Ontario council discusses future meeting plans
Library funding consideration also set for Monday night
By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Saturday, November 15, 2008 10:36 PM PST
Ontario — The Ontario City Council discussed organizing a retreat for the three newly-elected City Council members, the timeline to transfer library operations to the district and set a date to discuss Ontario’s long-term budget at its work session Thursday afternoon.
In the open discussion portion of the work session, Ontario City Manager Henry Lawrence said he believed the newly-elected councilors should have a retreat that would be “focused on getting everyone up and away from City Hall.” This meeting, he said, could potentially take place in a hotel conference room, with breakfast provided. The meeting would start at 7 a.m. Jan. 10, and would last until about noon or 1 p.m.
He said when he previously served as city manager, department heads would come to the meeting to give a briefing on their department and give the newly- elected council members a chance to ask questions.
Councilman-elect Norm Crume, who was at the work session, asked why the meeting would take place after the council members took their place on the council, which is slated to occur Jan. 5.
Lawrence said it was more of a retreat, rather than an orientation. Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick expressed support for the idea, asserting the City Council rulebook he received when taking office was from 2004.
“It’s good to have a retreat, rather than just going in and saying, ‘There’s your seat.’ ” Ontario City Councilman Lewie Allen said.
Council members also have another meeting in the works, this one in regard to the city’s long-term budget. Mayor Joe Dominick said such a meeting was important because it would help the city analyze how much revenue the city needs to support its services. Charlotte Fugate, who was also elected to serve on the council, said she believed the city should work on addressing the proposals brought forth by the revenue committee. Dominick said that meeting would occur after a meeting, which would also include the budget committee, to work out the city’s long-term budget.
Lawrence said this budget would look forward 10 years, and he believed it should be updated yearly. He said it was hard to plan that far out into the future because a lot of the information is based on assumptions. He also thanked Ontario Finance Director Rachel Hopper for the “raw numbers.” Lawrence said the meeting would occur Dec. 11.
The council also discussed the future library district, which voters approved the creation of in this month’s election. One question looms for the council to decide: When will the city stop paying for the library?
Lawrence said the city would have to fund the library until property taxes are received in November. However, Dominick said he believed the city would be funding the library through June 30.
“We’ll come back to it on Monday,” Lawrence said.
In other council news: Lawrence announced two finalists are in the running for the Ontario Planning and Zoning Administrator position.
He said he plans to offer one of them the job shortly.
He also gave updates on the Ontario Municipal Golf Course’s current setup, with the day-to-day operations handled by part-time employees. He also said 100 percent of the receipts from the course are now going to the city.
As for the future, he said he would like to see the city advertise for proposals for the course in a golfing magazine in order to recruit a company with “financial horsepower” in hopes it will make the golf course the attraction it once was.
Dominick said he heard some other courses were raising their fees and said that could be an option.
However, Ontario City Councilman Ron Verini spoke out against the idea, asserting he believed the Ontario course should leave their fees the same “as good competition.”
The council also spoke to representatives James and Tammy Vogt from Ontario’s Origins Faith Community. The Vogts said they supported the city’s cleanup, slated for May, and said they would like to get involved. The Vogts presented a video with clips from their last interdenominational cleanup, in which about 200 participants helped paint houses, benches and clean yards. Dominick said Gov. Ted Kulongoski encouraged all Oregon cities to get involved in a statewide cleanup to celebrate the state’s 150th anniversary. Dominick said he would like to see the entrances to the city “spruced up,” especially the entrance near airport corner. James Vogt said he believed the community could get a lot accomplished if there was a lot of response to the project.
“Let’s dream big,” he said.
