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Meeting Notes-
5.30.06 Rio Dell City Council Chambers
The City of Rio Dell held its' first public meeting surrounding
the proposed annexation of Scotia. This was a joint meeting between the
City Council and the Planning Commission as well as a number of representatives
from various departments, engineering firms and Palco. The attendance by
community members was roughly 25 but this was more than the Council had planned
on as chairs were in very short supply. Council Member Julie Woodall did
her best to accommodate the new arrivals by hunting down chairs for them.
Future meetings will need to be held in a larger facility as more and more
people begin to take an interest in this very important topic.
There was a handout available titled "Administrative Review
Committee Staff Report" which
summarizes the process that the annexation application review would follow.
This is most likely still available to citizens if you contact City Hall.
It states that there will be monthly public workshops on the annexation but the
next meeting date has not yet been announced. We will post the meeting
date and time as soon as it is known.
The meeting began with the various representatives introducing
themselves around the table and included people from SHN, Planwest, public
works, fire department, Chris Manson from Palco, the planning commission and the
full Council. SHN spoke first regarding the past work they have done
in assessing Scotia's infrastructure when they were looking at the Community
Services District model. They are in the process of looking at the water
lines, sewer lines, etc. They need to determine where the infrastructure
is located in Scotia. Since Scotia has been a private community, they have
not had to comply with some of the restrictions that a public city would when
they are putting in the lines. The water lines, sewer lines and such would
have to be moved to a public right-of-way if it is not currently on one.
This would be a major undertaking and if this is needed, Palco claims they will
pay for it as a condition of the annexation. Palco has also stated that if
an entirely new water system or major project is determined to be needed, they
will pay for it as a condition of the annexation. While that may be a part
of any agreement, the financial status of Palco should be taken into account;
if they file bankruptcy Rio Dell would be left holding the bag. SHN will
be developing a "plan of service." That includes their recommendations on
how to provide the city services. This will be very important as well.
People have been told that the Rio Dell water system was in such bad shape at
least partially due to the fact that we haven't had the resources for
maintenance. How will Rio Dell accommodate the Scotia water system in
addition to their own? These are all details that have to be looked at.
Frequently, the term "revenue neutral" was used as it is hoped
that the annexation will not cost anything to Rio Dell. The plan is for
the taxes, assessments and fee revenue received to fully cover the costs of
providing the services to Scotia. This will have to be evaluated by an
outside consultant. The city has received two proposals from companies
looking to provide that service. The annexation to Rio Dell is the first
step and it is only after that is done that Palco can look at selling any of the
properties. There has to be a services structure in place for the homes.
That would mean there would be only one "homeowner" at the time of the
annexation, Pacific Lumber. That is fine as long as they are in sound
financial shape and are not divesting themselves of assets before declaring
bankruptcy, or something along those lines.
There is a group of people involved in the "annexation work
group" including representatives from Palco, Rio Dell, the various consultants,
etc. who are working with the many outside agencies for the various permits and
such.
Chris Manson from Pacific Lumber spoke next regarding the
company's plan for homeownership in Scotia. The company has looked at
various ways to form a town and had decided that the annexation is the best
option. That is the only option they are looking at now. Manson
stated that the Scotia residents have been meeting regarding the plans and the
company has provided access to mortgage professionals and such so that the
homeowner could determine if they are able to purchase the home. The
purchase does include the entire lot, as some rumors had gotten around that said
the homeowner would actually not own the property the house sat on. Manson
said that the home prices were not allowed to be discussed at this point as that
could be construed as advertising the home for sale before it was legally able
to do so. He finished by stating that his door was always open to
residents of both Rio Dell and Scotia for any questions they may have.
Shane Wilson from the Rio Dell Fire Department spoke regarding
the two separate fire departments. They will be examining the possibility
of merging the two.
The citizens who attended had a number of very good questions
and various statements regarding the proposed annexation. Dr. Roberts
started off with an inquiry as to any advantages to Rio Dell with the
annexation. Who is going to provide services and such? John (from
one of the engineering firms) stated that the annexation and feasibility studies
would answer that question. Shane Wilson replied that the Rio Dell Fire
Department currently has an ISO rating of 7 and Scotia has a rating of 4 (I have
no idea what an ISO rating is). Wilson said that the lower number that
could be achieved with the merger of the two departments could translate into
lower homeowners insurance rates.
Resident Dale Swanson asked about who would take on the long
term costs of maintaining the infrastructure. He pointed out that "revenue
neutral" doesn't refer to the long term. He stated that Rio Dell needed an
outside engineer (provided at Palco's expense) to evaluate the proposal from Rio
Dell's best interest perspective. An agreement should also include a
provision for Palco to contribute to the long term costs of maintenance.
One of the engineer's involved pointed out that they were all
examining the proposal from a "best interest" of everyone point of view and that
Palco is paying 100% of the costs related to the engineer's costs, application
processing etc.
Swanson asked about the costs related to any toxic clean up of
the Scotia property. One of the representatives stated that any needed
toxic clean up down the line would be the responsibility of the city but would
only include the property that was owned by the city, such as the roads.
The rest of the properties would be owned by individuals and they would be
responsible for any toxic clean up. It was pointed out that a person could
also "go back" on a former property owner, such as Palco, and sue them for any
clean up related costs.
City Manager Jay Parrish stated that we are verifying things
regarding the infrastructure through radio controlled cameras which can view the
inside of the water pipelines, sewers, etc.
Elizabeth Warren asked whether or not anyone has researched
whether or not the Scotia residents will actually be able to purchase their
homes, financially speaking. There are 274 homes which are currently
renter occupied. The renter's will be given the first chance to purchase
the home but there will be no assistance from Palco for things such as the down
payment which is usually the biggest hurdle in the home purchase. The
representative from Palco said that all financing options are being explored,
including the HUD funded First Time Homebuyers program. To qualify for
that program however, a family would have to qualify as low/moderate income and the home
would have to qualify with it's purchase price fitting into the tight parameters
of the program (see
this link for
some program guidelines). Palco has brought loan and finance experts to some of the
Scotia meetings they have had with the current occupants.
A citizen that I didn't catch the name of stated that Winzler &
Kelly had surveyed the property in Weott that a new water and sewer project were
installed on. That property wound up being in a flood plane and the system
had to be moved at great expense. The water bills for the residents went
from $11 to $84 a month after the new system was finished. He stated that
Charles Hurowitz (sp?) of Maxxam is only looking out for himself and his
interests. The jobs with Palco are being lost and what is Pacific Lumber
going to do for Rio Dell?
John Lane asked about the rumor circulating that the homeowners
would only own the house and not the land. Manson said that it will
include everything; the yard, the weeds, etc.
Resident Debra Garnes asked about the process for annexation.
Would there be any vote on the annexation for the residents of Rio Dell or is it
just the Council that gets an actual vote. It was explained that if 25% of
Scotia submitted a protest to
LAFCO, then the proposal would go to a vote for
Scotia residents only. The Rio Dell citizens will only have their say
through their representatives, the City Council. Mayor Bud Leonard pointed
out that if LAFCO felt that the citizens in general were opposed to the
annexation, he doubts they would approve it. LAFCO has the final say on
annexation so that there is no discrimination against any area that wants to
annex to another community.
Parrish stated that "we have a lot of questions but not a lot of
answers right now." We are only at the beginning of a long and very
involved process.
Garnes advised to pay careful attention to the infrastructure
situation in Scotia. Rio Dell citizens had been told earlier that we were
shorthanded in Public Works here in Rio Dell and that is why maintenance is not
being kept up on. How will we take care of Scotia? We will have to
hire more staff at additional expense so that must be taken into account.
A citizen asked about the boundaries that would be included in
the annexation. They were told that it is Palco's entire property "bridge
to bridge and river bar to water treatment plant." The citizen inquired
about the historic buildings in Scotia such as the museum, the theatre and the
inn. Palco is going to retain the ownership of those properties as it
stands right now. Since they have stated that they want to get rid of the
extra activities involved in running a town and focus on their core business, I
would guess that they might be selling those properties later on.
Judy Pierett asked why the Scotia residents would be allowed a
vote if 25% or more of them objected but not the residents of Rio Dell?
John, one of the engineer's involved, stated that the law was written so that
the annexed citizens would have a say. They would have to formal
government structure to go through but the citizens of the existing city have
their elected officials to represent them. Pierett then asked if there
were any other options on the table for Scotia, such as the Community Services
District model. Manson said that Palco is pursuing the annexation
exclusively. He stated that their opinion is that annexation is the best
possible option for all involved. She then asked what happens if this
proposal fails then? Manson said they would examine the reasons that it
failed, restructure the proposal and try again.
Dr. Roberts suggested that Hurowitz simply give the Scotia homes
to the city of Rio Dell who could then sell the properties and use the sale
proceeds to cover the services. I asked if the annexation had to be
completed before the homes could be sold. The answer is that yes the
annexation has to be completed before even one home could be offered for sale in
Scotia.
A citizen named Rich spoke of the water system upgrades that
have been costing the citizens so much lately. The water system is better
but still not good and we are going to look at taking on another failing system.
He stated that Palco has treated Rio Dell like a "dirty step-child." So
many of the vices in Rio Dell are there to support Palco. He pointed out
that Hurowitz is no philanthropist and is only looking out for himself. He
said that if you want something done in Rio Dell you have to go to Winzler &
Kelly and through the cities good ole' boys. We know what Palco has done
for Rio Dell so far and Rio Dell should be wary since Palco wants this
annexation so badly.
Jane Cox stated that she was at the April 18th meeting when the
City Council voted to accept the proposal for annexation from Palco and there
have been no further meetings on the topic since. She pointed out that it
was said earlier that the residents of Scotia have had 3 or 4 public meetings
regarding this and she is bothered by the lack of communication. Parrish
said that some of those meetings were not specifically about the annexation,
Palco had only recently come to the final decision to push for the annexation.
Cox stated that better communication with the citizens of Rio Dell would bring
in more citizens to participate. Council member Melissa Marks stated that
perhaps we could look at doing a mailing to citizens to solicit their
involvement. Marks asked if only having two companies proposals for the
major reviews of the annexation was sufficient to chose from. She asked if
this might need to go back out for more bids. Accounting Supervisor Gordon
Eton pointed out that even if it went back out to bid, we may not get any
different response. He suggested that even if we were to get only one good
proposal, if the company was experienced than he would recommend accepting that
bid.
Cox asked about the future monthly meetings that are planned.
She was told that no date has been set yet and it will be posted when it is
scheduled. Cox pointed out again that the lack of communication to the
citizens is a problem that could be easily resolved. Police Chief Graham
Hill suggested that the city might put an announcement on the water bills, as it
has done in the past for various things. Parrish stated that the current
water bills going out already had two items posted on them so it would have to
be the next billing cycle at the earliest. Read your water bill carefully
and notice any information the city has added. The mailing idea of Melissa
Marks is a very good idea and in the past we have had citizens volunteer to help
the city with printing these, contributing paper or anything else that would
assist the city to communicate better. We saw the results from a mass
mailing when everyone received an announcement of the city council meeting and
the proposed water rate hikes last year. The attendance was at record
levels and it was standing room only in the council chambers. The Scotia
annexation is just about the biggest issue to face Rio Dell since incorporation.
Council member Julie Woodall suggested that citizens could
submit their questions to the city prior to the next meeting so that information
can be available by meeting time. Woodall wanted to know "revenue neutral"
for how long? This annexation is for the long term and it must be
evaluated in that way.
Parrish pointed out that if Palco had wanted to, they could have
gone directly to LAFCO with the proposal instead of going to the Rio Dell City
Council. This was done as a courtesy and with the desire to work closely
with Rio Dell. This would make it appear that the approval of the
annexation by the Rio Dell City Council is more a formality than anything else.
It was pointed out earlier in the meeting by Council Member Mike Dunker that no
final decision has been made as some of the citizens present stated their belief
that the decision was already made by those in charge. I do believe that
some of the council members are giving the annexation the review that is
necessary and have expressed some skepticism. It is also apparent that
there are others involved that believe the annexation is the best idea and their
minds are made up. It is important for the citizens to be involved, no
matter what side of the debate they fall on. A person can't complain about
their government if they are not doing their part by participating.
We will post any information we have regarding any meetings or
anything else related to this annexation proposal. Please get involved and
attend the meetings. The effects of the annexation will be felt by
everyone, both good and bad.
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