City Council welcomes new members
Board also discusses snow removal

By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Tuesday, January 6, 2009 10:41 AM PST

Ontario City crews work to remove snow Monday afternoon. The issue of snow removal has been a point of discussion for the Ontario City Council recently. At the City Council meeting Monday night, Ontario Public Works Director Chuck Mickelson said some residents have contacted the Public Works Department to speak out against current practices of plowing, which blocks the end of their driveways. Mickelson said driveway, sidewalk and mailbox clearing remains a resident responsibility.

Ontario — The Ontario City Council said farewell to three council members, welcomed three new elected officials and appointed one councilor to a vacant seat at its meeting Monday night.

In the first order of new business, Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick presented plaques to two out-going councilors — Lewie Allen and Dan Cummings.

Dominick praised Allen for his work on several committees and gave him a special thanks for representing the Snake River Transit, a new area bus service. He also thanked Allen for his support of the senior citizens of Ontario.

“I appreciate everything,” Allen said.

The council also said goodbye to Ontario City Councilman Dan Cummings. Dominick presented him with a plaque and thanked him for his work as a representative for several committees and his effort with public works.

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Cummings thanked the community for its support and also spoke highly of Ontario city staff.

“The citizens of Ontario ought to be proud of their staff,” he said.

Dominick also said goodbye, albeit briefly, to Ontario City Councilman John Gaskill.

While he was originally slated to receive a plaque as well, Dominick did not present him with one. Dominick said this move was because Gaskill wanted to save taxpayer money by not receiving an award. Gaskill spoke highly of the council and the nine years he has spent in its service. He said he believed the council would continue to move forward and that it had a solid foundation to build upon.

As the out-going council members took their seats in the audience, Tori Barnett changed the nameplates in front of three of the chairs. She then swore in Ontario City Councilman David Sullivan, followed by Ontario City Councilwoman Charlotte Fugate and Ontario City Councilman Norm Crume.

“I’m looking forward to working with you for the next number of years,” Dominick said.

Sullivan said he was looking forward to getting to work.

Fugate said she looked forward to her time on the council as well. Crume thanked the voters of Ontario for entrusting him with the position.

In the new council’s first order of business, Dominick appointed Ontario City Councilman John Gaskill to the remaining two-year term of former Ontario Councilman Bruce Tuttle.

Tuttle resigned from the elected board in early December, citing personal business reasons. Dominick said he appointed Gaskill because he had received the next-highest amount of votes in the most recent election.

The move was unanimously approved.

Gaskill again took a seat on the elected board, commenting on his short vacation from the council.

The council then heard from Ontario Public Works Director Chuck Mickelson who gave an update on the city’s snow removal process. As Ontario Police Chief Mike Kee mentioned at the council work session Wednesday, Mickelson said it is the responsibility of residents to remove snow from driveways, sidewalks and around mailboxes.

However, the city does provide stakes to elderly residents, which alert the city to remove “berms” or snow blocking driveways.

He said, while he was looking into other snow removal options, he doubted those would be in place for this snow season.

He also reiterated Cummings’ comment  heavy snow events are rarely seen in Ontario and that it was a question of whether or not the city would like to fund more equipment or de-icing agents. Mickelson said he would have more information regarding options for snow removal at the city’s next council meeting.

Fugate said when she lived in Alaska city crews would request residents park their cars on one side of the road during odd days and another side of the road during even days. Mickelson said that would require hauling snow away and would be quite a large task for a residential area.

In other council news:

—Ontario City Manager Henry Lawrence said Ontario Fire & Rescue Chief Allan Higinbotham had agreed to stay on staff for “another year or two.” Lawrence said this will give him time to focus on other issues before having to look for a new fire chief.

—David Stiefvater of Pheasants Forever gave an update of the recreational area north of Ontario near the wastewater treatment plant, which has been open since September to hunters, hikers and birdwatchers.

Stiefvater said he keeps track of who enters the area through permits, which allows him to track who is there for what reason and for how long.

“Since opening, the number of returned permits are 367, with 869.5 hours in the field,” he said. “This is an average of 2.9 users per day and 2.4 hours in the field. Hunters have harvested 417 birds and fisherman have caught two.”