CJ City Council sets LID workshop; appoints councilor
From our weekly issue dated February 13, 2008
A workshop to address submission of a revised Local Improvement District petition for an expansion project on the west side of Redwood Hwy. at the north end of the city will be scheduled, the Cave Junction City Council decided Monday night, Feb. 11, during a 21-minute meeting in city hall.
The request for a council workshop, during which no action can be taken, was requested by John Chmelir, representative of Illinois Valley Development. A previous petition was withdrawn when the Versteeg Family Trust, which owns a 26-acre tree lot along the project, filed legal papers outlining what it indicated are illegalities in the initial petition. Among those legal concerns were the facts that the city cannot impose a Local Improvement District (LID) on property that is not within the city limits, nor can it set up an LID wherein the city is not performing the work.
The council was asked if those specific problems would be addressed during the workshop. In spite of over-lapping responses by Jim Polk, city recorder and treasurer, and other councilors, Councilman Margaret Miller answered that all relevant issues would be discussed.
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In other matters, Trisha Arias was appointed to the council to fill the vacancy left by the recent death of Lynne Attebury. Almost three years remains in her term. Arias will have to run for the seat in the next general election to retain it. Mayor pro tem Dan Fiske led the council meeting, as Mayor Tony Paulson was out of town. But there was a quorum, as Councilman Don Moore also was present. Arias was also out of town to attend a funeral.
On her application, she indicated that her main areas of concern are to address the economic development of the downtown area to provide more revenue for the city. She also wrote that she wanted to “work to make Cave Junction a more family friendly city.”
The council approved 3-0 the sale of a 1987 Chevrolet pickup truck that had been listed as surplus property during a previous council meeting. The city received one bid of $1,800 from Mark Camp, of Camp’s Custom Excavating
Kerby resident Peggy Karp requested an accounting of the failures that led to the withdrawal of the $441,666 Community Development Block Grant. The council responded by saying that they felt it “inappropriate” to respond, as an internal investigation is under way. Fiske stated that the letter from the state withdrawing the grant was public knowledge, and that the city as yet has nothing to add.
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However, through a formal request from the Illinois Valley News, a portion of a Jan. 28 executive session of the council touching specifically on the city’s response to the grant withdrawal can now be made public. The News’ request noted that the subject was not covered under ORS 190.660 (rules for convening an executive session).
In the meeting, City attorney Pat Kelly advised the council to make a priority of getting the grant reinstated if possible.
“I suggest we form a committee and go up to (U.S. Congressman Greg) Walden’s office and plead for reinstatement,” was Kelly’s advice to the city. He’s willing to bet that someone can be found “willing to bend over backwards to be the savior” of “poor old Cave Junction.”
“Then,” Kelly continued, “if the grant isn’t restored, the city needs to find out exactly why the grant was revoked, and if anyone is culpable.”
Minimizing the damage and then taking steps to ensure that the same thing doesn’t happen again is the upshot of the city’s strategic response to the situation.
- Wally Aiken (Managing Editor Michelle Binker contributed to this story)
