City Council - Regular Meeting

when you go to talk. Yeah. Okay. Call the meeting to order. Please rise for the flag salute. Algiance 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. All righty. Thank you. Uh, city recorder, please call roll. Mayor Jakola, present. Council President Steinheel here. Councelor Ki here. Councelor Salvage. Councelor Mlan

here. And councelor Workman here.

All righty. Thank you. We'll move on to consent calendar. The following items are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion. There will be not a will not be separate discussion on these items unless a councelor so request. In this case, the item will be removed from consent calendar and considered separately. Agenda Lebanon City Council agenda January 14th, 2026. Agreement third street warranty deed. Approval to bid Vine Street water line replacement project 25713. Board meetings 2025 1014 library advisory board council minutes 2025 1210 regular and executive session minutes liquor license Oregon indoor highcaliber Kitchen LLC. Is there a motion?

Motion second. Motion for what? To approve. Approve. Okay. Motion. It's been second to approve. Okay. Motion's been made to approve. It's been second. All in favor? I I oppose. Motion passes.

Uh there's no presentations or recognitions tonight. We'll move on to public comments. Citizens may address the council by filling out a testimony card and prior to speaking and handed to city recorder. Each citizen is provided up to five minutes to provide comment to the council. The council may take an additional two minutes, ask clarifying questions. City recorder will accept and distribute written comments at speaker's request. So, you got five minutes. You'll see he'll see you'll see the time up there. First up, Sarah Brown. And make sure the mic's on. There you go.

Hi, I'm Sarah Brown on Isabella Street in the third district if you must know. Um I am on a committee with um some people who are putting on a volunteer nonprofit event. It's kind of like a we have we're going to have about 30 nonprofits from the local area who serve the community in a variety of ways who need volunteers. So I just wanted to invite you or if you know of any um young adults or anybody in your in your circle who um are looking for different ways to uh volunteer um to come. It is this Saturday from 11 to 2 at the Boulder Falls Event Center. So, just wanted to invite you all. All righty. Thank you. What's it called? Is there a name for it?

Uh, yeah, it's Connect for Lebanon. Thanks. Okay, next up, Ken Justice. Yeah. If if the lights green, it's ready to go.

Okay. Um, so I was here last month speaking to you about the homeless problem on Berlin Road. And um since then over the new year, my barn was broken into, the lock was broken, and my

uh my son's dirt bike that he worked really hard to earn money for was stolen. And so it got me kind of an interesting sort of mad. And uh I just thought I'd come here and kind of see where we're at in the last month. I do want to say that I was really impressed with the city officers and also the county sheriff deputy that showed up and so I I do want to recognize that I was impressed by that. But I was just curious if there's been any it feels like maybe things have changed to a other side of town after I'm assuming that cleanup happened over behind the new tractor supply. And so I was just kind of curious where we're at on that.

Would you do you want to address it, Ron? Yeah, I can respond to this. So I I believe the chief is working with the property owner or trying to get in touch with the property owner and has not had any luck as of yet uh to get in touch with the property owner. Our goal would be to have them come in and see if they'll clear out some of that stuff um down there. I know our code enforcement folks and uh have been out there quite a bit uh to try and contact those members that are out there. But are they being trespassed or is that just kind of not even a thing anymore? If they can find them, they will be trespassed. Absolutely. But the times that they've been down there, they haven't been able to find them. Yeah. So, but yes, they will be trespassed if they are Okay.

Because especially on the the I think it's the Brewer property down there. But we're trying to get a meeting set up with the uh with the property owner so that we can actually make a long-term plan rather than just having officers go out there and trespass because their stuff's out there and they're going to come back to it and if we don't clean it up and get it out of there, it's going to stay there. I know it's I know it's an interesting situation when you have private property involved also and so yeah. All right. But yes, it is on the list. I've talked to the chief about it multiple times. In fact, the captain and I have talked about it once or twice, too. So, uh, it's not falling off the radar. It's just we need to get the property owner out there and again, as resources allow, we'll go out there and check. But if they're not there, there's there's not a lot we can do. Yeah.

I'm also curious about if there's the ability to mow the area that's along the road where there's little trails going down. It's like right after the the first curve where the big pull out is. There's things we we can look if it's within our rightway. We can mow it and public works director sitting back there tonight and maybe he can take a look at that. If it's if it's within our rightway. Uh yeah, we can. If it's on private property, we can't. That's why we want to work with the property owner to try and get that to where it can be mowed down to where you can see through there.

Sure. Okay. And I have your contact information, too, as well as the chief does. So, we we'll stay on top of it and as as we can contact the people and get a hold of the property owner, we'll we'll see if we can't get something done. Yeah. Well, thank you. I I don't have any serious criticisms. I'm just kind of coming back and doing from last month. Appreciate you doing. Okay. Hey, thank you,

Da Johnson. Okay. So, I will read because I'm a blowhard sometimes and talk too much. So, uh, good evening, Mr. Mayor and counselors. My name is Da Johnson. I'm in Ward 2 and I thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight. I'm here to request consideration for several targeted parking changes along North Second Street from Tangent Street to Mullins Drive. Uh you all should have a map that I had passed around and that's up on the screen as well. These changes are focused on one core priority and that's improving public safety, the emergency access and the daily livability of this corridor of our community. The stretch of roadway is is extremely narrow and when vehicles are parked on both sides, it creates conditions that are unsafe not just for drivers but for pedestrians, cyclists, school buses, and emergency responders. Over the past several months, we have observed vehicles crossing into oncoming lane because the roadway is too narrow to pass. larger vehicles include including delivery trucks, school buses, and emergency responders struggling or slowing significantly to navigate through. Residents are losing visibility when backing out of their driveway, creating frequent near misses and pedestrians, including children walking to nearby bus stops being pushed into the roadway due to the lack of safe shoulder space. These issues don't happen occasionally. They happen daily. and each one represents a preventable risk to the families who live here and to everyone who travels this corridor. First consideration I'd like you to consider is no parking on both sides at

Tangent Street to the police department entrance. As you'll see on the map and highlighted in yellow, this area is essential for emergency operations. When vehicles park along the stretch, police units and other responding vehicles have difficulty entering and exiting safely and quickly. During priority calls, seconds matter. This change also greatly improves safety for drivers turning from Tangent Street onto North Second Street, where visibility is already limited. Keeping this area clean supports faster response times, protects officers and the public, and reduces the risk of collision at a busy intersection. Second consideration that I'm asking is no parking on the west side from Olive Street to Mary Street. This proposed update affects only two residents, both of which been notified and both approve. Restricting parking here drastically improves the line of sight and visibility. The single block has reoccurring issues with drivers slamming brakes for suddenly emerging traffic, limited driveway visibility, and pedestrians stepping around cars into active lanes. Even a slight improvement in visibility can prevent crashes, reduce property damage, and help ensure no one is injur injured simply trying to back out of their home. The third consideration is no parking on the east side from Mary Street to Mullins Drive. This area is heavily used by medical students for long-term parking. Even though the school has both a main and an over overflow lot available. After speaking with the dean's administrative assistant, they were unaware students were parking there. Eliminating parking on this side will reduce congestion, improve and increase

safety for buses that cannot currently maneuver the narrow roadway, improve visibility for drivers, bicyclists, and medical students entering and leaving the campus. This block is growing is a growing area of activity, and ensuring a safe, clear corridor now will prevent larger traffic and safety issues in the future. These three adjustments work together to create a safer, more reliable north and south route. They support emergency operations. They reduce the likelihood of collisions, protect pedestrians and cyclists, and and improve the overall quality of life for residents. Importantly, these changes balance community needs. They maintain access for homeowners, reduce unnecessary congestion, and encourage appropriate use of off- streetet parking resources. This is a small targeted intervention with a significant impact on daily safety. Thank you for considering this request and for your ongoing commitment to improving the safety and livability of our neighborhoods. I appreciate your time.

Thank you. Uh K Cortez. Yeah. My name is She'll have five minutes, too.

I I'm a proxy for Maggie Estus, the uh transportation for the Lebanon School District, and um she's given me permission to write her the letter that she wrote. It says, "To whom this may concern, I am writing on behalf of the Lebanon School District Transportation Department in regards to North Second behind the police station down to Mullins Drive. The district has school buses that travel this road every day due to cars parking along the side. At the curb, this road becomes a one-lane road instead of a two-lane road. Vehicles must pull over to let others pass before they can proceed. Having a full bus of children encounter another vehicle on this street is a safety issue as we are not sure how informed other drivers are of the law and the rightway events. The district would support having the curbs painted to prevent people parking there so it will be safer for vehicles to traverse this two-lane street safely. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. She left her phone number respectfully. Maggie Estus, director of transportation of Lebanon School District. And um my letter is my concern because I live at 310 North Second. I see it every day. My concern today is about North Second. My husband and I have lived there. Coming up in April will be six years. I travel it every day either north to Mullins Drive or South to Tangent. Also traveling from Wallins Drive to North Second, from Tangent to North Second back to our home on the corner of Mary Street. There are cars parked on both sides of the street. The houses that I have observed have driveways to park their cars. When driving either way on second, when an oncoming car is coming from the opposite

direction, I or other vehicle has to wait to pass safely. It's dangerous. The other day, as I was getting a census on two residents about yellow curb painting in front of their home, this is what they said. We got sideswiped twice and it was a hit and run. And on one day, I counted 23 cars parked on North Second. That count included the 12 medical students heading north to Mullins Drive to the stop sign. They have their own parking to utilize but choose to park on the street rather than their designated parking area. I feel it's important to make North Second a safe place for us all to travel. This also includes first responders to arrive first at their emergencies to protect life, property, and the environment. handling immediate crisis from from medical emergencies and fires to crime and accidents often coordinated through dispatcher dispatch 911 dispatchers respectfully KC Cortez councelor Mlean and I met with the with these folks and my initial reaction when people bring this up to be honest is there's a hundred streets in Lebanon that you have to pull over to the side on and we talked about this but I I support what they're asking for here, especially by the by the city council or by the police station and by the out by the school because there's no reason for those people to be parking out there. They have parking places. So, I just wanted to know they met with us. They gave us great information. We appreciate you meeting with us and I support this.

Well, adding to that on North Second here, what ways are into that? Is it North Second and Mullen Drive? Is that the only two streets that go directly to the college? And off if you cut through the LB and off of fifth if you cut through the LBCC parking lot. Just saying.

So the medical students have their own they can park on the west side. They all they also have they can park across from the premier of Best Western. And at one point I countedund and some spaces that were completely empty. and they don't want to park over there. They want to hurry and they drive fast through there and then they park and they get out and they're right there right at the building because they don't they don't want to park and walk around. And also on any given day when school's in session, you can see when they're trying to get to school and when school is let out at the medical center. Um you can see the rush of all the cars coming out. Um, and it creates a huge impact on cars when you're waiting for two blocks just to get through so you can get through one lane of traffic.

All righty. Thank you. Was there any other questions, comments? Want to give my opinion. I see the city manager wrote down some notes. So, uh, is this something that you want us to bring back in a public hearing? Because that's I think that's the next step. I think it's what we talked about. Okay. Well, typically what we do is notice the neighborhood um and let them know that there'll be a public hearing and we can kind of go from there and see if we get comments. Sure. Okay. All right. All righty. Thank you. That concludes uh public comments. We're going to move on to public hearings. The first one I'm going to recuse myself and hand it over to the president and she will direct it.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Okay. First up, we have ordinance number one for 2206, ordinance number 3043, a bill for an ordinance vacating public rightway on South 3rd Street. The public hearing is now open at 6:18 p.m. Will the development services director present the staff report? Uh, I will present the staff report on this one. Uh, thank you.

That's okay. Uh, thank you, Madam President, and council members. Uh what we have in consideration for you tonight is a vacation of a portion of public rideway on Third Street between Grant and Sherman Streets. Uh this vacation is part of the sale of the San Travel Station. Uh we went through and did a little research. to Dell Engineering did some research and our handy dandy legal guy did a bunch of research and came up with a a solution here that um was a little bit unbeknownst to most of us that the 37 ft uh easterly feet of what is now Third Street was actually deed simple which you approved tonight the deed for that um meaning that the what we assumed was a 60 foot wide rightway uh the other 23 3 ft needs to be vacated. That property then reverts back to the building or i.e. the Sanm travel station. Um so with that we are required by revised statute to uh notice this. We issued notice on December 31st. Uh we have to do that 14 days in advance. We posted the building. Uh we've met all those requirements and based on those findings uh we are recommending that the council approve the vacation of that portion of third street and I can answer any questions.

Is there any value to this little strip to the city? No, this was all included encompassed in the in the sales agreement that we have currently with the uh Rick Franklin to purchase the travel station. Formality.

This is formality. Yes, we could have left it as such and then it would have maintained it as a public street. Uh but with him purchasing the building, uh we will have uh utility access easements through there and we're still working. I guess the one thing that you should know, I'm still working with two property owners to get access easements that have driveways on there. Uh, so we would not close on that until that is done. And I'm hopeful that we can have those to the council by the January 28th meeting to get those signed. So, uh, and after that, then that would become private property down to there as part of the sale. And that was included in all that purchase. I I did want to thank the uh the city manager for the high praise. Uh this kind of research actually uh historical research on real estate is actually what gets me excited. I want to I I wanted to point out that uh with the help we actually got to dig through the city of Lebanon archives with the help of Julie over there and she actually found the key document that in in handwriting from the minutes from I forget what year it was. Uh and we had to actually read cursive. So, there is a reason there is a reason for today's students to learn how to read cursive because you do have to see it once in a while and and as we painstakingly went through it, we figured this out. Uh so, I wanted to thank Julie as well in public.

Okay, returning to uh the discussion at hand, uh does council have any more questions of staff? Seeing none, is there anyone who would like to speak in favor of this issue? Anyone who would like to speak in opposition moving forward, then the public hearing is hereby closed at I'm going to hit the gabble this time. 6:21 p.m. We can pass that back on over to the mayor. Well gabbled. All further discussion will be limited to council and staff at this time. Do not believe there's any more discussion on this. So, will the city attorney please read the title of the ordinance? Ordinance bill number 2026-1, Ordinance number 3043, a bill for an ordinance vacating public rideway on Third Street. Thank you. Do I have a motion?

Move to approve. Okay, it was moved by first, second, whatever. It was moved by Councelor Mlan and seconded by Councelor Workman. All those in favor signify by saying I. I opposed. Motion passes. Thank you. Turn it back on over to you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Anyhow, we move on to regular sess resolution number one 2026 resolution. Mr. Mayor, sorry. Yep. Unmute.

Uh, regular session. We'll move on to regular session. Uh, resolution number one for 2026 resolution initiating request for withdrawal of territory pursuant to OS222 uh.460 460 and OS 22 222 I'm having trouble right now 465 will the city attorney please well the city attorney uh actually no let me let me get straight here uh turning it over to Michelle it some something happened so uh I'll turn it over to Director Olsen you

all right have any around here Evening, mayor and council. Tonight's hearing is to review the requests from property owners along Berlin Road to withdraw their properties from city limits. And this is commonly referred to as also as deanexation. The purpose of this hearing is for us to discuss the and summarize the withdrawal request, pre review the applicable Oregon revised statutes, and provide some background information to assist council in determining whether to initiate with this withdrawal request or deny the request. The request originally involved three property owners and one propert one applicant has since withdrawn his request leaving two remaining properties for council's consideration. Withdrawals from the city limits is governed by Oregon revised statutes 222.460 and 465. While these statutes authorize city council to initiate withdrawal by resolution, they do not provide evaluation criteria. This means the decision is discretionary and rests with the council. If council chooses to initiate withdrawal, the request becomes a formal land use action. A public hearing must be held before the planning commission and city council in addition to the hearing we're having now. And Lynn County would also need to approve the withdrawal through its own separate process. If council does not initiate withdrawal, no further action is will occur and the request ends. There are two remaining applicants at 32777 Berlin Road, Mr. Poland and 32756 Berlin Road, Mr. Goring. I don't know how to pronounce that very well. Uh the applicants are requesting withdrawal primary due to these reasons. They have limited access to city utilities and infrastructure, public safety concerns

in the area, including trespassing and encampments on private property, and a desire to reduce their property tax obligations. Yep. I did not hear a sport resolution. Yeah.

So, it's not Uh so we did uh staff reviewed city service availability and infrastructure in the area. Um we do have water and sewer connections available on Berlin Road and East Grant approximately one and a half miles north of the subject properties. Storm water infrastructure in the area is consistent with our rural urban standards which is primary roadsides drainage ditches. Berlin Road is under city jurisdiction and is part of our regular Lebanon Police Department patrol routes. And over the past six months, the review was that LPD responded to 66 calls for service and conducted 17 traffic stops in this area. Code enforcement is actively assisting nearby property owners with trespassing and camping issues as we heard earlier tonight. And it is important to note that count that the city will retain jurisdiction over Berlin Road even if this withdrawal request is approved. The history on how these properties came into the city was also conducted. Although applicant 2 withdrew the request, staff is including this property in the historical overview as applicants one and two were part of the same annexation. Their land was annexed in 2001 and the annexation application stated that its purpose was to allow land division not permitted under Lynn County zoning regulations. Neither applicant one nor two was the original applica applicant for that annexation. Following annexation, subsequent partitions were approved by the city which resulted in three new parcels. For applicant three, the land was part of a much larger annexation, approximately 497 acres approved in 1981 to support future residential, commercial, and recreational

development. And applicant 3 was not the original applicant. Multiple partitions were later approved by the city, creating many parcels. In both cases, the parcels met the annexation criteria, and the city approved the annexation and subsequent land divisions. Utility extensions were not a condition of annexation. These actions enabled development opportunities not available under county regulations. In conclusion, the city approved the annexation and subsequent land divisions under its development code. These annexations enabled partitions that were not permitted under Lynn County land use regulations. Annexations do not require immediate extension of utilities as utility connections are evaluated during development proposals. The applicants purchased the properties after annexation and the land partitions had already occurred. The Oregon revised statutes do not establish specific criteria for evaluating withdrawal requests and the decision to approve a withdrawal is discretionary. Based on these findings, staff recommends that city council not approve the withdrawal request and decline to adopt a resolution initiating initiating the withdrawal process. That concludes my report and I'd be happy to answer any additional questions.

Thank you. Questions from councel to staff. There there is a little math problem in this. I understand this that they want out of the tax obligation. What's our cost to service that area? What's it cost to do 66 stops? And I mean, it's just math. There's no there's no benefit. Sound like it's a calculation, but if it saves us money to do it, but what stops anybody else from doing the same thing? Well, still based on what what um our community services develop director said, like we're still going to have the road though, so we're still going to have to patrol it, I think. So, I don't know that we're going to save any.

I get it. Yeah. But I just don't know how if these people are calling and getting service, if we saved enough, not servicing them, it might make sense. But I don't think that math makes sense. So yeah,

no, that that that wouldn't do that. So So really what this is is you've got some folks that wanted to annex. Uh I think it's a very slippery slope, especially since they wanted annex. Uh there is no criteria for it. So essentially what you're doing is you're going to go back to the planning commission and you're going to develop criteria for the annexation. uh should this should this resolution move forward. Um we've met with the property owners and and have heard them out. Um and again, I think uh Shana alluded to it quite well that the properties that they're currently living on right now that have been subdivided, they would not be living there without taking advantage of the city code. Um they wouldn't have been able to do that with county code. So they basically come in, you know, for lack of better purpose, you come in and you annex, you use the city code to subdivide your property and then all of a sudden you want to deanex. So um

and they still have city water and sewer. They do not have city water and sewer and that and that's not access enough access. That's not a criteria for annexation. Uh it's available and in most cases uh you know it's it's the property owner is required to do that. The reason that they weren't required to extend water and sewer out here for these uh lots that they have out there is it's 1.5 miles away, but we we have other areas throughout town where folks have annexed and they have the same uh same issue that they can't get to those utilities. They can if they want to pay, but nobody wants to pay that. And when asked um if we extended a water man out there, do you want to pay a well? They were No, we

I just wasn't under I wasn't sure if they already had it and I was like, how could you do that? Yeah, that didn't make sense to me. Yeah. So, in order of what happened, the original owners annexed then subdivided and they want to go back and then sold and the new owners want to go back.

That is correct. And they are two different applications. So the top one um on the map is one annexation that came in. It was two dwellings on one large tax lot about five acres. Right there you can see tax lot 200, 300, 400, and 500. They annexed specifically to divide to one lot properties, tax lot 400 and 500. That was not available on Lynn Countyy's zoning. So they did that so they could take advantage of our code. They then sold all three parcels. Well, I I think once they subdivided, they you know, they made a deal with the city. Yeah. They utilized our code. I think it's a deal that should be honored by the by the land.

Yes.

Can I I'm I'm inclined to think that that we should do nothing. Can I clarify one thing uh just on the on whether or not there's a there's a standard or criteria which is generally right but there is one thing that the statute says in 222460 is that when the legislative body of a city determines that the public interest will be furthered by a withdrawal of property from the city the body and then then it goes on to give the the process for uh deanexation essentially withdrawal of property from the city. So, you know, when you look at what is the public interest, public interest is kind of defined in Oregon as the common good. Uh the interest of the city as a whole. Uh so that's that's the determination overall that the that the legislative body would need to make to justify a deanexation. And the reality is is that in in Oregon case law, there's not a single case that that interprets that statute with respect to a private party deanexation, which leads me to believe that how incredibly rare this is for a for a deanexation to occur. There are there are other situations for industrial there's specific statutes that relate to deanexation of industrial property for various reasons. Uh there was the Damascus situation in which they were all into the city of Damascus but city of Damascus refused to adopt a comprehensive plan. So everybody wanted to deanex and the legislature actually created a set of law to allow them to deanex which was later found unconstitutional. But um so so that there is somewhat of a standard. It's just never been ironed out because it's never been an issue that's gone up on appeal. So nobody really knows how to interpret that. So I just want to clarify the legal part of it. Is there a reason for the they wanted so to

Yes, their reasons were they want access to city utilities. They do not have all city utilities meaning sewer and water. When posed the question if they would connect to those they said no in our meeting. Um public safety concerns which we are trying to address and a desire to reduce their property tax obligations. It certainly doesn't better their public safety by No, I don't get that. And it it's a it that's a non-starter to me. No, they want to save the tax money. They're not improving their services.

We did have this meeting. I mean, it's in the report um with staff and myself and and the mayor. And I felt that the meeting was a lot of on not everybody had their facts straight, right? Um, and so I did ask for the staff report so it could just come to this body and everybody could could hear there. I I assumed that they would come to the the meeting and provide comment. Um, that appears that did not happen, but I still think it was important for us to walk through this and and have that discussion both sides of it. Yeah. Yeah. So you're right.

That makes sense. Well, they bought this property knowing what the deal was and you know I I'm I'm inclined to just do nothing. Great. Any other uh questions or comments? I just want to again thank you for the staff report and for again uh doing all the research research for this. It was really important. So that's a lot of work. Well, I know I think I know how this is going to go, but I will continue. Will the city attorney please read the title of the resolution?

Um, I kind of do need to No, I'm good. Resolution number one for 2026, a resolution initiating a request for withdrawal of territory pursuant to OS222.460 and OS222.465. Is there a motion to uh to move forward with this request?

Then the motion is uh what what's the proper term? That's how the work procedure. No, motion dies for dies. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. This hasn't happened since I've been here. Yeah, I think that's the first time. That's why I had to ask that question. Wow. Okay. have to say some Naz here or something. I wish they would have shown up. At least we could heard more about it. Okay, we'll move on to ordinance number two for 2026. Uh, finance director.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Before you is an ordinance for a non-exclusive um franchise agreement between the city and what is labeled as Casco Communications, but they do business as Peak Internet. Uh, Peak did have a previous franchise agreement that expired. I forgot to look that up, but within the last couple of years, um, within the last year, um, and one of the things that the city has been trying to do is kind of keep up with the pace of changes related to internet service providers, um, and other telecommunication franchises. Um, as a result, we worked uh with an attorney um, who specializes in franchise and and internet service providers. um to kind of create a new template for our franchise agreements with with companies like Peak, Comcast, Ziply, uh and Peak is the first one to to kind of come up with that new template. So before you is that new ordinance requesting uh that that new franchise agreement. Sorry, losing my words. Um but that we are confident that you know meets with current FCC regulations ensures that the city would um be able to to collect some for work done within our public rightways which is kind of the most important piece of those franchise agreements. Um and ensure that you know if we need equipment moved or or their equipment moved that we have an avenue to to do so. um we can certainly answer any questions you may have um regarding that franchise agreement, but otherwise this is mostly, you know, similar to our other franchises. Uh I think it's a 10year. I didn't actually remember to

I've always got a question. Thanks. Was it only five? I can't swear to that though. Uh let me see. Uh it's a little bit different because this is new. You've been working with outside attorney along with our attorney but outside five years. Five years. Section three.

Thank you. I was way down in section 17. So this is a five-year agreement. A little bit shorter. Uh but certainly with how fast internet regulations change in in the United States and within the state, um it's probably better that it is only a five-year agreement. And in what percentage of He didn't even give me a chance to ask if there was any questions. Go ahead, Ken. I'm sorry. No, no, please continue. Do you know what percentage of the citizens have peak versus the others?

I do not. Uh I'm looking back in the back corner at Brent, our IT director, to see if he has any general idea of we don't have any idea on uh users within city limits. A peak has been around a little bit longer. Uh I know they've done some significant campaigns to you know try to build out uh downtown internet access for businesses. Um there are a number of um you know internet to the door uh to res they fit a lot of uh the internet so you can't get in like a lot of places they make it easy. Yeah I have it places

uh Brandon yeah they do serve like the hospital and the college that and that those apartment complexes over here in Mullins and that area and then they've started to build out um you know going through town. I think they have about a third of the town done. Um, and but I don't think they have like aggressively signed up a lot of users and I don't have access to the subscription list. Yeah. And most of the time we don't. Are they the most popular internet service? No, not at this time. Comcast probably is.

Yeah. I would say you see a lot of Comcast and Sentry Century Link uh within city limits. They are the the major players in inside the city and have been here the longest. Peak and Ziply and uh America, is that the name of it? Yeah, Erica does fixed wireless. Um they've been building out over the last 5 to 10 years. Um so they're they're still they're still trying to get, you know, their their overall customer base, but certainly Comcast and and Centretel are probably your your major providers in the area. But what's the benefit to us

on the franchise? Uh, since this is a non-exclusive franchise, right, that that means that, you know, folks within city limits can still choose who their internet provider is. But what this does is allows us to have an agreement in place so that they can operate within our public right ofway and we have a way to recoup some of the costs associated with them doing some of that work. Um because often there are costs associated for us in you know locating where our existing either water sewer um storm drain lines are currently um that you know there may be some flagging costs. There's certainly inspection costs that may occur from our staff. Um so this is kind of a way for us to recoup some of that those costs while they're working in our public rideways. It also gives us the ability to, you know, if we have a a capital construction project or um a building project of some kind, we have the ability to work with them to get them to move their uh infrastructure. And that may be temporary or on a more permanent basis. But within the agreement, um it spells out how much time they have to relocate their utilities at our request.

So without the agreement, what do we what do we miss out on?

We miss out on some of the revenue. Um, and to be honest, the next question may be what is that revenue? And because this is so new, I couldn't really answer that for you. We haven't seen a lot from internet service providers over the years. Um, but we do lose that ability to to make those requests and have them relocate their equipment on a in a timely basis, right? We'd be at at their whims as far as, you know, when they chose to move their equipment. Um, and Ron may have some additional information. We have a franchise agreement with all private utility companies that use our rightway and primarily for the reason to recoup cost. Um depending on what it is, internet's a little bit different, but the the one of the biggest reasons is so if we do a capital projects and we have to put a sewer main in a specific location and their utilities say they're too low, too high, whatever, whatever that case may be, uh it's on them to move them and we we don't bear that cost. I mean it's obviously the users bear that cost but we as the city don't bear that cost in in the capital project world.

Now do we have the same type or the same agreement with all these utilities that that kind of the pilot of that? This is the pilot for for internet franchise agreements. the we have overall franchise agreements of of varying types, right? So like for example, Northwest Natural, we have a a specific franchise with them that that fits the natural gas industry and field power internet services go. Are the agreements all the same for all the internet services? The intent is that we would use this template as existing agreements expire um to ensure that we're getting what we need out of their use of the public right ofways. Okay. What's what's the timing of the expiration to the other guy?

Uh Comcast renewed two years ago, shortly after I started, and so they and they had a 10-year agreement. So that that one's eight f seven or eight years out still. Uh Ziply Fiber, I think, renew or built we had theirs done within the last two years.

Um so they probably have an a similar amount of time. So we're probably I would say a total of about 10 years out before everybody has switched over to the new template. Um, you know, we do have some avenues if there's issues with with the existing franchise agreements. There are um severability clauses in there if there's, you know, stuff that they're not meeting or they're not meeting the obligations of the the agreements. Um, but I wouldn't expect that that's really going to occur. I don't see any reason not to do this. Y

any other questions, comments? Will the city attorney please read the title of the ordinance? Ordinance number two for 2026, ordinance number 3044, a bill for an ordinance granting a non-exclusive franchise for Casco Communications, Inc. DBA, DBA, Peak Internet. Is there a motion? Motion to approve. Second. Motion's been made to approve. It's been seconded. All in favor? I I opposed. Motion passes. Uh move on to ordinance number three for 2026. Uh again, finance director.

We were here. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh we were here did November uh asking for revisions related to our purchasing rules, specifically the limits that that defined a small procurement, intermediate procurement, and um I guess a large procurement. Um, and at the time I had mentioned that we're still trying to work on some some new policy and some new purchasing real a real procurement system uh to ensure that that the city is meeting OS rules uh rules within the organization um and really just kind of build out a purchasing system that we haven't really had before. Um right now the departments all kind of do their own thing and it works to an extent. Uh but I think one of the major things that we find is everybody kind of follows a different guide book right and so what we are trying to do is standardize our purchasing across the organization. Uh what is before you is some rather significant amendments to the Lebanon Municipal Code. Uh specifically chapter 3.04. What I'm what we're attempting to do here is take out some of the specifics of purchasing out of the code so that we are more flexible in in a policy to be able to meet either changing uh state laws or conditions within our own organization and really consolidate everything related to purchasing into one agreement. Um so within the packet um I've provided a memo outlining the specific changes that we are after. Um the ordinance there is a document that uh starts off title three revenue and franchise uh or revenue and finance sorry uh that is our existing municipal code. Uh and you can see specifically in there the sections that we are

attempting to take out. Um specifically um uh municipal code section 3.04.040 section D subsection 6 which uh outlines who has the purchasing authority. Um right now that resides with the city manager is locked into code and then goes through finance director and then the department directors within their budget. We are attempting to pull that out of the municipal code and put that into the a potential policy. Um and then further down you will see that we have uh eliminated most all of 3.04.070 which is the specific s um selection methods for purchasing. And those are the specific rules that don't really belong in a municipal code. And the reason for that is is it's very hard to go through and adopt changes as little rules change either at a state level or through this body. um it obviously requires a specific action by the city council in order to make changes to um little things and so um what we're attempting to do is pull those out, follow state law for most of those items. Uh and you can see the the specific language we're requesting to put into the code. I did maintain um specifically some of the council items. So, if you'll see under special procurements, I left all of those items um and contracts that indicated that the city council is responsible as the local government or sorry, the local contract review board. um you would still maintain all of the approvals for specific purchasing that falls maybe outside of um the existing RS statutes andor stuff that the city over time has has kind of granted authority by the by order of the city council um to that

board for review. Um, and then I also provided a copy of a draft copy. Let me let me say that first. A draft copy of what our purchasing policy would look like. Um, you'll see as you flip through that that a lot of the items that that were that were requesting to move out of the code are maintained within that policy document. Um, specifically things like the definitions of procurement size. um the the overall authority for contract execution residing with the city manager still. Um and then one of the other things that we have tried to enshrine in this draft policy is um a requirement that anything purchased over 25,000 which then meets uh the intermediate procurement level is done through is is monitored through our system through Springbrook in the form of a purchase order. The benefit of that is that uh we would you're required to have three quotes in order to move forward with an inter intermediate procurement. Um and what we have found over time is that a majority of of our agreements have those three quotes and it's easy to track that down, but we're going through the departments to try to get that when we need it for audit or anything else. And occasionally we're finding oops, we don't have these specific items. And we've we've had instances where we've brought it back to council and said, "Oops, this didn't happen before." So, we're we're coming to you as as kind of an after after the-act. Um, putting this in the policy would require that the departments have all of these quotes in line prior to purchasing, right? That doesn't mean they couldn't then through the city manager request emergency procurements if there's something major going on. Uh which that authority would reside with the city manager. But it's just trying to consolidate where all of our purchasing stuff is. put it in a document that is flexible that has to be

reviewed by the city manager and approved before any changes can be made and still maintain that the council acting as the local contract review board is really the ultimate authority on any purchasing done within the organization. That was a lot that I threw at you, but

it's a very big change for us. Um, but again, it it consolidates a lot of this stuff into one spot. What we have found over time is that we are going to the municipal code for some things to a document that was made in 2014 was the last time that the purchasing policy within the organization was updated. This this change seeks to put everything into one place, make it easier for all of our departments to understand what our policy actually is, how to handle procurements within the organization, and make sure that we have all of our ducks in a row when it comes to things like audit and following through on transparency needs. Thank you.

I'll stop talking. I I'll just look at councelor Mlan and see if he has any questions. Questions, Dave. Is there any change? I knew you once. Is there any change in what? Accountability.

Uh it I would say this enhances that accountability, right? This makes sure that that everybody knows where to find the specific rules. This ensures that any purchasing that that meets a certain threshold has to be approved by other other folks within the the chain of command first in order to move forward. um it doesn't it doesn't stop them from purchasing but it does set up a a procedure to make sure that we we have everything in place. So I I think it enhances that accountability piece. Any any other questions and this will be I mean department directors are aware of these changes or it will be communicated to them.

We've discussed that this is a an item that is coming. They have not yet been delivered. The draft part of the ordinance changes means that we can't do all the ordinance changes take 30 days after council approval before they take effect. Um and so our hope is if the council approves the ordinance changes tonight, we'll send the draft out, ask for input from the department directors, make sure that everybody understands what's in here, hi fix anything that needs fixing before we solidify within that 30-day timeline. Okay, perfect. I just wanted to make sure that that piece of the plan was also being considered. Thank you. So, you're not asking for a final approval tonight. You're asking for

the the approval would be if you adopt the ordinance changes that we've proposed. That would that would change the procurement process in the organization and would start us through this draft process and within 30 days we'd have a new purchasing policy in place. Um, and any final approval? We wouldn't we wouldn't need to at that point. Once it this this sets this up as a administrative policy out of the city manager's office. Um so at that point it's just once it has the the signature of the city manager um then it is gospel so to speak within the organization. As long as we don't lose any transparency or oversight with it I'm I'm okay. And it sounds like you've addressed that. Yeah.

I I think it actually gives you a little bit more. Yeah. uh if you're concerned about Redditor it it requires us to use the our existing software system uh one thing that we found in the past is I'll send people to go hey go get three quotes on this project and they'll go get the three quotes and then you're like okay so where are the other two quotes that you got you know six months later you know we got this one but we need to put it all in the file and they're like oh I've got to search my email I got to search this I think it just combines all that stuff so that when myself, Brandon, or one of the department directors looks at it, it's all right there in front of them and it's really easy to pull up and take care of.

I got you. Thank you. Any other questions, comments? Oh, Trey jumped for his Oh, I have to get my big Okay. Yeah. Okay. No other questions or comments. Will the city attorney please read the title of the ordinance? I have my big words on this one. Ordinance number three for 2026. Ordinance number 3045. A bill for an ordinance amending Lebanon Municipal Code Chapter 3.04 public contracts. Is there a motion to approve for disapprove? Move for approval. Second. Motion's been made to approve. It's been second. All in favor? I.

All opposed. Motion passes. Thank you, Brandon. Thank you. Uh moving on to adoption of strategic plan update and city council priorities. City manager.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of the council. Uh item before con before you tonight for consideration is adoption of the January 2026 strategic plan update and city council priorities addendum. Uh on November 12th of 2025, the city council and city staff held a work session and participated in a goal setting and strategic plan update. As you all remember, uh SSW Sarah Wilson uh facilitated that. Uh at that uh we talked about multiple things. Uh you laid out priorities for uh the organization at that. um as um those priorities included uh kind of in order here uh upgrading of the wastewater treatment plant uh seek funding to reopen a municipal jail, exploring a service fee to support city services for higher education and so on. I won't read all of those, but they will be in the document. We've actually got this up on our we will have it up on our website. Um, and with that, uh, we would recommend that, uh, we move forward with the adoption of the amendment to the strategic the 5-year strategic action plan for the January 2026. I'm can answer any questions.

I have no I was going to say we've talked about this a lot, so I would hope there's not a lot of questions on this one. Think we beat it to death. Yeah. Okay. Is there a motion on adoption? Move to approve. Second has been made to to approve the adoption. All in favor? I. All opposed. Motion passes. Next up, wastewater treatment facility or plant master plan discussion. You going to read all this reading that director to us? All this reading. So much reading. I hope he doesn't have

Where's my chat GPT version of that thing? Uh, thank you, Mr. Mayor, members of council. Uh, I'm joined up here today with with Mark Cullington, a consultant with Kennedy Jensen. They help put the document together along with Charles Wright sitting in the back. We don't let him speak. We the the document before you is is a facilities plan uh through the year 2045. Some important highlights in this. it phases some projects that you're well aware of that we've talked about pretty extensively. I'll take the the lowhanging fruit and tell you over that the course of this document 2020 2045 through 2045 total cost of projects listed in here are 95,550,00029. Um, so there's there's a long list of projects. As you know, our plant was built originally in 1954, updated in ' 76. Since then, we've we've gone through everything we can to keep it functioning and meeting regulation. Uh, we've we've done a good job of that. Uh, we are starting in some pre-esign work. If the bodies approves this document for phase one, which is our solids handling systems at the wastewater treatment plant. And I'll I'll turn it over to Mark to answer any specific questions you have. I know you all read every page of this

twice. So, there it is. Questions. Has everybody read this? I read as much as I could. Like I said, I'm sorry. It took me Trey can't read a 55page thing about the other deal. It took me three years to read the Bible. I think this is bigger than the Bible. City manager, do you have any uh

So so the idea behind tonight is is basically we're putting this out for public consumption, right? So we we want comment. We're we're not proposing to adopt it tonight. We would adopt it at the February meeting. Uh if there is any comments, I unless you're a wastewater expert, you're probably not going to have any comments. Uh this is a process that we go through with all of our master plans. In order to be in line for funding, we have to have an adopted master plan. And um it kind of puts you guys in a weird position to have to adopt this, but that we trust our experts who have developed it. Um and so that's kind of where we're at with tonight. Um, if you had specific questions, I think Jason and I have beat the uh the horse to death with what projects are priority. Uh, you're well verssed in those and you will start seeing some of those come out and I'm sure there's more projects in there, too. So, um, I I really don't have any more to add to that. I have not read through the whole document. I have seen pieces of it. But uh yeah, I mean short of that really that's what we're here for tonight is just to put that out into the public consumption. Uh if you have any questions about the process or you know I think we've tried to keep you apprised as we've gone through that process of what's coming out of the master plan. None of that's changed. Um this is just the formality of adopting that master plan. And so Lebanon has an actual adopted wastewater treatment plant facility master plan. Nothing earthshattering in it. So

well, it comes down to trust, I think. And ask me if I trust you and Jason and the rest. I do. Thank you. Well, well, I would s I would I would suggest that we uh I haven't looked through it all, but I I'm going to before February 11th look through it and then I know that if I have any questions, I'm going to email you directly and go, "Hey, what's this all about?" So, um I believe March is when we'll bring it back. Is it March? Okay. March. Okay.

Is Mark, is there some key areas that would be uh more in line for the council to focus on? I mean, you know, the cost I think the costing is probably the costing in the capital projects, the the way that the plant functions, uh, I mean, again, if you're not a wastewater expert, it's it's going to be pretty foreign to you, but, um, I don't know what what are your thoughts there?

Um, mayor, council members, thank you for having me here tonight. Um, I would really focus on the executive summary portion and then go to the recommendations at the at the back of the document. Um the executive summary is very extensive. It it has illustrations, costs and the recommended plan that is from the content of the analysis, the engineering analysis that has been done which is the bulk of the work. But that's where I would say focus Ron. Um and we're available at any time to answer any questions. Even if it's um very small questions you might seem um might not be necessary, we're we're always available to answer these questions. We live and breathe this and we've been working with the city on this for on the wastewater side for 10 years I think at this point.

Just tell me I can always flush my toilet. That is the goal. I I will I will point out in the in the back of the the document there's some performance permit limits and places in bold that maybe we exceeded our DEQNPDS permit. um the it's really pretty interesting to go through as kind of a cursory summary of that over the years. So that's the the last part of the document.

Okay. So we'll uh we'll bring it back to you in March. Uh and I have to say that Kennedy Jinx when uh Lebanon took over operations of the wastewater plant uh they've been behind us the whole way. So they probably know our plant as good if not better than we do. So, we appreciate the work that they've done and u we'll bring it back in March and get it adopted. Answer any questions. All righty. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Uh moving on, department reports, city manager.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh couple of things to note. Budget process is in full swing, which makes Brandon really happy and nobody else very happy. But, um so we're moving forward with budget. Um, things are looking okay so far. We're getting through the year end and then we'll start uh the actual budget process here. And I think have we emailed budget calendar out to the council? Do you know if we to the council, but we will now. Okay, that' be good. Carl is supposed to head that thing up. Who's going to default to that? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, I did that, didn't I?

Yeah. So, we will get you a calendar out uh similar to what we did um last year, but maybe a little bit of a change. Um and that is, you know, we'll we'll present the budget in mid I think it's mid to end April. Uh and then we're proposing to have two budget meetings uh maybe not so long, but be a little more in-depth and focused so that um we can go into a little bit more detail. I know it's uh uh it's daunting at times, but that will give us a little bit of a break and have more questions that you might have and just walk through that in just a couple of days. So, that's happening. Um reminder, January 28th council meeting work session. Uh that will be where we will interview uh council candidates for Carl's position. Um that will happen in a regular council meeting session and then following that uh we will go into a work session on the jail levy. Uh likely have a consultant here helping us with that portion. Uh last we did receive contracts for a grant uh yesterday I believe uh to do a wetland delineation study on some industrial property uh where the property owners are willing to sell. and we potentially have a an industrial user uh looking at the site. Uh big site. This would be a big development if it were to occur.

Propy located.

Uh it's across from um uh Limbenton Community uh college diesel out there off of Oak Street and it runs all the way through to Highway 34. So it's it's a big development. Uh but one of the first things that they wanted to do was uh uh business Oregon has granted us uh it's an 8515 match uh for doing an updated wetlands delineation. All the property owners are on board. So we'll at least get a new delineation done. Uh if nothing else, it will serve its purpose uh for future if this doesn't pan out. So, um, and I think that's it. Unless you have questions about anything specific, uh, other than the fact that the city attorney wanted to have a little bit of city attorney report, he said. So, we'll let

the manager uh, just a couple of issues. Um, serious issues, Miss Stan. Uh uh one uh which uh is one that's kind of concerning uh not the result itself but kind of the uh the direction that the Oregon ethics commission is going uh involves the uh city of Salem uh city council and uh an ethics in investigation into serial communications related to the uh asking the city manager of Salem to resign. Um, and the result of that was that uh each of the city councilors and the mayor uh I think everybody but one has signed a stipulated order that they violated public uh meetings laws in uh in basically having one the mayor went around and kind of talked individually to each of the uh city councilors in in in asked whether they were in favor of requesting the uh resignation. Um and I do think that was wrong. I mean, I don't I don't think that's allowed under Oregon law. Um, because, you know, the question is, was it deliberating under something that was uh currently uh before the council or likely to come before the council? And obviously, if they were going to formally request the resignation of the city manager, I think that's likely to come before the city council. So, it's not the result that that is is bothersome. It's the some of the language in the uh in the ethics uh commission's final order itself, which they're really moving towards a very I think uh contrary uh position uh to Oregon law uh related to uh what is allowed and what isn't allowed. Um, and some of the uh just some of the the way that they're interpreting the law is it goes farther than they are really trying to limit the ability of members of a public body to be really even talk to each other about almost any issue. And I

and I don't say that lightly because um you know I've for a long time I've you know I've read the law. I know what the law says. I and I can interpret a law and you know I get the question of well you know can we talk about you know the future of Lebanon or can we talk you know can we talk about this that or the other and I'm like well of course you can you're you're two people that are serving the serving the city and you can talk about issues you know as long as it's not before or likely to come before the council and because otherwise that becomes deliberation towards towards a decision and and in in some of the language that I saw reading through the the various uh investigations not only by the investigator but by the adopted by the Oregon Ethics Commission. I mean they're really pushing that farther. So I just caution you to be careful and and I would also say that even in that case which I think it was I maybe I don't know all the facts but um they even went the mayor went to the the city attorney of Salem and asked him if they could do that and the city attorney said yeah that's fine. Which in hindsight I'm sure he regrets but also you know and and again I may not know all the facts of exactly what happened. And all I know is what I read in the uh in the ethics uh uh investigation opinions. Um so they did it on the advice of council. So and I don't say that to say ignore your council's advice, but um it is a moving it's kind of a moving target right now. So we all have to be very careful. Uh you all have to be very careful. I'm not subject to it. Um the other one though is better news in there was a case up in Multma County where the Multma uh uhhuh court uh heard an appeal from PETA uh against uh OSU and it was a public records case and uh they requested some videos of some research that had been done on the brains of a VO. Yeah. Very very interesting. And obviously they were looking for you know uh uh issues related to the abuse of animals and and and the question isn't about the details of the case obviously but at the end

after two years basically of of back and forth and depositions and all this uh the the the court declared that they you know there was an undue delay in responding to the uh public records request and the statute allows a fine of $200. and which that was awarded $200. But then PETA also was awarded about $430,000 in attorney's fees. And the question was is does the public records law under that under that statute uh provide for an award of attorney's fees uh in that case? And and the Multma County uh judge said that they did. Um the court of appeals recently has ruled that that was error and that the that the statute does not allow for an award of attorney's fees uh under under a case like that. So, and again, I mean, I reading the law and and I I'm a simple man, but in reading the statute, it seemed pretty clear to me that that it wasn't allowed. Uh, but it took the Court of Appeals and I'm sure another $250,000 in attorney's fees to to get to that result. So, anyways, just a couple of issues that I thought were interesting.

Trey, am I in in if I have lunch with a counselor, am I having a serial meeting? No, I'm not telling you not not to be I'm just I went to the first ethics thing and it scared me. No, I know. And you and to a certain extent you should because I don't know where it's going to go. But no, you can have lunch with another city council and you can talk about stuff. Don't talk about something that's on the agenda. Don't talk about something that is likely to be on the agenda that you're going to have to make a decision on. Those are, you know, somebody's going to fight back on this and I think they're going to win if they get it up to the Court of Appeals and the and and the Supreme Court. But I also would say I don't want it to be Lebanon that has to prove her right. So, let's avoid that. Uh, but but I am worried about where the act commission is pushing this.

I get it. It's just beyond what's reasonable. I get it. Thank you, Trey. Is there Does that conclude? Okay. Uh, is there any items from council?

I do have one that I have I'm going to plead a little ignorance on, which I'm sure will surprise you. I was approached by a constituent who I think also contacted staff. They paid their water bill through a check. They mailed it on the 8th. It wasn't posted till the 23rd and it didn't clear their account till the 28th. Now, I admit I haven't written a check to anybody to know if that's a normal time frame. Uh their complaint was partially the the lapse and that all of a sudden then they get a bill for two. I I guess I missed some place that we outsource that payment process and that it goes to Portland or something and I I don't I didn't know how to respond to him. I don't know why we do it that way. I didn't I don't know how many checks people could possibly pay with anymore. I mean, who doesn't just go online and pay anymore? I I I just wanted to address that and see if that's because if that comes to somebody else, too. This person was deep enough that they didn't get shut off because of it or anything, but I don't want somebody to come to one of us and say, "I got shut off. I mailed this check on the 8th. They shut me off on the 15th because they were late." I mean, they already were, let's face it. But I just wanted to bring that issue up with people and maybe ask why what what led us to outsource that because the the checks thing.

A couple of things. I just turned to you. Yeah. Thanks. Couple of reasons that we outsource that that was done uh three years a little over three years ago when I started. Um over here over over 60% of our payments that we receive are checks. Really?

Yep. Um, and then you know subsequently the the rest of them uh would surprise you as far as how they come in. We don't there's still not a huge adoption rate in folks using cards. Um we still get a lot of people coming in paying in they may use a card or paying cash and then we get a lot of checks. Um the the problem there was the the entry component of those checks um by our staff, right? We have a small staff within the office and so the decision was made that outsourcing that through what is considered a lock box would enhance the the processing of those payments. Um there's a couple of things that have occurred as a result. Um initially it worked out it rolled out really well timeline uh timing wise f uh things were processing really quickly. Um, and then a lot of changes happened at the United States Postal Service that ultimately slowed mail service down overall. Um, and so it can take two to 3 weeks for those checks to even land in Portland. Um, the the bank that we use picks up those checks every day, whatever comes into the PO box in Portland, drives them up to Washington that same day and deposits them again same day. Um, so there is no lag. Maybe it's a 24-hour delay if they, you know, something happens as far as traffic or something on I5 going up to Tacoma. Um, but ultimately those those checks are processed by the bank within 24 hours. Um, and then that they're they run through the banking system with the United States and ultimately land in the in the customer's bank account as cashed. Um we have noticed a significant lag in in processing as far as the USPS is concerned. Um what the other issue is is that folks tend to think that if I

cut if I put it in my online bill pay service with my bank that it goes right away and it doesn't. Um, what actually happens with a lot of cases is the bank cuts a check

on that day that you indicated and then mails it. And so it still has to go through the mail system before it makes it to us. Um, what we've tried to do is we are we are a lot more lax in our things like our past due fees. Um, so we indicate that bills are due, you know, we mail them at the end of the month. uh they're due by the 15th and then we have established an additional 30 days basically to combat some of the the issues we've seen with with timelines in mailing um and to try to help customers avoid late fees um associated with the with with the slowness. Um it's always faster if folks want to drop them in the dropbox right outside our office. That's certainly a recommendation we have for them if they're concerned about timing. um we check that block box out front of our office twice a day um and process everything within 24 hours that lands on our desks. Um so that was that was a lot of the reason for for the change back in the day um is that just the sheer volume of checks is overwhelming to to staff.

I never guess that. So the only issue is when somebody mails a check with their utility billing. Yeah. But if somebody comes in and pays, do they get a receipt? Yes, they get a receipt to cash or check, right? Checks are generally, I will say, uh, processed through our system. They're they're attached to their utility account right away. They are generally processed through our system within 24 hours. We do we do balancing and and check deposits the next morning. If there's a staff member out and that may slip a day, but it is not, you know, certainly two weeks or anything. Check to the bank or do you send it to this process? We have a check scanner on site. So any checks that we receive in our office are processed in our office and stay with us

and that includes the dropbox. Correct. Has this been an issue? I mean am I the first person to bring this up recently?

No, we've had I mean we have defin and that's part of the reason we extended our our late fee processing. We have heard from customers the complaints of of things taking a lot longer. Um and we've been able to demonstrate this is this, you know, here's where it came in in the mail on this day. here's when it was processed and then made it into the account. Um uh and then we've heard a lot of folks that that have the complaints about the online bill pay service and we try to identify you know yours here's you know here it came you can see this image we have a check image obviously for everything we do it came in in the form of a check from your bank even though you used your bill pay it's not an electronic bill pay for us all the time. Um

that's a pretty common misconception it is. Yeah. Um, and so we've we have we have tried to combat some of that. We've tried to to be a little more lenient in what we do operationally to ensure that that customers are not dinged for for transportation timelines, right? A lot of changes with the mail service. Things that were mailed here um you know within Lebanon and and to Lebanon would remain local. Now everything goes up to Portland before it makes its way back. Um, and so, you know, we we try to do the best that we can to be flexible and uh, educate the customers at the same time. When we're when reviewing somebody's water bills, like is it is there a history there where you can say, "Hey, this is this guy always sends a check on this date and it usually gets us here." Yeah. So, and you'd react accordingly.

Yeah. He's within his time frame and I'm not going to turn him off because

Yeah. We do our best to look at the list, right? you know, we generally when we're processing either past due well past dues, we're we're processing generally contain 300 plus accounts. And so we're we're trying to review them for some of these things. It doesn't always work. Um when customers call and and ask, you know, why then we can review that with them for folks with with good history with us and we can see where, you know, something just crossed in the mail, right? Then we can then we've discussed um adjustments to accounts to so that they're not paying the late fees and interest um and you know tried to again educate them on maybe just mail it a little bit sooner so that you make sure that it gets here or drop it in our dropbox if you if you want to make sure. How many complaints a month do you get like that?

I'm sorry. How many complaints a month do you get like that?

It was pretty heavy I would say. um during and shortly after COVID the complaint numbers have dropped have dropped down um pretty significantly recently things have kind of leveled out. Folks kind of have a better understanding. I I would say that I probably hear about some of these complaints a few times a month. You know, folks coming into the counter or giving us a phone call saying, "I mailed my check here and why don't you have it?" And we're like, "We we haven't seen it come in at this point." Um, you know, certainly holidays don't do us any favors. We do get a lot more phone calls around holiday season. Um, you know, if folks mailed the checks at the beginning of December as mail service has really started, you know, escalating for holidays, then it can take longer to make it to us. Um, so

we try to we try to mitigate as much as possible and help where we can. I get I appreciate the explanation. Of course.

Thank you. Any other items from council? All righty. I usually look over at the chief and give him an opportunity, but he's not here. Captain, do you have anything? Okay. All righty. Uh any uh public additional public comments? Press. All righty. Next schedule council meeting 2026 0128 city council regular meeting and work session at noon. and uh 2026 0211 city council meeting. There's no other questions or comments. This meeting is adjourned at 7:23.