JOSEPH — A new mayor was sworn in during the Joseph City Council meeting Thursday, Jan. 9, at the Joseph Community Events Center.

Stephen Bartlow, who has served as mayor pro tem in recent years, was elected mayor Nov. 5. He replaces Lisa Collier, who was elected to replace Todd Nash on the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners after Nash won election to the state Senate.

Also sworn in Thursday were two councilors, John Dundas and Mary Smith, who were reelected in November.

That leaves one vacancy on the council that the board considered filling. Councilors considered an application submitted by Jane Sullivan, but Dundas said he was hesitant to accept her to the council.

“I have some reservations about this applicant,” he said. “There’ve been three or four people who have expressed concerns about the application.”

Sullivan said she was unsure what the complaints were about and offered to field questions from Dundas. But the councilor offered none.

“We see a need, and with my experience on budgets, we could meet that service,” she said. “But it’s up to you guys. I don’t know what you’re referring to, but I can take questions if you have some.”

Instead, Barlow sought a motion to approve, deny or table the application until the Feb. 6 meeting. The council voted 4-1 to table the application. Councilor Mike Lockhart abstained.

The council also considered two applications from residents interested in serving on the Joseph Planning Commission. Erika Polmar and Chris Geyer both had been recommended by the commission, and the council approved their appointments.

Committee restructuring

Bartlow also said he wanted to reorganize some of the city committees and, given this was the first meeting of the year, it was time to appoint councilors to those panels.

To the Administrative Committee, Bartlow appointed himself and newly appointed Mayor Pro Tem Brinda Stanley. To the Public Works and Parks Committee — which does not include Main Street beautification — Bartlow appointed Dundas and Stanley. To the Public Safety Committee that works with Fire Chief Jeffrey Wecks, Bartlow appointed Mary Smith and Nancy Parmenter. The latter was not present. To the Main Street Beautifying Project, Bartlow appointed himself, Parmenter and Mike Lockhart.

A new committee Bartlow created was the Ordinance Oversight Committee, whose purpose is to review and improve ordinance oversight. To that he appointed Dundas and Smith.

The mayor urged the Safety Committee to look into the purchase of small, solar-powered signs that alert motorists to the speed they’re traveling to be placed in town.

“They could be permanent incentives to obey the speed limit coming into town,” Bartlow said. “I even saw some in Washington that said ‘Thank you’ for obeying the speed limit. That would be nice.”

Library

Other issues came up, one of which was an ordinance to govern the new library. The Joseph Public Library is moving from its cramped quarters in City Hall to a former doctor’s office just down the hill from Joseph Charter School. Bartlow said there is still much work to be done on the building before moving in, but much of the basic work has been done.

The ordinance, which got its first reading Thursday, would create a Governance of the Library Task Force. It will get a second reading in February.

The ordinance specifies rules regarding hiring, hours, rules and policies, budget requests, accepting donations, future development and funding strategy. The task force will consist of three to seven members appointed for one-year terms by the mayor, including at least two from the city council. No decision on the ordinance was made Thursday.

The next council meeting will be Feb. 6 at 7 p.m. at the events center.

Planning Commission

The Joseph Planning Commission will meet Monday, Jan. 27, at 6 p.m. at City Hall.

In addition to some routine applications and code interpretation and clarifications, the commission also will discuss the formula store prohibition the council passed June 6 in response to a controversy that erupted over a Dollar General store built on the outskirts of Wallowa.

Since it’s not within the Wallowa city limits, that town had no say in granting permission to build the store. The Wallowa County Planning Commission approved the store, despite protests and opposition from residents of Wallowa and elsewhere in the county.

At the time of the Dollar General opening, there were rumors a discount store was planned for Joseph, but nothing could be confirmed. The ordinance does not specifically mention Dollar General, but describes the parameters that govern it.