Officer Honored, City to Buy Former Feed Store

The City Council approved several actions during its June 25 meeting that it hopes will ultimately help revitalize the community through new business opportunities and the creation of nonprofit organizations.

Most council members praised the work of City Manager Kelcey Young, who will attract a nonprofit, preserve a historic building and, they hope, bring more businesses downtown after signing several leases. The city also praised a Sweet Home police officer for his life-saving response to a call.

Officer honored

Captain Ryan Cummings honored Officer Garritt Bolkcom for his handling of a report that a man was attempting to commit suicide.

Cummings said the Linn County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance on June 17 and Bolkcom responded.

“Officer Bolkcom responded very quickly and from what I saw on the video, he wasted no time in immediately taking appropriate and necessary life-saving measures, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation,” Cummings said.

After medics took over, Bolkcom began spending time with his spouse and trying to comfort him, Cummings said. He said the man is expected to make a full recovery from the attack, “due in large part to Officer Bolkcom’s actions.”

“What he did that day is consistent with the highest standards of the law enforcement profession and brings credit not only to the Sweet Home Police Department but to the entire community,” he said.

Bolkcom has been with the Sweet Home Police Department for two years. For his work in this particular situation, he received the SHPD Life Saving Award.

Young told Bolkcom that she had spoken to the family and thanked him for his honesty and compassion in the matter. A family friend also reached out to the 28-year-old to share on his husband’s behalf that the man “expressed a desire to move on with his life, which he hadn’t done in several years.”

Resource organizations are stepping in

The council authorized Young to begin lease negotiations with the Community Services Consortium (CSC), a community action resource agency that is seeking to lease space at City Hall. The resources and tools they offer include utility services, workforce development training and housing guidance.

Young said the CSC at City Hall will not only provide revenue, but also in-kind services in areas such as redevelopment and park services. They will also train a team that can work with the fire district and other workforce development services.

“They will bring the entire program in to provide services in East Linn County, but they will even bring some of their programs from other locations here to Sweet Home,” she said. “That will potentially bring 30 additional jobs to Sweet Home, as well as workforce development training and much-needed services.”

The council also agreed to begin lease negotiations with Ridgeway Health, which would like to lease the old town hall building.

“What we’d really like to do with this space is not only approve a potential lease with Ridgeway Health, but also open it up to a wellness center,” Young said. “We also have other agencies that have expressed interest in being in this building, and we think that would be a great benefit to Sweet Home.”

The Council expressed gratitude for the opportunity to increase support services to the community.

The city will buy a former feed store

The City Council approved the purchase of the former Santiam Feed store building on Long Street for $260,000, with half to be paid off this year and the other half next year.

“One of the council’s goals was for us to acquire additional properties and look for opportunities to help fill vacant properties,” Young said.

She said the idea with the feed store building would be twofold: preserving the historic character of the building, and also attracting additional businesses to the city. Young said businesses and community members have expressed interest in potentially using the city feed store as a craft space or gallery, or perhaps a restaurant or coffee shop.

Young noted that there is a large door on the side of the feed store that opens onto 13th Avenue, which could prove to be a valuable opportunity when the “festival street” is converted to a one-way street and used for special events.

With CSC moving in with its in-kind services capabilities, Ridgeway Health and other potential organizations moving into the old city hall and opening business opportunities in the feed store, Young believes the blocks surrounding the parking lot across from the library could see an increase in activity. She added that there is also a potential business opening in the vacant lot next to Mr. Lucky’s Deli.

“It’s a way to really start to revitalize this whole plaza,” she said. “And the synergy and work that can be done across agencies will really get this thing moving quickly.”

Administrative Services Director Cecily Pretty read a letter submitted by Josh Victor, who opposed buying more properties when the city has other properties he believes need attention. Young responded that projects for most of those properties are underway, and Councilwoman Lisa Gourley interjected, noting the amount of progress both council and city staff have made in the past few years on parks and buildings.

“Businesses are very, very important to the sustenance of our community and the services they provide to our community are very important to us,” Gourley said. “Council has heard the community complain about empty businesses in the city centre. It is a huge pain and a huge heartache for our community, especially for those who remember how vibrant we were years ago.”

She added that needs and opportunities change over time, so things will look different.

“We’re not taking away, but we’re making sure that the city has a future for everyone, so I think we should be proud of the work that we’re doing,” she said. “I know some people don’t like it, but if we’re not growing and changing and investing in our community, we’re dying. Sweet Home has so much potential and we shouldn’t have to go to Lebanon to get job training, we shouldn’t have to go to Lebanon to go to a restaurant. We shouldn’t have to leave our community when these things were here. We had a shoe store. We had clothing stores. We had all these beautiful things, and we want to bring what we can back to our community.”

Citizen Karla Hogan asked the council why the city would get involved in public affairs, adding that in-kind services are not enough to cover the high costs of the redevelopment. She also noted that city grants for building improvements are not enough to overwhelm the business owners’ projects, and she would prefer the city invest more money in current business owners rather than compete with them.

Citizen Patrick Rogers also addressed the council on the matter, saying the city would be involved in managing the property, which is “a whole different world.” He also said incoming businesses could find themselves in competition with the city in trying to acquire the building.

Young responded that it is not uncommon for cities trying to revitalize their cities to invest in real estate. She said the council could use the grants to renovate empty buildings, use them as business incubators for new companies, and eventually even sell the building later.

The council approved the purchase of the feed store building by a vote of 5 to 1; Councilman Dylan Richards opposed.

In other matters:

• The council held a work session prior to the regular meeting to address the council’s goals for modifying council rules. Specifically, there was a brief discussion of attendance, how council members act in public, and how they represent the city.
• Citizen Robert Egner spoke to council about the city council work session that was held before the regular council meeting. He expressed frustration, saying the council was silent and “did nothing.” He asked that the discussion not be postponed again if another meeting is held on the matter, and asked for a policy regarding council members’ conduct in the community.
• The council appointed City Manager Kelcey Young as city budget officer.
• The Council approved a resolution on the allocation of funds for fiscal year 2024.
• The council held a public hearing and approved a resolution recognizing the city’s selection to receive state funds.
• The council approved a resolution that certifies that the city provides at least four services (e.g. police, fire, water, etc.) to receive state revenue.
• The Council adopted a budget of $97.6 million for fiscal year 2024-25. The taxes imposed include: a rate of $1.4157 per $1,000 of assessed value for General Fund operations, a rate of $7.8500 per $1,000 of assessed value for the Police Local Option Levy, a rate of $1.1700 per $1,000 of assessed value for the Library Services Local Option Levy, and Non Ad Valorem customer sewer usage fees not to exceed $50,000.