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Council Meeting Tuesday Night Council will hold its 3rd scheduled meeting on April 28 at 6 pm. COVID 19 Conference Calls with Governor Governor Brown has joined two conference calls with City Officials this week presenting the strategy for opening Oregon business back up. This is a measured approach and it at least gives us a light at the end of the tunnel. We had discussions with our partners at the County about this path forward and we are still working together. We have been working hand in hand with Andrea Testi and the Small Business Development Center. We have come up with a structure and tactic for how we work together on getting our local economy assistance. We have already begun the outreach to our local businesses. The SBDC is helping people fill out paperwork for loan and other government programs and will be really helpful for the next round of the Payroll Protection Funding just approved on Friday. We are taking a very proactive approach to help the local economy recover. We have been discussing with the county the idea for the COVID Recover Coordinator. Talks are ongoing with County Leadership. Representative Mark Owens, and Senator Findley supported the idea as well as Malheur County Economic Development. Local business owner Bill Johnson helped us outline the role ofthis position, which is to work at a state and federal level to acquire any future programmatic or infrastructure stimulus funds for our community Revolving Business Loan Fund – The Business Loan Fund Board met last week and I believe it was Councilor Braden that proposed a micro-loan program of $5,000 for COVID response at a very low interest rate. Dan Cummings put together a proposal to take to the City Council. Reimbursement – Our safety team under the work of Veronica and Peter was able to get a reimbursement from SAIF, our risk manager for over $3,000 in costs related to protecting our staff from COVID-19. Way to go! The Malheur Enterprise interviewed me about the COVID-19 response coordination activities. I talked to him about the project list the City Council had me put together for the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Plan with GEODC. These are projects ready to go if we get an infrastructure bill. We are in a good spot should we have an infrastructure bill come through. Hospitals will be allowed to resume elective procedures which is how they make their books balance. That’s really important for the financial solvency of our healthcare system. Water Trail – Last week I shared that Public Works had some time to get out and clear the trail head. Here are a few pictures I took this week when I went out to have a look. I think our community will really like having this new amenity.
Saturday Market – The organizers of the Saturday market sent me a well-thought out plan for hosting it this year. All of it is dependent upon what the state allows, but they are thinking through the range of restrictions they may have to follow.
Budget – The City Council wrapped up the budget in April, two months before the end of the year. This is a trait of resilient communities. The Budget Committee did a fantastic job, particularly before the pandemic started. Homeless Shelter – We are going to meet with an evaluation team with all the stake holders, including property owners and businesses, staff, and providers. We must take in all the information and then process it. We will talk about other potential alternatives and then bring our evaluation of the project back to the City Council. Treasure Valley Connector Trail - The trail is looking awesome! They believe they will be able to pave this week, then put in benches, dog bag stands, and trash receptacles and wrap it up. Tater Tots Trail – We had some communication with Kraft Heinz this week. They are finalizing the agreement for the street vacations between them and Americold so Dan can go forward with the land action. Graduation Ceremony – We worked a little bit with the school for a non-traditional graduation ceremony. The school districts are really thinking out of the box and responding well to a huge challenge. As someone with 4 kids still in the system, I can attest to that. Airport Springtime work continues at the airport with irrigation, mowing, rodent control, and weed abatement. Nearly 40 acres have been dressed and cleaned making it easier for the mower this year. There are nearly 40 more acres to go to finish the east side. FAA Funding is still on track for the continuous improvement plan projects. Additional COAR grant funding will be sought in May. The April Airport Committee meeting has been canceled due to continued COVID-19 restrictions from the State. Updates from the Airport Manager to the Airport Committee are taking place as are necessary to keep members informed. Community & Economic Development Staff is reviewing 12 building applications this week and has issued 4 building permits this past week. Review time has extended a little bit due to limited office time with customers. The Planning department is keeping extremely busy and continues to work on the 17 new land use actions and has started the process of the street vacation which is part of the Heinz Food and City River Trail Project (Tater Tot Trail). Dan is continuing to work on amending Ontario Flood Plain Code (10A-47) to meet the new Oregon Model Code and federal regulations (FEMA) and should have it on the planning agenda for June. Fire Meetings 4/14 Staff attended the city ICS COVID-19 teleconference meeting. 4/16 City staff participated in the Malheur County ICS MAC COVID-19 teleconference meeting. 4/21 Chief attended a virtual with International Fire Chiefs on COVID-19. Some of the staff attended the City ICS weekly planning meeting for COVID-19 preparing for the state 3 phase plan to move forward. 4/23 Some of the staff attended the Malheur County COVID-19 Multi-agency planning group meeting. Inspections: Fire and building officials did a final inspection at Wal-Mart on the pickup shopping remodel. They also did a rough inspection on the fire sprinklers in the old area of the technical center remodel. 4/21 Chief and the building officials met with the contractor to talk about the fire sprinkler supply line and its installation. Training The staff trained on wildland urban interface on the computer distance learning model. Chief also participated in two teleconferences on disaster preparedness and crisis care guidance. 4/21 Chief attended a fire engineering class on interior fire attack. 4/21 The staff had a review on department SOP’s and fire scenarios. 4/24 Some of the staff attended the Oregon virtual medical conference. Events This week was Public Safety Answering Point or 911 Dispatchers appreciation week. The department thanked them with a healthy plate of fruit and posts on our Facebook page. Thank you for always having our backs. Incidents This week the staff responded to a couple of false alarms and a controlled burn. 4/14 They also responded to numerous grass fires that had been started by the train along the tracks near Lincoln and Railroad Blvd. 4/17 The staff responded to a working structure fire with smoke coming out of the attic of a four-plex. The fire was contained to the attic area above one of the unit’s bathroom. Incidents: 4/19 The staff responded to mutual aid Vale Fire at a large onion shed fire. 4/20 Rescue 1 responded to a tragic machinery accident that had a fatal result. 4/21 The morning started with large amounts of sparks that were like fireworks, at the Auto Ranch Ford on SW 4th Ave from the main power supply shorting out against the building. This burned part of the roofing and insulation. 4/23 R1 responded to an illegal burn on Arata Way and the fire was then extinguished. 4/23 The staff responded to a fully involved house fire at 728 River St. This was a house that has been abandoned for over 15 years. The goal was to protect exposures. Police Administration Apr 20th- Chief Romero met with some community partners who are assisting the chief with a construction project at the OPD training center (range). Through donations and in-kind contribution, the chief hopes to install an ADA approved ramp and steps for the classroom building at the firing range. OPD hopes to develop the facility as a regional training center for our area law enforcement agencies. Project start date will be early May 2020. Apr 22nd- Chief Romero attended the COVID-19 testing planning session with the County Health Department at Ontario High School. OPD will support the County Health Department’s initiative in any way possible. Apr 22nd- Chief Romero finalized a new abatement “Violation Notice” card that will be issued by OPD to individuals who violate the noise control disorderly conduct laws. Chief Romero hopes this new public information tool will reduce the amount of recurring calls OPD responds to regarding unreasonable noise (music, engine revving, etc.). The card was reviewed by the City Manager and City Attorney for use approval. This week, OPD conducted final interviews and written testing for the soon to be second detective position. All candidates completed the two phases of testing. Selection for the next detective will likely be done in the first week of May 2020. Field Services This week, OPD started with a traffic enforcement saturation on the east side of town. The weekend shift focus was on speeding vehicles on East Idaho Avenue and seatbelt violations. OPD made numerous positive contacts which hopefully will reduce collisions and increase traffic safety in the busier part of the city. Apr 20th- Chief Romero assisted OPD officers with an investigation and arrest of a child pornography suspect. OPD is committed to keeping the youth population safe from these types of sexual predators. The case was submitted to the District Attorney. Apr 21st- OPD was involved in a pursuit of a subject that was driving extremely recklessly throughout the city limits. The suspect was chased to the Idaho border in Payette, where he intentionally drove into the Snake River as a failed suicide attempt. Suspect was arrested by Payette Police and will eventually be charged in Oregon for various crimes. Apr 24th- Chief Romero assisted Detective Esplin with a Spanish interview of a witness at the Nampa Police Department regarding a 2018 homicide case. This case is being prepared for trial, which should take place in June 2020. Code Enforcement Code enforcement remained busy this week with a variety of activities. A slight increase in dog related calls and pickups of at-large dogs. Apr 20th- Code enforcement, through the Chief of Police, provided a press release to the Argus Observer on an animal abandonment investigation the previous week. Code Enforcement, with the help of a tip from a citizen, were able to track down the suspect who abandoned a dog on the street. The suspect was cited and will have to appear in court for the crime. Apr 22nd- Code Enforcement Officers responded regarding bees in the roadway. Bees were retrieved by a beekeeper without incident. Code Enforcement Officers assisted with traffic control, to prevent bees being killed by traffic or stinging pedestrians. Apr 23rd- Two separate incidents of dogs attacking officers. A German Shepherd attempted to attack Officer Reyna and OC was deployed. The owner was contacted and cited for dog at large and dog as public nuisance. Later, two dogs got into a neighbor’s yard and charged at officers and attempted to attack. OC was deployed in this incident to prevent injury to officers. Apr 23rd- Code Enforcement Officers did a NW Quadrant Saturation, hitting the streets of NW 2nd St and NW 3rd Street. This generated almost 40 cases and nearly 40 courtesy letters to residents for property abatement related violations. Public Works Field Services We have changed schedules for all crews in response the COVID-19 response, as much work is being done remotely and other operations are being modified to limit exposure to those that must be in the field. Weekly checks on staff and operations related to the pandemic are in place.
Water
Wastewater
Parks and Cemeteries
Engineering
Council Meeting – Our next City Council meeting is this Tuesday at 6:00. The public is invited to attend via Facebook Live or by phone. Second Dog Park Completed: Our fencing contractor was out at Lions park installing the second dog park. I think this will be very popular. Room was left on the north side of the park for the future sidewalk.  COVID-19 Normal calls with the League of Oregon Cities, Local Emergency Planning Committee, and City Incident Command. People at all levels of the government are beginning to talk about opening back up. Several of us had a follow up conversation to a local economic recovery program. We have put together a framework for that program and hope to discuss it more next week. The Governor has set up the necessary conditions for reopening the state, so we need to focus on meeting those conditions. 1) Declining growth rate and surge capacity; 2) Sufficient personal protective equipment for medical and first responders; 3) Public Health Framework including tracing system and isolation abilities, robust testing, and a plan for quarantining of positive testing for all; and 4) the ability to implement the CDC guidelines on social distancing. Fiber Connection – We should go live with the high-speed fiber at City Hall on Monday. Aerial construction for the airport is complete now. Fiber crews were on site today for testing at the building. We will work on getting connections to the existing buildings next. Citizens Coalition of Ontario – Without the ability to do the community forums, the coalition is going to be doing some weekly series on Facebook. Eddie Thiel kicked it off with me this week and you can view our conversation on the coalition’s Facebook page. Airport Even though flight activity is down drastically at the airport there is still steady use as planes come and go. A couple flight students volunteered their time this week for a cleanup project burning large piles of dead trees. It was very helpful having additional labor for the manual tasks needing to be done outdoors making social distancing guidelines easy to follow. The drag has been taken back to the airport and will be used next week on the grounds. The CIP project is out for bid soon and will be opened in May. We received notification that we will receive about $30 from the CARES act for the airport. A few thoughts come to mind of how to use that to improve operations. I’m not sure what restrictions there are, we will have to look at that. One thing we could do with it is use it to pay for the underground irrigation so that we do not have to manually move the wheel lines every day. The other option is to use it is an investment in hanger construction which would spur more activity. The Council will have to decide how to use that money. Community & Economic Development Staff is reviewing 10 building applications this week and has issued 3 building permits this past week. Review time has extended a little bit due to limited office time with customers. The Planning Department is keeping extremely busy and has received 17 land use actions so far this year. Dan processed 9 land use action these past weeks and is working on the others as time allows. He has two public hearings scheduled for the Council Meeting on April 21st. Dan is continuing to work on amending the Ontario Flood Plain Code (10A-47) to meet the new Oregon model code and federal regulations (FEMA). He had to put this on the back burner with everything else going on but should have it on the planning agenda for June. Fire & Rescue Meetings 4/14 Staff attended the city ICS COVID-19 teleconference meeting. 4/16 City staff participated in the Malheur County ICS MAC COVID-19 teleconference meeting. Training The staff trained on wildland urban interface on the computer distance learning model. Chief also participated in two teleconferences on disaster preparedness and crisis care guidance. Events This week was Public Safety Answering Point or 911 Dispatchers appreciation week. The department thanked them with a healthy plate of fruit and posts on our Facebook page. Thank you for always having our backs. Incidents This week the staff responded to a couple of false alarms and a controlled burn. 4/14 They also responded to numerous grass fires that had been started by the train along the tracks near Lincoln and Railroad Blvd. 4/17 The staff responded to a working structure fire with smoke coming out of the attic of a four-plex. The fire was contained to the attic area above one of the unit’s bathrooms. Police Administration Apr 13th- Chief Romero met with HR Director Hall to discuss OPD’s Wellness Program policy and to discuss a potential personnel file protocol for OPD. Apr15th- Chief Romero and the code enforcement unit met with CM Brown to discuss potential policy and ordinance amendments for traffic, animal control, and property maintenance violations. Graffiti removal strategies were also discussed and presented. Apr 16th- Chief Romero submitted application for potential procurement of an armored vehicle. The vehicle would be procured at no cost through a national surplus program. If procured the vehicle would provide a new protection platform for OPD and the community, during any critical event that poses a high risk to the safety of both officers and community members. Chief Romero continues to submit weekly COVID-19 updates to the county and state as required by state executive orders. Field Services April 16th- OPD assisted Idaho State Police and Oregon State police with a pursuit of an armed “suicidal” subject that had been pursued from Kuna, Idaho to Ontario, Oregon. After some extremely reckless driving by the suspect, his vehicle was disabled on highway 84 just north of town and the suspect was taken into custody by OSP & OPD after discarding his weapon in the brush. A very dangerous person taken out of Ontario by our law enforcement professionals. Apr-17th- Chief Romero spent several hours on patrol which included stops at various businesses, traffic enforcement, and high visibility in some of the more active areas of town. Code Enforcement: Code enforcement continues to experience a lower response activity to animal related cases and has increased activities in property abatement. No significant cases to report this week but progress is being made during the 6 days of code enforcement coverage. Public Works Field Services We have changed schedules for all crews in response the COVID-19 response, as much work is being done remotely and other operations are being modified to limit exposure to those that must be in the field. Weekly checks on staff and operations related to the pandemic are in place. The following took place:
Water The water treatment plant is running well after recent modifications to SCADA programing. Water inventories are at target levels. System demands are normal for this time of the year. The following took place:
Wastewater We issued a press release to explain the odor problems we are experiencing at the wastewater facility. “During the past month, the City of Ontario’s wastewater treatment lagoon has experienced odor issues. The odors are the result of seasonal water temperature changes that bring decomposing biosolid gases to the lagoon surface which are then dispersed by wind. City staff are implementing all available mitigation measures to address this issue in the near term and the City has committed funds to remove the biosolids build up later this year. Removal of the biosolids build up should solve the problem going forward. The City appreciates the patience of the Community as we remedy this problem. If you have any questions, please email or call.” We implemented some flow process changes to the lagoon system. We are recirculating water back through the influent lagoons in an effort to address odor issues. We have also developed a plan to institute other changes if this does not show any improvement in odor. We met with one of Jacob’s odor mitigation experts to help generate a plan to address odor issues. Sampling equipment has been ordered and is on the way. This obviously is a work in progress. Ultimately the removal of solids is the final solution to this problem. Equipment was ordered to begin solids mapping of influent lagoon; this should begin as early as next week dependent on other issues related to supply. The following took place:
Parks and Cemeteries Downtown flowerpots were watered, and trash receptacles were emptied throughout town. The Dog park fencing at Lions Park was completed. The area for the new playground structure at Lions park was excavated. We will begin construction of the new apparatus next week. Irrigation systems in both parks and cemeteries has begun. Spring cleanup at the cemeteries began this week and will continue.  Engineering
The engineering staff is working on the Water Master Plan, Oregon Street project, NPDES work on pH adjustment system at wastewater, and the solids removal plans from WWTP. S. Oregon project is being advertised now; bid opening April 23 at 3 pm. We need to think about the impact that will have on businesses on top of what they are already going through on South Oregon. We will be looking at ways that we may break up the project for the least disruption. The mixing zone study was sent to DEQ for review. I have been amazed how much the community comes together in times like these. I’m fortunate to be able to see a lot of this community level collaboration and it is very gratifying. COVID-19 - The state has given us another outlet for enforcement of mandated business closures. OSHA would like to hear from informants directly, rather than through other people. You can file a complaint from this website. The EIDL program and PPP programs from the CARES Act have been pushed out but the federal agencies are writing the rules for it on the fly, so it’s an everchanging program. Our federal legislators told us there are only 4 banks administering the EIDL program in the state. There will be a huge demand for that but a lot of the banks either don’t want to deal with it or don’t know how. We filmed and produced a Public Service Announcement for the CDC’s recommendations with Freddy and the Fire Chief. I shot it on Monday and Peter put it together. We will keep cranking them out each week. We can get a good message out and have a little fun with it. We held our City incident command meeting on Tuesday and talked through some of the topics shared by the mayor at the council meeting. We also participated in the County emergency management meeting. Tater Tots Trail – We are moving forward with an appraiser for the Walmart riverfront property easement for the trail. Treasure Valley Connector Trail – The trail is coming along awesome. I drive by it daily to see the progress.  Wayfinding – I was able to re-connect with our wayfinding folks. I think the Idahoans had to adjust to working from home much more suddenly, so we went offline for a little bit. I am excited to see the work they have been doing. They have taken everyone’s comments into consideration from the council and public. They have moved a mountain! (i.e. turned the mountain to reflect the view from Ontario) This design wasn’t my first choice, but they won me over with the new look. One full color and one mono color.  Odor Complaint to DEQ – We have had some odor issues at the wastewater plant. Someone made a complaint to DEQ. They contacted public works and Cliff followed up with them. We have to get it dredged. I think there will be little more to do until that is done. Airport The warm weather has everything growing at the airport. Spot spraying of weeds to keep them out of unwanted areas is a continual process. The irrigation wheel lines and mainline were checked out this week and the well pump was started for the first time this year. I’m happy to say all four wheel line sets were successful and the grass runway received it’s first watering. Things are moving forward with the FAA in terms of putting our new taxiway and hold apron projects back on track for this year. With the many phone calls, emails and document sharing taking place it’s hopeful that we will be able to go to bid on this project within the next two weeks. Fire & Rescue Training Our EMS training this month was on the Lucas tool, which is a valuable tool to be used for compressions during CPR on cardiac arrest patients. Events This week we tested all the hoses in the department. This includes hoses on the apparatus and spare hoses in the stations. Incidents Most of our calls this week were burning complaints and illegal burns. We also had a couple false alarms. Rescue 1 did respond to a fire inside a residence that was a radio that shorted out in a charger base and caught on fire. Police Administration This week a great deal of Chief Romero’s time was spent on working with city officials, county, state, and federal partners in staying abreast of COVID-19 threats and responses. Chief Romero submitted a request for protective gear products through AXON, a private corporation. If awarded, OPD will receive in-kind donations for a variety of safety and hygiene products. Chief Romero submitted various reports to the County Emergency Operations Coordinator regarding the status of law enforcement personnel at OPD that are deployed in the filed and subject to COVID 19 exposure. Field Services April 5th- OPD personnel (Sgt. Swank) assisted the Oregon State Police with investigating an individual who was involved in a multi-state property crime spree. OPD’s assist resulted in the suspects arrest. April 5th- OPD personnel arrested a suspect for domestic violence. The suspect asserted he possibly has COVID-19 to avoid incarceration. Staying true to their duty the officers followed best practices for ensuring everyone’s health and had the arrestee medically evaluated. The suspect was medically cleared and taken to jail. April 9th- Chief Romero patrolled throughout the city looking to identify businesses and individuals not adhering to the social distancing requirements. Chief is glad to report that nothing of great concern presented itself. April 10th- OPD personnel arrested a suspect for felony warrants after a brief foot pursuit. The suspect asserted he possibly has COVID-19 to avoid incarceration. Staying true to their duty the officers followed best practices for ensuring everyone’s health and had the arrestee medically evaluated. The suspect was medically cleared and taken to jail. Code Enforcement Code enforcement remained active in monitoring any potential COVID-19 mandates throughout the business community. No violations were identified during their patrols. Code enforcement delivered several informative warning letters to businesses that were reported to have engaged in unauthorized activity (hair salon, insurance company, marijuana retailer, and general commodity business). No actual violations were observed by code enforcement. Apr 8th- Code enforcement investigated and cited an individual at 704 N Oregon for theft of public utilities and vandalism to a public utility water line. This was an individual that had previously been suspected but was finally caught. Great investigation by CEO Reyna. Public Works Field Services We have changed schedules for all crews in response to COVID-19. As much work as possible is being done remotely and other operations are being modified to limit exposure to those that must be in the field. Weekly checks on staff and operations related to the pandemic are in place. The fire hydrant on West Idaho Avenue was completed. Modifications were made to the gate at the homeless shelter. We started the excavation for the playground equipment at Lion’s Park. This will be a work in progress, but a welcome addition to the community and our parks system. Sign maintenance was completed throughout town as needed. Lift station and building inspections took place. Vehicle inspections of our rolling stocks as per our maintenance schedules direct took place. Sewer checks and cleaning were completed as needed throughout the community. We met with Cascade Gas on the SE 2nd Street project for their completion. The downtown and underpass areas were swept Friday morning. Water system maintenance took place as needed to repair leaks and broken boxes. Water The water treatment plant is running well after recent modifications to SCADA programing. Water inventories are at target levels. System demands are normal for this time of the year. ACS will install a new filter influent valve controller. Jar tests took place to verify chemical feed rates to both old plant and WesTec. We took inventory of plumbing supplies. Clean up and preparation took place for backwash valve installation and the filter/pump gallery for paint. Wastewater Weekly inspections of the equipment and buildings including maintenance and trouble shooting took place. NPDES permit sampling continues as per DEQ requirements. The west chlorine contact chamber was cleaned. The skyline booster pump was installed. The shop was cleaned, reorganized, and inventoried. The lagoon boat was prepared for operation, inspection, and maintenance of aerators. Parks and Cemeteries Downtown flowerpots were watered, and trash receptacles were emptied throughout town. Evergreen cemetery had one funeral. Irrigation systems in both parks and cemeteries has begun. Spring cleanup at the cemeteries began this week and will continue. Engineering Work continues for the Water Master Plan, South Oregon Street project, and NPDES work on pH adjustment system at wastewater. How do you make a global pandemic more interesting, add an earthquake! What a week. I’ve been on a lot of conference calls. The good news is communication is going very well in this state. Our state senators and representatives, governors’ office and federal agencies have been actively involved in the various state and regional calls that are being hosted each week.
COVID-19 – The social distancing measures are working in Oregon. Idaho quickly surpassed Oregon even with a significantly lower population this week. Oregon is not the threat to Ontario, Boise is. It’s going to come from Boise. We have been trying to keep up with all of the information by updating our website. Peter has done a fantastic job of getting things up fast and organizing the topics as the resources come in. Also, we want our citizens to go to the Malheur County Health Department to follow the latest recommendations from the CDC and the Oregon Health Authority. The White House released some modeling based on the University of Washington’s modeling earlier this week. Both believe the deaths in the US will be between 100,000 to 240,000. That is a very sobering number. The wide range in those numbers will largely depend on the extent to which social distancing is followed. I spent a lot of time out in the community, in my car, observing things. I made several trips to the dispensaries and also to Walmart and Home Depot. All of our retail stores are taking positive steps for the social distancing. Home Depot took some aggressive moves this week nationally by limiting the number of people in the store at one time. It looked to me like Walmart was doing the same or at least setting up to do the same. We have pushed out a few public service announcements this week, which we want to continue to do with the city council. I’ll be working with Councilman Rodriguez on Monday for a PSA. We are just on the brink of this getting bad. As a globe we hit 1 million this week. That will double this next week. This is the time for big decisions to be made. Homeless Shelter – The shelter finally started taking occupants on Friday. Community in Action will be filling them up over the next week. I spent some time over at the shelter today and talked with some of the people moving in. They were eager to do their share of help in maintaining the community. Capital Projects - I went through our capital projects with the City Engineer (Betsy). We are making great progress on all of our projects. The TVC Trail is going really well. They poured the curb on Park Avenue and the channel for the trail goes all the way from SW 11th Avenue to the connection at Park and 9th Avenue. The South Oregon Project is getting close to bid. We are meeting next Wednesday to talk about scheduling of construction and how we are impacted by COVID-19. Budget – We are very fortunate that we finished our budget committee in March. The cities in the rest of the state are scrambling to figure out how to do a budget committee during social distancing. They are seeking special legislative permission because most haven’t even started the process. Ours will come for Council approval this month. https://www.ontariooregon.org/covid-19.html TSP – We met to move the transportation system plan forward. We have a large group of committed folks. Energy Audit – Ameresco will be ready to present the audit grade energy analysis. What that means is they believe they have a project that will self-fund. There is a fee for the audit, but we don’t pay it directly unless we decide not to do a project. They aren’t in the business of doing audits, they are in the business of doing projects, so if they have gotten to this point, they have a high assurance that they can save us money. Airport The Ontario Municipal Airport remains open, and despite the earthshaking Tuesday, airplanes are still able to land, fuel, and takeoff. The good news for the week is that the Federal Aviation Administration has acquired funding through the CARES act (stimulus package) which will be directed to Ontario‘s airport because it qualifies as a shovel ready project. This means that we can take the project that was pushed back until next year because of the lack of funding and put it back on schedule this year with full funding for the project. They are giving us over $350,000. And, in talking with the FAA, it appears that we will be able to keep our entitlement funds as well. We are also looking into setting up charter flights from Ontario for those wanting to utilize that service. The grass is growing on our new runway sparking interest in holding a major “STOL”, short takeoff and landing, event in the future. Currently these events are held in Colorado, Texas, Nevada, and Alaska. Fire & Rescue Meetings 3/31 Some of the staff participated in the weekly Covid-19 Ontario ICS planning / OPS meeting. 4/2 Chief joined Peter and John Forsyth for planning on SAIF benefits available and processes necessary. 4/2 Malheur County Emergency Management Team held their weekly Covid-19 MAC teleconference that was attend by many from Ontario’s staff. 4/2 Ontario Rural Fire Protection Board held their Budget Committee meeting both locally and on teleconference and followed by their monthly board meeting. Inspections 3/31 The fire staff did safety inspections at the Annex, Apartments, and Station 2. 3/31 Chief Leighton did a walk-through inspection of city hall after the earthquake to see if there was any additional damage to the building from what was in the past. Training 3/31 The staff did remote training over ZOOM and had Haz-Mat refresher with an emphasis on COVID-19 virus. 4/2 Chief participated in an SDAO teleconference on COVID-19 and respiratory diseases. Incidents Thankfully some people are listening to the requests to stay home and stay safe, this has caused our call volume to be down slightly. Our staff is responding to numerous breathing difficulty calls and are taking extra precautions with extra PPE personal protective equipment on all calls. Currently we are wearing gloves, masks and eye protection on all calls. R1 responded on a smoke detector activation at 995 Manor Way, this just involved resetting the alarm. On Sunday morning early the staff responded to a barn fire that was started from a wood stove that caught the attic on fire. Police Administration Mar 30th-Chief Romero continues to conduct an executive analysis of current animal control, parking control, and abatement ordinances and policies. Chief Romero will be submitting a proposed ordinance and/or policy change-modification for these topics to the city manager in the future. The purpose is to seek updates and improvements in our older or obsolete policies that are not in balance with modern- day best practices or statutory authority. March 31th- Chief Romero conducted a planning and analysis meeting with OPD staff to discuss potential changes to the OPD evidence handling policies and current protocol. Chief Romero seeks to improve the system’s efficiency while providing a higher level of legal protection for the department and city. Chief Romero is working on a policy modification for this area of OPD responsibility. April 01st-Chief Romero completed the OPD- (2020, Q1 report) for presentation at the next city council session. OPD staff that instruct traffic school activities have cancelled services until June 6th, 2020. Public notice has been issued by staff. Field Services This week OPD saw an increase in domestic violence related calls. This is likely to the increase interaction between household members that are at home more often, due to the COVID-19 stay home requirements. Code Enforcement Mar 30th- Under the direction of Chief Romero, CEO’s are assisting the chief with the development of more efficient and effective means for gaining public compliance for ordinance violations. Chief Romero and CM Brown reviewed and approved the use of a new OPD, Pre-abatement notice, that will be issued to the public which encourages home improvement and clean up, during this time where many homeowners and renters are at home and not at work. April 1st- Under the direction of Chief Romero, CEO’s, public works, and the chief met to discuss a more effective and efficient method for responding to graffiti incidents. This meeting led to the formal proposal of creating the “Ontario Graffiti Action Team” (OGAT) which could lead to a productive and collaborative public-private initiative that would assist in reporting and responding swiftly to graffiti through out the city. As of now, the written proposal authored by the code enforcement officers is being reviewed by the chief. The proposal is developed with cost savings in mind to the city, OPD, and public works. Public Works Field Services We experienced an earthquake on 3/30/20 at approximately 5:52 (6.4 on the Richter scale), the epicenter was located 70 miles north east of Boise. Staff inspected all infrastructure throughout the community immediately after the event. We did not observe any issues throughout the utility related to this event. Crews worked well into the evening to confirm normal operations. We changed schedules for all crews in response to the COVID-19 concerns. As much work as possible is being done remotely and other operations are being modified to limit exposure to those that must be in the field. Weekly checks on staff and operations related to the pandemic are in place. Weekly maintenance checks on lift stations and sewer cleaning took place. A new fire hydrant was installed at West Idaho Avenue. New cross walks signs at the middle school were installed. We also replaced a no parking sign at the Ontario Truck Wash. Staff painted over graffiti on the old Vape shop Idaho Ave/Oregon St intersection. City-wide street sweeping continues throughout the community. Streets were swept downtown and at the underpass Friday morning. Lift station checks took place. All emergency generators were filled with fuel (all our lift stations have backup systems). We checked problems at the sewers. The West Idaho lift station plugged again Sunday night (adult wipes again). Any other issues that come in will be taken care of. Water Water inventories are at target level. System demands are normal for this time of year. The treatment plant is operating well. The dive team that was here last week and the new Scada improvements have made a real difference in stability of operations. Well 15 was taken offline. The well will be videoed. It may have to be taken offline and rehabbed. This well provided 2.5 million gallons a day when well systems are being used so it is imperative this be addressed and repaired as soon as practical. Cleaning of the sloughs at the water treatment plan was approved by USACE and will begin shortly. Wastewater Weekly inspections of the equipment and buildings including maintenance and troubleshooting took place. We are experiencing some odor issues. These odors can be attributed to spring lagoon warmups which happens on a yearly basis. We are working to mine solids from our primary lagoon, a whole series of steps are involved, we will keep all appraised as to the status on this work in progress. NPDES permit sampling continues as per DEQ requirements. Repairs to the irrigation system for Malheur and Skyline have been underway prior to planting seasons. Parks and Cemeteries Downtown flowerpots were watered, and trash receptacles were emptied throughout town. Staff will start irrigation systems in both parks and cemeteries. Spring cleanup at the cemeteries began this week and will continue. We are troubleshooting the new irrigation system for the East Idaho Avenue tree project. Facilities A new shower and toilet were installed in the fire staff’s workout room. Engineering Our engineering team is working on the Water Master Plan, South Oregon Street project, NPDES work on pH adjustment system at the wastewater treatment plant, and solids removal from the wastewater treatment plant. |
aboutEach week, City Manager Adam Brown brings you up to date on the comings and goings of the City of Ontario in The Weekend Update. Archive
September 2020
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