May 19, 2020

COVID – 19 – I heard a virtual (due to social distancing) collective sigh of relief about the reopening of most stores on Friday.
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Because the City just established a locally funded program, two weeks ago, we are eligible for funding that just came from the state. The state will match our loan with grants to small businesses with less than 25 people who were not eligible for the PPP or EIDL programs. This is great news. Thanks to Councilor Michael Braden and the Business Loan Fund Committee for being proactive. They just announced funding last week and the applications are due today (Monday). We are submitting.

South Oregon - Construction started Monday on the South Oregon Project. This will include new concrete bulb outs, new ADA crosswalks, and a new asphalt overlay from East Idaho through 4th Ave. Traffic detours will be in place during the course of this project. The project will start at the south end, covering 3rd and 4th Ave intersections initially.  I walked downtown on Thursday handing out postcards to as many businesses that I could (ones that were open). We posted it on Facebook today. If you want to get weekly updates on the project from us, please email us at soregonproject@ontariooregon.org.

Up to date information on the project can be found at the following site:
https://www.ontariooregon.org/soregonada.html Project completion is anticipated to be mid-July.

EFSP – The Emergency Food & Shelter Program (EFSP) board met this week, which is funded through the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA and chaired by Dan Ramirez. We awarded a little bit less than $24,000 to three organizations, which included Next Chapter Food Pantry, Project Dove, and the Jordan Valley Lions Club to help them continue providing services to those in need.  

Airport 
Day-to-day maintenance and upkeep at the airport continue to be the largest draw on time. Keeping the airport open and operational at all times has been a high priority.

Dan is drafting a letter to all hanger owners regarding annual hanger inspections that are to be completed by airport sponsors which are mandated by the federal aviation administration for federally assured airports. 

Dan met with JUB engineering and six contractors at the Ontario municipal airport in a pre-bid meeting as well as an on-site inspection to look at our future taxiway and hold apron capital improvement projects. These fully funded projects through the FAA will enhance the airport for years to come.

Fire & Rescue
Meetings
The Fire Chief and the building officials had a meeting about a commercial remodel on Oregon St.

Inspections
Chief has been doing follow up on some of the dispensaries opening up and under construction and a couple of hemp processing plants also.

Training
The crew is still doing their training virtually on zoom and we reviewed the operations of the UTV in preparation for use this summer.  A few of the staff also worked on forcible entry and drivers’ operations.

Events
5/15 Ontario F & R is honored to recognize this week as Public Safety officer’s week and the great team of Police officers that we get to work with daily at Ontario P.D.  Our teams work very well together and support each other on many of our calls.  The staff thanked them with a meal to share with their staff.

Incidents
This week the crew responded to an illegal burn, a grass fire on I-84, and a fence fire on Foothill Dr.  They also responded to a propane leak at the propane tank farm, and to a home that they replaced the batteries in all the smoke detectors due to them activating. 

Police
Administration
This week was the National Peace Officers Memorial week. Due to COVID 19, OPD participated in online memorial activities to show support for their fellow law enforcement partners who have died in the line of duty.

Chief Romero submitted state mandated COVID 19 reports. Chief is happy to report that OPD has been quite lucky to avoid the virus despite a steady pace of police activity throughout the pandemic.

Chief Romero attended the OPD shoot training day at OPD’s gun range. Chief Romero and a community business partner are working on installing an ADA compliant ramp and staircase for the OPD training classroom at the range. This project is being fully funded through private donations and in-kind contributions.

Chief Romero delivered a donation to the Ontario Boys and Girls Club as a result of a fundraising campaign the chief is involved in on behalf of the BGC.

Field Services
May 13th- OPD engaged in a pursuit of a wanted suspect. The pursuit began and ended in the very south end of the city limits with the suspect abandoning his car and attempting to elude by trespassing into an apartment building. Chief is proud to share that OPD is still batting 1000 with the capture of another felon who fled from OPD. All 5 pursuits in the last 3-week period have resulted in the capture and arrest of the fleeing criminals.

May 14th- Night shift officers an OPD appearance for an Ontario 8-year-old boy who expressed his strong support and love for law enforcement. Due to Covid 19, the future police officer was unable to have a traditional birthday celebration, so OPD staff provided him with a police theme gift and a police car light show. Great community building by OPD in between calls for service.

May 15th- A Hotbox employee and customer got into a physical fight as a result of road rage starting in Idaho. OPD ended up issuing a criminal citation to the customer who was deemed the primary aggressor after reviewing video footage from the scene.

Code Enforcement
Code enforcement officers remained quite busy this week with a variety of enforcement tactics.
May 14th -248 SE 1st ST – This extreme eye sore was abated to the amount of 8K in civil penalty. The property has been cleaned up well beyond OPD’s expectations. (Photos available upon request). Some very happy neighbors.
Weekly- Code Enforcement Officers worked side by side, to assist with follow up. Current follow up with both officers combined is nearly 180 cases.

Weekly-Code Enforcement is working on an analysis of compliance percentages on which procedure works better. 1) Officers in separate vehicles, own sides of town. 2) Officers working in same area, separate vehicles. 3) Officers in same vehicle, working down the street. 4) Officers walking together down a street, creating cases. The goal is to identify optimal effectiveness and efficiency with safety being considered as well, due to some hostile locations that are being dealt with.

May 15th- CEO’s abated some illegal campers who were attempting to re-establish camps near the City of Ontario Water wells and treatment facility. Subjects were provided information and cited for observed ordinance violations.

Public Works
South Oregon Street Project
The Oregon street project begins next week, this will include new concrete bulb outs, new ADA crosswalks, and a new asphalt overlay from East Idaho through 4th Ave. Traffic detours will be in place during the course of this project. The project will start at the south end, covering 3rd and 4th Ave intersections initially.  Downtown businesses have received informational postcards and many have signed up for email updates.  Information on the project can be found at the following site: 
https://www.ontariooregon.org/soregonada.html  Project completion is anticipated to be mid-July.
 
Field Services
We have changed schedules for all crews in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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 energy audit team began the initial inspection of all city facilities, including lighting, energy, water, and wastewater evaluations. A detailed report will be generated and reviewed by staff and City Council.
 
Staff focused on installation of protective bollards on the new TVCC trail. Concrete was poured to facilitate the removable bollards. Crews worked on preparation of equipment used in crack fill and chip seal operations which will begin shortly.
 
Water
Well rehabilitation crews were on site for initial inspections, well rehabbing will begin next week.
 
Wastewater
Staff began the mapping of the solids in lagoon 1, the influent lagoon. Work is underway developing a plan to put solids mining out to bid. This is a work in progress.
Odor monitoring equipment was placed in multiple manhole locations near the influent lagoon.  We are quantifying hydrogen sulfide to get an understanding of the odor issues.
 
Odors are still present, but they seem to be diminishing. Obviously, this is a subjective thing. We appreciate the public’s patience during this time. Solids mining will begin later this year and will address the root of this problem.
Staff have been working to address some on the deficiencies in the Skyline and Malheur irrigation system.
 
Parks and Cemeteries
Spring cleanup at the cemeteries continues in preparation for Memorial Day.