Metro Council vents about derelict barge before funding its removal
Metro councilors voted Thursday to free up money for removal of a derelict barge that's been moored to a regional boat ramp since March.
The council voted 6-0 to spend about $26,000 out of the Metro budget to remove the barge, formerly known as the Vancouver Yacht Club, from the M. James Gleason Memorial Boat Ramp on the Columbia River near Portland Airport.
"This is a nuisance we did not ask for and are not very excited about paying for," said Metro Councilor Rex Burkholder. "It's never a fun thing to pay for taking care of someone else's trash, which is what we're doing."
Councilors expressed frustrations about paying for removal of the barge, which was ordered placed at the Gleason ramp by the Coast Guard after the barge was found adrift in the night on the Columbia. Once it was safely moored at Gleason, the barge essentially became Metro's problem.
Paul Slyman, director of Metro's Parks and Environmental Services Department, said his staff was told by police that the barge's owner, Rick Dulas, had no real assets to help cover the costs of removal of the barge.
"I'm personally offended that a person can attach a piece of derelict floating flotsam to our facility," said councilor Carl Hosticka, an avid sailor.
"We've gone through similar stages of disbelief and anger," Slyman said.
Oregon's abandoned vessel fund will pay for about $54,000 of the cost of the removal of the barge.
(July 9, 2012)
(May 4, 2012)
Finance director announces retirement
Metro finance director Margo Norton announced her retirement on Thursday, ending a four-year run as the regional government's budget director on Oct. 31.
The regional government has maintained AAA bond ratings during her tenure as finance director, with Metro receiving a $25 million premium on a $140 million bond sale in May.
"She's perhaps the best finance director I've ever worked with," said Martha Bennett, Metro's chief operating officer. "She understands policy and policymaking, not just money. She's very disciplined, and forces all of us to be very disciplined in our decision-making."
Norton has served in administrative roles at the Oregon Department of Justice and Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. She joined Metro in 2006.
"Nimbleness and agility do not rule out accountability and transparency," Norton wrote in an e-mail to colleagues Thursday. "This is hard work, and I have always appreciated your support and respect for the work we do."
Bennett said she's not in a rush to begin a search for Norton's replacement. Norton's departure creates the first senior management vacancy since Bennett became Metro's staff chief in 2011.
(May 25, 2012)
Annexation vote set for next week
Metro could get larger next week, depending on the outcome of a Metro Council vote Aug. 9.
The council is set to annex 78 acres in Bethany, near the intersection of Springville and Kaiser roads. According to a staff report, the nine property owners in the area have consented to the annexation. The area was brought into the urban growth boundary in 2002, but couldn't be developed until it was brought into Metro's regional boundary.
If the council approves the expansion, the parcels can be developed as part of the North Bethany Subarea Plan.