Ontario council formally OK’s resignation of councilman

By Katie Pizza
Argus Observer
Tuesday, December 16, 2008 9:59 AM PST

Ontario — The Ontario City Council accepted the resignation of a city councilman and heard an update regarding a potential revamp of the Ontario Train Depot’s second story at its meeting Monday night.

Ontario City Recorder Tori Barnett again informed the council of the need to accept Ontario City Councilman Bruce Tuttle’s resignation.

“Although we don’t want to, we kind of have to because he’s not coming back obviously,” she said.

The motion to accept the resignation was passed.

Ontario Mayor Joe Dominick expressed support for Ontario City Councilman John Gaskill taking the seat, though Gaskill would not be eligible to assume the position until his current term expires at the end of this year. Gaskill said he would be interested in the position but felt that it was up to the public to voice its opinion about the next course of action. Gaskill invited the public to take the time period from now until the council’s next meeting Jan. 5 to express views on the subject. Dominick also said any residents interested in the position should submit a letter of interest.

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City councilors also heard from Ontario Basque Club representative and Vale resident Frank Yraguen regarding planned work on the Ontario Train Depot, a portion of which is currently leased from the city by the club.

The club has spent $15,000 to build new stairs in the south end of the depot leading to the second floor, which was originally built to serve as the station master’s quarters.

The club also spent $2,644 to install insulated windows on the second floor.

Now the Basque Club would like to add heating and cooling, seal the second story walls, as well as add additional framework to the second floor. 

However, Ontario City Manager Henry Lawrence said he would like to see a copy of plans submitted by architects Robert J. Smith and Martin T. Hasegawa in the 1990s. Lawrence said this information is important because of building codes, and the city should request the same information regarding a city-owned property as it would from any member of the private sector.

However, Yraguen was concerned the Basque Club would have to foot the bill for an entirely new set of plans, rather than just simply use the ones created in the 1990s. Lawrence said he had not seen the 1990s plans in their entirety and he would look at those plans to see what information could be used.

Another issue is  the club’s 99-year lease does not include the second-story portion, and Yraguen asserted it is owned by the Ontario Train Depot Restoration Committee.

The council discussed adding an ammendum to the Basque Club’s lease which would formally give the club the ability to conduct continued maintenance, repair, and improvement of the Ontario Train Depot.

Yraguen and Ontario City Attorney Larry Sullivan said they had not seen any formal paperwork regarding the Ontario Train Depot Restoration Committee’s responsibility for the maintenance, repair and improvement of the structure. Dominick referred the issue to Lawrence who said more research into the issue was in order.

Yraguen said the club did not want to spend money hiring an engineer or architect to approve the project.

“Just so you realize, we don’t have to spend this money,” Yraguen said, referring to the upgrades to the facility.

Lawrence said he would continue to meet with Yraguen on the lease issue.

In other council news:

— Councilmembers opted to table discussion regarding increasing fees for city cemeteries. Ontario Councilman Dan Cummings said other cities, such as Vale and Nyssa, have a cemetery district which helps to fund the cemeteries. However, he could not find any information that Ontario has such a district, leaving taxpayers footing some of the cost when someone from outside the city is buried in the city cemetery. Ontario Parks and Recreation Director said she would look for more information regarding how the cemetery is subsidized.