Document text
Council waits on emergency law By JIM DAVIS The Medford City Council postponed its decision on a new emergency-management ordinance Thursday. Medford Councilman Matt Hart asked for a two-week grace period because he had given copies of the ordinance to constituents throughout the city and wanted to get their feedback. The council voted unanimously to allow the delay. The ordinance was controversial this spring when its first draft was released. It allowed the city manager to declare a "state of emergency" in times of crisis. And it also gave the city manager broad powers, including the authority to prohibit public gatherings, to order evacuations and to ban the sale of alcohol and gasoline. Former City Councilman Bill Mansfield, who is also a former city attorney, said he believed the law was too broad in awarding those powers. City staff members drafted a new ordinance that omitted those provisions. Mansfield said this week that he felt the city did a good job of cleaning up the proposed law. Councilman Curt Bennett said he felt the new draft met his concerns, but he and Councilman Sal Esquivel said the council should wait two weeks so that Hart could receive his feedback. In other action Thursday, the City Council: Awarded a $52,700 contract to the architectural firm of Ogden/Schmitz & Associates to remodel a shop at the city's service center on Columbus Avenue. The shop will be used as a police-evidence complex with interior partitions for the parks & recreation shops and department and a traffic shop. Authorized spending $218,262 plus closing costs to acquire 66,747 square feet of property for right of way for Juanipero Way, a collector street in southeast Medford. Alderwood Development Corp. is developing 30 acres between Olympic Avenue on the west, Golf View Drive and the city limits. A condition of approval of the project was that the right-of-way be deeded to the city for future extension of Juanipero between Olympic and Golf View. An appraisal by the developer valued the land at $4.08 per square foot. The developer accepted the city's offer of $3.27 per square foot. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA