PowderPure has trouble hiring

PowderPure at 250 Steelhead Way in the Port of The Dalles. The company is having trouble attracting employees even though the company’s Will Parkki said they are offering an average wage of $26.44 an hour with matching 401K, dental and health benefits. Entry level pay is at $17 an hour for a temporary employee.

Correction - CCCNews misrepresented the facts in regard to the hourly wage at PowderPure in the original posting of this story. The average wage at PowderPure is $26.44 an hour. However, wages are on a sliding scale with an entry-level position starting at $17 per hour for temporary employees. Our apologies to PowderPure and local readers. - Tom Peterson

By Tom Peterson

PowderPure Employment Adjusted

The Dalles City Council unanimously approved a resolution that would adjust minimum employment levels set forth in an Enterprise Zone Agreement between The County, The City of The Dalles, and with PowderPure in the Port of The Dalles on Monday, April 25.

The company, which converts fruits and vegetables into fine powders for food production, is in its fifth and final year of property tax abatements and will come onto property tax rolls in 2023. 

The property is assessed at $2 million and $1.6 million is currently exempt from property taxes, according to Wasco County Tax records. The company paid $70,402 in Wasco County property taxes in 2021.

PowderPure had agreed to maintain the employment of 86 employees to be eligible for the tax abatements. However, due to labor shortages related to the pandemic PowderPure has been operating with around 54 employees.

The company added 19,200 square feet of building to its footprint several years ago, and at that time was experiencing an uptick in employment.

PowderPures’ Will Parkki told Councilors that COVID and labor shortages had led the plant to operate at 28 percent capacity. 

The Company has turned over 34 employees in the last year, Parkki said.

He also pointed out that the company currently offers on average $26.44 an hour and offers 401k matching, dental and health benefits.

Under questioning by Council, Parkki said exit interviews with employees revealed some had left because of the commuting costs with the rise in gasoline prices.    

Councilor Darcy Long

Council needs to look into the labor issue and see if there was a way to assist the company, which is paying good salaries in the local community, said Councilor Darcy Long. 

Prior to the vote, Councilor Tim McGlothlin said the company facilities are immaculate in the Port and the causes for fallen employment were outside PowderPure’s control. 

PowderPure is owned by New York-based International Flavors & Fragrances Inc., a New York Stock Exchange company with a $10.5 billion market capitalization. The company started in 1958, and it claims to operate the world's largest research and development effort devoted to fragrances and flavors, spending more than $100 million each year to create new flavors and fragrances.

D21 gets cut of Google Fees

The Dalles City Council unanimously approved an Intergovernmental Agreement with 11 different taxing districts to share Google community service fee dollars which comes to 25% of Google’s property tax savings with a maximum payment of  $2.5 million annually.

The agreement essentially provides a road map on how up to $37.5 million would be spent locally over the 20-year deal with Google for tax abatements on the new data centers. 

The money will be split straight down the percentages of 11 different tax districts.

In addition to City, County and Fire,  North Wasco County Parks and Recreation, Port of The Dalles, Wasco County 4-H and Extension, Wasco County Library, Wasco County Soil and Water and Wasco County will receive portions of the money.

But here’s the kicker.

The above taxing districts have also agreed to cut a piece of the pie for North Wasco County School District 21, Columbia Gorge Community College and Columbia Gorge Education Service District., which typically receive funding through the State’s general fund.

This could be a real boon for D21 which is dealing with aged schools that, arguably, need to be replaced. D21 will receive the lion's share of the fee at 30.1%.

Mayor Rich Mays said the agreement potentially could give D21 $500,000 per year during the terms of the agreement. These are tax dollars that are not counted in the general state taxing fund for schools. Rather, the District can use the money at its discretion.

Councilor Dan Richardson

Councilor Dan Richardson applauded the agreement and noted in his opinion the “single most important greater good” would be building a new high school in The Dalles.

Dog River Pipeline Contract amended for $1.6 million

Councilors unanimously authorized the City Manager to execute an Amendment with Jacobs Engineering Group to provide construction-related engineering services for the Dog River Pipleline replacement in an amount not to exceed $1,599,552.

The pipeline project has been on the books for years as the century-old wooden line has been leaking like a sieve, up to a million gallons a day during peak surface water demand days.

The section of the pipeline is approximately 3.5 miles long and has a 20-inch diameter. Public Works Director David Anderson said the new line will allow for greater operational flexibility as the city utilizes both surface and well water in supplying the city and commercial industry.

The pipeline will also augment the city’s ability to supply millions of gallons of water daily to future Google data plants if built. Current plans call for storing surface water in The Dalles Groundwater Reservoir via wells on Google property in the Port of The Dalles. 

In the amended contract, services will include daily inspections of the construction work over two construction seasons as well as processing requests for information or RFIs from the contractor, reviewing submittals, providing daily reports, approving work schedules, tracking contract compliance, reviewing pay requests, conducting weekly progress meetings, and monitoring for cultural resources during excavation in designated higher-probability areas among other duties. 

Two property owners told to pay for cleanup

Council unanimously agreed to charge two property owners for the removal of tree debris and “junk and garbage” at 415 W. 9th Street, owned by Joseph Isitt and 605 W. 10th St. owned by Travis Gaston.

 Isitt’s property was abated twice (once on December 7, 2021, and again on January 27, 2022) and the actual cost incurred by the City was $1,700, according to the Code Enforcement Officer.

Gaston’s property was abated on February 24, 2022, and the actual cost incurred by the City was $1,475, according to the Code Enforcement Officer.

Street Crack Sealing Contract Struck for summer 2022

Council unanimously authorized the City Manager to enter into a contract with Pavement Protectors of Bend, for the 2022 Asphalt Crack Sealing Project, in an amount not to exceed $80,612.24.

Pavement Protectors would provide the general maintenance that extends the life of asphalt to 16 miles of City roadway this summer.

Roof Bids Rejected

Council rejected the single bid the city received for replacing the roof at the City’s potable water treatment facility also known as Wicks on Mill Creek road. 

The rejection came after the bid from REV Construction of Hillsboro came in at $144,301 - almost twice the budgeted amount of $75,000.

Cost increases could be attributed to the dramatic and unanticipated increases in both metal and wood prices which have occurred recently, Anderson said in his report.