City looks at setting funds aside for bandshell performances next year

The city of Medford is taking steps now to make sure that when the new bandshell is built in the city park, it will be used throughout the season.

At Monday’s city council committee of the whole meeting, members approved setting aside 1% of the city’s room tax revenues to go into a nonlapsing fund to have money to compensate bands using the stage.

City coordinator Joe Harris explained that having the fund would allow them to have money on hand to pay a local band or group to perform. He noted that it is not a lot of money and that they would focus on getting local bands and groups. He said the goal would be to have music on the stage at least once a month in May, June, July and September. He noted this would be separate from Parkfest which happens in August.

While supporting the idea of making sure there was music in the park to use the new performance space, council member Mike Bub questioned if it would be just duplicating the efforts of the hotel/motel room tax committee.

Like many municipalities around the state, the city enacts a special sales tax on hotel and motel rooms with the funds generated to go toward tourism-related expenses and promotions. In Medford, 15% of the money collected is retained for city operations while 85% goes toward grants to individual groups bringing in events. Bub suggested a better option would be to direct the commission which controls those grants to set aside 1% for bands. This also raised the question of who would select the bands.

“Just because I like a certain brand of music doesn’t mean everyone else would,” Harris said, noting that his goal was to get the funding set up and then set up how bands or performers would be chosen.

“I think it is a good idea to have something in that band shell,” said council member Peggy Kraschnewski.

Bub agreed, but said he didn’t see the need to duplicate what was in place.

Bub said he thinks the city should find a group willing to have the concerts twice a month. “I think we should find that group before we set money aside,” he said.

Bub said he would like to find a group to be the coordinator to be there on a regular basis, similar to how the performing arts group gets performers at the high school. The amount available at 1% of the room tax fund is between $400 and $500 per year.

At this point, Mayor Mike Wellner said they want to set aside the money and said who manages it in the future is a different conversation. Committee members voted unanimously to set aside the money for bringing performers to the new bandshell.

Sewer plant work

The city of Medford will hire Short Elliott Hendrickson (SEH) to design a new headworks for the city’s wastewater treatment plant. The design work will cost $461,000 with the money to come from the utility’s capital improvement fund.

The design work is to be prepared for a potential future project and be able to submit for grant and state funding opportunities. Harris noted these require the engineering to be 90% or more complete before submitting. The cost of the eventual project is projected to be about $3 million.

The headworks are where waste enters the treatment plant and the debris is cleared out before processing begins. Harris explained that as part of the project, they would seek to create a holding tank for septic haulers to dump their waste where it could be screened before being fed into the plant. He said this would help get rid of the rocks, tools, clothing and even 2x4s that have ended up in the plant. He said it would also give the treatment plant the ability to regulate when the septic waste would be fed into the treatment plant system in order to ensure a consistent flow which will lead to better plant operations.

Bub raised concern that he did not think city utility customers should be paying for plant upgrades that will primarily benefit septic hauling customers. Harris explained that in recent years they have raised rates for haulers and been able to keep city rates the same. It was also noted that with it easier for haulers to use the plant, they could bring more waste in and increase revenues. He noted the two local haulers are bringing in about 200,000 gallons a month to the plant and estimated it would be about a five year payback on the project.

The proposed new tank is just one part of the headworks. The overall structure will primarily serve city utility customers.

The plans will be prepared by next spring to allow the city to submit for the next grant cycle on May 1, 2024.

Records fees

Getting public records from the city of Medford may soon cost more.

Committee members recommended increasing the fee charged to search for records from $29 per hour to $40 per hour. According to city clerk Ashley Lemke, the amount is a combination of hourly wage costs for the office staff at city hall and herself. In addition requests must be made in writing.

There is no fee for records searches that take under 15 minutes, which most records searches do because of the computerized files. However, she said the city and other municipalities have been hit with election-related requests that are going back years that are very time consuming. She noted it was a specific individual making these requests in many cases and not wanting to pay for the records searches.

“They are very outlandish,” she said of the request. “The same person doing the same stuff over and over again.” She said it has become a statewide issue with the same individual. She noted that one request is currently still awaiting a response from the city’s attorney because it is for election records going back beyond which the city is required to keep.

In other business committee members: Received a report on PFAS chemical levels in the city water supply. A change in state rules requires the quarterly testing for the chemicals. According to Harris, there were no PFAS detected on some of the city wells and others had amounts too low to be properly measured. He said well 5 located closest to the road by Bone and Joint Clinic had the highest levels but was still well below the limits set by the state. He said they would continue to monitor and noted there was the option to develop a test well near Pep’s Drive which had no PFAS present to replace Well 5 if the level increases there.

Recommended adding RCU to the list of official depositories where the city can invest funds. The credit union had previously not been on the list of area financial institutions.

Recommended granting a beer license to Sayda Mendoza, with La Chapinit at 149 South Main Street. The license would be for the period beginning July 19, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024. This would allow for the sale and consumption of malt-based beverages. Mendoza asked about the possibility of getting a license to allow the sale of margaritas. The city is currently out of available liquor licenses and under state law, someone seeking an additional one would have to pay $10,000 for it.