Thanks to the diplomacy police, I sent this out to Council today. Anything else we need to post let Darlene and I know.
From: Dan Huff
Sent: Thursday, September 3, 2020 1:31 PM
To: Keith Swigart <kswigart@cityofmolalla.com>; Leota Childress <lchildress@cityofmolalla.com>; Elizabeth Klein <eklein@cityofmolalla.com>; DeLise Palumbo <dpalumbo@cityofmolalla.com>; Jody Newland <jnewland@cityofmolalla.com>; Terry Shankle <tshankle@cityofmolalla.com>; Crystal Robles <crobles@cityofmolalla.com>
Cc: Christie DeSantis <cdesantis@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: Molalla Street Maintenance
Mayor and Council – There have been numerous questions and concerns recently regarding Molalla Street Maintenance. Those of you on Council at the time will remember the August 2017 Street Maintenance Utility Fee Option Report that I have included with this e-mail. The Street Maintenance Utility program was born out of a direct Council goal to create annual dedicated funding for street maintenance. Discussing these very intricate matters without all of the information or the correct information creates more questions and issues are not solved.
Where this process went from August of 2017 was Council holding a number of Town Hall meetings, where residents were asked to weigh in on potential monthly street utility for maintenance amounts. Council had a number of monthly fees to consider ranging from $5.00, $7.00, $9.00, $11.00, $19.98 per month. Those residents in attendance overwhelming supported the $11.00 fee at each meeting. On January 10, 2018 Council adopted an Ordinance to create the Street Utility Program and a Resolution to set the Street Utility fee at $11.00 per month. Following the 30-day waiting period, a local resident gathered enough signatures to place a referendum of the street utility program and fee on the May 2018 ballot. The community voted down Councils decision for a solution to begin systematically fix Molalla’s streets.
To use comparisons of nearby cities; Canby (Established 2008, $5.00), Silverton (Established 2014, $9.76) and Oregon City (Established 2013, current single family rate is $14.21) all have street utilities. Their fees have been in place for some time and as we visit those cities we can see positive results over a period of time.
Below is a copy of an e-mail sent by the City to a resident asking questions about street maintenance in May of 2020.
“Thanks for letting us know about your street condition. According to our records, Oak Street was constructed in 1979 and has a current pavement rating of 29 which is listed as poor. Roadways as low as that rating should be reconstructed. In 2016 we performed a pavement condition rating of the entire City (see attached) and moved forward with a proposed street maintenance fee so we could make needed repairs to the City street system. Under City Council direction we held three Town Hall meetings (September 20, 2017, November 30, 2017, and December 2 2017). Based on attendance and comments from citizens, the City Council moved forward with a street maintenance Ordinance and fee resolution on January 10, 2018. Both the ordinance and resolution passed. Following passage of funding to begin fixing the City streets, a local group submitted a Citizens Initiative to overturn the City Council's decision. The group was successful and voters overturned the funding in the May 2018 election thereby stripping staff's ability to maintain roadways to the levels they should be. We currently only have funding to do some pot hole repairs, some larger patches, and perform all of the rest of the maintenance related to striping, signage, and roadway lighting. We anticipate some additional funding on the vehicle registration fee, but most of that money has and will be tied up in roadway projects already underway leaving little to no funding for serious maintenance of the streets.
I've asked our Operations Supervisor to take a look at potential spot repairs and to get them into the maintenance queue. The only thing that will allow an infusion of money back into the system so we can perform system wide maintenance is for another local group to put the question of street maintenance back on the ballot and overturn the last decision to not fund the maintenance of the roadways. If we have funding in place, like the neighboring communities around Molalla, then we can start working on pavement preservation. For now our focus is sewer and water system replacement, completion of the water treatment plant upgrade, and the upcoming wastewater treatment plant upgrade.
I provide monthly reports to the City Council on all of the projects Public Works is currently working on and have attached the latest one. Lots of projects are underway. Streets have always been on our radar, but without funding we are unable to make any kind of dent in the backlog of street maintenance needs. This summer we will be working on the patching backlog and hopefully we will be able to get to some of the spots in your neighborhood. Thank you again for contacting us.”
At a staff level we are well aware of the backlog in street maintenance needs. If you look at actual work accomplishments in the street maintenance program we have increased what we do since the street utility was voted down. However, it is not enough and our funding is consumed by larger more expensive projects on an annual basis (e.g. Molalla Avenue/Main Street traffic signal). Clackamas County Vehicle Registration Fee (VRF) has not provided the increase we need to make the significant improvements required. Many of our streets , you will recall in the reports, require significant upgrades just to reach a point where an overlay could be possible. Streets constructed in the 1990’s and 2000’s did not meet the standards in place at the time and have deteriorated at an accelerated pace.
There is no smoke and mirror, luxurious office remodel or slush fund that will replace the needed revenue for street maintenance. As always, if you have questions please contact myself or Public Works Director, Gerald Fisher. We are always willing to have informative conversations with the City Council or community members.
Dan Huff
City Manager
City of Molalla, Oregon
(503)829-6855
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PUBLIC RECORDS LAW DISCLOSURE
This e-mail is a public record of the City of Molalla and is subject to public disclosure unless exempt from disclosure under Oregon Public Records Law. This e-mail is subject to State Retention Schedule.