City Manager Update

City Manager Update

June is the final month of our fiscal year and as I reflect back on what the City has accomplished over the past eleven months, I am proud of the work city staff has completed. We have finished several projects including:

• The sidewalk between 6th-8th and 9th to Flower on Ferry Street providing a safe place for Dayton children to walk and bike to school.

• The overlay of 6th Street between Ferry and Church.

• The Footbridge project design and permitting has been completed and construction is commencing.

• A sewer rate study

• A Water Management Conservation Plan which is required by the State of Oregon.

• We designed a TMDL for Mercury Implementation Plan which was mandated by the Department of Environmental Quality.

• We made improvements at Alderman Park adding fencing and a new water feature for both dogs and their humans.

• The City worked with the School District to transfer their partial ownership of Legion Field to the City for development of recreational facilities. A Parks Master Plan Update will be the next step to set a vision for development in all the City’s parks.

We also migrated our website over to daytonoregon.gov and managers competed diversity, equity, and inclusion training through Western Oregon University. We started publishing all communication in both English and Spanish. We completed our annual survey as well as a parks improvement survey asking Dayton residents to rank their priorities with a variety of short and long term projects. The result of that survey will be a new bathroom installed at Andrew Smith Park on 11th Street paid with Transient Lodging Tax revenue.

Another strategic goal accomplished this year is the hiring of a Tourism and Economic Development Director, Dave Rucklos. He is introduced on page 7. The City partnered with the DCDA and was awarded a $200,000 Oregon Main Street Revitalization Grant for the 300-304 Ferry Street historic restoration project.

The Budget Committee which is comprised of the 7 members of the Dayton City Council and 7 residents of Dayton met in May and approved the budget I presented for the upcoming fiscal year which includes funding for new strategic goals set by the council. At the June 5th City Council meeting, a public hearing will be held to allow residents to comment on the approved budget before it is presented to the City Council on June 20th for adoption. A new budget must be in place before July 1st, the beginning of the next fiscal year.

The upcoming year will be another busy one.

• We will be overlaying 7th Street from Ferry to Church, a portion of 8th Street that was not updated with the school project a few years ago, and a portion of Church Street between 9th and 11th Street.

• The sewer lift station replacement on the HWY 221 bridge heading south to Salem is scheduled to begin this summer.

• The new bathroom at Andrew Smith Park will be completed.

• The Footbridge project is anticipated to be reopened to foot traffic in December.

• On the administrative side, we will be moving all of our permits and applications to an online platform so residents will be able to sign up for new utility accounts, get a special event permit, rent the community center and apply for a permits all online including payment options. These are just a few of the projects we will be working on. For a full list of the Dayton City Council Strategic Goals, please visit our website.

The past year has seen some transition at City Hall. Two long-time employees retired, two public works positions were filled, a new Code Enforcement/Building Permit Specialist was hired and a new City Recorder. We also have a new City Planner through the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments.

Our Municipal Judge, the Honorable Terry Mahr, retired this year and our new judge, the Honorable Larry Blake, was appointed by the City Council in May. Municipal Court is now held on the second Tuesday of the month at 3 pm in the City Hall Annex.

Right now we are gearing up for Old Timers Weekend which will see more activity this year including moving the parade to Saturday morning at 11 am, vendors and live music in the park on Friday and Saturday, a family-friendly free dance in the park on Saturday evening followed by the traditional Dayton Firefighters Chicken BBQ, VFW Bingo at the Community Center, and reunions in the park on Sunday. Nominations for King and Queen are open so if you know a resident over the age of 65 that you would like to nominate, please fill out the online application on our website or you can email cityofdayton@daytonoregon.gov your nomination.

If you have any questions or would like to chat with me, please call 503-864-2221 or email me at rroaden@daytonoregon.gov. I’d love to hear from you!

Rochelle Roaden, City Manager