We installed some new desks at City Hall to get our staff to stand more often while working.  These new desks also improve ergonomics and should keep us healthier.

We had our first meeting with OPSIS to get down a timeline and strategy for moving forward with the master plan.  We will be conducting stakeholder interviews this month.

On November 7, 2017 we had an issue at the pool with a skylight falling in. It was corrected by the Oregon Trail school district. Paragraph we continued working on our branding strategy. We should have a presentation for counsel in the next month or so.

Staff and I have been meeting with several companies over the last few weeks. We’re looking into software that will allow staff to do staff reports and create the agenda for council in a more efficient fashion than what we are currently doing. The software would also assist us in archiving the staff reports and agendas in them more elegant fashion. This software can also be used for all other committees and advisory groups. This would allow all of those documents to be archived in the same location and accessible through one web portal linked to our website.

Some of the software’s include audio and video recording. We desperately need an upgrade to our A/V system would be a way to meet both needs.

Stakeholder meetings regarding the community center project are scheduled for November 27 and 28. Information gleaned at these meetings will help the architect and other vendors related to OPSIS come up with a clear plan for how the project should proceed.

After the long Labor Day weekend, the Branding Team got right back to work.  We think the council will be pleased with the tag line selected and are currently finalizing a new logo.  Marketing and branding strategies will be next.

We met with legal council regarding the acceptance of Federal Funding in light of Oregon’s sanctuary status.  Through research and contacting the Department of Justice we learned that we would be able to continue to receive our funding.  Most of the DOJ concern is in regards to those entities that have jails.  Since we do not, we are not in jeopardy of losing our funding.

Many city staff worked hard to put on yet another very successful Corn Cross on September 10th.  It was attended by well over 300 entrants in the race and many other spectators.  Well done Carol Cohen and Tanay Richardson.

Tanya and I had meetings in September working out the logistics and timing of the pool take over.  At this item we are still waiting for the OTSD to be ready in the new facility.  We assured OTSD that we would make sure they had a place for the kids no matter what.

Kelly O’Neill and I met with Ralph Taharn, our architect, to get some preliminary ideas for an upgrade to City Hall.  We have several issues to address and a limited budget.  We want to address staff safety, building security and leaks, and poor windows.  This will also require ADA upgrades to be completed.  We will stay within budget and do the work we can afford at this time, and phase in the other projects as we can.  Emphasis on safety and security will be first.

Mike Walker and I met with the manager an staff at Iseli Nursery to look at options for great uptake of our treated water.  We will incorporate some of these ideas into our mitigation report to DEQ.

Work on several projects took some of my time this month.  We met with staff regarding updates to Meinig Park and the Branding project.

We had a visit by Congressman Blumenauer.  He met with city leaders to discuss our needs.

On August 7th, Department Heads and other staff had training with David Doughman, our contracted city attorney.  We discussed purchasing, council meeting requirements and other topics.

Chief Roberts and I were dispatched by the Oregon State Office of Emergency Management to John Day during the eclipse.  We worked in the Emergency Operations center.  They did not have lodging for us so we “camped” out during the 5 days we were there.  We got great experience and lent a hand to a small agency that really needed the assistance.

July kicked off with our usual Sandy Fireworks display on the 4th, and then rolled quickly into Sandy Mt. Festival.  I am happy to report that the City Hall staff won an award for our float at the SMF Parade.  Chief Roberts reported no major incidents during any of these fun July events.

We continued to have branding meetings and prepared the background information that North Star needed to work up a logo and tag line for us.

I attended the Oregon City and County Managers Assoc. Conference June 11-14th.  Long days, but well worth the time as we did a lot of training and had some great speakers.

The benefits committee convened on July 1th to discuss options for staffing and pay equability.  We are going to update all job descriptions and then conduct a salary and benefits comparison to see where city staff falls when compared to our comparable cities.

During the month of July we had several land use meetings and discussions about property for sale by others, wanting information about development of parcels and an evaluation of city properties.

The Emergency Operations Center was inventoried and updated on July 31st.

We have been working on the preliminary Branding process and preparing for the North Star team visit.

Tanya and I took the company “Opsis” on a site visit (per their request).  They were selected for the short list and will be interviewed in person.

I attended training in Oregon City.  John Zakariassen, from City Counties Insurance (CIS) shared what you should include in your sewer maintenance program, a program that systematically addresses aging sewer systems, establishes mapping and historical databases and gives important insights on how to respond to routine maintenance.  We also talked about OSHA rules and regulations.

On June 13th the branding team presented to the council.  They distilled the research results and presented their “strategy” for proceeding.

I attended a Evacuation Planning meeting on June 16th at the US Forest Services HQ here in Sandy.  This is a county wide effort to get police, fire and other services ready for quick, large evacuations should they become necessary.  This will be an ongoing working group and the City of Sandy will participate in and updates from this working group will result in additions to our Emergency Operations Plan.

Thanks to Tanya and her gang we had a very successful Longest Day Parkway Ride/Walk and Run on the 19th of June.  The event was well attended.  That event was followed quickly by Noah’s Quest on June 24th.  Busy but fun week.

Architect interviews were conducted on June 27th.

I assisted the library for a few hours in RFID chipping of books.  It was a very well organized process and Sarah and her staff really had it down to a fine science.  They were well ahead of schedule.

We continued meetings with Clackamas Community Bank to sort out service needs.  They are being very helpful and we are looking for solutions that will make the front desk at City Hall more efficient.

I met with Happy Valley staff regarding their success with Youth Council and got some great ideas.  We will work with them on our program after the first of the year.

Joe Knappy hosted a meeting with the folks from Orem Utah regarding our SandyNet programs.  It was very impressive to hear Joe talk with these city leaders about what we were doing.  They were very impressed.

We have been working with U of O trying to win the award of at least one RARE (Resource Assistance for Rural Environments).  We are looking for a person to help the Planning Department  with the Pleasant St. Master Plan.

On May 18th, we held a 1/2 day training with Kathy Peck, Labor Attorney.  To walk all the Department Heads and Supervisors through the pitfalls of managing HR topics.  She did a great presentation on things such as Fair Labors and Standards (FLSA) law, BOLI (Bureau of Labor and Industry) and EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) laws.

On May 22, we held the RFP Review and created a short list for the final selection of the Cedar Ridge Project Management Team.

There was a Clackamas Cities Dinner on May 25th in Oregon City.  We learned about their new large apartment/retail complex going into the core of downtown.  Quite impressive.

ART PROGRAM –

David Snyder and I spent time this month talking with various “Arts Commissions” and program personnel to determine a good course of action regarding the councils goal of establishing an Art’s presence in our community.  We are leaning towards the establishment of an Arts Commission that will be established by ordinance.  members are appointed by council.  The Commission, much like the planning commission, would establish and evaluate art and art programs, working on behalf of the city and council.

BRANDING PROJECT –

I have had a series of phone conversation with NorthStar.  They are doing a great job of keeping me up to date on their progress.  Most of it right now is fact finding, data gathering and analysis so not much for us to do at this particular time.  We are still in the process of several survey’s (one English and one Spanish) and trying to reach out the best we can.  We should probably see them back in Sandy in June.

BUSINESS COMMITTEE –

We met on April 25th and discussed the Food Cart Ordinance which is due to sunset at the end of the year.  Kelly O’Neill is working on updating the ordinance to give council the opportunity to weigh back in to determine if they want to continue the ordinance with or without changes or to discontinue the ordinance.  More on that coming up probably in the Fall, but well before the expiration.  We have also adjusted our strategy for non compliant business.  Rather than send a letter regarding the compliance issue, the Economic Development Manager or the Planning/Building Director will first make personal contact to discuss the issue, and alert them that the conversation will be followed by a letter documenting our concerns.  This was thought to present our concerns in a more friendly way, and allow us to better explain the situation before the arrival of an impersonal document.

FLEET MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

We continue our work with Enterprise and have been happy with the responsiveness and positive “can-do” attitude from their staff.  The vehicles are all on order and we will take delivery some time after July 1st.

TRAINING and OTHER MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS

I continue to work as the cities Emergency Manager, in that capacity I attended the Emergency Mangers Preparedness Workshop on April 11th through the 15th.  Quite a bit of work this month was done on improving programs, reducing any potential liabilities and establishing some procedures.

I attended several Pre-Application meetings and find it exciting to see what may be coming to Sandy in the way of new development.

On 4/19 I attend a webinar training put on by ICMA entitled “Being a Great Coach and Winning Player in Your Organization.

Staff held a meeting on April 20th, on managing our Social Media.  This was hosted by Library Director Sarah McIntyre.  She did a great job of setting and agenda and a good discussion developed great Q&A.  We had Website training for key staff on the 26th.

Budget Hearings were held on April 25th and 26th.  The Budget will got t Council for approval in June.

On March 14th, Mike Walker and I met with ODOT regarding their property located in the Deer Point neighborhood, adjacent to Hwy 26.  They were checking in to see if the neighbors had any concerns about the property and to see if the city may be interested in the purchase of the property.  They are working on long term planning and are thinking about making a move in the future to somewhere east of the city limits.

Also on March 14th, I had a meeting with Superintendent Aaron Bayer to catch up on areas of mutual interest.  The continued good relationship between the district and the city keeps proving itself invaluable as we work together to make the Cedar Ridge project a win-win proposition for both agencies.

On March 15th, Kelly O’Neill and I went to the Clackamas Board of County Commissioners regarding our UGB expansion.  The county planning representative was extremely helpful and presented our case well.  Kelly then had the opportunity to talk directly to the commissioners.  After the presentations were complete we received a unanimous approval for the expansion.  As soon as the new county ordinance and meeting minutes are complete we can finish putting a packet together to send the the state.  We anticipated final approval by this late summer, perhaps sooner.

I had several meetings this month relating to planning and building and met with contractors and builders regarding their needs.

On March 17th, David Snieder and I met with the Oregon Arts Commission about our upcoming public art program.  We got some valuable input and have opted to move towards an Arts Commission or Council.  Work on this project continues and options for staffing positions and funding are crystallizing.  Additional work on the base infrastructure of the program and legal details also need to be completed.

March 20th, Members of the Budget Committee were drafted, and selected by the Mayor.  The nominations went to council for final approval.  Work on the budget, budget narratives and budget message continued.

Also on March 20th, we held a council workshop and met with North Star consultants for a brief overview of our branding process and next steps.  The team stayed in town for several days, had a tour, conducted one on one interviews and focus groups.  Another survey will be out in April.

On March 23rd, I met, virtually, with EvoGov regarding a new website platform that was purchased prior to Seth Atkinson’s departure.  There are some final details that needed to be worked out.  Training for key staff is scheduled for April.

All the Department Directors, Oregon Trail School District  staff and I met with the Clackamas Co Department of Health to get a briefing on the state of the health in our area of the county and to provide some suggestion and input to them about ways to get our folks healthier.  We also brainstormed about ways the city can incorporate lessons learned into our events, such as more activities that help encourage exercise.

Budget is almost completed and we will be holding Budget Committee Meetings the third week of April.

February was a month of meetings, to include one on one’s with staff and council, meetings at the State Capitol. Clackamas cites leadership and community groups.

It was also a month for prepping in anticipation to starting the branding process. Lots of emails were changed with North Star and plans established.

Work began on the budget, and both the Interim City Manager and staff from the Finance Department worked with department heads to lay the ground work of what will be the 2017-2019 biennial budget.

I have added a “City Manager’s Report” for your ease in gaining information, particularly updates on all of the current projects. Your input is always welcome.

So let’s talk about January!

We conducted council retreat on January 7th.Council was able to have a great goal setting and update session. Those changes are now on the City Website for your review. Committee appointments were also refreshed and some new committee’s were added.  Some new committee’s are being formed this year, first is the Outdoor Art Installation Committee.  This committee will be to encourage artists to install large outdoor art in the community.  The other committee (still to be named) will focus on improving relationships and making us more “Business Friendly”.

Cedar Ridge/Community Center/Aquatic Center – We really need a shorter name for this project. We have decided on a bank placement bond for financing. The financing which is both for this project and for part of the Fire Department construction project will fund on March 7, 2017. The total loan amount is 10 million dollars. Of that total, 3.5 million is for the Fire Department, 3.0 million goes for the purchase of the Cedar Ridge property (from Oregon Trail School District) and the remaining balance of 3.5 million will get us started on our project. First steps after the financing is sending out a Request for Proposal (RFP) asking for qualified firms to help us get community input, and design a Master Plan and then conceptual drawings.

The Community Services Director position was advertised and interviews are scheduled for February 2nd.  The process will consist of a long afternoon for the candidates as they face three separate interviews, two of which will be done in panel format.  We will be interviewing six candidates in this initial round.  Three of the candidates are internal and three external.

We are in full “Budget Mode” here at City Hall; making the initial preparations for getting a proposed budget ready. The Finance Department, led by Lisa  Young, is doing the heavy lifting with all departments working together to meet goals and deadlines.

The transfer of Hwy 211 from ODOT to the City is moving forward.  The most recent changes to the proposed agreement are being evaluated.  It is worth noting that the amount we receive from ODOT for the transfer should take care of the cost of maintaining the roadway for the next 8-10 years so budgetary impact will be neutral.