Welcome to the weekly City Manager update. In an effort to be transparent and make more information available to the general public, I will be attempting to share weekly updates of projects and activities going on with the City of Ontario. I hope you find this informative and helpful.
Budget - The Finance Director and I spent all Tuesday afternoon running through budget inputs. We met with senior staff on Thursday to review and entertain suggestions. The conversation was very constructive but also very somber. The projections are as we forecasted last year. Even with state highway revenue increases and tax revenue, we still have a wide gap to cut with options that are all painful. The budget committee will need to make very difficult decisions.
Business Oregon - I met with Business Oregon yesterday morning. We talked about some alternatives at the airport for creating capacity for clients knocking at the door for hanger space.
Splash Pad - The temporary construction fence went up this week and public works is moving underground sprinklers right now. Grading may begin as early as next week. Design plans are near completion and ready to submit to the State for approval.
Strategic Plan - Please come to the Ontario community strategic planning meeting. It will begin at 4 PM at Ontario Middle School and wrap up at 6 PM. All the public is welcome and encouraged to attend. Be a part of envisioning the future for Ontario. If you want to let us know you are coming, use the link below. Please share this link with everyone you know. We are ready for everybody.
Community & Economic DevelopmentStaff is reviewing 5 applications for issuing building permits. We issued 10 permits this past week. Staff is continuing to work on 9 land use applications and issues in varied stages of completion.
RecreationYouth Soccer played games on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings this week. We have had several more late sign-ups this week. We will continue to take late kids until Tuesday, April 17th.
Adult coed volleyball played six games this week.
Girls Softball registration has been extended until Monday, April 16th at 5 PM without a late fee.
Public Works
Crews continue with regularly scheduled maintenance as tracked by our maintenance management system.
Prison crews spent a day clearing brush and weeds for fence area surrounding the lagoons.
Weed spraying as weather permits, due to multiple rain events this week not much spraying was accomplished.
We are currently discharging our effluent to the Snake River, normal discharge amounts are roughly 1.5 to 1.8 million gallons per day.
The Lower Lift Station that serves Snake River Correctional Institute is in need of emergency repair because of repeated failures. Council will address this on Tuesday night.