Council to consider Stelling property upgrade Monday
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Saturday, October 4, 2008 11:21 PM PDT
Ontario — The Ontario City Council discussed ways to make a property near Southwest Fourth Avenue and North Dorian Way more hospitable to outside companies and planned a public hearing for revenue bonds to fund local hospital and clinic improvements at its work session Thursday.
The revenue bonds, City Recorder Tori Barnett said, were to allow Catholic Health Initiatives to spend no more than $10 million issued by the Colorado Health Hospital Facilities Authority on improvements to Holy Rosary Medical Center, 351 S.W. Ninth St. and 1076 S.W. Fourth Avenue, and the Tanaka Clinic, 915 S.W. Third Ave., in Ontario. Barnett said the city has to approve the venture because the buildings in question are situated within the city.
“In order to spend the money, they just have to have it approved by City Council so we can just say, ‘Heck yeah, we want you to spend your money here,’ ” she said. “There is no impact to the city at all.”
Though she did not attend the meeting, Project Manager Sherri Graves of Orrick’s Portland office, the law firm organizing the venture, said the bond is to reimburse Catholic Health Initiatives for money spent on construction for the buildings. These bonds are done every few years to also help plan for future construction.
The council will hold a public hearing on the matter at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
Council members also heard from Interim Public Works Director Chuck Mickelson, who said Mid-Valley Construction was the low bidder for the Southeast Second Street sewer improvement. The bid of $96,980 was the lowest of seven company bids, some of which were as much as as $217,790.
“It’s not every day you can save 40(000) to 50,000 dollars,” Ontario City Councilman Bruce Tuttle said.
This construction would install 710 feet of sewer line and would include pipes, manholes and surface restoration. Mickelson said the work will start Nov. 1 and should take about 45 days to complete.
Council members also discussed the continued revamp of what City Manager Henry Lawrence referred to as the “Stelling property.” Last month, Lawrence said he would like to see the area improved, so developers will be able to tour a large area they could locate to quickly. Lawrence also said he wants to rezone the property to commercial to suit potential developers. However, the land currently has trees and other growth on it that would cost the city money to remove. Lawrence said he intended to rectify this issue by working out a plan to allow residents to cut down the trees to use as firewood, which would aid the community and reduce city expense.
City Councilman Lewie Allen said he offered to cut down the trees and give the wood to senior citizens to heat their homes in the winter before.
“I was shot down and told the wood was no good,” he said. “But, it seems to me, if it’s wood, it’ll burn.”
Lawrence said he believed Allen was “ahead of his time” in the idea. However, because of a nearby farm with grazing cattle in the area, Lawrence said a schedule would have to be developed to keep the cattle from escaping.
He also said residents wanting to clear the trees would have to fill out some sort of liability form. After the brush is cleared, Lawrence said Ontario Fire and Rescue Chief Terry Mairs agreed to perform burn exercises in the area. Lawrence also said he hoped coordinating the effort would not cost the city more than they hoped they would save in the venture.
Mickelson said he is also working with Oregon Economic Community Development in order to attempt to secure a grant or a loan to bring sidewalks, gutters and sewage to the area.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Tuttle said.
In other council news:
—The council will also decide whether or not to support the school bond measure brought before the council by the Ontario School Facilities Task Force. The resolution, which was written by Councilman Dan Cummings expressed support for the venture, asserting many of the school district’s buildings were constructed in the 1960s and some even earlier.
—Council members will also decide whether or not to accept a $30,000 Oregon Department of Transportation grant for a traffic safety coordinator. The part-time position, which oversees all traffic safety-related programs in Malheur County, has been in effect since 2005. If approved, the Ontario Police Department would continue to manage the grant.
—The council plans to hold the final rezoning readings for the Lighthouse Baptist Church and Darren Dickerhoof properties. The Lighthouse Baptist Church, situated near Southeast Ninth Avenue, is slated to be rezoned from urban growth area commercial to city heavy commercial and is also slated to be annexed into the city. The Dickerhoof property is slated to be rezoned from public facility use to general heavy commercial and situated near East Lane South.
