September 14, 2020

Audio Visual - We had another bidder come look at the Council Chambers for the AV upgrade. I’m expecting a bid from them soon.

​SRCI & Protection District – I spent a good amount of the time working with the State’s economist on a financial forecast. We spent Wednesday in mediation. We met again on Friday and the state said they want to work with me on the cost model.
I will be working with the state hired economist over the next week and we will be back in mediation on Friday.
LOCAL Boots on the Ground – Our local recovery team met and continued to talk about helping our businesses.
9/11 - We had a very nice service for 9/11 working with the American Legion. The Legion presented a very nice flag to the City for first responders.
Airport
After an inspection of the airport following the high winds Monday, only one hangar had minor damage and no aircraft were damaged.
Two meetings have been set up for next week to discuss fueling regulations at the airport and chemical applicator practices. Bringing both sides together to look for a solution should bring about a best practice for the city’s airport to follow in the future.
Positive comments were made by those who used the grass runway over the weekend.
Two additional SEAT firefighting planes came in from South Dakota today to help battle wildfires.
Fire & Rescue
Meetings
This week seemed like one big meeting.  Due to the fires in our state the Oregon State Fire Marshal hosted meetings every day that Chief Leighton participated in as the Fire Defense Board Chief for Malheur County.  There were also mediation meetings and conference calls with the financial advisors for the state in dealing with the contract for SRCI.  The Rural Fire District board also had a meeting that staff attended.
Training
The staff was supposed to have our annual fire department family BBQ but due to Covid-19 guidelines, we cancelled the event and then held our circuit drills we have been having for the past few months.
Incidents 
This was a busy week for our staff. We had a few illegal burns and multiple grass fires.  9/6 Rescue 1 responded to a carbon monoxide alarm and monitored for elevated levels but did not find any.  The staff also responded to a house fire in New Plymouth and assisted with salvage and overhaul.  The crew also responded to a grass fire on I-84.  9/7 The windstorm we had caused some downed power lines and a large fire incident we aided Parma Fire on. 9/8 Rescue 1 responded to a truck hauling hay on I-84 where the bales caught on fire. The crews have responded Tuesday and Wednesday to fight wildland fires and provide structure protection at the large fire north of Cambridge ID.  9/10 157, the rural brush engine responded to mutual aid for Vale Fire for a grass fire.
Police
Administration
Aug 31st-Chief Romero developed a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for OPD’s “Major Crime Team” response procedures. The purpose of the SOP is to develop an effective and efficient multi-agency response plan for major crime incidents. OPD has a history of working well with the local area law enforcement agencies.
Sept 9th- Chief Romero coordinated a promotional video for the Special Olympics Law Enforcement Torch Run for Idaho-eastern Oregon. The video promotion included representatives from Idaho State Police, Oregon State Police, Ontario Police, Malheur County Sheriff’s Office, and the Malheur County District Attorney’s Office. Local law enforcement pledged full support for our areas special Olympians. Great partnership by all that participated. 
Field Services
Sept 1st- OPD responded to St. Alphonsus Hospital regarding an individual who was bloody and creating a disturbance inside the facility. The subject turned out to be an adult with mental illness who had forcefully removed an IV from his arm. Medical staff was able to care for the individual after he was spoken to and persuaded to continue his medical treatment.
Sept 4th- OPD pursued a vehicle that eventually crashed near the airport. After a brief foot pursuit through the shooting range, two suspects were apprehended. The two suspects were arrested for outstanding warrants and were found to be in possession of AR-15 ammunition. Vehicle is suspected of transporting illicit drugs as well.
Sept 6th-OPD responded to a shooting at the Motel 6. OPD contacted a shooting victim who was not cooperative and was suspected of illegal activity. This incident is an active investigation. No arrests have been made as of this date.
Sept 11th-OPD responded to the Best Western Hotel regarding a female who was damaging a room and causing a disturbance. The female was determined to have mental illness and was transported to the hospital for emergency psychiatric care. The female remained hostile towards medical staff at the hospital but was treated without incident.
Sept 11th-OPD responded to a call of a male in the roadway on West Idaho Avenue and 5th Street. The male was attempting to stop vehicles and grab items from passing vehicles. The subject was contacted by OPD and was arrested without incident. The subject was armed with a pocket- knife in his hand at the time of his arrest and was believed to be under the influence of drugs.
Code Enforcement
This week Chief Romero filled in due to both code enforcement officers being away for vacation and family leave time. Chief Romero met with various property owners to discuss abatement actions and equitable resolutions.
Public Works
Field Services
Staff are working on vegetation control on City property.
Crews have finished building the storage area for bio-solids at Skyline Farms. They have also improved the haul road on the south and east side of the property and laid gravel for a “track-out” zone to keep empty haul trucks from tracking bio-solids down the road.
Potholes on NE 4th Street and East Idaho Avenue have been filled with patch material, however, ODOT has responsibility for maintaining this section of road.
Staff have been working on the “put-in” trailhead for the Malheur River Water Trail.
The open section of the Dorian Ditch along the east side of NW 22nd Street was backing up. Crews found that debris had blown into the ditch with the high winds earlier in the week. Once they cleared the debris, the ditch began flowing. This is an ongoing challenge to stay on top of.
Water
#2 Booster Pump at Westside Reservoir is still down. The vendor supplying repair parts does not have an estimated time when parts will be onsite. There is one final chemical pump due for routine annual maintenance. The clarifier maintenance for last week and this week is finished. Nothing out of the ordinary was encountered.
The wooded area around the water treatment area doesn’t appear to have unauthorized camping. A couple of the “No Trespassing” signs have been vandalized, but not to the point where they became illegible.
Wastewater
Control panels on the pivots at Skyline are failing. We will be requesting a proposal from the vendor who supplied the control panels for the Malheur Farm pivots to update the Skyline panels. Skyline pivots 4, 5 and 6 are now fallow and ready for bio-solids application. It is estimated that Skyline pivots 1, 2 and 3 will be fallow by October 15th.
Staff are working with Christine Kelly of Oregon State University to begin sampling waste treatment plant influent for COVID-19. Christine is a professor of bioengineering at OSU and will be performing and collating all the test data. Jacobs staff will be collecting samples and sending them to Christine for analysis.
Parks and Cemeteries
The new walking path at Laxson Park is scheduled to be paved this week.
Engineering
Final inspection and commissioning for the pH project is scheduled for this Friday.
The City Council has awarded the bio-solids removal contract to Synagro. Synagro is planning to mobilize to Ontario the week of September 21st.