The Hood River City Council on Tuesday night took its final vote to adopt short-term rental licensing and application rules.  With final rules now adopted, City officials say an STR license application packet will be finalized and released as soon as possible.  The deadline to complete that application will be set once the packet is made available.  The application to verify and establish prior existing STR operations, in order to gain “grandfathered” status from certain new STR land use rules, is available and due by December 12.  It is also on the City’s STR webpage, along with the final rules adopted Tuesday night.

There will be a 40 minute closure of both lanes of the Hood River/White Salmon Interstate Bridge beginning at 3:30 a.m. on Thursday.  Early morning bridge users are advised to plan ahead for potential traffic delays of 40 minutes or more in duration or seek alternate routes.  The closure is required for maintenance work on the bridge’s lift span.

Hood River City Councilors have asked Mayor Paul Blackburn and City Manager Steve Wheeler to prepare a “Sancutary City” ordinance similar to one developed in San Francisco.  Blackburn had brought up the topic during Monday’s Council meeting, explained such a move would mean Hood River city law enforcement would not be active partners with federal immigration officials because the incoming Trump administration is professing plans to deport 11 million illegal immigrants, which he considers “an unconscionable humanitarian and economic disaster for our city.”  About fifteen people spoke before the Council on the subject during Monday’s meeting, with a mixture for and against such a move.  One big conversation topic was potential recriminations from the Trump Administration in regard to federal funding the City receives in a variety of areas.  The issue will come before the Council again on December 12.  In other business, the Council passed the first reading of code amendments needed to implement short-term rental licensing requirements, with final passage set for Tuesday in a special meeting at 6 p.m. in Hood River City Hall.

The Dalles City Council accepted a “gap analysis” of the municipal public works department that contains recommendations to increase efficiency in the department.     Rob Moody of the consulting firm TKW, which did the report, emphasized the analysis found a lot going on right within the department, noting the report focuses more on how things are done and having one team in public works moving in one direction rather than divisional silos working independently.  Mayor Steve Lawrence says the hope is to increase efficiency.  Moody said it would probably take 12 months to implement changes in the department, but also pointed out culture change does not occur quickly but develops over a period of time.  He also said he felt there was positive energy around this effort from those involved in the public works department.

As Klickitat County Commissioners prepare their budget for 2017, a changing reality when it comes to federal and state grant is part of it.  Commissioner Rex Johnston says they receive 25 to 35 million dollars in federal and state grants, mainly for capital construction projects.  He says some of that is drying up, and also there are new rules to consider, most notably the requirement to finish a project by a designated date or having to give the money back.  Johnston says that means they have to be very careful planning capital projects so there is sufficient time and money to finish a project.

There are intermittent closures of the Hood River/White Salmon Interstate Bridge taking place both Tuesday and Wednesday.  The Port of Hood River says twenty minute closures will take place Tuesday until 4 p.m. and on Wednesday between 9 a.m. and noon.  Bridge users are advised to plan ahead for potential traffic delays of twenty minutes or more in duration.  The closures are to do maintenance work on the bridge’s lift span.  For more information call the Port of Hood River at 541-386-1645.

For the first time ever, the Hood River Farmers Market will continue to operate during the winter.  The Farmers Market will be open the second Saturday of every month from January through April.  Hours will be 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Springhouse Cellars.  The indoor market will feature a wide variety of local food, including local meats, eggs, cheese, baked goods, sauerkrauts, honey, kombucha, fresh and dried mushrooms and more.  The market, operated by local non-profit Gorge Grown Food Network, will also include unique handmade gifts from local artisans.

The Hood River City Council is expected to pass over the next two nights the code amendments needed to implement short-term rental licensing requirements.  The amendments to Title 5 of the municipal code have been worked on at both the planning commission and City Council level for a number of weeks.  The Council is expected to pass a first reading Monday night and then hold a special meeting on Tuesday evening for final passage.  City Manager Steve Wheeler explains they scheduled the special meeting because a moratorium on new applications for STRs ended last Wednesday.  Monday’s meeting begins at 6 p.m. in Hood River City Hall, while Tuesday’s special session will begin at the same time.

Klickitat County Commissioners are entering the final stages of work on the County’s 2017 budget.  A preliminary budget document is ready, and perhaps most notably it includes a six percent pay increase for non-unionized employees.  County Commissioner Rex Johnston says that came about after a recent employee survey found most liked working for the County but felt the pay was low, and a comparison with other rural counties in Washington found that was the case.  He adds to keep good employees, the County must remain competitive with their compensation.  The County Commission will be approving the budget in December.

Oregon Class 1-A Football Championships Dufur 42, Crane 38:  The Rangers scored two touchdowns in the final five minutes to come from behind and win the Oregon Class 1-A high school football championship for the second straight year.  Asa Farrell caught a 45 yard pass from Bailey Keever to pull Dufur within four points.  The Rangers then recovered an onside kick and went 48 yards in a little over three minutes, taking the lead of Keever’s three-yard run.  Crane got one more chance with the football, but two sacks prevented any opportunity to generate a game-saving drive.  Farrell provided Dufur with 269 combined rushing and receiving yards while scoring three touchdowns, and Keever ran for 79 yards and two scores while throwing for three touchdowns.  Dufur won the title for the second straight year, beating Crane by four points in the final both times.  The Rangers now have won eight state football championships.