By Anne Scheck

The best practices for reducing chronic homelessness, including how cities can work together to provide effective support services, is one of the issues slated for a joint meeting of the Independence and Monmouth city councils, Tuesday. The presentation “Continuum of Care,” which is being held as a “work session,” will be given by staff of the Mid-Willamette Valley Council of Governments. 
 
The meeting will be held at 5:30 pm in the conference room of Polk County Fire District One, 1800 Monmouth St. The Independence City Council meeting will follow, at its usual time of 6:30 pm.

A bank line-of-credit sought by MINET was denied, but that isn’t the reason for delay in some upgrades to the system, according to MINET’s chief executive. "While it is true that MINET did not receive approval for a recent commercial credit application, it is due to a world-wide hardware shortage of the required equipment that forced our 'escalated' GPON equipment purchases into our (MINET's) new fiscal year,” explained Don Patten, general manager of MINET.
 
 “As such, our not having commercial credit resources available to us neither factored into our current upgrade timeline nor is it playing a consequential factor in our cities’ debt support forecasting,” he added. (Below, see brief editorial related to this issue, “Taking the Reins.”)

A federal grant submitted to help Independence become a designated Agricultural-Technology hub will be reported in the May issue of The Independent. A grant for $650,000 has been submitted, and it requires matching funds by the city, in cash or in-kind services.  But most of those matching funds are pledged to come from about a dozen “partner organizations,” explained Shawn Irvine, the city’s economic development director. “The project is to create a three-year program of pilot projects, entrepreneurship and innovation events and workforce development programs,” he explained. The goal: To build local tech-oriented businesses and remote work opportunities. 

This past week, when it was reported that MINET had been denied a line of credit by a bank, it seemed obvious news. Anyone who carefully follows the actions of the homegrown municipal broadband could have learned of it. However, because this was attributed to Independence City Manager Tom Pessemier in The Linking Letter, it seemed surprising to some. But why? Perhaps it’s a signal such clarity is worthy of attention. 
 
To reiterate what has been reported before: Independence has a debt approaching $37 million with a population of around 10,000. Any development related to the city’s co-owned broadband company – whether it’s a bank-declined line of credit or a shortage of technology – should be public knowledge. So, as Mr. Pessemier takes the reins of our city, I hope he’ll keep riding as a straight-shooter on what is sure to be a rough mount. It’s an aim from which we all can benefit.  

New water rights were purchased this spring by Independence – and apart from the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars -- there are some looming regulatory issues ahead, according to Oregon experts who spoke recently at a regional meeting on the topic. The July issue of The Independent will take a look at the possible ramifications of new policies relating to water use in the Mid-Willamette Valley.

By Anne Scheck

Outside funding being sought by MINET to finance new technology for its system has fallen through, delaying some upgrades for the municipal broadband, Independence City Manager Tom Pessemier announced at the last city council Meeting. 
 
“It turned out MINET was not able to get that funding,” said Mr. Pessemier. The city council had voted to guarantee a line of credit for $350,000 to MINET – an action not needed until a loan is secured. 

A protocol for dealing with fast-rising waters of the Willamette River will be followed in the future, preventing “portable potty” bathrooms at Riverview Park from being dislodged under such circumstances, City Manager Tom Pessemier said in a report at the city council meeting.
 
The public works team at the city – which scrambled to clear culverts, storm drains and remove the boat dock – is developing a protocol that will be followed in the future when increasing water threatens to “reach action levels,” he said, adding that it wasn't expected to do so recently -- but did. 
 
Residents who snapped pictures of the submerged parking lot and water-covered park grounds had expressed worry over possible fecal contaminants from the park's temporary restrooms -- playground equipment was exposed to the roiling water.  

A federal grant of $650,000 dollars, which also will require matching funds in either cash or in-kind services, is being sought by the city for its move to build an agricultural technology hub. 
 
The hub would be housed at Indy Commons, with other locations also providing space, said Shawn Irvine, economic development director. 
 
The city was one of only 11 chosen by an East Coast-based non-profit for providing assistance in submitting the application for the federal grant. (The effort will be covered in more detail in the May 1 issue of The Independent.) 

This Tuesday there will be a joint work-session & council meeting with Monmouth City Council and Independence City Council at the Polk County Fire Station, Monmouth Avenue, 5:30 p.m.

Objections voiced by Mayor John McArdle at the last city council meeting -- over a legislative bill that would mean multi-family housing could be placed in zones once reserved for single-family homes -- may pass, Mayor McArdle acknowledged. “We’ve had extensive conversations,” he said, noting that the new law could have significant impact on the city. “Many legislators have no understanding of how local governments and cities work – that is as polite as I can be,” he said.

By Anne Scheck

An estimated $800,000 for a neighborhood park in Sunset Meadows, the newest subdivision in Independence, is too costly to pay all at once – so the park will be built in phases, according to Shawn Irvine, economic development director for City of Independence. 
 
A resolution for approving the park is on the agenda at tonight’s city council meeting.
 
The forecast in the master plan – which comes to nearly a million dollars with additional interest and other costs – means it is unable to be immediately constructed, said Mr. Irvine, who was asked about the cost projections at the last city council meeting. So the park will be built in stages over several years, he said.
 
Plans for the park make it the most linear in the city; It is slated for a slice of land between back yards of a relatively new city block. Aside from homeowners who have direct backyard access, park entrances will be placed between house-lots on Maple and Chestnut streets. 
 
Sunset Meadows Park will feature a nature-play area and a pedestrian pathway that leads from one entrance to the other. 

A state law that allows at least one accessory dwelling unit (ADU) to be built for each home in areas previously zoned for single-family housing has some cities scrambling to enact new local provisions for the option. So far, the nearby towns of Corvallis, Salem and Monmouth have passed special guidelines for the construction of these smaller units, often called “guest cottages” or “grandparent flats.” Independence has an existing provision for ADUs.
 
Without specifically-tailored local ordinances, home-made “tiny houses” in yards and trailers in driveways could conceivably be claimed as an ADU, depending on code interpretation, according to a 2018 audit that looked at previous zoning by cities for ADUs.

The 2020 census is on its way – and this one is cyber-ready. Individuals will have a higher-tech option this time around, allowing them to complete the census "self-response" questions online. For those who don’t want to use the internet, the census also can be taken by filling out a form or by phone, according to a state report on the pending count. 
 
In Independence, the census may help determine whether the city’s population is accurately listed by the Population Research Center at Portland State University, which tracks Oregon cities (and puts Independence at 9,370) or whether it more closely matches the current estimate at just above 10,000 in the federal database.

For the month of April, Independence Police Officers will be working extra patrol shifts to detect distracted drivers. This operation is being made possible as a result of a “Distracted Driving” grant from the Oregon Department of Transportation. In the past, some of these incidents have turned out to be a driver on a cellphone,  a driver focused on eating a sandwich or a driver drinking (or spilling!) a cup of coffee – but all can lead to unsafe driving, which often precedes an accident, according to the Independence Police Department.