07/14/2014 City Council Meeting

Old Time Fair proclamation

From princesses to water to annexations, the city council dealt with a broad array of issues during its July 14 regular meeting.

2014 Old Time Fair Proclamation

Mayor John Kovash read a proclamation thanking last year’s Old Time Fair Queen Celia Lawrence as well as a proclamation honoring and congratulating this year’s princesses, Amber Woods, Katie Williams, McKenna Wright and Megan Talbert.

“Tonight we get to honor the princesses and queen of the Old Time Fair court,” Mayor John Kovash said. “Becoming a princess is not an easy thing.”

This year’s queen will be announced via skydiver on Friday at 5:45 p.m. at Willamette Park.

Grindstone art project

Grindstone Art Project Presentation

The council heard a presentation about a proposed grindstone art project. The idea came about in 2006 to use some of the old, large grindstones once used in paper mills to commemorate that part of the city’s history.

The grindstones can currently be seen at Willamette Park by the volleyball court. They will be used in the creation of the public art.

Though the project was shelved during the recession, it is about to be revitalized, thanks to the Willamette Falls Heritage Foundation, as part of the new Willamette Trail the city will begin later this year. Eventually, the trail will span from Willamette Park to the Arch Bridge.

“We see the artwork as a teaching tool,” volunteer Roger Shepherd said. “2014 is the 100th year of history of making paper in West Linn.”

The foundation is working to raise funding for the art project.

Thanks

The city council also took a moment to recognize longtime resident and volunteer Roger Shepherd for his years of work on behalf of a slew of projects, committees and organizations for West Linn.

He was presented a photo the historic area of the Bolton neighborhood.

Government Finance Officers Association Award

– pulled from agenda

Consent Agenda

The council approved meeting notes, the termination of 1975 annexiation agreements and a quitclaim deed. A contract addenda for the Santa Anita/Rosemont traffic signal project was moved to the business portion of the agenda.

Committee for Citizen Involvement

– pulled from the agenda; rescheduled for Aug. 11.

Annexations

The council also voted to annex in three “islands” of unincorporated Clackamas County property into the city, all by request of the property owners.

In anticipation of such requests, the city recently streamlined its annexation process, cutting down the required number of meetings from two to one. All annexations must be voter approved, according to city charter, and will appear on the November ballot.

The council adopted resolutions for annexation of the following properties; the zoning designations refer to the maximum lot size in thousand square foot increments, that would be allowed on the property if developed (i.e., R-10 = 10,000 ft2 lots):

  • 2.95 acres at 1430 Rosemont Road: If annexed, the property is proposed to have a zoning designation of R-10.
  • 2.126 acres at 21328 Bland Circle: If annexed, the property is proposed to have a zoning designation of R-7.
  • 5 acres at 22850 and 22848 S. Weatherhill Road: If annexed, the property is proposed to have a zoning designation of R-7.

For the property on Rosemont Road, the applicant requested and city staff recommended zoning the property at R-7, which is 7,000-square-foot lots. However, taking into consideration neighboring properties zoned at R-10 (10,000-square-foot lots), several councilors thought the lesser density of R-10 would more appropriate.

After some discussion and hearing from the applicant, the council voted 3-2 to approve the Rosemont property annexation resolution to R-10.

The resolutions for the other two sites passed passed unanimously.

All council annexation decisions can be appealed within the next 14 days.

Agenda Bill 2014-07-14-06: Ordinance 1627

- pulled from the agenda for further discussion with the neighbors about right of way designations in West Linn.

Traffic Signal

The city council approved two additions to the construction contract for the new traffic signal at the corner of Rosemont and Santa Anita.

The original approved contract was for the design of the intersection improvements. The additions include the design of a retaining wall design and work with a utility pole. The additions will cost approximately $24,000.

“The project is well underway and the project is going very well,” Public Works Director Lance Calvert said.

Bolton Reservoir

The city of West Linn is proposing to replace its existing 2.5 million gallon Bolton Reservoir with a new 4 million gallon reservoir.

The existing reservoir is located on Skyline Drive, just up the road from West Linn High School, near the intersection of Skyline Drive and Skyline Circle. It is a concrete structure built in 1913. An interior liner was installed in 1992 and a synthetic cover was placed over the reservoir in 1996.

The city has determined the 100-year-old reservoir is seismically deficient and is undersized. Previous inspection of the reservoir found some flaking/pitting concrete and some cracking. The floating cover is also at the end of its life, having undergone extensive repairs in 2008 and in 2012.

At the meeting, the council approved a $1 million contract with Murray Smith & Associates for engineering services for the Bolton Reservoir replacement project.

The Bolton Reservoir replacement is a priority capital project in the Water Master Plan. To meet this capital project need, the council previously approved a resolution dedicating the $5 million payment from the Lake Oswego-Tigard Water Partnership agreement to partially fund design and construction of the $9 million Bolton Reservoir replacement.

Highlighting this effort, one of the 2014 city council goals is to initiate the design, land use and citizen engagement process for the Bolton Reservoir.

An open house at the reservoir for immediate neighbors of the facility was planned for July 15.

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The city council will next meet at a work session on Aug. 4 at city hall with a regular meeting slated for Aug. 11 at the new police station.