City Council, February 4, 2020—Council held a study session on its regional water rights strategy led by City Administrator Jeff Alvis with assistance from Ed Olson from Varius Engineering (former Medford Water Commission Manager). Mr. Alvis discussed the history of Jacksonville’s water supply and related water rights, the current status of water rights, a proposed county-wide partnership to coordinate certification of water rights and how to protect future supply as well as the next steps in the process.

Council also learned about revisions to the Jackson County Deadly Force Plan, which was originally adopted in June 2008. The Jackson County Commissioners held a public hearing in August 2019 on the matter, at which time there were no public comments. The plan has been approved by the County Commissioners and must now be forwarded to all county governing bodies before being submitted to the Attorney General’s office for approval. A copy of the plan is available on the city website.

Council approved the following committee and commission appointments:

Planning Commission:

Roger Thom–January 2017–December 2020, Jim Whitlock–January 2017–December 2020, Michael Card–January 2019–December 2022, Mark Thomas–January 2020–December 2023, Brad Bennington–January 2020–December 2023.

HARC:

Trish Murdoch–January 2018–December 2021, Sally Melgard–January 2019–December 2021, Penni Viets–January 2020–December 2023, Jack Akin –January 2020–December 2023.

Budget Committee:

Mayor and City Councilors plus Larry Smith–January 2018–December 2020, Brad Bennington–January 2019–December 2020, Omer Kem–January 2018 –December 2020, Eric Rogers–January 2019–December 2021, Lori Buerk–November 2019–December 2021, Mark Thomas–January 2020–December 2022.

Transient Lodging:

Whitman Parker–January 2018–December 2021, Jerry Evans–January 2018–December 2021, Mike Thornton –January 2019–December 2022, Robert Roos–January 2019–December 2022, Duane Sturm–January 2020-December 2023.

Committee for Citizen Involvement:

Andrea Thompson–February 2018 –December 2021, Jason Reilly–February 2018–December 2021, Linda Graham–February 2018–December 2023, Whitman Parker–February 2018 –December 2021, Jason Williams–January 2020–December 2023, Tom Pratum–January 2020–December 2023.

Parking Committee: Inactive as of January 8, 2019

Parks and Visitors Services Committee:

Kristin Sullivan–January2019–December 2022, Gary Sprague–January 2018–December 2021, Kristin Schwartz– January 2019 –December 2022, Omer Kem–January 2019–December 2022, Jessica Prins–January 2018–December 2021.