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CHAMBER FORUM Urban growth and pot headlined Medford's year that was The fiscal year that ended June 30 also saw attention to homelessness, parking and a new city manager Comment By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness Posted Jul. 11, 2016 at 4:11 PM Updated Jul 11, 2016 at 5:06 PM By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness Posted Jul. 11, 2016 at 4:11 PM Updated Jul 11, 2016 at 5:06 PM » Social News Much of the last year has been monopolized by marijuana and urban growth boundaries, with a lot of attention given to city manager recruitment, a city contract with Travel Medford, downtown parking, software upgrades, homelessness, Hope Village and downtown sidewalks. Mayor Gary Wheeler, City Council President Dick Gordon and council Vice President Michael Zarosinski reviewed key elements of the past fiscal year, which ended June 30, at Monday's Chamber of Medford/Jackson County forum at Rogue Valley Country Club. "We've had to talk about a lot of tough subjects," Gordon said, adding that solutions for problems such as parking and homelessness won't satisfy everybody. "I think most people who have paid attention and read about the tiny house project, they're very much in favor of it — but as long as it's not in their neighborhood," he said. Wheeler reviewed the construction of a new police headquarters and two fire stations, noting the city administration will have space available that was filled by expanded police operations in recent decades. "It will give us a lot more room to do some things," the mayor said. He said the completion of the two fire halls will lead to lower fire-insurance premiums. "I don't want to take anybody's thunder on this," Wheeler said. "But we'll probably see a drop in ISO (Insurance Service Office) ratings, which will save everybody some money in their insurance policies for business and other kinds of insurance." Gordon said with growing demands on the city and council members, it can be trying for everyone. "I enjoy their company — at least most of the time," he said. "There are times with the council there's frustration and exhaustion, but we keep on moving ahead." Although the council, for the moment, is entirely made up of white males, he said the age strata with 40 years separating the youngest and oldest members offers varying perspectives. "Our backgrounds are all very, very different," Gordon said. "These diverse viewpoints are good for Medford, because it means we're hearing opinions from a lot of different sectors of our community." The drawback, however, is that reaching consensus requires more give and take, more time and more meetings. "It does make it more difficult to reach decisions, and it can drag out the process," he said. "I'm sure a lot of you have noticed it takes forever for us to reach conclusions." Gordon said the city brought in an estimated $34 million in property taxes during 2015 and anticipates $36 million for 2016 on an assessed value of $6.6 billion. He said Rogue Valley Manor is the largest taxpayer to the city ($1,364,172), and Asante is the largest employer. "The largest threat to the city — and this is Dick Gordon speaking — is the continued PERS (Public Employee Retirement System) rate increases," he said. "I think, depending on the PERS increases, it will determine if we can maintain services, increase services or cut back services." Zarosinski said the 1990 amended urban growth boundary put 1,500 acres into play, but it's taken another 26 years to add 1,650 more acres. "That number is important because during the Planning Commission process, a challenge was raised over 175 of those acres," he said. "You can't just take testimony from one group or one person and go back to your desk, grab the whiteout and change that number you had spent so much time and effort getting to. As a council, we essentially restored that removed acreage, based on the original work of the Planning Commission and additional community process." Jackson County is expected to complete its review in August and the findings will be forwarded to the state. Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness , on Facebook at www.facebook.com/greg.stiles .31. By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness Posted Jul. 11, 2016 at 4:11 PM Updated Jul 11, 2016 at 5:06 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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