OFFICIAL MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF MADRAS
MARCH 27, 2018
ICALL TO ORDER
The City Council meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Royce Embanks on Tuesday, March 27, 2018 in the Madras City Hall Council Chambers located at 125 S.W. "E" Street.
CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS IN ATTENDANCE WERE:
Mayor Royce Embanks Jr., and Councilors Gary Walker, Rosalind Canga, Richard Ladeby,Bartt Brick, Denise Piza, and Jennifer Holcomb.
CITY STAFF MEMBERS IN ATTEDANCE WERE:
City Administrator, Gus Burril; City Attorney, Alan Dale, with the firm of Bryant, Lovlien, and Jarvis, PC; Police Chief, Tanner Stanfill; Finance Director, Kristal Hughes; Public Works Director, Jeff Hurd; Community Development Director, Nicholas Snead; HR and Administrative Manager, Sara Puddy, and City Recorder, Karen J. Coleman.
VISITORS IN ATTENDANCE WERE:
Jefferson County Commissioner, Mae Huston, and Holly Gill, News Editor with the Madras Pioneer.
IIPLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE AND PRAYER
Mayor Embanks asked Councilor Ladeby to lead the pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, which he did. He then offered the prayer.
IIICONSENT AGENDA
All matters listed within the Consent Agenda have been distributed to each member of the Madras City Council for reading and study, are considered to be routine, and will be enacted by one motion of the Council with no separate discussions. If separate discussion is desired, that item may be removed from the Consent Agenda and placed on the Regular Agenda by request.
A.Approval of Minutes From the March 13, 2018
Special City Council Meeting
B.Approval of Minutes From the March 13, 2018
City Council Meeting
C.Approval of Proposed Purchase of a Used 2013 Crafco Crack Sealer
D.Approval of Contract Change Order No. 2 to Construction Services Contract
Between the City of Madras and Triple C Contracting, LLC for the Construction
of the Desert Peaks Golf Course Cart Barn (City Project No. 2018-01)
E.Approval of Contract Change Order No. 2 to Professional Services Contract
Between City of Madras and Taurus Power and Controls, Inc.
Upgrade the City's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) System
A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILOR GARY WALKER AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR DENISE PIZA THAT WE ACCEPT THE CONSENT AGENDA, AS STATED. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY, 6/0.
IVVISITOR COMMENTS
Mayor Embanks provided those in attendance with an opportunity to present comments at this time.
There were no comments offered.
VSUPPLEMENTAL BUDGET HEARING
A.Necessary Adjustments to Internal Services Funds, Special Revenue Funds, General Funds, Airport Funds, Capital Project Funds, Sewer Funds, and Water Funds
1)Open the Supplemental Budget Hearing
Mayor Embanks opened the Supplemental Budget Hearing at 7:01 p.m.
2)Staff Report
Finance Director Hughes explained that this is a combined effort from all Department Heads to get our budget in line with where we need it to be for spring projects. There is quite a large transfer related to the "H" Street Project [#2015-10]. She advised Council of the need to make sure that our Airport Funds have positive balances. We didn't have some monies come in at the end of last year in our Airport Construction Fund, so we need to move a little bit of money for that. You cannot have a negative fund balance at the end of the year, which she failed to catch. The auditors brought it to our attention so it doesn't happen this next year; this is why we need to move money there.
She offered to answer any questions that Council might have and pointed out that this is primarily to line up where we expect our ending targets to be for the end of the year.
3)Comments From the Public
Mayor Embanks provided those in attendance with an opportunity to present comments on the proposed budget changes at this time.
There were no comments offered.
4)Council Deliberations, Questions and/or Comments
Council did not ask any questions or present any comments at this time.
5)Close Supplemental Budget Hearing
Mayor Embanks closed the Supplemental Budget Hearing at 7:02 p.m.
6)No Action Required at This Time - Formal Action
will be by Resolution
VIRESOLUTION NO. 07-2018
A resolution authorizing an increase in appropriation to recognize unanticipated revenues, and expenses, and the transfer of appropriations within funds for Fiscal Year 2017-2018.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILOR GARY WALKER AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ROSALIND CANGA THAT WE ACCEPT RESOLUTION NO. 07-2018 AS STATED. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY, 6/0.
VIIREPORT ON THE FUTURE OF HIGH SPEED INTERNET IN MADRAS
Public Works Director Hurd advised Council that this is just a quick report to follow up on where we are at with high speed internet. Several years ago it had been brought up about looking into doing kind of a MADnet system to follow Sandy's model because we were struggling with the local providers to provide us with the internet service that we wanted. Since that time, TDS has bought out Crestview Cable Communications and there have been some changes, so we went back and asked them for updates on where they perceived them going with high speed internet in Madras.
This report is just kind of a briefing of where CenturyLink and Bend Broadband is going, but as you can see, Bend Broadband is projecting to do a lot of upgrades in town within the next year to get us that high speed. CenturyLink, while they will not technically tell us what projects they are considering, is saying that they are committed, that they are planning to do projects, and do plan on bringing higher speed internet to Madras.
He told the Council that this is just a report to let them know where we are at.
VIIICITY OF MADRAS PERSONNEL MANUAL FY 2018-2019 ANNUAL UPDATES
HR and Administrative Manager Puddy explained that she usually brings the annual updates to them in May, but finished a little earlier and thought that she would just get it done and out of the way ahead of schedule.
Primarily the updates this year have a lot to do with some of the Legislative updates that have occurred in the last twelve (12) to eighteen (18) months. Either they came on late and close to when we made changes last year or they have just happened in the last year. The other thing is that it is always really important that we update policies to reflect practice.
She told the Council that although there was a lot of highlighted content in the packet, there is nothing new for practice on working with staff or policy wise. We are just trying to get the language cleaned up. She then offered to answer any questions the Council might have.
Councilor Canga referred to page 24 of the Personnel Policy Manual under Time Keeping Requirements and asked if it is not the practice here to use a time clock or does the City practice the honor system on time in and time out?
HR and Administrative Manager Puddy explained that our current practice is that we do not use a time clock where you clock in and clock out. What we currently use is time sheets. Hourly staff fill out the hours worked and an exempt salaried employee records the hours not worked. The current policy was written to recognize that we do in fact manage our time, but it wasn't clearly defined that we require our staff to keep time sheets. She mentioned that she was just cleaning up the language to reflect policy.
Councilor Walker wanted to know if the manual addresses possible gender issues that are coming our way eventually. He asked if we are looking into that in our manual now as to how we would treat that.
HR and Administrative Manager Puddy pointed out that this is a pretty broad question, but to address it generally, one of the things that we cleaned up quite a bit in this is our equal employment opportunity statements, anti-harassment, and anti-discrimination, and added a bullying policy to prevent any possible type of discrimination.
Councilor Canga referred to page 60 and requested clarification on bringing paraphernalia, drugs, or Marijuana to work. What if the employee is using it for medicinal purposes?
HR and Administrative Manager Puddy advised Councilor Canga that our personnel manual does address this, but she does not have it memorized and doesn't want to quote it.
Councilor Canga read that it mentions that the prohibition does not apply to employees who possess such items in connection with law enforcement work, but how about the employees who are using this for medicinal purposes?
HR and Administrative Manager Puddy told Councilor Canga that the City has a zero tolerance policy. Even with Medical Marijuana users we have to undergo a due process which would include a reasonable accommodation process, but nowhere in that process do we have to negotiate the essential functions of someone's job and those essential functions would be limited if they were under the influence. With a zero tolerance policy, we wouldn't compromise that. The zero tolerance policy would stand.
Mayor Embanks pointed out that it does mention that under the supervision of a licensed healthcare professional, where its use does not present safety hazards, you would have to make a decision on whether or not you would be impaired and unable to operate equipment and if that judgment was made, they could argue that you can't use it if you are going to be working.
HR and Administrative Manager Puddy advised Mayor Embanks that they would still undergo that due process and have to go through those steps.
Mayor Embanks wanted to know if it would be incumbent for the employee to notify their supervisor if they are using Marijuana and provide proof that it is under a medical professional, or would that be a violation of privacy laws?
Attorney Dale mentioned that one thing to keep in mind is that working under the influence where you are on the job, as with alcohol and other substances, is addressed, and that would include Marijuana as well. What is really difficult is regulating the off-duty conduct, whether it is recreational or medical, but as he is looking at this, the intent is where there are people who are prescribed Medical Marijuana, how the city goes through that as it relates to the off-the-job conduct. The employee handbook would still prohibit on-the-job use in so far as it results in any kind of impairment.
Mayor Embanks noted that if there was an accident and there was a judgment that there was impairment or something like that, he can see that, but say there was a drug test THC stays in the blood system a lot longer than some drugs, so it would show positive for THC and the person could still be able to operate equipment because it was just a residual effect in their blood. They are not really impaired. This is sort of a dilemma. How do you parse that out?
Police Chief Stanfill explained that a urine test will show a THC content a lot longer out than a blood test will show, so if it is in the blood, we are really talking some impact versus a urine analysis. A lot of that is going to really come down to sitting down and talking with the attorneys to determine what kind of impact we have going. It is a little late in the game, after they get caught, to say that it is medicinal. If you are that impacted that you need a medicinal psychoactive drug then it is going to be really problematic,and an employee burden.
Councilor Brickmentioned that this is a really good point as under the influence is different than being impaired.
Police Chief Stanfill added that in the event of an accident, depending on the severity of the accident, whether or not there is a Commercial Drivers License, there are certain rules that fall into effect for that. For Police Officers, DPSST certificates, fall into that venue because if you can't be certified then you can't be a police officer if DPSST doesn't approve it. There are a lot of different caveats involved in that, as well as some case law and case law is going to change.
HR and Administrative Manager Puddy mentioned that when Medical Marijuana became a big concern, one thing the City-County Insurance Services recommended is that when you write these policies you either adopt a zero tolerance of any kind or you adopt a certain level or some level of acceptability. The valley, for example, has a different acceptability than our side of the mountain. For example, with the reasonable testing, if someone is in an accident and they are tested and are found to have THC in theirsystem that is not a zero tolerance at that point, so that has been one of the best practices. If you do not want to deal with a gray area, you do a zero tolerance policy, so that you do not have to deal with a lot of the gray area that we are going through right now.
Mayor Embanks wanted to know if the City does random urine analysis testing.
HR and Administrative Manager Puddy advised Mayor Embanks that we do on our safety sensitive employees, which would be all of our drivers that possess a Commercial Drivers License.
Mayor Embanks requested clarification that really the only time we would probably do a urine analysis for everybody would be if there is an accident? This would be something that would be required. He noted that he is not worried about this as he is sure that the City would be protected; he was just curious about that.
City Administrator Burril referred to page 61 of the City's Personnel Policy Manual which states that the use of Marijuana, which is a schedule 1 controlled substance under Federal Law, is expressly prohibited under this policy even if its medical use is authorized under State Law, so we do have a zero policy.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY COUNCILOR RICHARD LADEBY AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR ROSALIND CANGA THAT COUNCIL APPROVE THE CITY OF MADRAS PERSONNEL MANUAL UPDATES AS PROPOSED IN FISCAL YEAR 2018-2019 EFFECTIVE JULY 1, 2018. THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY, 6/0.
IXAdditional Comments, Announcements, and Department Reports
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT REPORT
Community Development Director Snead reported on the following:
Housing Action Plan
The Housing Action Plan is progressing nicely.
Brewery Proposals
The interviews for the proposers that submitted proposals for the brewery recruitment will take place on April 2, 2018 and April 4, 2018. Theyare anticipating that the Madras Redevelopment Commission would look at the recommendation from the Advisory Committee during their May 2018 meeting.
Warm Springs Travel Center
Community Development Director Snead mentioned that he believes that Mayor Embanks signed the "Sign Agreement" between the Tribes and the City for the installation of a sign on Cherry Lane. They worked on site today to get that staked, and started to confirm the removal and replacement of landscaping and things like that. They are starting to work with Operations Manager, Rick Rohach, from the City's Public Works Department. Things are progressing very nicely with that project.
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT REPORT
Public Works Director Hurd reported on the following:
"H" Street Pedestrian Improvement Project #2015-10
The ""H" Street Project is coming along and if everything keeps going the way it is, they [the construction contractor] may be done as early as the end of May 2018.
Herzberg Heights - Bel Air Subdivision Wastewater
Improvement Project #2016-03
We had the pre-bid meeting today. This went really well. We had six contractors in attendance for that, so bids should come back on April 12, 2018.
POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT
Police Chief Stanfill told the Council that he wanted to report on the stats that they submit to the FBI [Federal Bureau of Investigation] in regards to burglary. They got red flagged because their statistics had dropped so significantly. When the FBI sees an anomaly like that they report back and say that those numbers do not look right, review your data, what is going on? He mentioned that they did review their data. This is good and bad both as there are programs out there currently, one of them being the Justice Reinvestment Program, which he isinvolved with and what they do is give them financial support to lower recidivism, which means keeping people out of prison.
When those numbers go up, they look at it from a negative point of view and say "your prison numbers have actually increased", so we are going to hold back funding because your numbers increased. They are really trying to lower recidivism; however, there is also the other side of things which is holding people accountable as well, which can hurt this County and this City financially. In looking at the numbers from 2016 to 2017 we had a 44% drop in our burglary rate. We went from 43 burglaries to 24 and what this tells him is that we do not have a bunch more police officers that caused that, what the cause is for that is good investigation, and that we are putting the right people in prison. This hurts them in as far as any kind of Justice Reinvestment finances, but it certainly benefits the community as they are not facing this criminality from these individuals any longer because we separated them from our community.