– Topics –
- City Council
– City Council –
Attendance
Present: Mayor Slack, Council President Briggs, Councilors Barrientos, Blosser, Fitzgerald, Jantz, Schilling, Shein, and Spivey.
Absent: Councilor Virden
Introductions, Recognitions, Proclamations
None.
Public Comment
- Dallas Resident
- Voiced concern about national politics and current events.
- Complained about local sewer rates.
- Dallas Resident
- Thanked the Mayor for attending Sen. Merkley’s townhall special session with city leaders.
- Asked the Council in email how the city plans to honor and celebrate women
- 1 Councilor responded
- Stating women are celebrated everyday, but the city doesn’t recognize or promote special months.
- Councilor asked the Resident to share some ideas
- Resident suggested to publicly recognize women serving on the Council or women who have made significant contributions to the city.
- 1 Councilor responded
- Dallas Resident
- Read a statement detailing growing up in Dallas and coming back to Dallas to start her family.
- Spoke about the challenges faced after adopting son with disabilities.
- Time finished before the statement’s completion
- Resident submitted full comments for the record
- Dallas Business Owner
- Complimented City Staff based on a recent interaction in the Finance Department.
- Reminded how well the city has been running for the last 10 years
- Recalled a more “tumultuous” Council previously.
- Thanked the City Manager, Police, and Fire & EMS Chief’s for their contribution in running the city well.
Consent Agenda
What’s on the consent agenda?
- Approve the February 18, 2025 Work Session Minutes
- Approve the February 18, 2025 City Council Meeting Minutes
- Approve the February 22, 2025 Work Session Minutes
What happened? This passed unanimously, with no additional conversation.
Mayor and council Reports
State of the City – 2025
Mayor Slack highlighted different projects across the city designed to increase the quality of life for Dallas residents in his 1st State of the City Address.
Our community is on a path of growth and improvement…
– Mayor Slack, State of the City 2025
Projects like the new Dam, John Barnard Park, the Mill Site redevelopment, Police station, and the La Creole Node project were mentioned.
… the City of Dallas is poised for a future of promise and prosperity. Each of these projects reflects our commitment to enhancing the quality of life for all our residents. I encourage everyone to stay informed and engaged as we work together to build a stronger, more vibrant, Dallas.
– Mayor Slack, State of the City 2025
Full text of the speech and video of the speech (starting at the speech’s beginning) below.
City Manager report
Firefighter Medical Physicals
Dallas Fire & EMS employees are currently only given a medical physical when they are hired. Dallas Firefighter and Paramedic, Jeremiah Gerber presented to the council the importance of getting full medical physicals offered through the LifeScan program.
As a new father to a 10 month old daughter, Gerber wants to see his daughter grow up and doesn’t want his job to be the reason he doesn’t come home one day.
What will this cost? For 34 employees (full & part time) it’s estimated to cost $33,694. Additional costs for suppression volunteers is not know yet. The program will provide medical physicals for all employees over the next 3 years.
What happened? There was no action taken, as this was information for the Council only. The City Manager mentioned this cost will be worked into the budget this year.
Dallas Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center Annual Report
Sarah Owre, President of the Dallas Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center presented the annual report to the Council. Owre gave special thanks to the previous President, Sam Dufner for his time on the board and his work in building the Chamber to what it is today.
Councilor Shein, who also serves on the Chamber board, spoke briefly about the Chamber’s history. Also thanked Dufner for his work with group.
- What do they do?
- Dallas Chamber of Commerce
- “Exists to improve our community, one business at a time.”
- Visitor Center
- “Exists to stimulate our economy, commerce, growth, and tourism.”
- Dallas Chamber of Commerce
Owre noted the Chamber is a non-partisan group that exists for businesses.
“If it’s good for business, we are for it. If it is bad for business, we are not for it.”
– Sarah Owre, President Dallas Chamber of Commerce
Several members of the Chamber’s board were introduced to the Council. Owre noted the wide range of industries that are represented on the board.
- Industries represented on the Chamber’s Board
- Insurance
- Winery
- Real Estate
- Marketing
- Banking/Finance
- Resturants
- Non-Profits
- HVAC
Where will the new Visitor’s Center be? 184 SE Oak St, Dallas, OR 97338. It will have office space for the Chamber and Dallas Downtown Association. There will also be a meeting space available for businesses to use.
Follow the money – Sarrah McMaster, Treasurer of the Chamber presented the financial report to the Council. The report details how they will spend the $60,000 provided each year by the city from the Transient Lodging Tax.
Ordinance reading
No. 1904 – Placement of solid waste and recycling receptacles
The Council heard the 2nd reading of an ordinance that will make changes to the placement of waste and recycling bins in the city code.
What will the change do?
- It would require waste receptacles to be placed on the street level of a right-of-way and within four feet of a curb.
- Where no curbing exists, the receptacles would need to be placed at the edge of the street surface but outside of any vehicle travel lanes.
Staff report, pg. 44 of the council agenda
What happened? The council passed the 2nd reading of the ordinance. They voted 8-0 to adopt the ordinance. It now becomes effective on April 2, 2025.
VOTE BREAKDOWN
For: Council President Briggs, Councilors Barrientos, Blosser, Fitzgerald, Jantz, Schilling, Shein, and Spivey.
Against: None
– More Information –
- Work session full agenda
- Work session YouTube video archive
