V. Hugh Lewis II
Jefferson Jimplecute
Bring your hip waders.
Recently found crawl-space flooding at the Jefferson General Store on Austin Street caused owner Cliff Bode to ask Jefferson City Council if he could dig up the space along the outside of his building in an attempt to discover where it’s coming from.
“I’ve been there 43 years,” said Bode, “and never had a problem before. We had a plumbing issue and under the store to fix it and found the water. We discovered a small stream coming in at the base of the retaining wall about four feet below ground, and about 30 feet from Austin Street next to the [former] police station.”
“We tried digging down in a small area but didn’t find anything,” he continued. “We’re assuming the source is coming from outside the building. We want to trench along the outside of the General Store and where we think the water is coming from.”
Jefferson Mayor Rob Baker said City Public Works Director Allen Whatley had tested the water and determined that it did not contain chlorine, so it would be ground water.
Bode’s request was approved by Council and they requested he get with Whatley about barricades and let the City know when the work is scheduled to begin.
In line with water issues, Council approved paying a reimbursement request from Jefferson Flower Market owner Tammy Bennett after the matter had been tabled twice.
Bennett discovered a sewer line blockage where her line entered the alleyway next to her shop on Lafayette Street.
Two plumbers were called and it was determined the blockage was on the City’s side of the system. It was originally believed that the construction dumpsters placed in the alleyway caused the city line to collapse, but according to Baker, that was undetermined due to the placement of the dumpsters.
Baker said former City Administrator Eric Kuykendahl had indicated the City would reimburse Bennett and that the City was bound by that decision.
Baker also said that once the dumpster was relocated, Whatley installed a cleanout in the alleyway so it would be easier to determine the location of a blockage in the future.
Council approved reimbursing Bennett the $865.
Alderman Richard Turner said in his motion to pay the bill that in the future if there are “large dumpsters in the alleyways, we need to make sure they have liability insurance before we allow them to be placed there.”
The Jefferson Police Department will be replacing the last of the older in-car camera systems after Council approved a request by JPD Chief Tino Perez.
Perez said the camera in question was in the vehicle he first had (a Crown Victoria) when he joined the force and was past time for replacement.
Council authorized Perez spend up to $4,000 to replace the system and Perez said it would be taken from his capital outlay/vehicles account as the City has not purchased a new vehicle this budget cycle.
The Marion Central Appraisal District had their 2022-23 budget approved during the meeting. MCAD Chief Appraiser Ann Lummus told Council her budget “basically covers people, paper, and computer programs.” She has a 3.1% increase overall in her budget, raising it by almost $17,000 from last year.
According to Lummus, the largest increase was in salaries as she’s striving to get all appraisers certified, and is working to make their salaries comparable to others in the area once they’ve achieved full certification.
“I’ve not had an appraiser that was certified since I got here,” Lummus said.
Ultimately Council chose to approve the budget along a 4-2 vote with Aldermen Jim Finstrom and Robin Moore voting against approval.
County Commissioners previously did not approve the budget, based on salaries being higher than the other County employees, but JISD did.
Avinger, Ore City and the Hospital District also can take the budget under consideration, but usually choose to not do so, according to Lummus.
If the agencies do not consider the budget it is considered approved.
In other business Council discussed the Planning and Zoning Commission established in 2016, but when ended in a “failed launch” according to Baker.
“The fact is,” Turner said, “that the five people named to that Commission are no longer with us. And there was some contention about who was appointed at the time.”
As only a discussion item, Council said they would rework the ordinance and make it more in line with others like JEDCO and Tourism before re-launching it.
Summer time homeless individuals were also discussed.
Perez said that in the last month or two the City has “started having some individuals come through or stay in town for a while. Neither the City nor the County have a program so there’s not a lot we can do about it, but the Police Department is aware of the situation and talk to these folks regularly.”
Alderman Will Thomas asked about the possibility of working on some grants to help provide assistance for the homeless.
“Currently we try to assist them as we can,” Perez said. “But, sometimes we have to look them in the face and say ‘unfortunately we can’t help you.’ And that’s a tough call.”
Before closing the meeting, Turner requested that future discussions on ordinances, etc., be moved to a workshop format instead of a special meeting, so that input could be more easily gathered.
Council liked the idea and Baker said he’d look into it.
Council will meet again at 5:30 p.m. June 21, 2022.
The Jimplecute/Marion County Herald’s livestream of this and other meetings can be found on their FaceBook and YouTube Channels.