CITY OF WHEELER REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
I.
CALL TO ORDER : 7:06 p.m.
II.
ROLL CALL : William Mullen, Loren Remy, Dave Bell, Geoff Wullschlager (Staff), Stevie Burden,
Karen Mathews (Excused), Virgil Staben (Resigned)
III.
Public Present: None
Media Present: None
IV.
CONSENT CALENDAR:
1. Additions or Deletions to Agenda: None
2. Wheeler City Council Minutes of: Accepted – Remy moved, Mullen 2nd. 3 Ayes, 0 Nays. Minutes
and consent agenda accepted
3. Financial Reports for: None
V.
PRESENTATIONS, GUESTS, ANNOUNCEMENTS AND CORRESPONDENCE:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Presentations: None
Guests: None
Announcements: None
Correspondence:
 Manzanita Department of Public Safety – General discussion as to the number of citations for the
year, it was discussed that the City is where it has been in the past year as to activity to date.
VI.
PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS None:
VII.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Planning Commission – Minutes for November 2014. No comments as minutes are the same as of last
month given that the Planning Commission is not meeting in December until after Council meeting.

Parks Committee – Minutes for November 2014. General discussion on lights for the train station for
the holidays, receipt of the serviceberry tree that was donated by citizen Faith Dorothy for Waterfront
Park and donations in general to the City. There was also discussion on Joe’s revamping of the irrigation
in Waterfront Park which is within budget.

Citizens Advisory Committee – Minutes for November 2014. The Council was brought up to speed on
the CAC’s completion of Goal 7 and the overall success that the Committee is experiencing getting
through the work in the process. The Council was informed that 5 goals remain to be addressed. The
addition of Patrick Wingard of DLCD as a contributing and guiding consultant was discussed. It was
asked if the Committee is on the path to meet its May 15th deadline, to which City Administration stated
that the Committee is, but reiterated that this is a soft deadline. It was mentioned as well that Patrick
could be brought in to update the Council if they would like.
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CITY OF WHEELER REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
VIII. CITY MANAGER & PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT REPORT
City Manager Report
There are a number of important updates to highlight this month, that while pertinent, are not yet at a developmental
phase, or place of executive action so as to be included under General Business for the December meeting. This notice is
to focus a new approach being employed by City Administration in the effort to keep “nice to know” matters apart from
“kneed to know”, or issues that require immediate deliberation or independent consideration before more time or
resources are expended. With that in mind, and in keeping with past format, please find below the issues and concerns of
importance for the December report.
Botts Marsh
There has been relatively little movement on the front of the future of Botts Marsh. As of this time, no new plans have
come forth. City Administration would like to report though, that the Governor’s Regional Solutions Team (GRST) for
our area has prioritized the City of Wheeler as a potential recipient of funding for planning purposes. While no action has
taken place as of yet, the GRST has informed the City that we are on the teams list of actions to be submitted to Salem for
funding. The suggestion made to the City is that this money could be awarded on the basis of our planning needs to assist
with developmental expenses associated with the progress of a Botts Marsh site in line with the City’s vision and OPRD
applications. This funding could potentially be up to $50,000. City Administration will keep the Council apprised of
developments in this sphere.
Stormwater
As discussed in our October and November meetings, the City has moved forward with initial consultation regarding the
stormwater capacity and outfall concerns in relation to our primary drainage. Initial discussions have begun with Mr.
Jason Morgan P.E., a civil engineer out of Manzanita. At the time of this report, no conclusive options have yet to be
discussed, but a meeting is scheduled between this record and the upcoming Council meeting.
Initial options that have been suggested by Mr. Morgan include a “capping” device that operates on pressure. This
potential solution would halt any backfilling of bay water into our primary drainage by the use of a pressure activated cap
on the end of the outfall. The question that remains is one of calculated capacity of the system during periods of heavy
use, and how much time the system could sit in reserve without outfall.
Daylighting and some other options such as a cap and relief valve model have been placed on the table, but the results
from the engineer’s initial assessment have yet to be received. These can be discussed in further detail during the meeting
as more information will be available at that time.
View of the West (VOW)
As of last month’s meeting, it was determined that there is little for the City to act on at this time, or until the City has
received an application or formal request from either the past or current owner of the VOW. We have received our first
formal application for a records search and transmittal by both the previous and current owners. It has been expressed to
both individuals that given the time and effort required, that both of these requests will fall under our administrative
service fees and documents are being compiled and prepared for submission. City Administration will keep the Council
apprised of any further application applied to the City for further work.
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CITY OF WHEELER REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
Zimmerman Marsh
There has not been any development as of this time with the owner of the North end of Zimmerman Marsh per last
month’s meeting. City Administration did recently speak with a representative of the Board for the Lower Nehalem Trust
though, and they too are aware of the property owner’s interests. Per the zoning issues discussed in last month’s meeting,
it was determined that an easement would be required for the property owner to fulfill their interests. While this still is of
consideration, the Trust’s directly adjacent property puts them in a position to maybe assist both parties in moving
forward with a potential interpretive center or other building in support of estuarine study and education. The Trust owns
two R1 lots directly adjacent to the Marsh property and they have expressed an initial interest in maybe working with both
the property owner and the City in developing this potential catalyst project.
Public Works Report:
Staff has met with Jason Morgan Engineering in regards to the reoccurring flood events in the basement
levels of The Old Wheeler, and Wheeler Station buildings.
Gervais Creek was diverted into a 36” concrete pipe back in the 1900’s and the storm water system has
been expanded several times through the years to funnel all runoff waters collected from the G2 drainage basin
listed in the Storm Water Master Plan into this same conduit. The G2 Basin is 30.2 acres of collection area
which includes 32 collection grates sprinkled on a hill side that rises 500’ in elevation. Most streets in this basin
are very steep and act as a conduit causing runoff waters to move downhill rapidly with no chance for soil
absorption.
During the meeting with Jason Morgan he spoke of consulting peak flow charts and that the collection
system is inadequate for 25 five year flood events which coincides with these flood events occurring every three
to five years. This problem has been studied in the past and suggestions to daylight Gervais Creek simply is too
costly of a solution. Jason Morgan has suggested trying to seal the manholes located behind these buildings and
utilizing flapper valves on the surrounding catch basins to increase some capacity in the collection system and
force over flow waters to a manhole located (maybe install new manhole) in the Water Front Park parking lot.
The cost of this plan would be much less than daylighting the creek but is predicated on the elevations of the
catch basins found on Gregory Street and Rorvik Streets in relation to the elevation of the proposed overflow
manhole at WFP.
The next step will be to determine those elevations. Staff has borrowed equipment from Nehalem Bay
Waste water to shoot the grades of all the rim elevations in the system to determine if this approach will be
successful. Staff also interviewed Sandy Sandhagen owner of the Wheeler Station, he reported that these events
occurred every couple years and that the length of each event lasted around one hour at peak high tide and that
the waters receded rapidly after the tide turned.
Staff will be meeting with Jason Morgan Engineering after the first of year with the data on the system
elevations and more discussion of the approach to mitigate this problem by sealing the manholes and forcing
water to be retained in the current system with a possible overflow in the WFP parking lot.
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CITY OF WHEELER REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
City Planner Report: none
IX.
PUBLIC HEARING: None
X.
GENERAL BUSINESS:
1. Old Business:
a. Law enforcement options:
City Administration discussed the ongoing interest in finding possible solutions to bringing more
enforcement ability to the City. City Administration stated that a discussion has begun with
Sheriff Andy Long as to maybe taking advantage of a potential 1.0 fte that could split amongst
several jurisdictions as to each organizations needs. Council asked if the discussion included
current police services leadership, to which it was expressed by City Administration that this is
only exploratory and was being put forth as an exploratory investigation as to how the City might
augment its current services for better community security, enforcement, and efficiency within
the City.
b. Holiday party:
City Administration stated that an executive decision was made to not hold a holiday party
during the current holiday season due to work load of City employees and cost. City Council
understood City Administration’s position and stated that it was in support of this decision due to
time and financial constraints.
1. New Business:
a. Water system meeting:
City Administration discussed with Council, an upcoming meeting with Manzanita City officials
in regards to the proposed CO2 system upgrade to our existing water system. It was decided that
Mayor Burden and Councilman Mullen would attend along with City Administration in meeting
with Manzanita.
b. Resolution 2014-18: A Resolution Regarding the Transfer of Appropriations:
General discussion about the reasoning for appropriations transfer. Councilman Bell moves to
adopt, Mullen 2nd. Vote: 3 Ayes, 0 Nays.
XI.
MAYOR AND COUNCILOR COMMENTS: None
XII.
ADJOURNMENT: 8:08
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CITY OF WHEELER REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
XIII. Executive Session: Pursuant to ORS 192.660
1. Call To Order: 8:11
2. Roll Call: Loren Remy, Dave Bell, William Mullen, Geoff Wullschlager (Staff) Stevie Burden.
3. Adjournment: 9:01
XIV. CALL TO ORDER : 9:02
XV.
ROLL CALL : William Mullen, Loren Remy, Dave Bell, Geoff Wullschlager (Staff), Stevie Burden.
XVI. GENERAL BUSINESS:
1. Old Business: None
2. New Business:
a. Motion to adopt action as discussed in Executive Session (Pursuant to ORS 192.660):
Remy makes motion, Bell 2nd. Aye’s 2, Nay’s 1. Motion passes.
XII.
ADJOURNMENT: 9:05
____________________________
Stevie S. Burden, Mayor
______________________________
City Manager, Geoff Wullschlager
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