Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Comment Infrastructure topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents press council on sewer backups, contractor delays; meeting includes tribute to longtime volunteer
Summary
During public comment residents criticized the Gonzales report and complained of basement flooding and an unfinished contractor site; the council also observed a prayer and remembrance for longtime volunteer Rick Schmidt.
Lebanon — Residents used the public‑comment period at the Oct. 27 Lebanon City Council meeting to press the council on local sewer backups and a stalled contractor, and the meeting paused for a remembrance and prayer for longtime volunteer Rick Schmidt.
A resident who addressed the council raised detailed concerns about the Gonzales report and said she believed it lacked the necessary information to justify the recommendations. She told the council she believed the review was ‘‘a bunch of wasted money’’ and that “neither 1 of those alternatives meet the requirements set forth by the city.” (Resident)
Another resident described ongoing construction problems at 53400 Street, saying the contractor left saturated straw bales and ungraded dirt that will not support grass before winter. “The rotted straw bales that are around my property … they're saturated,” the speaker said, and warned that unaddressed debris could plug local waterways and cause additional flooding. (Resident)
Council and staff acknowledged the public concerns and spent substantial time later in the meeting discussing the Hunter Street lift station and how engineering assumptions and missing measurements contributed to uncertainty about the best corrective approach.
The council also heard an announcement that longtime local volunteer Rick Schmidt had died. A participant recalled Schmidt’s many years of volunteer service, including work with holiday events, and offered a brief prayer; the council and attendees said Amen. (Resident)
Why it matters: The public comments underscore that sewer backups and contractor performance are tangible, ongoing community concerns for affected homeowners. The concerns fed into the council’s later technical debate about the Hunter Street project.
Next steps: Council members asked staff to monitor drainage and contractor performance and to follow up on the engineering and procurement items discussed later in the agenda.
