JOHN DAY — The John Day City Council at its March 11 meeting approved a service contract with the Dyer Partnership Inc., a Coos Bay-based engineering and planning firm.

The move comes after the council voted unanimously to move forward with Dyer as the city’s engineer of record at the Feb. 25 meeting. The city had four responses to a request for proposal seeking an engineer of record, of which three were suitable candidates for the job.

Aaron Speakman of Dyer said his firm’s target customer base is generally communities with populations of 3,000 or less, although they do represent the city of Molalla. Speakman said 99% of their work is for municipalities, adding Dyer has worked on bridges, water plants, streets and roads.

Speakman said Dyer would do everything from answering general questions to finding specialized consultants should the city need them. Speakman stressed that Dyer would act as an adviser to the city and leave decision-making to the municipality.

The service contract with Dyer anticipates 15-30 hours of engineering services every month. John Day City Manager Melissa Bethel said the city will pay Dyer $100,000 per year for two years for its services, which can include general engineering and project-based services.

Dyer will be the city’s engineer of record until March of 2028, with the option to extend the agreement for an additional two years if both parties consent. The service contract identifies the firm as an independent contractor for the city.

The council voted unanimously to approve the service contract with Dyer following a legal review.

In other council business

John Russell, a certified public accountant from Zwygart John & Associates CPAs, updated the council on his firm’s audit of city financial risks. He said the plan was to complete the work in December 2024, but difficulties in obtaining documents extended the time frame.

Bethel said Zwygart John now has all of the documents it needs for the audit. Bethel said the firm will conduct a separate audit of the city’s urban renewal agency.

Russell said the purpose of an audit is to identify, evaluate and address risks such as fraud, illegal activity and missing information, but an “audit is not specifically designed to go in and find fraud or illegal activity.”

Due to a large amount of turnover with city employees and on the council, Russell said John Day’s audit is a heightened-risk audit. The city received an extension from the state of Oregon for its 2022-23 audit. Russell said he should be able to present an audit report at the March 25 council meeting.

The council also unanimously approved a 10-year franchise agreement with Rally Networks to operate a telecommunications network in John Day. The city will receive 7% of Rally’s gross revenue, or approximately $35,000 in franchise fees annually, under the agreement. Franchise fees will be paid in quarterly installments.