By Sarah Brown
Lebanon Local
The City Council on June 9 approved the annexation of a 0.92-acre lot at 800 Kees St., to be used as part of a subdivision that will be developed by the Lebanon High School construction class, at its June 9 meeting.
The approval also included the reestablishment of the parcel as a Residential Mixed Density zone.
Included in the proposal for annexation is a 12-lot subdivision for residential purposes on that lot and the lot to its east. The lot to the east is already within city limits. The combined lots total 1.84 acres, and a private street will be constructed down the center of the subdivision.
“The private street will operate much like a public street. It will have a sidewalk, and also an ability to park, providing great pedestrian and traffic access to Kees,” said Laura LaRoque, of Udell Engineering and Land Surveying, during a Planning Commission meeting on the subject, May 19.
The lot sizes are intended to accommodate single-family detached residential units and duplexes.
Lebanon Community School District, the applicant, will allow teacher Eric Frazier’s construction class to build homes in the development, which will be called Phillips Estates, named after the Phillipses, who’ve owned the property since 1946.
Frazier anticipates his classes will complete at least one house a year, so the property will provide plenty of work experience opportunities for his students for the next decade.
It’s a big project considering his class started with one house two years ago, and a duplex last year, but it was an opportunity Frazier couldn’t pass up, he said.
“The price was right and the location was premium,” Frazier said, noting the high school is only a couple blocks away.
Groundbreaking is expected to be in September. That means Frazier’s summer will be spent preparing the land for infrastructure, he said.
The homes will be sold on the market, and profit from the sales goes back into the construction program.
“It’s a great opportunity for kids,” Frazier said. “It’s not about the money; it’s much more about the personal impact. A lot of kids that I have that aren’t great academic students will become phenomenal builders.”
In other business, the council:
♦ Approved an intergovernmental agreement between the cities of Lebanon, Sweet Home and Brownsville, and the fire districts for Lebanon, Sweet Home and Brownsville to select a consultant for review and recommendation of disaster management plan improvements.
♦ Appointed nominees on various city advisory committees for positions that open July 1. Tom Wells was re-appointed to the Budget Committee; there are still three vacancies.
Bonnie Stalker was appointed, and Denice Lee was re-appointed, to the Library Advisory Committee; there are still two vacancies.
Chad Munn was appointed, and Todd Prenoveau and Jeremy Salvage were re-appointed, to the Planning Commission; there are still three vacancies.
Wendy Nilsen was appointed to the Senior and Disabled Services Advisory Commission.
Rick Barnett and Rod Sell were re-appointed to the Trees and Trails Advisory Committee.
♦ Approved a resolution to disperse a budgeted $220,000 collected from beer and wine state taxes to the following services: police; water utility; sanitary sewers; storm sewers; street construction, maintenance and lighting; and planning, zoning and subdivision control.
♦ Approved a resolution to levy taxes provided for in the adopted budget at the rate of $5.1364 per $1,000 and make appropriations to the city’s fiscal year 2021-22 budget.
♦ Approved a resolution to levy taxes and make appropriations to Lebanon Urban Renewal Agency’s fiscal year 2021-22 budget.
♦ Approved changes in the General Fund to adjust about $32,000 to the Community Development Department, $35,000 to the CDBG housing rehabilitation grant, and increase appropriations to pay the CET to the school district.
Appropriations were also increased for the Motel Tax fund, and for the pension obligation bond for Information System Services Fund and Custodial & Maintenance Services Fund.
♦ Entered into agreement with Kennedy Jenks Consultants, Inc., to provide engineering consultant services to the City of Lebanon for the wastewater treatment plant. Kennedy Jenks will prepare a Wastewater Treatment Plant Facility Master Plan, which is expected to be completed by December 2022.
♦ Awarded the River Road Reconstruction Project to RJ Armstrong & Associates Construction Inc., which will provide maintenance to a section between Franklin and Garvord streets.
♦ Approved a contract to adjust the cost-of-living rate of pay for Judge Gerald Waite, who has not received an increase in his contract for four years. The new two-year contract includes a $100 per month increase for the first year, and an additional $100 increase per month for the second year.
♦ Adopted an ordinance to rename the Senior Center Trust Fund to the Senior Center Donation Fund in the municipal code.