July 15, 2020

I participated in my first virtual conference with my city manager colleagues. It was better than I expected.  I participated from my computer Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.

COVID 19 –
I told you a few weeks ago that the city would receive at least $50k from the state from the CARES act. We received notification this week that we will have access of up to $330,000 in expenses. That will be in an account that we can draw down from. We will be looking at ways to use that to mitigate the impacts of COVID19 on our community within the prescribed uses of the funds.

I’m going to try a different format for digital meetings for the meeting on the 21st. We have done a lot and our staff is doing their best to work with what we have, but it’s not working. With the explosion of cases we must provide an open platform for council and public members to participate electronically.

Marijuana Money – We have a meeting set up with Representative Owens on Monday to talk about the taxation issues Ontario faces.

Security – Staff worked together with the vendor and internally to talk about the extension of our public security system.  

Grant Meetings -Merchant McIntyre met with Dr. Young to talk about grant possibilities for several programs.

CDBG – We have had some really helpful sessions with Business Oregon on our CDBG. They have been super helpful.

Fire & Rescue
7/9 Chief attended a couple of Malheur County virtual meetings, Traffic Safety committee and COVID-19 Task force.

Inspections: 
7/7 As a team, the Building Department and Chief witnessed the fire suppression and alarm test for two new hood systems at Ontario Middle school.  7/9 Final inspection on a project on Reiter Drive.
Training: 

7/7 The staff trained on the flight simulator for the drone on the virtual network.  7/8 The crew trained with TVP on environmental emergencies.

Incidents: 
The staff has responded on many COVID-19 positive patients with symptoms and numerous possible positives.  July 4 was pretty calm even though you would think fireworks that leave the ground were legal here.  We had one oven fire that day.  This week we had 5 false alarms.  7/6 We had a gas line get damaged at a construction site.  7/5 The crew responded to a fence fire and a separate car fire. 7/7 There was an illegal burn and then some grass fires south of the airport. 

Police
Administration  
Staff worked together to develop a return-to-work (RTW) policy for city employees that have tested positive for COVID-19 or had direct exposure.  

July 10- OPD IT manager Sheri Smith worked with Day 1 Wireless to identify and correct significant radio failures that OPD staff experienced throughout the week, including during some high-risk activities. The problem is believed to be in the comparator area of the communications network, here at OPD.

Field Services
Despite significant staffing shortages this week, OPD responded to a variety of calls for service this week with some great outcomes and arrests.

OPD assisted Malheur County Sheriffs with a homicide investigation and served various warrants throughout the area. The warrant activities resulted in the seizing of critical evidence that helped in the identification of the suspects. OPD has a great working reciprocal relationship with the County Sheriff.

OPD responded to a suspicious person call where a male suspect had entered the parked vehicle at a residence. When OPD made contact the suspect fled on foot and began to discard stolen property and a handgun he was armed with. The suspect was captured and arrested without incident.

OPD assisted the Sheriff’s office and OSP in a pursuit of two murder suspects. The pursuit began and ended in Ontario safely with both suspects being taken into custody. Great teamwork by all the involved agencies.   

Code Enforcement
Code Enforcement was contacted at 620 NE 2nd Avenue, regarding large amount of Graffiti/Vandalism along the city street in spray paint. Code Enforcement took report of this and will contact Jacobs to have the street cleaned.

Code Enforcement was contacted about two pit bull type dogs attacking an elderly male. The two dogs attacked the elderly male in his yard while he was doing yard work. The dogs headed towards May Roberts Elementary School. Code Enforcement did a thorough search and was unable to locate the two dogs. The elderly male did not suffer any injuries.

Code enforcement officers contacted several transients near The Bottle Drop, that were stealing power from a pump station owned by the City and living inside a motorhome. These subjects were aggressive towards an officer and backup from patrol was requested. The subjects were given multiple chances previously to have the motorhome moved. The motorhome, due to it not being license, and a safety hazard with human waste being dumped onto the city street and sidewalk, was towed that afternoon, without incident, off the street.

Code Enforcement Officers assisted patrol with helping a victim of a vehicle that was broken into. Transients had thrown personal property in the victim’s vehicle and attempted to steal it. After officers searched the area for the suspect, Code Enforcement Officers spent a lot of time collecting the personal property that was left and abandoned in the vehicle. Code Enforcement loaded all the personal property and logged it into evidence as found property. Great teamwork was shown between all divisions of the police department team, between Admin, Patrol, Code Enforcement and Evidence in helping the citizen in our community that was a victim of this crime.

Officers responded to a parking complaint/people living inside trailers and motorhomes. Two people were contacted in motorhomes and cited for location outside camps 4-8-2. These people were previously on a county property just outside the city. The citation has a presumptive fine of $265.

Public Works
COVID-19 Update
The Public Works office is closed to public and non-essential employee access.

Field Services
The asphalt milling on South Oregon occurred July 6th & 7th. Jacobs provided the dump trucks and labor to haul all the millings to a stockpile by the old Public Works shop.

The new layer of asphalt was laid on South Oregon July 9th & 10th. Center line striping, parking stall marking, and hot taping South Oregon is scheduled for next week. Topsoil has been placed in the planter bulb-outs.

Water
Well #15 has received a clean bill of health. We will contact Bill Goss, OHA, and notifying him that Well #15 is being put online.

Well #6 is still showing low levels of total coliform group bacteria. Jacobs staff is working with Bill Goss as well as internal resources to develop a path forward.

East Side Booster Pump #3 may have a failed bearing in the motor. The unit is off-line for removal and rehab.

Wastewater
Quarterly mercury sampling was performed this week on source water and effluent water. Quarterly Monitoring Well sampling was performed. Monthly FOG sampling was performed.

Parks and Cemeteries
Due to COVID-19, tasks are being re-prioritized. Work crews are dedicated to performing the highest-level tasks, while lower level tasks are being worked on as time permits.

Facilities
City Hall and the Cemetery office were sanitized the evening of July 6th as per CDC guidelines concerning COVID-19

 Engineering
Skate Park restrooms schedule has slipped a week due to a delay in receiving the door jams.

The bio-solids management plan final draft has been submitted to Justin Sterger, ODEQ. Once Justin has completed his final review, the plan will move to the public comment period.

The SE 2nd project, phase 1, is about a week behind schedule due mainly to “weather, field conditions and some curb grade issues”. Below is the schedule that was sent out April 1, 2020.
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SE 2nd Schedule - According to latest Base Line Schedule. Subject to change based on how the project proceeds. 

• Phase 1:  12 Ave to 9th Ave
  • April 13th thru July 22nd.   (As noted above – this will likely be July 29th or 30th; which means this could trickle over a week for each of the succeeding phases.)
• Phase 2:  9th Ave to 7th Ave
  • July 22nd to September 17th
• Phase 3:  7th Ave to 5th Ave
  • September 17th thru October 26th