In a short meeting, The Dalles City Council decided not to continue to study the possibility of contracting out public works services.  A contingent from The Dalles recently visited Ontario, where the firm Jacobs Engineering is contracted to provide those services.  Jacobs handles operation of The Dalles’ wastewater treatment plant.  City Manager Julie Krueger told the Council that Ontario went with Jacobs after losing a number of experienced public works employees at the same time.  But she noted The Dalles does not have that situation, adding a private firm seeks to make a profit, while The Dalles is able to take revenue from public works services and put it back into infrastructure.  Councilors agreed they saw no reason to continue the discussion, even though some did say they should keep the information learned from the Ontario visit on file should circumstances change in the future.