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Citizen Serving North Tillamook County since 1996

JUNE 15, 2023

City Council Greenlights Phase 2 for New City Hall

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RYAN HOOVER Country Media, Inc.

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anzanita City Council voted to greenlight phase 2 for the construction of a new city hall at their June 7 meeting, electing to finance the project through a special public works fund loan. Manzanita City Hall was as packed as it’s ever been on Wednesday night, as residents piled in to hear whether city council would go forward with a project that’s been 30 years in the making. Phase 2 of the project effectively allows design development for a newly constructed city hall building to begin immediately, followed by the creation of the construction documents, the construction contract and eventually construction. Stressing that the council had to make the ultimate decision, City Manager Leila Aman said she felt like there’s enough information to make a decision on whether to move the project forward. “I feel like we’re at a place to make an informed decision on what to do next,” Aman said. The motion to start phase 2 of the city hall project passed,

with all councilors voting yes except for Mayor Deb Simmons, who abstained. “I’m abstaining. I’m a proponent of putting this to a vote for the citizens,” Mayor Simmons said. The council was also tasked with choosing how to finance the project tagged at $5.79 million. The project will be funded through a variety of sources including grants, property sales and a $544,000 payment from the city’s general fund. But most of the funding will come through debt or bond financing options. These options included a general obligation bond, which would go out to the public for a vote, marked at $3.5-$4 million. The second option was a $4 million full faith and credit loan. With this financing option, the city would be locked in for ten years and required to take out the full loan amount, according to the city manager’s report. The third option was a $4 million special public works fund loan. With this financing option, the city is able to refinance at any time and will be reimbursed for what they don’t spend, according to the city manager’s report. The motion to finance the

construction of a new city hall building through a special public works fund loan passed, with all councilors voting yes except for Mayor Simmons, who voted no. Before voting on the motion, councilors took their time to explain their positions. “I agree with the special public works fund financing. We heard plenty of testimony tonight and it was passionate, but it was only a fraction of the testimony we’ve heard,” Councilor Jerry Spregman said. “We’ve been getting emails from the public since February. Tonight’s voices added to voices that have been coming loud and clear since I’ve been on council. We have proceeded with much deliberation and caution on this project.” “Every step, we went to the community. Every step there was a presentation. Every step, we got feedback from the community, because that’s really important to hear,” Council President Linda Kozlowski added. “In the long run, I think we have an excellent project. I think it’s time to move forward. I’ve been working on this project for ten years and I think it’s the first time in those ten years that we have

all the information we need to move forward. My vote is to start now and is to use the special public works fund.” Despite the other two councilors also endorsing the special public works fund, Mayor Simmons said she still felt the decision on how to finance the project should be left up to the citizens, leaning towards the general obligation bond. “When we are facing an investment of this size for the citizens, I think people have the right to vote,” Mayor Simmons said. “I can’t get around the fact that some of you feel that way, and some of you don’t. We’re looking at a $8.5 million investment cost. That is a lot of money, when the city has other needs as well. I just want this to be done. I want a city hall and I want the citizens to vote on it, so I would support the bond.” Many citizens showed up to Wednesday night’s meeting to offer their two cents on the project. James Markawat said the council should table the discussion to find a costeffective solution. “I’m here to say that this council should table this for further discussion. There may be an alternate solution for SEE NEW CITY HALL PAGE A6

VOLUME 30, NO. 12

Manzanita mayor draws heat at budget meeting WILL CHAPPELL Citizen Editor

The Quonset hut currently sitting at the Underhill Plaza site where the new city hall will be built.

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special meeting of Manzanita’s budget committee became testy on June 2, as councilors and budget members questioned Mayor Deb Simmons’s decision to publish an editorial about her no vote on budget approval. The editorial, published on the Tillamook County Pioneer’s website, said that Simmons’s no vote had come because of questions that she had about the city’s fiscal policies and situation that she felt were not addressed in the budget. Simmons has raised questions since her assumption of office in January about the city’s overhead funding allocation model, which allows the city to fund most of its budget from water revenues. She also criticized past councils’ lack of follow through on capital projects in the city and failure to raise utility rates, issues which she said she hoped the budget committee could help to direct the council on. Simmons was the only no vote against nine ayes for recommending approval of the budget to council in May. Budget Committee Members Kathryn Stock and Chip Greening said that the request for policy direction fell outside of the budget committee’s purview. They also said that the writing the editorial and raising questions whose answers were available to the mayor instead of bringing them up at prior budget meetings was in poor form. They also took exception to the mayor’s inclusion of the shortcomings of past city administrations, who had failed to raise the water rate or complete capital projects, in her reasons for voting no. Budget Committee Member David Dillon also noted that the committee had recommended those actions to past councils but action had not

been taken. The budget committee members all agreed that the budget vote was not the place to protest policy issues that fell under the purview of the city council, of which Simmons is a member. Simmons said that the no vote had been on behalf of citizens of Manzanita who shared her concerns about the budget. She said that it was not necessary in a democracy to have unanimity and that she had voted her conscience. City Councilors Jerry Spegman, Linda Kozlowski and Jenna Edginton all voiced their frustration at that decision, which they said was part of a theme of hesitancy to work with other councilors by the mayor throughout her young tenure. Spegman said that Simmons’s failure to bring the policy issues up to the council reflected a lack of understanding of her duties and the procedural processes of city government. He also noted that many of the complaints were in the process of being addressed by City Manager Leila Aman and staff. Kozlowski then read a prepared statement, that said that the mayor’s publication of the editorial without consultation with the city council represented a breach of rules under the city’s charter. She said that she was deeply disappointed with the situation and asked Simmons to please improve her working relationship with the other councilors. Simmons said that she was sorry if she had raised her complaints in an inappropriate forum and said that she would like to have a discussion soon about her frayed relationships with the councilors and how to mend them, suggesting an executive session. Kozlowski said that she felt the discussion should be had in a public meeting, to which Simmons assented, bringing the meeting to a close.

County Commissioners Talk Future of Property Tax Foreclosures, Raise Building Permit Fees RYAN HOOVER Country Media, Inc.

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he Tillamook County Board of County Commissioners discussed how a Supreme Court decision on property tax foreclosures would affect the city at their June 7 meeting, while also opting to raise building permit fees. The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled in Tyler v. Hennepin that when a local government takes a home through a property tax foreclosure and keeps the homeowner’s

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equity after the outstanding taxes have been paid, they are violating the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The Takings Clause states that “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation.” Tillamook County Counsel William Sargent said the ruling will likely create all kinds of procedural problems for states that have a foreclosure process like Oregon. “Bottom line is, Oregon, like twelve other states, has a foreclosure process that says if you don’t pay your taxes after being given two years to do so, [the property] is sold,” Counsel Sargent said. “Heretofore, we have kept the proceeds, although they are dispersed according to a statute. Here, the Supreme Court said that’s a taking. If there’s an excess after the property is sold, [cities] can’t keep that excess. It

has to be returned somehow to the taxpayer, which of course creates all kinds of procedural problems.” One of the commissioners’ key concerns was how this would affect foreclosed properties that have hazardous materials present. When the county takes control of these properties, they are required to dispose of those materials, which can be costly. “I think one of the key pieces is that some of the properties that we take in foreclosure proceedings may have cleanup that’s required on them,” Commissioner Erin Skaar said. “And then there’s also just the time it takes to put them through the sale process. Proceeds were previously allowed to cover those costs in moving those properties.” Commissioner Mary Faith Bell said she is also unsure how the county will deal with those types of properties.

“It’s fascinating because as I was reading it, I thought, ‘Oh, some of these properties are going to lie foul.’ Because I don’t know how we can afford to do what we do when this process takes a lot of staff time. If we can’t recoup our costs for any of that, I don’t know if we’ll be able to do it, Bell said. Sargent said he didn’t believe the ruling would affect the property tax foreclosure list – which the county is required to publish every fiscal year – for this year. He also noted that there may be a legislative fix allowing governments to cover their costs. “There’s been a recent supreme court case that’s going to affect foreclosures,” Counsel Sargent said. “The preliminary thinking is that we’re going to proceed as normal on the end of it where it becomes time to take title to those people who don’t

redeem; Business as unusual at least on this tax foreclosure list.” Board Raises Building Permit Fees The Tillamook County Board of County Commissioners also approved an order to raise building permit fees for the Building Division of the Department of Community Development. The Building Division, which is fully supported by building permit fees, stated that their fees had not been updated in 10 years, prompting the decision to raise them. Julia Silveira, a certified permit technician for Tillamook County, said that changes include a minimum permit fee and higher plumbing and mechanical permit fees. “We have raised our plumbing up to $130 as the base fee, as it’s usually not easy to get plumbing inspectors,” Silveira said. “And we created a base

fee at $100 where there wasn’t a minimum permit fee previously. The mechanical has gone up to $103 from $65.” Tillamook County Assistant Building Official Brian Blalock said the Building Division looked at the fees in surrounding counties before deciding to raise Tillamook’s fees. “What we did is we discussed with the building codes division to give us the fee schedules of some surrounding counties,” Blalock said. “We lined up the different counties with the different fees. We averaged it out to come up with what we thought was appropriate with the other jurisdictions that are around, who have apparently been increasing their fees. We also looked at travel time and the total cost of the inspection.” Both commissioners presSEE COMMISSIONERS PAGE A6


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