From: Gerald Fisher
Sent: Wed Aug 02 11:46:21 2017
To: Jimmy Thompson; Leota Childress; Elizabeth Klein
Cc: Dan Huff
Subject: RE: Transportation maintenance
Importance: Normal
All,
I will be bringing two new business items to you at the next council
meeting. One is for the rate study which deals with water, sewer, and
stormwater rates as well as funding of transportation capital projects. The
other is street maintenance. Once we get through both items you will have a
complete picture of the needs and costs to formulate ideas, have
discussions, make decisions, and direct staff on how to proceed. I encourage
all of you to make a big pot of coffee and read the documents in their
entirety. This is the end product of a 2 year comprehensive project by staff
and consultants to dig us out from past decisions and move us forward in the
right direction with infrastructure. Thanks.
Regards,
Gerald Fisher, P.E. | Public Works Director
City of Molalla
117 N Molalla Ave. | PO Box 248 |Molalla, OR 97038
Office: 503.829.6855 | Direct: 503.759.0218
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-----Original Message-----
From: Jimmy Thompson [mailto:jthompson@cityofmolalla.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 02, 2017 11:28 AM
To: Leota Childress <lchildress@cityofmolalla.com>
Cc: Elizabeth Klein <eklein@cityofmolalla.com>; Dan Huff
<dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>; Gerald Fisher <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Subject: Re: Transportation maintenance
More have been added recently, and just discussing what others are doing is
not always the best way to handle decision making, but this is the best list
I can find (it is from the LOC Website
http://www.orcities.org/AZIndex/tabid/810/itemid/354/language/en-US/Default.aspx).
These cities all have transportation utility fees (there are some not listed
that do use a local gas tax as well, in fact, some have both):
City* 2014 pop.Passage Date
Ashland 20,2951989
Bay City1,3102003
Brookings 6,450 1987
Canby 15,910 2008
Central Point 17,315 2008
Corvallis55,3452005
Eagle Point8,5751990
Florence 8,480 2012
Grants Pass34,8552001
Hillsboro 93,340 2008
Hubbard3,2002001
La Grande 13,125 2009
Lake Oswego 36,9902003
Medford75,9201991
Milwaukie20,5002006
Myrtle Creek 3,450 2010
North Plains2,0152003
Oregon City 33,390 2008
Philomath4,6252003
Phoenix4,5701994
Sherwood 18,5752011
Silverton9,330 2013
Stayton 7,685 2011
Talent 6,1702000
Tigard 49,1352003
Toledo 3,470 2009
Tualatin26,5101990
West Linn 25,425 2008
Wilsonville21,5501997
Winston 5,400Wood
Village 3,895 2012
----- Original Message -----
From: "Leota Childress" <lchildress@cityofmolalla.com>
To: "Jimmy Thompson" <jthompson@cityofmolalla.com>
Cc: "Elizabeth Klein" <eklein@cityofmolalla.com>, "Dan Huff"
<dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>, "Gerald Fisher" <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2017 10:35:14 AM
Subject: Re: Transportation maintenance
Greetings All,
Jimmy, thank you for the heads up. Lizz voiced the same concerns/questions I
have. In my opinion, a fee on the water bill will anger the entire
community, not just the one woman to whom we've made a promise.
Thanks, I'll look forward to response to Lizz's questions.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Elizabethy Klein" <eklein@cityofmolalla.com>
To: "Jimmy Thompson" <jthompson@cityofmolalla.com>
Cc: "Leota Childress" <lchildress@cityofmolalla.com>, "Dan Huff"
<dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>, "Gerald Fisher" <gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2017 9:59:00 AM
Subject: Re: Transportation maintenance
Hi Jimmy,
Thank you for the note. I believe that trust can be diminished when monies
are raised through "fees" rather than being voter approved. We see it
happening regularly at the state level and seems like a convenient way to
bypass citizen buy in.
What kind of fee increase are we talking about and why use utility billing
as a method for collection? I'm not sure adding it to a utility bill makes
sense unless the improvements impact sewer/water. However, if you can
provide the scope of the project, it might help clarify the reasoning behind
the structure of the proposal.
A few other questions...
Would there be enough revenue to do any other projects or just the one
street promised to the one constituent?
Are other people impacted by the improvements or is it just the one
resident?
How long would the fee be in place - is it into perpetuity?
Thanks for your patience as I wrap my brain around the proposal and
potential impact.
Elizabeth Klein
City Council
City of Molalla
503-829-6855
eklein@cityofmolalla.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jimmy Thompson" <jthompson@cityofmolalla.com>
To: "Elizabeth Klein" <eklein@cityofmolalla.com>, "Leota Childress"
<lchildress@cityofmolalla.com>
Cc: "Dan Huff" <dhuff@cityofmolalla.com>, "Gerald Fisher"
<gfisher@cityofmolalla.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2017 9:40:32 AM
Subject: Transportation maintenance
Liz and Leota,
Just a heads up, we will likely see a recommendation for a fee for
transportation maintenance in the very near future, perhaps parks as well.
Generally speaking, I would be opposed to implementing a fee without the
support of the voters. In my opinion, if voters dont want their roads
maintained, we dont maintain them. I think government in general has done a
good job of covering up the lack of transportation maintenance funding, and
that has led to skepticism on the part of constituents as to the actual need
for more money. I would much prefer educating the public on the need in most
cases, and letting them decide.
However, in this case, we (the city) sent a letter to a constituent telling
her that she would see improvements made to the area by her home. That
letter has Dan's signature on it. Before departing, Jennifer Cline advised
we could complete the project, which precipitated the letter. We have yet to
do anything there, and do not have the money to do so.
I think restoring the trust citizens have in their government, even if it is
just this one person, is extremely important. In this case, I will
personally support a small fee for transportation maintenance to be added to
utility bills. I believe we will have a recommendation coming soon.
Just wanted to give you a heads up.
Best Regards,
Jimmy
--
Leota Childress
Molalla City Councilor
503.829.6855
lchildress@cityofmolalla.com