City Government

01-03-2007 11:03 AM

New Council to hold first meeting of the year
$92,000 in additional fees for Public Safety Stations to be considered

By TIM BURLESON

GRANTS PASS, OR - Tonight is the first meeting of the year for a City Council with three new faces.

Newly elected Councilors Del Renfro, William Kangas and Lisa Berger will be officially sworn in at the start of tonight's regular meeting of the Grants Pass City Council.

The remainder of the Council is comprised of returning Councilors Phil Paquin, Jack Patterson, Tim Cummings, DonnaJean Wendle and Brian Thompson.

The Council will then consider $92,290 in additional architectural fees and the hiring of an acoustical engineer for the Public Safety Stations approved by voters during the last election. The original architectural contract for construction level drawings for the Parkway and Redwood Public Safety Stations was approved by the City Council on Sept. 7, 2005 in the amount of $411,000. The contract was awarded to the architectural firm Ogden Kistler of Medford, now doing business under the name Ogden Roemer Wilkerson Architecture.

Public Safety Director Joe Henner described the reasons for the proposed fee increase. "The Redwood Station grew from 4,000 to over 7,000 square feet," Henner said. "As the project grew, so [did] the fees."

Part of the $92,290 increase includes the hiring of an acoustical engineer to investigate noise impacts from the Public Safety stations on neighbors. The engineer may make recommendations including a grassy berm or a sound wall.

Henner said that site selection was not finalized at the time the original costs were approved. A site on Leonard Road near Redwood Elementary School has since been selected. Henner said that development on this site for the Redwood Station requires architectural designs to meet design requirements for curb, gutter, sidewalk, and water lines.

The Parkway Public Safety Station site plan process requires that the City modify the "failing" Parkdale Drive. Henner said that part of the increase covers the redesign of that street.

In other business:

- The Council will hear an appeal of an Urban Area Planning Commission (UAPC) denial of a major variance that had been requested for a garage constructed 11 feet from the front property line. City code requires a 20-foot front yard setback.

- The Council will consider an ordinance increasing Engineering and Planning fees and establishing yearly increases tied to a cost of living index.

- The Council will consider an ordinance relating to Heritage Markers, a program sponsored by Evergreen Savings and Loan to erect historical markers along main entrance corridors to Grants Pass.

- The Council will appoint one new member to the Urban Area Planning Commission to fill the seat vacated by newly elected Councilor William Kangas.

- The Council will select a new Council President.

The Grants Pass City Council meets in the Council Chambers on the first and third Wednesday each month at 7pm.

Reach reporter Tim Burleson at 761-0195 or tim@grantspassclimate.com

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