Banks, City Council, Government

Council awards waterline transmission contract, approves new truck purchase, more at city council meeting

Banks City Hall. Photo: Brenda Schaffer

It was a light agenda at the most recent Banks city council meeting held Tuesday, October 13 via the video chat platform Zoom. 

After an executive session held at 6 p.m., which is not open to the public and the proceedings of which cannot be reported under state law, the council moved to a work session, discussing a $1,500 contribution, an amount in line with previous year’s contribution to the Family Justice Center of Washington County.

Shortly after, the formal Banks City Council meeting was gavelled in by Mayor Pete Edison. 

During the meeting, Washington County Sheriff’s Office deputy Frank Ward, one of two officers assigned to the city of Banks, gave the monthly police briefing, which can be read here. Ward also noted that in the month of September, there were some data reporting issues regarding the number of incidents in Banks that were being manually corrected. The issue arose, Ward said, after Clackamas County dispatchers temporarily moved into the Washington County Consolidated Communications Agency system, the interagency entity that houses the county’s emergency dispatch center, due to the September wildfires that caused massive evacuations in Clackamas County. 

In a series of votes, the council also awarded the transmission line replacement project to Moore Excavation Inc., who said they could complete the project to replace the aged and leaking pipe that carries Banks’ water from the hills above Banks into the city for $3,071,645.00. 

A resolution to approve the purchase of a new utility truck for the city’s public works department was approved, which will allow the city to replace a 1997 Ford Ranger with a 2020 GMC Sierra 2500 HD 4WD. The Ranger currently owned by the city is a two-wheel drive, and not suitable for some of the rougher trips into the dirt and gravel roads leading to the springs and infrastructure powering the city’s water system near Banks, according to city manager Jolynn Becker. The measure approves up to $30,000 for the purchase.

The city also approved the appointment of Doug Ableman to the Economic Development Commission for a term that will last through 2021. 

The city also voted to approve the $1,500 contribution to the Family Justice Center of Washington County discussed during the work session. 

The meeting audio can be found on the city of Banks website.

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Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.

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