April 28, 2020 4:30 a.m.
The Roseburg City Council held its first ever virtual meeting Monday night.
Following a lengthy discussion, councilors unanimously agreed to terminate the parking enforcement contract with the Downtown Roseburg Association. The move was made by mutual agreement. The group has overseen parking enforcement in the downtown area for years, but has gotten behind in payments due the city, in the past several months. City Manager Nikki Messenger said the organization has been struggling. Messenger said it no longer appears handling the contract is something DRA can do. The DRA laid off all staff for the month of April, in part due to the impact COVID-19 has had on the downtown area. As of the end of March, it owed the city around $18,000 in revenue generated by parking enforcement. DRA Treasurer Justin Deedon told councilors the group believes it can pay back half the money over 18 months, starting 6 months from now, if the other half was forgiven.
No decision was made regarding what to do with parking enforcement downtown for now. Messenger said staff are emptying the meters periodically so they don’t become a target for vandalism.
The council gave consent to keeping its contract with DRA for the Main Street Program, something the city pays the organization to oversee. Messenger said when restrictions begin to lift, it will be important to have the group working to promote the downtown area.
Councilors agreed to hold off on updating and increasing most fees for the next year, due to the impact COVID-19 is having. A formal resolution will be presented to the council at a future meeting.
The council gave its support to the Roseburg Public Schools bond levy, which is on the May Primary Election ballot. Councilor Brian Prawitz did not vote and said he had a conflict of interest, as he is working on the campaign for the proposal. Prawitz was given time to explain more about what the levy will do, if passed.
The virtual meeting started fifteen minutes late, due to issues in getting all councilors connected, using the Zoom format.