulance for those kind of calls and medical calls is not one that we'd be billing for recovery for either. Okay. Well, thank you.

30:01 – 30:48Speaker 1

Okay. Thanks, Scott. Great questions. I can tell you there's been a lot of disc discussion uh about this and I appreciate the work that chief has done. If there are no other comments, I will close the public sess excuse me the public hearing uh and I will ask uh the counselors if they have any questions or comments. I have one question. Um a thank you for making it six uh for the lift. I appreciate that. Um when will we see uh the fees? I I was hoping to see I think we were kind of talking about it if someone um on the seventh time needed to um needed lift assistance. I thought you said it was something like $70 or something like that. When will we see that fee structure? Is it here?

30:47 – 31:17Speaker 1

That's on the next Sorry. Okay. It's there and I didn't catch it. Okay. For the resolution. Thank you. Appreciate that. Um okay. Uh with that said, if there are no questions then, uh I do have a quick question. Um, if this is enacted, um, how is it communicated out to the public? Is it posted to the website? Is it a city update or, you know, a weekly update? When when does that get conveyed?

31:15 – 31:42Speaker 1

I don't want to overstep where maybe what the chief has planned, but any and all ways, right? We can do a Friday update article. Um, it we do post for ordinances. Of course, people have to know how and why those are being posted and kind of being a part of the process. Of course, this is all public information, too. But we can do a Friday update uh article to I'm not requesting. I'm more just curious.

31:40 – 32:17Speaker 1

Yeah, I mean, we generally try to use all of our resources to share out new information. Um, Friday update articles also get posted to our or our Facebook page. Um, those also show up on the website, but again, you have to be a person who's knowledgeable about those locations to to get that information. Okay. I don't know if there's another source you were considering, but uh, no, that was just what, like you said, we post it ahead of time and then afterwards we'd be doing the Friday article. Okay. Thank you, Councelor Kelner.

32:15 – 32:56Speaker 1

Yeah, I had a question. When do these go into effect? So an ordinance and just to kind of give some background on why this is happening the way that it's happening. So the ordinance itself uh becomes a part of code and that gives us the ability to consider charging a fee and then we have to step into the fee resolution to determine the fee amounts. So two kind of different processes. The ordinances take 30 days. It allows for feedback if there's someone who has concerns or wants to uh bring this back up before you. So there's a 30-day period before it's enacted uh officially.

32:53 – 33:37Speaker 1

So once it is enacted, this this process begins. Generally, that's how ordinances are handled. Yeah. I think uh just a comment that I want to make and I I've I've talked about I think that the um the impact is negligible for 30,000 a year. I think it's um the impact is far greater on the community at large. No one knows where the border ends from one city to the other. And I I am concerned over it. I just want to make that on the record.

33:36 – 34:11Speaker 1

Um, as someone who just spent the last three hours with three and a half hours with Nicole looking at budgets, um, pennies matter right now. Like we are in dire a dire position when we think about the budget for next year. And so I appreciate you for coming up with solutions. I while 20 or $30,000 doesn't seem like it's a lot of money, um, after spending so much time with the budget, it it we we need all of we need all of it. Thank you, Carmen. Any comments from you?

34:14 – 35:21Speaker 1

Well, uh, I think most of my comments or questions have already been answered by the chief, and I just appreciate him coming back. uh with uh ample in information for everyone. Um good questions all around really. Uh I I do have some hesitation to charge for these things uh for these types of services. However, um it doesn't seem like it's going to have a massive effect on our population uh outside of like the insurance uh protocol that's already kind of happening. So, I'm feeling fairly comfortable moving forward with this um at least, you know, at this at this moment. Um, I would imagine that if things really go haywire, we could always retract, but I I don't see this being a a massive burden on our uh constituents.

35:17 – 36:17Speaker 1

Thank you, Carmen. Um, again, I think we all have had a lot of discussion about this and I appreciate every comment that's been made this evening. I don't think it um and that's why I think there was so much discussion. I I feel a bit better to know that there are other cities uh that have been doing this for quite some time. Um I feel better that we're billing insurance and we've given uh a wide um I don't know birth uh for uh um and attempting not to charge a person for example if we had to go out and um lift them uh from a lift chair or something and and so so uh yes it's a tough place that we're in. uh we do need to be prudent with our dollars. This isn't really about making revenue. This is about uh covering costs uh is really what it comes down to. So, uh with that said, uh council, I would entertain a motion.

36:14 – 36:44Speaker 1

Just one more thing. Um council president, um this is being we're not hiring staff to manage this. I I just want to make that clear to the public out there as well. Well, this is a great point. A company that does this, a third party company that does this. Correct. That is correct. Yeah. Thanks for bringing that up, um, Council Kilmer. So, with that said, I will entertain a motion.

36:45 – 37:24Speaker 1

Um, sorry, the action. Um, I move to implement a program to charge mitigation rates for the deploy deployment of emergency and non-emergency services by the fire department for services provided rendered by and for the Kuspay Fire Department. I'll second. Okay, we have a motion and a sec a second to enact the proposed ordinance establishing and implementing a program to charge mitigation rates. Um, I think this will take a roll call. Christine,

37:22 – 38:00Speaker 1

an ordinance establishing and implementing a program to charge mitigation rates for the deployment of emergency and non-emergency services by the fire department for services provided rendered by for the Kuz Bay Fire Department. Councelor Denovo I councelor Kilmer I. Councelor Stevens I. Councelor Nebergall I. Councelor Matthews I. Ordinance number 597 has been duly enacted.

37:57 – 38:16Speaker 1

Okay. Thank you. Uh the final well the next item uh action item on the agenda this evening is consideration to adopt resolution 26-07 amending the city's fee schedule with those rates that I just asked about. Chief Atkins.

38:12 – 40:11Speaker 1

Yes. Thank you. Um so based on your uh last action item uh we're bringing to you resolution 267 which would be amending the city's fee schedule. Uh page 36 of that fee schedule lists the proposed or not necessarily proposed but estimated uh charges for certain types of um responses that we would have both emergency and non-emergency. Uh it's kind of like the uh basic or you know worst case type scenario of what we could be charging on those things. Uh also included in your packet was the comparison charts uh that listed other municipalities or fire districts. I tried to choose a variety of ones that u are similar size. Uh so also the population of those communities are listed right below the names. Uh again, this is just a small representation of fire departments in the state that have similar fee structures. Uh the second page of that attachment also lists what they charge uh for those mitigation rates. Um and the one thing you'll notice is they're kind of all over the place. Um so there's nothing that's really set uh as far as specific rates. Some people do flat fees uh for first offense, second offense, third, whatever uh or different levels of responses. Ours is planning on doing actual costs, not necessarily just having a blanket fee, which is typically going to be higher than what the actual uh resource would cost. So, and then majority of them are also still using uh Oregon State Fire Marshall rates for apparatus. So, so again, we're asking that you pass that resolution 2607.

40:07 – 40:45Speaker 1

Council, any questions? No, just say I appreciated having the graphic that laid out different cities and their uh costs. So, thank you, Council Kilmer. No comments. Okay. Uh being that there are no comments, I would entertain a motion to adopt resolution 26-07. I move to adopt resolution 26-07 updating the city's fee schedule to include the fire department's mitigation rates for cost recovery. I'll second.

40:43 – 41:12Speaker 1

Okay, we have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 26-07 amending the city's fee schedule. Uh all in favor say I. I I opposed. Motion carries. Chief, thank you to you and your team for all the work that you did uh to get us to this place and the many questions that we asked you. So, thanks. Um looks like city manager report is next on the agenda.

41:09 – 43:06Speaker 1

All right. Thank you. So, um, apologies for running right in as the meeting started, but, uh, as Councelor Stevens said, we were going over the budget, and just as a reminder, I'd offer that to anyone who might want to peek at that one-on-one, uh, in advance just to see what's coming. The ultimate goal is to have that hit the streets. We're publishing notice of the meeting um for the budget to be available for the public um on Tuesday, this next Tuesday. Uh but we do hope to have it out to everyone on the budget committee by Friday. That still gives us a good number of days in advance. We have one outstanding item we're trying to work through um and uh working with Steve Donovan. So, and he's we're playing phone tagging back and forth a little bit trying to work through that. So goal is by Friday. Worst case scenario, we already are publishing that it will be out on the streets by Tuesday. So just heads up there. Again, offering that to anybody. Uh expect a little bit deeper dive in just to make sure you know um you have enough time if you're if you're interested in coming in to set aside time to come in uh maybe a bigger chunk of time. So, uh, I wanted to share that I went, uh, yesterday, took the opportunity to go to the airport open house and impressed with the number of folks who showed up for that. So, uh, good net to grab those people and have them come in. It was a, I think, the most well attended ribbon cutting I've seen for the chamber in a very, very long time. So, um, beautiful space, of course, uh, and the photography was amazing. Um, so I appreciate that. um resource we have right here and their continued effort to grow. So, um we are working maybe uh to help support the hospital uh connecting with

43:02 – 45:01Speaker 1

a um consultant who possibly will uh land a large grant to do some housing development on site early stages. So, we don't know if there is actually going to be any movement there. But, uh, this is just kind of a shout out to our team and kind of building that partnership with the hospital, that feasibility study, which just opened the doors for, uh, how they can participate with building housing in our community. It, if it happens, it's going to be innovative. It's a modular, uh, they have a factory. This team builds the walls with all the plumbing and utilities in it and installs here locally and would be a larger multif family unit. Um there are some things in the work to maybe bring in another uh rotating student resource here. So it would be timely if that happens. So uh the organization who is uh putting the grant in is fairly wellnown and so they're pretty confident they can get it still yet. Fingers crossed we'll see. But it's kind of fun to see maybe that move forward some. Uh reminder OAB has cleanup this Saturday. um if you have interest, we can get you some information on that. We also have the citywide cleanup day coming um next Saturday on the 18th. Um kind of aligns with Earth Day. There will be free uh trash collection um at several sites throughout our larger community, not just Kay, but also the Northbend area. And it also promotes um bringing in uh food donations that go to our local food uh pantries. Uh just a reminder again, budget's coming out. Our first meeting being April 30th and uh follow up on May 7th. And then I plan to be out uh the 16th through the 21st, but I will attend the meeting um remotely. So that is what I have.

44:58Speaker 1

Okay. Thank you very much, Nicole. Uh, council comments. Councelor Matthews.

45:08 – 47:06Speaker 1

Well, I don't have a ton. Uh, just wanted to take a moment to um just chime in about our proclamations and just uh say how grateful I am for the Kids Hope Center uh bringing forward their message and all the work that they do. In addition to the uh public safety, telecommunicators are super important to this town and of course the library has has a near and dear place in my heart. Um I I also just want to thank Chief Atkins for all the work that he's done pulling this together and trying to find solutions to help us cover costs the city incurs. And and I um encourage any of our citizens if they're wondering how this will affect them to look at the fee schedule and and realize that it's uh for most of us, we will never see any any um effect on this. But uh you know, it's just a way for us to cover some of those kind of outside of our normal day-to-day operations uh costs. And I think it's really going to be beneficial. and we have to find ways to recoup some of this, you know, these costs that are incurred. And it is it is uh encouraging when you see the other communities that are doing this as well. It's just not an uncommon practice. And so um that strengthens my resolve into why we would bring this into effect. But, uh, just wanted to say thank you to Chief for, um, pulling all that together for us and and going through all the public hearings with this and and answering all of our questions. It's been a long haul, but uh, uh, really just appreciate all the work on that. Other than that, uh, hope everyone had a great Easter and I will end my comments there. Thank you.

47:04 – 48:31Speaker 1

Thank you, Councelor Matthews. Councelor Stevens. Yeah, a couple weeks ago I was able to attend a prosperity council listening session. Um, quick reminder, that was the prosperity roadmap that the governor has put forth with some goals. And I'm not going to share all of the notes, but there was a couple of things that got brought up that I thought would be interesting for this group. Um, an idea uh that was thrown out was issuing a a minimum of a three-year moratorum on land use appeals around urban growth boundary zones. And during that time frame, study economic activity generated uh to generate um some ideas around overhauling the state the state's land use policies. Again, these are just ideas. These are not things that are being put into action. So just to give you an some ideas of the conversation, uh lots of conversation around the need for additional infrastructure funding for municipalities due to the lack of that said infrastructure and aging to keep businesses uh coming in and uh housing projects moving forward. Um and then just a pretty significant amount of conversations around uh state regulations and reducing some of those. So great conversation. Appreciate being part of it.

48:28 – 48:39Speaker 1

Thanks for sharing those uh um comments with us this evening. Appreciate it. Uh Council Kilmer.

48:35 – 50:32Speaker 1

Yeah, just a couple. Um and again, I want to thank our council for the recognition through proclamations. Um, this is it seems like sometimes we have a lot of this, but this is a very busy month. I I look at my calendar and it's busy and it's a busy month for proclamations that need to be made for the services that are provided through this. I I was astounded at the number of calls that our 911 center receives and um appreciate the work that they do. Um, I've been on both sides of that where I' I've needed help and they are great people. Um, and very important in the process. Um, wearing some of a couple of my other hats. Um, Rotary, uh, I'm a member of Rotary and this weekend the Prefontaine Rotary Track and Field Beat is happening. It's an invitational. So, um, they usually have anywhere from 400 to 800 students that come in and this one is supposed to be larger this year. So, that's exciting. Uh, we'll have a lot of people in town this weekend. Um, also they just completed the winewalk for the month and a couple of near and dear um to my heart, the Kids Hope Center was a recipient as well as our library foundation. So, I appreciate their contributions to helping so many um organizations through that walk and and the side benefit is that people get in the doors of our merchants and our our services that are provided and so I appreciate what Rot Rotary does. That's all I have.

50:30Speaker 1

Thank you, Councelor Calmer. Counselor Neber.

50:33 – 51:21Speaker 1

Yes. Well, I'll follow up with that uh to say more about the library. Uh we've got the uh foundation's 12th annual uh spelling bee this Sunday at I believe it's Black Market Gourmet from 1 to 3. So if you want uh to come see that, it's uh open to the public. Um but also um I do want to say uh that I I appreciate doing these proclamations um because sometimes I think the work especially of folks like Tessa and her team, it's very hidden. and I've had the opportunity to go back there and sit through some of the calls and it I I know that I could not do what they do and they help our city run and help keep our citizens safe and I think it's great that we recognize that. So,

51:20 – 51:41Speaker 1

yeah. So, well said. And with that said, uh I don't I think everything has been said that um I would have commented on as well. So, I uh thank you the council uh for allowing me to run the meeting uh and help me with a few mistakes I made this evening. And uh I will call this meeting adjourned. Thank you.

This transcript was automatically generated from the official public meeting video and is presented unedited. It reflects remarks made on the public record by elected officials, staff, and public commenters. Transcript accuracy may vary; view the original recording for reference.