July 2 & 16 City Council Meetings
At the 7/2 meeting, Mayor Paul Becker opened the meeting by thanking the community for their outpouring of support following his recent heart attack. Please read his commentary on the matter in his August 2019 “A Few Minutes with the Mayor” column. The Mayor also thanked Councilor David Jesser for his 13+ years of public service following Mr. Jesser’s resignation from council.
In Staff Reports, Administrator Jeff Alvis reported that the Medford Water Commission is raising its Systems Development Charges for new commercial and residential construction. He noted that building plans for the exterior elevator and stairs at New City Hall were available for public review. At its 7/16 meeting, council approved an expenditure of approximately $140,000 from the Urban Renewal fund for exterior concrete and steel stair egress work as a part of the installation of an elevator to service the second floor. Cost estimates for the elevator will be available soon.
In other council business, a request to remove a model train display from the upper floor of the Art Presence Art Center (formerly the Children’s Museum) was approved. Anne Brooke, director of the non-profit artists group, was on-hand to discuss the matter with council and staff. The train display will stay in Jacksonville and be relocated to the Bigham Knoll Campus, thanks to a generous offer by Mel & Brooke Ashland to re-house and re-purpose the display. Anne Brooke had noted that after an exhaustive search, no buyer could be found for the train display. It is expected that the display will be recreated in a to-be-constructed train museum on the campus. The campus is also home to the “Tea Kettle Steam Engine #1,” one of the most historic railroad artifacts on the West Coast that the Ashland’s purchased several years ago in their ongoing effort to preserve Jacksonville’s buildings, history and artifacts.
On 7/2, Council attempted to fill the vacant seat held by David Jesser. With no formal rules on filling the spot, council opted to select from three citizens who’d submitted letters of interest for filling the post. All are currently serving in significant roles on various city committees and commissions, an attribute the Council agreed would benefit the city. After casting their votes, a 3-3 tie between Omer Kem and Mike McClain resulted. At its July 16 meeting, Council again deliberated before breaking the tie by selecting Mike McClain in a 4-2 vote.
On 7/16, Planner Ian Foster presented council and staff with a nearly-completed revision of Chapter One of the Comprehensive Plan. After another review by the Planning Commission, the chapter will be adopted on a first-reading on August 6 and then formally codified at the August 20 council meeting.