City Council votes to move to hybrid meetings to second Tuesdays

DAYTON–The Dayton City Council during the March 9 meeting voted to move its remote meetings to hybrid, and move the monthly meetings from the second Wednesday to the second Tuesdays at 6 p.m. to begin next month, pending discovery of whether an official action item is needed on the agenda. Four items were presented to Council for consideration and possible action, and reports were presented by Mayor Zac Weatherford, City departments and Council committees.

The vote to change the meeting format and day came after discussion that was not listed on the agenda due to the change in the State COVID guidance, and also in light of a change of the Port of Columbia meeting time from the second Wednesday of the month in the afternoon to the evening.

This change created a schedule conflict where the two public meetings would likely overlap. Originally, the City held its meetings on the second Tuesday evening, but when previous Port Commissioners voted to move their Wednesday evenings to the afternoon, the Council at the time voted to change their meeting day from the second Tuesday to the second Wednesday. The Council voted unanimously to approve the change to begin next month pending determination if the item has to be placed on the meeting agenda for action before it can be adopted.

Tammy Ketterman from the Dayton High School Alumni Association requested Council approval for the annual Alumni Parade Route. Public Works Assistant Director Rob John asked Council to consider altering the route so as not to block off Fourth Street traffic since it is the only road that goes through that end of town. It was proposed to either shorten the parade route coming down from the High School to Third Street rather than Fourth, or to start the parade at the Seneca building. It was tabled on Councilman Dain Nysoe's motion, to allow the Association time to consider its options.

A facility-use agreement was presented with the Touchet Valley Little League (TVLL) to partner with the City of Dayton to provide garbage and portable toilet services, and allowing the League to work on the fields, including modifying the pitcher mounds, putting up temporary fencing, and giving access to water and dust control for field prep. TVLL would pay half of the cost for the toilet service.

Councilmember Misty Yost presented the information the Council, but because she is on TVLL Board she abstained from the vote where Council approved the agreement. Mayor Weatherford said in response, "I want to thank you, Misty, for all your work on this...all of the work from the TVLL is sometimes a thankless job. I look forward to enhancing and promoting the parks and I think this is a great step in that direction."

The Council unanimously approved Ordinance 1989 amending a section of the municipal building codes. The ordinance did not pass last month on a 3-3 vote, and Mayor Weatherford was unsure about casting the tie-breaking vote. Some council members wished to review the lengthy code addressing unkept and unsafe properties, and to better understand issues being voted upon.

Resolution 1488 came before the Council to approve the 2022 annual contract with the Dayton Chamber of Commerce to provide them with the hotel/motel lodging tax from the State to be used for tourism. The resolution specified 100% of the monies would go to the Chamber. This is a contract that would have been approved prior to the current fiscal year, but the Mayor said it never was presented. In recent years, the City held back 10% to cover their costs associated with tourism and events providing for setting up and taking down blockades and other needs associated with events. Councilmembers discussed the possibility of retaining more than 10% to better cover the costs, but it was decided they would review the actual costs when the contract comes up for review before 2023. The resolution passed with amendments for the City to retain 10%, plus the cost of labor rather than provide the proposed 100% to the Chamber, and to eliminate the language pertaining to the finance committee reviewing the contract before the fiscal year since it was only being reviewed now.

Weatherford provided a brief update that some old and rotten telephone poles were removed from the park around the fish pond, and that the pond should be stocked with fish at the end of the month. Four or more residences with delinquent water bills after the new year have recently had the water shut off after repeated warnings. The Mayor said besides warnings, the City is willing to work with people who try to pay whether that be by using the local resources for aid and/or to work out payment options with the City.

Emergency Management Director Ashley Strickland reported service call are two or three from the city to one from the county.

Sheriff Joe Helm has hired two deputies and is in process of hiring three additional deputies and an assistant civil deputy.

Standing committees are resuming regular meetings since the new members have been assigned. Nysoe will be stepping down as Chair of the public safety committee and Kyle Anderson will be filling the position. Yost announced she will no longer serve as the liaison for the Chamber of Commerce and is asking for someone to fill her position. Nysoe also reported the finance committee will be meeting with contracted administrator Randy Hinchcliffe to work through the current budget.

Nysoe also proposed the forming of a three-person ad hoc committee to review the Council Rules, Procedures and Ethics Handbook and recommend changes Council. When adopted in 2020, the Council wasn't given the opportunity to contribute to its creation by staff.

Public Works Director Ryan Paulson thanked the Council for passing the municipal codes for the safety and cleanliness of the community. He will be providing an insert for the utility bills reminding residents about dog rules and licensing as well what is expected for maintaining trees and grass.

At the close of the meeting, Councilmember Marchand Hovrud, attending remotely, commented, "I would like to thank Deb [Hays, City Clerk] for always being really good about answering my questions as I'm learning the ropes, and I appreciate all of [Council], too. I feel like we're putting together a really nice Council."