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City administrator outlines economic-development gains, budget work and $15 million substation effort
Summary
City Administrator John Walsh briefed the council on economic-development partnerships, preparation of the proposed budget, urban renewal planning and a roughly $15 million PGE substation grant/loan effort tied to redevelopment of the mill site.
City Administrator John Walsh reported at the March 19 St. Helens council work session on a string of city efforts including economic-development partnerships, budget preparation, and work on a proposed electricity substation at the former mill site.
Walsh said the city continues to work with the Columbia Economic Team, which he described as an extension of the city’s economic-development work and credited with expanding local support for small businesses, countywide tourism efforts and the small-business development center. He said the city has participated in a Growing Rural Oregon grant program to support local entrepreneurs and noted wayfinding signage downtown to assist visitors during construction.
On budget work, Walsh said department heads are meeting with staff to prepare the proposed budget and that the first formal budget meeting is scheduled for May. He said the city will hold an urban renewal board meeting April 2 to elect leadership and process an administrative budget amendment for Riverwalk and streets-and-utilities financing.
Walsh briefed the council on a potential substation project at the mill site that he said involves a mix of loan and grant funds through Pacific Gas & Electric and Business Oregon; he described the total project figure as about $15,000,000 and said a substantial portion would be grant money. He said work continues with state and federal grant requests tied to water-reservoir capacity as well.
Walsh also said management is preparing a streamlined monthly council-report template that would highlight division operations, staffing changes, project status and upcoming events; the template was on the council’s evening agenda for approval and would go into use after council action.
Other items Walsh listed included ongoing environmental review and work with the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality on the Arcadia property closing, upcoming union negotiations for public-employee contracts, and an internal compensation analysis using statutory comparables. He said staff are planning a grand reopening celebration for the Riverwalk and related street projects and that city representatives will attend a state water caucus to seek resources for reservoir capacity needs.
No formal council votes on the proposed budget, urban renewal items or the substation were recorded in the work-session excerpt provided; staff said additional meetings and formal agenda items would follow.
