Ontario City Council ponders road upgrade
Possible infusion of funds from federal government will be key to success of venture

By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 10:50 AM PST

Ontario — The Ontario City Council discussed potential plans to rehabilitate North Oregon Street, appointed two local women to the recreation board and declared November to be National Runaway Prevention month at its meeting Monday night.

In the first topic for open discussion, Ontario Public Works Director Chuck Mickelson highlighted plans to apply for a congressional economic stimulus grant to rehabilitate North Oregon Street from West Idaho Avenue to Northwest First Street.

The economic stimulus bill, which was passed by the United State House of Representatives, included $12.8 billion for the federal-aid highway program; $3.6 billion for transit; and $600 million for airport capital improvement projects. The Senate bill, which included $8 billion for the highway program; $2 billion for transit; and $400 million for airport capital improvement projects failed. However, in a “lame duck” session which began Monday, Congress is slated to continue to discuss the issue, the Associated Press reported Sunday.

Mickelson said he has been in talks with Oregon Department of Transportation Region 5 Manager Monte Grove, who said there are nearly a billion dollars worth of infrastructure work that could be done in Oregon if Congress releases the money.

Monday, Mickelson said he wanted to work quickly to try to get the North Oregon Street project “on the list” for the federal money if it ever becomes available.

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He also said he plans to speak with firms pre-selected by ODOT in order to get an estimate for the project by Feb. 1, the due date to apply for the congressional money. He said the funding for the estimate would probably come from the city, an idea Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick supported because these plans would still be “current” in the future “with only minimal changes.”

Mickelson said the project would involve grinding down and re-paving North Oregon Street. The project would also add curb, gutter and sidewalks to the street.

“As we all know, North Oregon is a mess,” Mickelson said.

At the council’s work session on Thursday, both Dominick and Ontario City Manager Henry Lawrence expressed concern about the ruts in the street. Dominick said people on motorcycles familiar with the street often choose to avoid it altogether.

Mickelson said he would return to the council in the future with a contract for the estimate, though he did not offer a specific date.

The council also heard from Lawrence regarding the transition of library operations to the library district. Lawrence said the city’s budget for the library expires in June. However, there is a time gap from then until property taxes are received in November.

Lawrence said the time/funding gap could potentially be rectified by the library board opting to take out a bridge loan to cover their finances for that period. He also said he plans to attend the library board’s meeting in December and should have future updates for the council after that meeting.

The council also approved the addition of two women for the Ontario recreation board: Megan Brown-Cook and Maggie Wood. Brown-Cook currently is part-business owner of Stan’s Heating in Ontario, and Wood is a retired local teacher.

In other council action:

— The council approved a proclamation declaring November to be National Runaway Prevention month. At the meeting, Dominick said the action was to “increase awareness of the issues that face the 2.8 million youth who run away from home yearly and to educate the public about the solutions and the role they can play in preventing youth from running away.”

— The council also voted to declare May 10 through May 17 as Disabled Veterans Week. Dominick said this action was voted on at Monday’s meeting because Disabled American Veterans (DAV) organization is interested in grants to help fund the DAV Oregon Department’s 2009 State Convention, which will be held in Ontario.