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City Hall -
82877 Spruce St.
,
Westlake
,
OR
97439
1.
Call to Order
The
Planning Commission meeting was called to order by Chairman Lee Riechel at
6:02 pm
.
2.
Roll Call
Roll Call was
taken by City Recorder Fred Hilden.
Present:
Chairman Lee Riechel, Vice-Chairman George Burke, Commissioner Darlene
Beckman, Commissioner Paul Gargis, Commissioner Ken Henderson and
Commissioner Norman Martin.
Others
Present: City Planner Melissa
Anderson.
3.
Pledge of Allegiance
All
who were present stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.
4.
Approval of the
Agenda
Vice-Chairman Burke made a motion to approve
the Agenda as presented. Commissioner Beckman seconded the motion. The
motion passed by unanimous vote.
5.
Consent Agenda
Vice-Chairman Burke made a motion to approve
the minutes of
October 25, 2011
on the Consent Agenda as
presented. Commissioner Beckman seconded the motion. The motion passed by
a vote of 4 ayes, 0 nays and 1 abstain (Commissioner Henderson).
6.
Announcements /
Correspondence
The
City Council Meeting will be
November 10, 2011
at
7:00 pm
, at
Dunes
City Hall
.
7.
Citizen Input – None
8.
Public Hearing
Ordinance
Nos. 210A and 211A, Septic Maintenance
Two
proposals to amend the Dunes City Code of Ordinances are being considered.
Both
proposals repeal Ordinance Number 203 entitled “Septic System
Maintenance” from Title 15 of the Dunes City Code of Ordinances and
replace it with an alternative septic system maintenance program: Option
#1) Ordinance Number 210A repeals Ordinance Number 203 and replaces it
with a new regulation to ensure proper septic system maintenance by adding
a new Chapter 142 entitled “Septic System Maintenance” in Title 14 of
the Dunes City Code of Ordinances, and Option #2) Ordinance Number 211A
repeals Ordinance Number 203 and establishes an educational program to
ensure proper septic system maintenance.
Chairman
Lee Riechel opened the Public Hearing at
6:13 pm
.
City
Planner Melissa Anderson presented the Planning Commission Staff Report.
Andy
Anderson,
Dunes
City
Resident
“There
seems to be a lot of controversy about these septic systems and all that
and I just wanted to know what
is the progress. I just had mine inspected because one of the relays or
something had failed and it is all ok now but it looks like the City’s
getting pretty well organized on this so I guess they are doing a good
job. So that’s about it.”
Dr.
Peter Howison,
Dunes
City
Resident
“Thank
you Chairman Riechel. Councilors, Commissioners, and the chair. I
would like to at least say that our Septic Ordinance which was
passed in 2006, and each time it has been passed it has been unanimous by,
you know, I think by a well balanced group of councilors. About 70% of our
residents have been inspected and pumped. Dozens or so have been found to
be failed and were replaced, and I think saved the homeowners probably
money or at least some of the people would say I haven’t been pumped
because as a physician you know brushing your teeth, or at least as
councilor Anderson would know brushing your teeth or flossing would be a
really important thing to do. So the same thing with septic system you
know it helps to, we have
encouraged our citizens to pump and it has been successful, I think. 2003
[203] was passed in 2009 and Commissioner Burke was on the Ordinance
Review Committee and we developed this Ordinance and the Water Quality
Committee helped work on that and it allowed the flexibility so that if a
system was inspected and found to be in good shape you could wait another
five year period so that you didn’t have to pump every five years. It
provided for pumping criteria such as
checking the capacity of the septic system by running a lot of water in
there to see if it works, by checking the stone layer and the solids and
by checking the drain field to see if it was, you know, smelling bad and
maybe failing. So those three things without pumping could be an adequate
inspection because it is wedged in between pumping and because some people
have low - use
systems and I think that 210A does provide the Oregon State University
Extension Service Septic Tank Maintenance Table and this would take a lot
of people, used to pass out, but then we realized our code actually did
not go along with it. And I think that, well, because I got this post card
from somebody’s septic tank pumping system, I, I, I, hesitate to say the
name but our records show that your septic tank was last pumped on
January 14, 2006
. Guess what, I got pumped by this particular pumper in 2002 and another
pumper in 2009. So, you know, citizens deserve to have better protection
from the City and from unscrupulous pumpers. Of course, having said that I
think Ordinance 203 has done a good job beginning to process and becoming
more flexible. I think we probably can do better than that but I think we
need to be very careful about how we design this new Ordinance. But I
think we do need something new probably not until March but something to
replace 2003 that is a little more flexible for our citizens. So that they
are comfortable with what we are requiring them to do. Thank you very
much.”
Mary
Jo Leach,
Dunes
City
Resident
“I
am here as a homeowner who has invested upwards of $800,000 in the City in
real estate
improvements, permits, you name it. And I have a neighbor who is dumping
septic onto my property and has continued. The state will not step in to
do anything and you know the county is not going to do anything so I could
look to the City to do something. I was counting on the
Ordinance and I waited three years before I found out that he hadn’t
noticed. Three years before despite of all my requests to find out the
status. So this has gone on for a long time. There is a lot at stake here.
There is a lot at stake for me, for everybody who owns money and has
invested here, is to try to protect it. It seems like the smallest thing
we could do is to follow rules on the Septic. I grew up in The Great Lakes
and The Finger Lakes and watch them be destroyed by the
septic. It’s not fiction it is based on science. It will take place. I
just implore you. I was at the original , I went to all the Ordinance
Review Meetings and each one they broke 210, I think George 210.”
Vice-Chairman Burke responded, “yes”. Mary Jo Leach continues, “I am
a
proponent of 210. I see no problem with 210. As long as it was a course of
the caveat that 203 was enforced properly. Which is was not so, we do have
that little hamstring mess right now but the other thing is you, one of
the first questions I remember at the first meeting when Steve and George
and Jamie were talking is how are you going to enforce anything? And my
question to you is, I can remember at that meeting it had all these
Ordinances to go through because a
meeting has gone through, just as you are going through everything that
needs to be straightened out, but that yeah we need to be able to enforce
something somehow. But we will get to that and your still not at that
point where you know how your going to enforce some of this stuff. And I
am telling you it needs to be enforced. And I can tell you the Site Review
Committee was
ineffective the, county was ineffective, the state is ineffective and
other than keep testing my water and seeing all the nitrates in it, there
is not a whole lot I can do to stop it and it is up to a
municipality to protect the citizens. You owe us something. You owe us the
protection and the other thing it protects all real estate values. Because
don’t you see we have to drink this water, you are bringing this water
into your house and bathing in it and it can go into your eyes. People
that don’t drink it, hey they get it into their eyes in the shower it
goes into your body, don’t think it isn’t. The minute that some
contamination takes place you’re going to see, then you’ll see,
these people who want nothing to do with dealing with a small bit of
enforcement that they could go along with protecting them. You will see
them all step in and can take over. And the City will have nothing to say
about it. It will up to me for the costs and the treatments and other
things and I don’t think that the Septic Ordinance will be, it will be
effective. It’s a step. It’s not the perfect thing we can’t control
every site there are a lot of things that we can’t control but in the
City you owe to the citizens to control the things you can. You have to
say this right in prayer and
understand that you have to control the things that you can and that’s
what the City needs to do. So, I would like to see 203 finish out. An
education program it will be ineffective against a neighbor like mine who
is polluting my property that’s not going to do anything, uh, just as
this ineffective Ordinance with no teeth in it is not helping and we are
suffering a loss. And I would like the City to be able to address that in
an effective way. Thank you.”
David
Dumas,
Dunes
City
Resident
“I
would just like to ask you folks to be proactive in your decisions about
the septic. I think it is better to catch a problem then to break for it
and basically it just that it is such an important
subject for us to deal with it and deal with properly if like I say a lot
about what happens to our City. We would like to keep control of our City.
We would like to keep our citizens and I think that’s one of the
important things that we can do for the citizens here and that is to keep
the
quality and to make sure things are right for them.
We
deserve as much as citizens and we are placing our trust in your
decisions. That’s about it. Thank you.”
Chairman
Riechel closed the Public Hearing at
6:37 pm
.
Vice-Chairman Burke made a motion to approve
the staff report as presented.
Commissioner Henderson seconded the motion. The motion passed by unanimous
vote.
Commissioner Martin made a motion to put
whichever Ordinance gets approved into the Land Use section of the City
Code. Vice-Chairman Burke seconded the motion. The motion failed by a vote
of 1 aye (Commissioner Martin), and 4 nays.
Chairman
Riechel re-opened the Public Hearing at
7:15 pm
.
John
Stead,
Dunes
City
Resident
“I
appreciate being considered in, given the opportunity. I am sorry that I
didn’t realize that time had gotten away from me as it often does. But
the draft Ordinance that is before you this evening are designed to repeal
Ordinance 203 including the requirement for inspection of the septic
systems every five years, with the implementation of these proposed
Ordinances. The question is, will the implantation of these proposed
Ordinances, either of them, improve septic system maintenance? The taking
of actions necessary to keep system components properly functioning as
designed. Will the repeal of Ordinance 203 serve to restore and improve
the water quality of
Woahink
Lake
, Little Woahink Lake, and
Siltcoos
Lake
for the benefit of
Dunes
City
residents and the public. The Planning Commission has darn duty to
recommend to the Council
Ordinances that are intended to carry out the purpose, principals, and
proposals expressed in the
comprehensive plan. That’s Ordinance 3267. Policies B5-B9 address the
Lakes. General Policy E1-E6, address water quality and statewide planning
goals 6. I call your particular attention to Policy E6, and I quote: The
City shall adopt a program to improve maintenance of septic systems for
the benefit of all residents. It’s the Commissions responsibility to
promote Ordinances in keeping with the carrying capacity of the land. A
level of use which can be accommodated and continue without irreversible
impairment of natural resources, productivity, the ecosystem and the
quality of air, land and water resources. That to me is kind of the whole
problem in a nut shell. I looked at the definitions that are provided in
203 and definitions that were provided in the book Ordinance and it is
interesting to note that when you compare those with DEQ’s Division 71
on Waste Water Treatment Systems we’ve got something like more than 141
definitions. And many of them do apply that have not been incorporated in
any of the Ordinances that we have. Another closely related piece of this
is that the Dunes City Drinking Water Assessment and
potential planning strategies document that was presented in December and
accepted in December 2002 through a grant received from DEQ and Coastal
Management Program. On page13 that talks about development of a septic
maintenance and upgrade program and one of those items is require periodic
testing and inspection of septic systems. And that says the same thing and
we can look onto DEQ documents or other documents that talk about
inspections being required from three to five years and there is at least
one model Ordinance that spells out that the septic system needs to be
inspected when it is installed and then five years later. So, there is a
lot going for this, tying these things down. In closing, I would like to
mention that one of the things that
Dunes
City
is having to deal with at the present time is a matter of writing
Ordinances and
implementing Ordinances that have specific measurable standards attached
to them. And when I look at either of the proposed Ordinances I see lots
of issues that hopefully we’re getting away from. And the Planning
Commission is working at the present time to try to clean up some of that
mess. And either of the proposed Ordinances will simply intensify the
problem. Thank you very much.”
Chairman
Riechel re-closed the Public Hearing at
7:21 pm
.
Vice-Chairman Burke made a motion for the Planning Commission to
recommend the adoption of 210A to the City Council. Commissioner Gargis
seconded the motion. The motion did not pass by a vote of 2 ayes,
(Commissioner Gargis and Vice-Chairman Burke), and 3 nays (Commissioner Henderson, Commissioner Beckman, and
Commissioner Martin).
Commissioner Beckman made a motion for the
Planning Commission to recommend the adoption of 211A to the City Council.
Commissioner Martin seconded the motion. The motion failed by a vote of 2
ayes (Commissioner Beckman and Commissioner Martin), and 3 nays
(Commissioner Gargis, Commissioner Henderson and Vice-Chairman Burke).
Commissioner Henderson made a motion for the
Planning Commission to recommend keeping 203 and adding the provisions of
211A, along with an education program (to be done within one year), and
citizen involvement program to investigate grants and low interest loans
to the City Council. Commissioner Martin seconded the motion. The motion
failed by a vote of 1 aye (Commissioner Henderson) and 4 nays.
Vice-Chairman Burke made a motion to recommend the adoption of 210A.
Commissioner Gargis seconded the motion. The motion failed by a vote of 2
ayes (Commissioner Gargis and Vice-Chairman Burke) and 3 nays
(Commissioner Henderson, Commissioner Beckman and Commissioner Martin).
Commissioner Martin made a motion to
recommend the adoption of 210A and 211A to the City Council. Vice-Chairman
Burke seconded the motion. The motion passed by a vote of 3 ayes
(Commissioner Gargis, Vice-Chairman Burke and Commissioner Martin) and 2
nays. (Commissioner Henderson and Commissioner Beckman).
Vice-Chairman Burke made a motion to extend
the meeting from
8:30 pm
to 8:45 pm. Commissioner Beckman
seconded the motion. The motion passed by a unanimous vote.
9.
Unfinished/Old
Business – None
Scheduled
10.
New Business – None
Scheduled
11.
Unscheduled Items Not
Listed on the Agenda – None
12.
Adjournment
There
being no further business to come before the Planning Commission,
Commissioner Beckman made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner
Gargis seconded the motion. The motion passed by unanimous vote.
Planning Chairman
Lee Riechel adjourned the meeting of the Planning Commission at
8:37 pm
.
APPROVED BY THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON THE 8th
DAY OF NOVEMBER 2011.
[Signed copy
available at
Dunes
City Hall
]
Lee Riechel
, Planning Commission Chairman
ATTEST:
[Signed copy
available at
Dunes
City Hall
]
Fred Hilden,
City Recorder
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