Ontario council OK’s Pepsi deal
City Council unanimously approves plan to sell property to firm
By William Lundquist
Argus Observer
Tuesday, December 4, 2007 10:57 AM PST
| |
| The Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company plans to move its Ontario distribution center from its current location on Southeast Ninth Avenue to the Stelling property at Yturri Beltline and Northwest Fourth Avenue. |
Ontario — The bid of Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Eastern Oregon to purchase more than 10 acres of the Stelling property from the City of Ontario for $16,500 an acre was accepted unanimously by the Ontario City Council Monday night.
To accept the bid, the council members had to exempt the property from a resolution passed more than a year ago that set the minimum bid price for Stelling property at $20,000 an acre. The city had never received a bid for that amount, however.
In approving the sale, the council members also rejected an argument from Ontario Fire and Rescue Chief Terry Mairs that the land was needed for a new fire station and training ground. Mairs said that his department had, in fact, used the site for wildland fire training this summer. The only other training site, he said, was the streets of Ontario at night. He said every member of the Snake River Valley Training Association needs a training site they can count on.
“It is something the firefighters are in need of,” he said.
Mairs estimated he would need two and a half acres for the station he had in mind, plus another two for training. Since Pepsico wanted six acres, he said, and the same access points and hilltop location desired by his department, there was no way to share the property.
Ontario City Attorney Larry Sullivan said he had talked with Pepsico and learned the company had no intention of leasing or selling a portion of the land back to the city at cost. On the other hand, he said, he learned from the city’s interim planning and zoning administrator Evan MacKenzie the city has no provision for a public facility in an industrial zone, so building a fire station on the property would require rezoning the land.
Mairs said another possibility was putting the station on airport property, but that would require the consent of the Federal Aviation Administration, and the station and training ground would have to be on different parts of the property.
Ontario City Councilman Dan Cummings said he had great concerns about retaining the road right of way to the property, and Mayor Joe Dominick said Pepsico had no problem with the city keeping the right of way. Pepsico plans to move its Ontario distribution center from its current location on Southeast Ninth Avenue to the new property at Yturri Beltline and Northwest Fourth Avenue, which may allow it to add two positions to the payroll.
Dominick, who had been negotiating with Pepsico for some time, declared ex parte contact, but said since the deal would not result in any financial gain to him, he would vote with the rest of the council on the sale. The council also unanimously approved two proposals to help another business: Flying W Aviation. The company’s plan, former Ontario City Manager Scott Trainor said Thursday, is to build a new commercial hangar at the Ontario Municipal Airport and sublease a portion of it to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center’s LifeFlight operation.
The city made that possible by agreeing to lease land for the hangar for $1,000 plus 11.24 cents per square foot annually. The lease agreement stated Joe and Monica Williams, the owners of Flying W Aviation, will lease at least 7,000 square feet from the city, but the proposed building will be more than 10,000 square feet. The lease will initially be for 20 years with automatic 10 year renewals.
The city also loaned Flying W Aviation $74,000, of the total project cost of $370,000, from its Business Loan Fund at 5.5 percent interest for 10 years. The city’s Building Loan Fund Committee had recommended approval.
“It’s pretty straightforward,” Trainor said Thursday, “But it will tap out our loan fund.”
Dominick said the fund would have about $16,000 left after the loan.
The new hangar, Ontario City Councilman Bruce Tuttle said, will allow LifeFlight to serve Ontario more or less permanently. He said the loan fund is there to help bring in business, and the Flying W Aviation will do just that.
City Councilman John Gaskill agreed the hangar would help the business climate.
“You can’t say enough good about LifeFlight,” City Councilman Lewie Allen said.
In other action, the council boosted Ontario Police Chief Mike Kee’s salary by $1,000 a month while he serves as interim city manager. In that role he could compensate Capt. Mark Alexander for serving as interim police chief. Sullivan said Kee is now paid $7,318 a month, so that would rise to $8,318 a month while he serves as city manager.
Dominick reported the city’s executive search subcommittee, consisting of himself, Tuttle, Allen, Gaskill and citizen Bob Quinn, would work next week on choosing a firm to find Trainor’s replacement. He said the option of having that firm also find a new public works director could prove too costly.
City Councilman Susann Mills reported that several applicants for planning and zoning administrator have been interviewed, including MacKenzie, and the tough choice would soon have to be made. While the city manager will do the hiring, Kee said he would first get a consensus from the council.
