Ontario mayor opposes loan
Wednesday, February 21, 2007 11:41 AM PST
Andy Gates
Argus Observer
ONTARIO
Standing alone, Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick Tuesday night officially opposed a $4 million loan agreement with the Oregon Community Development Department.
Dominick said during the City Council’s regular meeting he wanted more time to review the proposed loan designed to replace and construct three new sanitary sewer lift stations.
The rest of the Ontario City Council, however, apparently did not share Dominick’s reservations and voted to move forward with the project.
The project to replace and construct three new sanitary sewer lift stations has been a topic for council action in recent years and was addressed in the city’s 2002 sanitary sewer master plan.
According to Tuesday’s Ontario City Council Agenda Report, the project would usher in the construction of three new sanitary sewer lift stations to replace the current Malheur, Hayden and Murakami stations.
Construction would occur in phases. Phase I of the plan would allow the Malheur and Hayden lift station replacements to serve development around the new interchange area.
Phase II would consist of further improvement work, abatement and line installations, and phase three would be the construction of a septic sewage facility, according to the agenda report.
It would be a gamble if the city did not move forward on the project, Ontario Public Works Director Steve Gaschler said Tuesday night, because the closing date on the loan is Feb. 28, Gaschler said.
The project could be done without raising water and sewer rates, Gaschler told the council Tuesday. Gaschler explained to the council that a “large developer” has been looking to Ontario and he has indicated if the project were not to go through he would not locate in Ontario. Ontario City Councilman Jim Mosier said Tuesday night he was concerned about language in the loan contract, which appears to encumber the general fund.
According to the Interim Financing Loan Agreement, the amounts owed by the city to pay for the loan would apparently come from the general fund. Ontario City Manager Scott Trainor said that kind of language translates into a good interest rate.
Ontario City Councilman Dan Cummings said Tuesday he had concerns that if the city did not enter into the loan agreement, the prospect could ultimately be lost.
Ontario City Councilman John Gaskill told Dominick Tuesday he understands his apprehension, as a new member to the council, but, Gaskill said, with more time on the council Dominick should recognize when something is amiss.
The $4.06 million long-term loan would activate after construction was completed, for at least 20 years, with an interest rate of 3.52 percent annually, according to the agenda report.The city currently has 11 lift stations, according the city’s Sanitary Sewer Master Plan completed by Keller Associates.
The Malheur Lift Station was constructed in 1968, two years later the Murakami lift station was built, and in 1998, the Hayden Lift Station was constructed, according to the master plan.
In other city council news:
— In the interest of ADA accessibility, the Ontario City Council voted to accept $76,008 in project bids from Mid Valley Construction to complete pedestrian improvements along Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Fourth Street.
The project should take 90 days to complete, Ontario Engineering Technician Tom Davis told the council Tuesday night.
— The Ontario City Council unanimously voted in favor of a resolution to declare 47 guns in police custody surplus property and sell them to Pennsylvania-based Phoenix Distributors, for two new Colt semi-automatic patrol rifles and two holographic sights, according to the Tuesday’s agenda report.
The guns were taken into police custody following crimes, suicide incidents and cases where citizens gave police guns they did not want or were abandoned.
Equipment that would be received after a trade is valued at $2,700, according to the agenda report.
Guns have been traded before for police equipment, according to the agenda report.
