TD Council has full docket including discussion of building sale
TD Council to consider disbursement of Google Cash, opioid payment, garbage rates & possible sale of employment office building
By Tom Peterson
Sharing Google Cash - up to $2.5 million annually - Page 89 of packet
The Dalles City Council will consider how to spend Google money from the latest deal made for up to two new data centers in the Port of The Dalles.
Councilors are set to meet tonight, Jan. 10 at 5:30 p.m. Click here to join the meeting.
Click here for the agenda and packet.
Wasco County Administrative Services Director Matthew Klebes is recommending the Community Service Fee for the first data center be distributed to all taxing districts in the tax code area consistent with the sum of each district’s permanent and local option rate authority.
The Community Service Fee or CSF is a payment up to $2.5 million Google agreed to pay in lieu of property taxes that were abated for it by the City and County.
Klebes is recommending that the distribution for the CSF for the second data center be determined when it commences construction.
Within the request for action, Klebes said the City-County Negotiating Team recommends the City and County make a $750,000 loan to Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue (MCFR). The fire district needs the funding to beef up service as they will see additional demand during the construction phase of the data centers, according to the report.
The recommendation to Council loans the fire district some cash upfront to assist with this service demand.
These funds would be distributed within thirty 30 days of receipt of the initial payment in the agreement with Google. As a condition to disbursing the loan amount to MCFR, the fire district must guarantee repayment of the loan as well as agree to a staffing-aid agreement in the approved Emergency Response Plan. The loan would be paid back by fire district over the course of Google's first data plant’s 15 years of property tax abatement. The district could pay it through a reduction of its money coming from the Google Community Service Fee or, if insufficient, any other legal means.
The City-County Negotiating team is Wasco County Commissioner Steve Kramer, Wasco County Tax Assessor Jill Amery, Wasco County Administrative Officer Tyler Stone, Matthew Klebes, The Dalles Mayor Rich Mays, The Dalles City Manager Julie Krueger, Steve Lawrence and The Dalles Public Works Director Dave Anderson.
Drug Deal - Page 106 of packet
Council will decide on whether to accept $303,919 in the opioid epidemic settlement caused in part by the three largest pharmaceutical distributors: McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen which are Distributor and manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and its parent company Johnson & Johnson.
If accepted, it would be the City’s piece of the settlement from the national opioid litigation.
The proposed settlements are fully adopted by states and municipalities nationwide: Distributors will pay a maximum of $21 billion over 18 years and J&J will pay a maximum of $5 billion over no more than 9 years, with approximately $22.8 billion in settlement proceeds payable to states and municipalities. The Dalles is getting 0.17%of the $329 million settlement to Oregon, minus attorney’s fees.
Possible Sale of State Building at 700 Union St. - Page 130 of packet
Council is set to discuss the sale of the State Building at 700 Union Street.
Council will be asked to make policy changes to allow for the sale.
The City currently leases the building to Oregon’s Department of Employment, Department of Human Services and Department of Administrative Services for a total of $34,815 per month, according to city documents.
The State also reimburses the City for its costs to improve the building.
The State has made it clear that they no longer want to pay for building improvements, according to the staff report.
While the lease is still in effect through July of 2022, the City conducted a property appraisal and the market value was determined to be $4.8 million as of Aug. 25, 2021.
The State is not currently willing to purchase the property, according to the staff report.
However, without objection from the State, the City could sell the property to a private buyer who would in turn continue to offer leases to the state-run departments.
Issuing Subpoenas on Short Term Rental - Page 104 of packet
City Attorney Jonathan Kara is asking Council for a resolution to issue a subpoena to Steven Day for records relating to transient room taxes and licenses to ensure compliance with The Dalles Municipal Code.
The Code makes it unlawful for any operator to fail or refuse to furnish any return or other data required by the City or to render a false or fraudulent return, Kara states in the report.
Violations of Chapter 8.04 of the code are misdemeanors punishable by a fine of not more than $500 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both, but does not independently authorize the City to compel production of records necessary to determine the sufficiency of a return.
Thus, Kara is asking Council for authorization to compel Day to provide the documentation.
Garbage Rate Increase - page 100 of packet
Councilors expect to see additional profit and loss information for The Dalles Disposal before making a decision on granting a 5.05 % rate increase to the company for local services.
At their meeting on Dec. 13, Councilor Darcy Long asked that city staff present the financials, as is required of the franchise, to better understand the company’s profit margin.
The Dalles Disposal had asked the rate increase become effective on Jan. 1, 2022. With the rate hike, a local resident with a 32-gallon garbage can would see an increase from $18.80 to $19.75 per month - a 95 cent increase.
Houseless Shelters - Page 91 of packet
At the Council Dec. 13 meeting, City Council delayed a vote on adding definitions and rules for allowing houseless shelters in light industrial and general commercial zones.
Councilors debated on whether it should be an outright allowed use or require a conditional-use permit and administrative or public hearings.
Kenny LaPoint, Executive Director of Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (MCCAC) requested the conditional use permit to establish a houseless shelter be removed from the law.
He said it could be used to slow down a project that is running on strict funding deadlines, thereby killing it through time, not legitimate reasons for denying a houseless shelter.
MCCAC is in the middle of establishing a $5.1-million Navigation Center in The Dalles at the former hotel across the street from Peterson Cat on West Second Street.
The funding for the Navigation Center must be used by July 2023. It would provide shelter to the houseless in The Dalles as well as provide a single point for providing assistance to those experiencing houselessness. Councilor Runyon asked that the council review the need for a conditional-use permit after the July 2023 deadline.
Councilor Long also noted that the proposed code required that a bathing facility be located on the same site as a shelter, instead of being off-site. Long said that could be a barrier to getting a shelter established, and state law required a bathing facility already, just not on site.
Councilors delayed voting on the houseless shelter code in December. They agreed to wait for staff to return the code to them with the changes recommended above.
Staff are now bringing back a Code change that removes the “conditional use” language for seasonal shelters and they would be “permitted outright”. Bathing facility requirements for seasonal shelters were also removed from the code.
And City staff and Council will revisit the outright use for seasonal shelters in the general commercial zone in 2023.
Accredited Police Department- Page 77 of packet
Council is being asked to approve contracting authority with Ranit Healthcare Consulting LLC to support The Dalles Police Department Accreditation.
BACKGROUND:
The City of The Dalles Police Department desires to become an Oregon accredited police agency, according to the staff report. Accreditation will ensure best practices in policy, training and more. Outside evaluators will certify that police meet or exceed multiple standards and benchmarks required for accreditation. In furtherance of this goal, the Department wishes to engage the services of an independent contractor with specific skills in project management, organization and project delivery.
The work will involve access to sensitive documents, policies and police procedures. Therefore Oregon Criminal Justice Information Systems (CJIS) access clearance is required. The contractor will work in close collaboration with the Chief of Police Tom Worthy, Management Team, line officers, the Federal Community Oriented Policing (COPS) Office, and Oregon Accreditation Alliance (OAA) staff to deliver the completion of the accreditation process. BUDGET IMPLICATIONS: This work is funded by a Federal Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Grant that has been received by TDPD. The grant requires no matching funds. The grant total is $74,750 and this contract with Ranit will account for an amount not to exceed $65,000.
