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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1932-1227 Council Mtg MIN t ~.ti hshla~~~d, Oregon, Dec. 2O, 19'2. 1'rle council met inregular session at 7;30 o'clock 1'.~~. on t'~lis date. ~~~resent I;'%ayor k T~~~ornton; Councilmen Make, Claycomb, =ersey, 'd~enner; absent ~~etgner, ~layl;r. T~ ~ R:~inutes of the previous meeting ~~rere approved. Bills O.I~'d by the r~ir~lance Cor_lmittee, amourlti~~~; to ;850.58, were read in total amount j only. T~Iotion eras m° de and secondec± that said bills be allot•red ~.:.nd crarrants ord red drawn in payment thereof. The vote eras as follows: eyes Bl~:ke, Claycomb, ~ersey, ~~~lenner; nays none. Carried. ' Reports of n. Iiosler, ~'iegel, F. F. Cooper and G. l,L. Frost for the rlonth of [ ` I~TOVember, 1932, v~rere read and, on lot ion, acceptad alld ordered placed on file. OorA~munication from Geo. F. Carpenter offeringr~is services to made an audit of the city r books for the `rear 1932, eras read and, on motion, laid on the taple. i. 0.1 motion of Claycomb seco7~ded b`r Make, free lights and ~~rater to Jan. 1, 1933, ~rere granted the fo11o~~Jing named persons: 4 Restora i'rench 687 Beach St. } ~ less. Ada Tas;-let 283 :nigh ~t. G. "I ~ 4° ' ' The I,~a~~;-or stated tritt the ~l'~s Lodge t°1o1~1d provide t;hrist?~as basJietS for 51 indigent ' families. j 1,. p ~ , g ~~~otion arras ~~lade, secondec aad carried ghat water and- li~~°I~t e~laltius ~.r_~o~ tirr_ to r ~ 50 cents each be refu~rde~~ Louis Johnson. a Rlotion was made and seconded that the recorder be authorized to transfer x'300.00 from the Electric Light Fund to Setigrer Dist. TIo. 37 Fund as a loan. Carried. Fr 'The Council next proceeded to consider proposed city Ordinance e_-ltitled "An ordinance gran Ling to the Southern ''acific C,_.. a corporation created ~~_sting under ~ laws of the State of I~ent~ieky, its successors a:~d assigns, t~~le ri~°.~t, rvile e and ~ franchise to, for a period of ten Yeats maintain ~~._~d operate that certain spur track 9 as rlotix~ located upon acrd across the follo~aing street in the City of rshland, Oregon, to- I ~~~it: ~~7orth Fioneer ~~venue near its ju_zction t~rith Dish Street.' l~he ordinance havingb een read ~;he first time, on r~~otion, the rules tirere suspended, f ou.r voting in favor tI~ reof, ~ ~ and the ordinance eras passed to fihe second reading. I~~Iaving been read the second tune, roll call was ordered on its adoption. The vote was as follo~,~~s : f,~~es L1ake, Clayc f rnb, I'~ersey, :"rennet; nags none. Carried. x~ Thereupon the Ila~ror declared City Ordil~ance Io. 913 adopted. ~ On m~tionmthe council adjourned to ?.~cet "'ues. sec, 27tx~1, 1 ~a,,-~~ a. Attest . C Stec or~~r: Ashland, Oregon, Dec, 27, 1952. The council met in regular session at 7:30 o'clock P.I~~. on this date. Present r,4ayor Thornton; Councilmen B1Gke, Claycor~b, Hersey; absent Bergner, ~1'ayler, ~~~~enner. Minutes of the previous meeting ~rere approved. Bills O.K'd by the Finance Committee, amounting to X3,724,55, were read in total amount j only. It~otion was made ann. seconded that said bills be allowea and' s~rarrants ordered drawn in payment theroof, The vote was as follows: Ayes- Blake, Claycomb, Flersey; nays none. Carried. The following building permits were gz'anted: ~?o. 257 Floyd Putnam, To re-roof d~~~elling at 147 Granite St. X150.00 258 K. C. Stock To repair awelling at 108 I~ob Kill 200.00 z The Recorder presented statements From the Sheriff of delinquent tapes assessed against various properties. On motion of Claycomb, seconded by Dorsey, the City httorney was instruct- ed to ask for the cancellation of all delinquent taxes. The Recorder askew that she be granted authority to transfer such amount as may be nec- essary from the ~i~a=ter ~~~orks Construction Fund to the ~~'ater Fund, to take ~p the bonds and interest due Jan, 1, 1933. Loved by Claycomb seconded by Hersey that said request be granted. Carried unanimously The Recorder also asked for authority to transfer not to e~ceec~ X4,000 from the General Bond Redemption Fund to the Interest and Bonds Fund as a loan, to rede~~ the Refunding Bonds due Jan. 1, 1933. ~f~oved by Blake seeonden. by Claycomb that said request be granted. Carried. ~~oved by Blake seconded ~by Claycomb that the charge for the cemetery lot for James  Fewel in Mountain view Uemetery ne cancellea. t;&rriea tu1dr11 ~iUu51y. to the ;,arehous e The Water Supt. reported that 31 tiers of wood had been cut and hauled/for indigent families. i' ~6_~: The council next proceeded to consider the follot~T~ing agreer~ent; f`-- AGR:~~'~~' T THIS ~~GRE~~.~~~T made this 27th day of December, 1932, by and between CITY OF ~~SHI~i~tT, herein designated as the First Party, and r~ the ASiI~`~T~I7 GUTS, CLUB, herein designated as the Second Party. ~'~ITNESSET~T; 1. "'hat the first ??arty does hereby lease and let unto the Second Party, for a period of five (5~ years from the date hereof, approximately one (1} acre of land on ghat is known as the TTuni- cipal Airport Site, in Section 16, "o~~nship 31 South of Range 1 'past of the ~JillaMette Tkseridan, same being that portion which is mow being used by said AaHLAT~~TD SUN CLUB for the location of their pits, trap houses, squad line posts and Club building. 2~ The consideration of this lease shall be the sum of ONE DOL:i.AR. 3. This lease shall be subject to cancellation by the FIRST PARTY on five (5) days' ~~rritten notice, at any time the First Party shall dispose of the land herein leased, or shall lease the said Airport Site in whole or in part to an~T third person. ECUTED in duplicate, each of the parties hereto retaining a copy hereof . CITY OF ASTII,AND By . . . ~ Airpo~~ommi~~'ee dray©r ecorder. FIRS' PARTY . ~-,SHI~Ai~iD GUN CZUB By residen By acre cry. ----SECOI°1D PI~~~TY. Moved by Blake sweonded by Glaycomb that the lease be granted. I'he vote on the motion was as follows : eyes- Blake, Clayc~mb, ?~Iersey; nays none. Carried. The Tkayor then read his final message to the Council as follows: 'rT0 "'H~ COI~~e~0~i C()U~~CIZ ~~~~'D TO ~'H~' PEOPLE OF THB' CITY QF AS~I~D: In closing my administration as ~~~ayor of the City of Ashland, I Irish briefly to comment on come of the matters that have been undertaken during my tenure of j office, and to make such constructive suggestions as ~~rill be of benefit to the new administration and asist tine neyjr officers in carrying on tale ~~ork that has been started. 1. ~ZEC~'RIC I,IG~T FUI~~DS. ThBre is at the present time approximately ~~35,900.00 in the electric Zight Fund, approximately x;13,000.00 in the Deprecia- tion Fund, approximately ~~6,$45.00 invested in bonds, and approximately ;15,200.00 due the Electric Zight Fund frol~ loans to other funds. Tzy ad~n~nistration has been { very loathe to lessen or deplete these ~lectr.c light funds any more than is necessary. I am a~=.rare that these funds belong to the city the same as any other funds, and are subject to disposal by the ~~ayor ana Council, but this right has never been exercised except very reluctantly. ~~~e have had many suggestions at various times to thro~r the earnings of the electric depart lent into the general fund, ana thus to reduce general taxation, but it id my opnion, any. I believe I ~ voice the opinion of every one of my administration, that this procedure would be unwise. ri'hese funds are in a sense trust fu~~ds, first for the purpose of mainten- ance of the electric system, second for replacements, and. third for additions, and since they are in a sense trust funds, they should not be aepleted except ~~here actual nece sity exists. '`herever these funds have been used, they Ylave, except in a few instances, beers used as a loar~ to other c~,.epart<~.ents a~~d not as an absolute withdra~d~al. In some ~nstar~ces it gill be necessary to rake some loans into an _L _ _~__i _ i._..___.c+,.__ .s+,.... ~L... ~l ~~,,~;Y,~. ~-l~n ~n~APlv+rlb _ ~111'F fi ~r'izri cA +hict Yltl~'  aoso~u~e Vl'dIl~1C1' LV.L- UJIV i)ut.~V;:>c V1 V1Ga1111~ U11G 1UVV~ uu7 uKV i G4K4iwv ++iw ++..v be cone unless it is absolutely necessary. In this connection, there are two reasons for not generally using these electric funds: first, they may be needed. to make replacements. Our plant has been operating for many, Many years) and there is no way of predicting when a re- placement of the old machinery and dynamos will be necessary, and a stand-by fund for this Purpose must be kept on hand. Second, our water fund receipts have _ v - ~ " not been up to expectations, and it wTill be necessary, unless receipts i~r.,e- diately increase, ~,rhich is not f~ossible, to help the ti~rater fu?id out not less than `.10,000.00 per year to~;~~~u.rd preventing default, and. in effecting prompt payment of its bonds. As~lland has good cre~~it, and that credit can only be maintained by pla~lning our reserves so that are can al~wrays prevent a default on our bonds. ~~'e have never issued time ararrants to my kno~~?ledge, and I hope ode never ~vill. Our bonds have altir;~ays been promptly paid, anc~ Frith ~~roper reserves kept in hand, they always Ulill. It t~,ould be false economy to deplete reserve funds at a time such as nov,~, v~~hen reserve strength may have to be called on for help. Another, and equally important reason is that, from ~y vietirrpoint, it is only a question of time ~°Then Ashls.nd gill ~~ant to be in~~ependent of any private power company, and trill want to gen::~rate all the current used in the city. :i:et us accumulate the money so that an issue of bonds ~firill not be necessary xThen this takes place, as it is better to pay cash for our improvements than to bond our- selves still more. Ashland has alvra~rs ,.lade a substa~ltial profit from its elec- tric system, anc, i~, could make still rlore if it o~^med a plant sufficient to gen- erate all its own current. si'r`e are paying approximately x;1700.00 per month for electricity purchased from private interests, and I hope that before long we may be independent in this regard unCj thereby keep a substantial amount of this monthly sum for our oiFm ~~elfare. Some people have advocated the absorption of electric profits in lo~firer rates, but it has appeared to the adr~~inistration that, inasmuch as our rates are no higher than the privately ocrned uti~.ity serving in the s~_me district, that in the event there should ever be a surplus over and above adequate reserves, and after vre h~.:ve installed. an additional plant to take care of all our needs, that then the profits might be used to reduce tale general property tax as provided by 1at~r, inasmuch as teen all light users would be con- tributing to the cost of government, tivithout it all falling to the already over- burdened property taxpGyers. 2. CF~~~~~~R~' FLTi~3D. As is generally kno~~~~~n, one of the first r~latters I unc.er- took when I became ~~~<<yor, was to introduce a constructive method of taking care of our cemeteries. o this erld a permanent upkeep fund eras established, c~~hich has rapidly groti#rn, ar.~. will in time provide sufficient income for the adeCUate n;ain- tenance of our cemeteries. It is my hope that sometime this fund `rill become large enough to provide income sufficient th~:t the city may take over the II~{rga- dine Cemetery, tixlhere many of our pioneers and former residents are buried. I urge still further efforts on the part of the Council to cause the City ~~torney's office to circularize ol~rners of previously solo tracts, and get them to pay the small additional amount into the trust fund, anti tr.us obtain permanent upkeep on the lots ~.n ~fi~hich their dead are buried. ~~he forms for this purpose are all print- ed, and it only requires additional mailing to accomplish this r:~urpose. It needs a systematic notification to all old lot ov~mers in order that they may avail them- selves of the nevi plan. Tdever in the history of Ashland have our cemeteries been better kept up. ~'Jhere once they were an eyesore, the~~~ are hoar a credit to this city. } rA~T'TR D apA~?i~.~~VT, As has been he~~etofore stated, delinquencies in the grater department, coupled vrith G falling off of revenues, are going to throw the d~~p artment short i~l retiring the bonds issued on its account ~ Ihis vrill necessi- fate ca_.ling on the reserves of the elec~ric department, or the raising of the ,rates, c~rhich perhaps is z~ot practicable at this ti~1e. There is probably some ~us- tii'ication in calling on the electric department for financial assistance in this < 4r x regard, ad the improved water system can be of benefit to the electric system, by providing storage t'acilities i'or poarer. ~i~ ~ 4,~ R~?~UCI'IO'`~, GF ~Oi~~D ~T, Ti~~:~$~'"~D~~~ ~~5. '.'he onl;;y~ real stay to reduce taxes ~~lithout imparing efficiency is to pay off our indebtedness. n`~re have accomplished ~~r~~ a great deal in t_~is regard- r~lore, re~her~ it cones to general obligation bonds, than E ~ any other adr~inistration has evr accomplished. "te have had the vision t~efore us k of finally being free of debt on our general obligation bonds, aside from the t~"ds.ter F depsrt~:~ent. A large part of our ta: levy is on account of the park stirstem bonds, z~ and I recommend ~tha.t there always be a levy for reducing the park bony indei~ted~~ess. x As i,ou kno~^r, this vras originally x.75,000.00, and a steady payment of tr~is issue should be made. 5. D~ZIN~,ITEI~T ti~JAT::aR Aid"1~ LL'~CRIC A':'COL1T~Tu. I favor the employin~~ of delin- went li ht ~nci. ~r~.ter utters on ro'ects ben.,x"icial to the eit r, r~ ic~l as possible. ~;Je have ac.;complished a great deal in this regard, but in my opinion ` this t~rork must be continuously carrier; on in order that the delinquencies do not continually increase. It is better to get these delinquencies cleaned up as soon after they occur as possible, as the delinquents :gay move aaray, anc. the account be entirely lost to the city. 6. 1'FDUCTIO~i OF SAI.~:RIFS. lade have made one verv drastic salary cut in the i::" employees of the City of Ashland. In all departments4a very heavy cut has been made. I do rot Believe that further salary cuts are conductive to an efficient government, for we rust remember that salaries in Ashland 'nave alp*rays been r~:ucj ' loti~rer than in other cities the size of Ashland. A survey of other cities a~Till convince anyone that the s<<laries being paid in i~shland are much belo~rr the average, and alvrays were. Some of the loner salaries were not reduced, because they ~~~tere alrea~y as lost as alas consistent vMith the services performed, al~d the responsibility T x. shouldered. A private business does not place a man in charge of valuable ?property arith great responsibility, ~4~ithout in some manner recognizing that responsibility ~3 ~ v~ith adequate compensation. One Ylistake in some of our departments tirould cost J h , , ~ , , ~ , . ~ ,  tine clti iar more tinan tine sliE-;nti aiiierence in salary. j- am one of Tnose *rno believe in holding doom the expense of government, but I believe that there is false economy in cutting salaries to the point of inadequate compensation and. resul- tant disaffection and dissatisfaction amour our employees, especially when Ashland already has lov.Ter salLiri ;s than other cities of her size. , i ff~~ Z~~ 7. TAI,~I3T IRRIGATIOld ~"dAmER. The pu~r°chasing of this ~r;ater has proved to be a real mistake, a?2d has resulted in not only the virtual loss of the original investment of approximately w1w0,G00.00, but in the annual e~pendi- ture of approximately X2,000.00 to cover e~aintenance to the T-lent Irrigation District, and I recommend that the ener~.es +~f the City Attorney'be directed to endeavor to arrive at some solution of this problem w~iich will enable the city to recoup its losses in this: regard and apply any sums so regained on the vrater bond indebtedness. The duplicate system of distribution, the uncertain supply, the unsati~factary problem of drinking water, and water not fit for drinking, etc., renders it necessary that the city soon go out of the business of furnishing Talent IrrigationDist~:°ict water to a few consumers who only pay a small part of the cost. This is a probler~ that the city attorney can ~,,~ell spend some time and thought upon, a:s a large ar.?ount is involved, and the solution of the ter:nendous annual r:?ainter?ance cost, anc the recovery of some of our investment in this duplicate water system, gill pay his salary for a great many years to come. This rnalent Irrigation District water eras purchased prior to my administration, and has been a real problem to deal ti;pith, and experience has shotim it is ~~ot satisfactory, and should never have been unde7-taken. This is not intended as criticism, for the unsatisfactory result could not be fore- seen at the time of the ,original purchase of the 1~rater ri~:nts. 8. CITY DUI~9P GROUTdD, Yhis problem has been dandled very satisfactorily during; the past few years, and. r~hile not altogether perfect yet is ti°~orking out to good advantage. Under the present arrangement there have been no complaints from farmers resi~wing ; n t'r~e vicinity of the dump grounds as to rats, mice and vermin. Rega.r.dless ofd°t"~is r~latter is handled, the dump ground ~1ust be kept free from being a breezing place of rats, nice. etc. In case the present dump ground space becomes inadequate, I ~~,jauld suggest that the z~avine at the lmuni- cipal airport be us~~~d fhr this purpose, a~ it ~krould then serve a tt~JO-fold purpose. 9. STR~~~~S. Regardless of a desire to conserve the public monies, I believe that during these times as ~°ve11 as an~r other, that it is the dmty of every adr?inistratian to keep the streets of the city in gooc. condition. have accomplished a great deal in the way of appl~,ing granite on some of our streets and I believe the i~~ork should be continued, This is something that the delinquent li ht and ~~~ater patrons can help on, anc: is a benefit. ~ declin- ing city alti~~ays has difficulty in paging its debts, but an advancing city is sure of good. e~edit. A~,~1 advancing city r{?aintains its tax values. declining city is constantly ,osin~; its tax values. ~~,fe have splendid street equipment, all ~:ractically neva and irl good order, c;nct it shoulc last for a long time, with sufficient help to keep it is good order and repair. It ?°rould be false economy to let it depreciate. In connection tir;ith paving. Ashland h~,s led tl~.e state in proving the worth anc'. practicabilit~T of laying the er~lulsified asphalt pave- n?ent, and the street depart~lent is equipped to do more of this ~~ork as property ol~~~mers petition for its installation. I believe it is a splendid type of sur- face for our granite streets, a~~n t1:Ee cost is very s~.?all, being very little more than ~~"~~;ca~.:~am. 10. PCI,TC~ ~ T`~, ~+I?':~ ~Pxd'T'~~~i~~T'S. At several ties in the past I have been approached tiFrith reference to combining these two departments under one head. I made investigation, ho~~,~ever, c.??d found that such a course ?arould raise the insurance rates throughout the city to an extent that the elimination of one man in i~he fire depart~~_~ent, ti~lith tree consequent reduction in expense, tiyTould be offset a hundred fold by the extra burden insurance payers v~rou?.ci contribute in higher rates. These facts ~rere obtained t'~~rou~;h the Uregan Insurance Rating Bureau. ll. TwAGU ~ OF ORFGOd~; C ITIFS. Ashland has al~days taken rather the lead in this `~~~ork, anc~ should continue to do so. "ibis organization has grown to be a factor in city affairs, and under the leadership of our city attorney, ~Y,r. Briggs, ~.t pas been recognized to the extent that the state boare. of Nigher ~~u.ucatian, 1~~, ~ ~rith the approval of tide Crovernor anc. Chancellor ~.~rr, have u pproved an appropriation of X6,000.00 per year to be use"d by the League for municipal research, ~rrith a view to better government at ~o~~~rer cost. A grant of X20,000.00 from the Laps S~}elman Fund, a Rockfeller foundation, is expected to be made, which ?ti°ill further help the tiFrork. The League maintains a legislative lobby at Salem to ~ti~rotect the interf.;sts of the cities, and in the future ~1i11 be a clear- ing house of data highly beneficial to cities, such as tables of costs, com- parative data on all departments, con?parative salaries, uniform ordinances, unit costs, and many othr;,r items too numerau~ to mention here. I recommend that the ~.dayor and. City Councilmen attend the sessions of the League ~;herever possible. t 12. Z~GAL DFPARTI~'TdT. Ashland has ;paid less for legal services than any toE~~~n of its site in Oregon for many years. Iho city attorney weals ?x;ith many matters, riot only for the Council, but for the various departn?ent heads and officers of the city. ~~ie is also the counsel for the par's con?mission. ~'e should be able to save the city many thousands of dollars by an understan~_ing interest in its problems. During these times of finarleial stringency, the City Attorney's office has been, and shoulc_ still be, energetic in endea~roring to assist in directing ~"rorn a legal stazldpoint, and in s~lving in tine most practical and economical tray the financial problems of tale city, according to the policies of the administration. In conclusion, I tdrish to state that in giving this final mes-age to the ~r Council and to the i~eo~le of ~~shlana, that i d~ from fee~lnr• that T ~~rn~lri  ,give my best efforts for the city to the last, and I am still ready to help a any time I may be called upon for an opinion as to policies concerning which I have had some contact and practical experience. nothing contained herein is intended to hamper or embarrass the incomin, acy_ministration, and everything that I have sE id is intender to be done ,V;ith a spirit of helpfulness. I have "iven my best for the city, aLl, ays spending a part of each day on public affairs, and sometimes many full days on city business. I have always kept close contact with _ ~w~ ~ . _ ,nom. ~ - - _ 1 a the city finances, ti=pith tree varioz?s citvF dopart~rents, vrith t~~o ~~~rork ~einr~;, done by each aep~~rt~~aent. I am satisfied tiYith our record, ~:nc~ I believe that as past Council proceedings are looked over, that some appreciation of the work ~~~~hich has been done ~~ill be gained. I appreciate the loyalty of the councilmen, and I appreciate how they have alv~~ays takes an interest in ~.he city affairs at the expense of their o~n, and I voice the ~pp~~eciation of many of our citizens for such efforts. It has been such a satisfaction to ,n~ork ~~,~ith such splendid fellows as I have hay on the Council. I also slant to exAr~ess my appreciation to the city employees. ;'hey ~.ave all been loyal to the ac~.minisLration inc. loyal to their jobs, aliu have v~aorked for the best interests of the City. ~~y closing remark is that I hope the nevr ~~c:~iinist;r•ation will give their time and energy for a contl~uous study of cit`T ai'fairs; anti that they ti~aill recognize that it has been proven that the only city tiahich achieves reco-~nition is the city that conicnues to progress and ~;o ahead, anc that the death smell of any city is sounded ~~hen it ceases to advance aria. be progressive. lrogress anc a study of new ides is as essential to the health of city business; as it is to an individual business. In short, let's keep looking fnr~ard- let's keep going ahead. (~'igned) J. ~aDe~d. '~LGF~T~iOId. '`k I~ yor. ?loved by ~~le:ke :seconded by ~layco~nb that the report of the ~'ayor be made a ? part of the r~inutes. Carried. after a few remarks by Councilman ClaycoLib, the council ~c~jour°necz to r~eet at the call of the „'a `Tor. ~~~~~,yor. ` Attest: ~ _ decor er, i f~~ i k' :ir {:1.,+' F ~ l'~t . K ij 9  ti ~v