Category: City Council

City Council

DECISIONS ARE MADE DURING OPEN SESSION

I learned today that there has been a post on the Lincoln City Homepage Facebook page regarding Justin Werner’s attempt to attend the Executive Session last night.  There seems to be confusion on his part as to the process by which one can attend an executive session as media.  Mr. Werner contacted City offices a few weeks ago about attending an executive session as media.  We informed him that there was a process he needed to follow and that the City Council would make that determination.  That process included appearing before the City Council during an open session where in the City Council could make the determination (i.e.) vote on his application. 

We sent to Mr. Werner the Attorney General’s opinion on media and said he would need to show that he can meet the criteria of the Attorney General’s opinion for the City Council to determine that he is bona fide media.  Mr. Werner has not made the request or application during an open session and therefore the City Council is unable to act or vote.

Last night Mr. Werner attempted to attend an executive session without having gone through this process. The City Attorney, Mr. Appicello, advised the City Council that they could not act either in executive sessions or work sessions as to Mr. Werner’s standing as media.  I advised Mr. Werner that he had to leave because he has not been recognized as bona fide media.

I have learned since becoming a City Manager in Oregon that there is a process for doing things.  In my discussions with City Staff Members, we have applauded Mr. Werner’s efforts to establish himself as media and encourage him to follow the process and apply to the City Council.  If he is able to show that he is media according to Attorney General opinion and the City Council approves his petition, we are happy to welcome him to the City meetings including executive sessions according to Oregon and Lincoln City laws and policies.

 

City Council

July 10, 2017, City Council Meeting

The Council continued with its busy slate on the planning front. They held two public hearings, one on a change on how indoor theaters are treated, and the other on changes to how we enforce the zoning rules.  In the first, they changed indoor theaters from “conditional uses” to “permitted uses,” which means someone wanting to develop a new theater would not have to go through a hearing at the Planning Commission. In the second the Council tweaked who is allowed to issue notices of zoning violations, required the municipal court to wait until a violator has gone through all their administrative remedies before taking any action, and clarified that if someone doesn’t want to let a city official look at records they are required to keep, the official has to get a search warrant to see them.

Still on the planning front, the Council also adopted two new ordinances they held hearings on earlier. One of them, dealing with VRDs, created an exception to the rule that VRD licenses can’t be transferred. Now a person who has a VRD license can transfer it to themselves and their spouse or domestic partner without running afoul of the transfer ban. This means, for example, that a person who has a VRD license and then gets married can put the license into joint ownership with the new spouse. This ordinance also set up a system of quarterly renewal dates for VRD licenses so that they don’t all become due on the same day. We have over 500 VRDs and processing all the renewals at once has become overwhelming for the staff.

The second ordinance adopted new policies for our comprehensive plan regarding housing and the economy. The new policies came out of the recently completed Housing Needs Assessment and Economic Opportunities Analysis. The new policies are wide-ranging and will form the framework for how the city addresses housing and economic issues in the coming years.

Budget, City Council

Council Adopts 2017-18 Budget

Glass-Floats-1-credit-Jordan-May

Lincoln City City Council adopted the 2017-18 budget last night at their regular Council Meeting.

The following is a list of changes to the proposed budget made by the budget committee:

  • General Fund

o Add $2,000 to City Council budget for quarterly mailings

o Add $19,711 to City Attorney budget to increase assistant from 0.25 FTE to 0.50 FTE

o Subtract $12,746 from City Admin budget to remove 0.50 FTE public relations assistant and increase executive assistant from 0.75 FTE to 1.0 FTE

o Add $5,000 to Economic Development budget for traveling and marketing

o Add $50,000 to General Non-Dept budget for Contributions for Outside Agencies

o Add $50,000 to General Non-Dept budget for sign for the Community Center

o Subtract $200,000 from the transfer to the Percent for Art fund

o Add $100,000 to the transfer to Facilities fund (for security assessment and capital)

o Add $150,000 to a transfer to the Unbonded Assessment fund (for additional LID/Reimbursement District resources)

o Subtract $163,965 from unappropriated fund balance

  • Percent for Art Fund

o Subtract $200,000 from transfer in from General Fund (revenue)

o Subtract $200,000 from capital purchases

  • Street Capital Fund

o Subtract $350,000 from Street Overlay Projects

o Add $350,000 to Sidewalk Construction

  • Facilities Capital Fund

o Add $100,000 transfers in from General Fund (revenue)

o Add $100,000 in Building Improvements for security assessment and capital

o Add $150,000 in Park Improvements for the Taft dock

o Subtract $150,000 from Capital Contingency

  • Unbonded Assessment  Fund:

o Add $150,000 transfers in from General Fund (revenue)

o Add $150,000 to Capital Contingency (funding for future LID/Reimbursement Districts)

Citizens, City Council, Urban Renewal Agency

Ms. Martin’s 5th Grade Class and Exciting News from the Urban Renewal Agency

Ms. Martin’s 5th Grade Class

Ms. Martin’s 5th grade Class from Taft Elementary in Lincoln City, presented a plea for help at the May 22, 2017, City Council meeting.

The Class had a simple request that would have a big impact – Ban the use of plastic bags in Lincoln City. The students wrote letters and used a PowerPoint presentation to describe the local environmental impacts of plastic bags.

Great job, Class!

Urban Renewal Agency

The Urban Renewal Agency recently approved it’s priorities for the final three million dollar bond issue for the Urban Renewal District.

The two priorities are: 1) Undergrounding utilities on 101 at DeLake.

DeLake Photo

2) Fund the Economic Development Toolbox. These funds have been used for business expansion loans, business facade improvements, and business start-up loans. For more   information about the Toolbox, please call Alison Robertson at 541-996-1207.