September 16, 2019

Wayfinding Grant
We are very excited to receive notification that we were awarded the $20,000 wayfinding grant from Travel Oregon. This will really help re-brand our community. We will move forward with a request for proposal.

Security Cameras
The vendor did a site visit walk through on Thursday and we reviewed the plan for City Hall. We expect to have that bid ready to award on October 3rd.

Marijuana Ad Hoc Committee
The Committee will meet on Wednesday night (9/18) at 7 pm.

Code Enforcement
The chief made some revisions to the Code Enforcement Officer job description and we are moving forward to fill it. The chief is leaning to a minimum of 6 day coverage with offset hours so they can cover more of the day.

Malheur Housing United Taskforce
A small group of us met together early this week to address the homeless issue as a steering committee. Finding housing solutions is a goal in the City Council strategic plan.

Border Board
I attended the border board meeting on Monday. The County has approved participation in the program as well as the Rural Fire District and the Malheur ESD. The County and ESD which are in our taxing area are a total of $2.89 per thousand. The Border Board will be at Tuesday’s City Council Meeting to answer any questions and provide any updates on their housing incentive program.

Revitalize Ontario
Peter and I attended the Revitalize Ontario meeting. Plans are moving forward for many projects that Revitalize is working on including utility box wrap art and an archway for the entrance into downtown Ontario.

Fiber Project
We spent a great deal of time preparing the fiber bid to the airport. We hope to bring that to council for approval on October 3.

9/11
We had a great turnout for our 9/11 Ceremony. Chief Romero, Chief Leighton and the Mayor all gave very heartfelt comments.

Tennis Court Bids
We did not receive any bids on the tennis courts so we are talking with the vendors to see if we can work out something directly.

Important Site Visit
I joined local business owners on an economic development recruitment trip through Ontario. TVCC also participated in the video.

Citizen Serve
We had a link problem with Citizen Serve but it is back up and running. I will be using Citizen Serve to track any issues brought forward by Council. The public also has the ability to see how the code enforcement issues they submit are progressing using the portal.

Community & Economic Development
Dan was able to resolve some of the flood plain legacy issues that FEMA noted after an audit. This is incredibly important for the City because it helped us avoid potential fines. He is working through a few more issues.

Three Planning Design Advisory Committee meetings were held last week.

Fire and Rescue
The Chief met with the OHS football coach for some help at the home games. Some of the staff met to review the city emergency handbook and evacuation plans.

9/8 The crew responded to a mutual aid fire in Payette for a hay stack fire. 9/10 The crew responded to a smoke in a house. They found that the furnace motor had burned up. 9/12 Staff responded to a fatal vehicle accident on HWY 201 and NW 4th Ave.

On Saturday, the burn ban for Malheur County was lifted. Burn permits are available through Ontario Fire & Rescue.

Police
Chief Romero attended a Steering Committee meeting at TVCC and continues to co-develop the TVCC Athlete Mentor Program (AMP) that aims to outreach “At-Risk” youths in Ontario. Grant funding for this program is pending. Program will move forward regardless of grant funding outcome.

Chief Romero accommodated a citizen request to meet and discuss a strategy and plan to assist the homeless. The requesting Citizen is currently homeless and a single parent of two small children. OPD provided temporary lodging assistance to the citizen and the children via the Salvation Army-OPD Assistance Program.

Chief Romero and OPD staff attended the “Hands Around the Park” event in support of our local outreach services. Chief Romero and Malheur County Undersheriff Travis Johnson cooked a couple hundred hotdogs for the community and event staff.

The chief gave a few PD tours. One was a local community member interested in pursuing an OPD law enforcement career. The Chief feels that early recruitment and mentoring improves the applicant pool for future OPD vacancies.

Chief Romero spoke with Pastor Tom Greco from the Ontario Community Church to further discuss Chief Romero’s efforts to develop a multi-denomination faith-based community resource team that could work alongside OPD to respond to a variety of community needs.

Public Works
Field Service
Hot Taping of crosswalks continues throughout town at multiple locations.
A new crack seal machine was delivered and training provided on this new unit, this will greatly improve our efficiencies and eliminate down time associated with equipment failure.

Water
We have noticed a decrease in algae in the Snake River; as such our waters taste and odor issues have greatly diminished.
Special sampling was completed and sent off for analysis as part of our water quality permit.

Wastewater
A chlorine contact chamber was taken off line and cleaned.

Parks and Cemetery
A structural engineer evaluated the bridge at Beck Park we will wait for his report and then make plans related to repair or replacement accordingly.