CRESWELL – It was an active City Council meeting this past week as a local business bought more land on Oregon Avenue, two volunteers signed on to committees, the judge penned an abatement warrant, and Amy Knudsen accepted another year as council president.
Brothers Plumbing Inc. was granted more room to grow on Monday after council voted to sell the surplus property at 575 W. Oregon Ave. Owners Chad and Richard Lybarger will buy the .19-acre parcel next to their existing business bordering the property for $33,000.
City council in October 2016 surplused the property and changed the density from low-density residential and public facility to general commercial, excluding one parcel that remained designated as a public facility.
From this rezoning, properties were created to include one lot with the Public Works building; one lot providing fire access to neighboring properties and access to the City’s bulk water facility; one flag lot retained for a future medical clinic; and one lot to be sold.
Brothers Plumbing in December 2017 bought the old Public Works building for $98,051.24 and in fall 2019 saw an opportunity when the remaining parcel was listed for sale at $37,350.
After negotiations, Brothers Plumbing was awarded the property for $4,350 under the listed price.
In other news, two appointments were made to vacant seats on city committees.
Christina ”Christine” Coursey, of Creswell, interviewed for both the Water Rate Advisory and Budget committees, and was appointed to the latter.
Coursey operates financial services and is a bookkeeper at Beau Delicious International LLC (the Cafe Yum restaurant chain) and puts together annual budgets for 13 of those restaurants, she said during her interview.
Coursey has lived in Creswell for 3.5 years. She finished her undergraduate degree in accounting in December 2019 and said that, while she is green to working on this sort of committee, she would like to volunteer more and has relevant financial experience.
Also at the meeting, Robert Jackson interviewed and was appointed to the Water Rate Advisory Committee.
Jackson, of Creswell, is a customer service lead at The Register-Guard and serves on the Creswell Budget Committee. Jackson said that through his work on the budget committee, he has learned the requirements for operating water and sewer in the city and has developed an interest in the subject.
He has taken accounting and business classes at Lane Community College and said he wants to better understand the rate structure for water and sewer billing, and to ”bring an open mind to the committee and assist in keeping rates affordable while still maintaining good infrastructure.”
In other business:
– Council President Amy Knudsen was unanimously re-elected council president for 2020;
– City Manager Michelle Amberg announced that Judge Scott Palmer signed a warrant allowing the City to enter the property to complete the abatement at the Whistle Stop building. The City has 14 days to act on the warrant;
– Carol Pryor resigned from the Tree and Park Committee. There is a vacant position on that committee.
The next city council meeting is a work session and will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 27 at City Hall. The public is encouraged to attend.
