Palouse City Council
Regular Council Meeting
October 8, 2013
CALL TO ORDER:
Mayor Echanove called the Council Meeting to order at 7:03 PM.
ROLL CALL:
Council members present: Senja
Estes; Tim Jones; Connie Newman, Bo Ossinger; Norm Schorzman; Rick Wekenman. Absent: Alison Webb. Also
present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry
Neumann; Clerk-Treasurer Joyce Beeson; & Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson. Public present: Aaron Flansburg; Lindsey Hylton; Mary
Estes.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Amend the minutes as follows: under open forum, clarify that it was Kelly Dow who said “the significance
this petition shows is that there is overwhelming proof that not everyone is on
board with locating the skatepark in the Palouse Park.” Councilmember Newman MOVED to adopt the amended minutes of the Regular Council
Meeting of September 10, 2013.
Councilmember Estes seconded the motion and the motion carried
unanimously.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT:
Supt Griffin submitted a written report.
They finished the paving on Wall Street which included replacing 500’
feet of sewer main with all kinds of problems.
At the PCC they asphalted around the catch basin where there have been
problems in the parking lot.
The 2004, white,
Ford 1-ton service pickup needs some major repairs. The estimate is $3,000 to fix. It’s also the truck we use for
snow-plowing. A new, rebuilt engine
would cost $10,000-$12,000 and it wouldn’t be worth it putting that much money
into that vehicle. Councilmember Newman MOVED to authorize the repair of
the pickup for $2,975 + tax from Jess Ford.
Councilmember Wekenman seconded. Councilmember
Wekenman inquired when we should think about replacing this vehicle since it
takes such a beating. Motion carried
unanimously.
POLICE REPORT:
Ongoing
nuisance cleanups. Mohr Street house
owners are trying to be more neighborly by securing the siding and securing the
door. We’re still trying to coordinate
to have it recycled.
Had several
calls in regard to the train causing a traffic delay. It lasted about 35 minutes. Chief Neumann gave the RR contact numbers to
the complainants. The train delay was a
violation of our local code which allows a 10 minute delay, which is in line
with the state. Half our community
was/is cut off when this happens. City
Hall will put out the contact phone numbers for the public so they can call. [Ask for Les or Stan at 509-523-4445;
208-553-6196; or 208-290-8148; 302 N. Mill, Colfax, WA 99111].
Geared up for
Haunted Palouse. We’ll have help from
reserve officer Snead.
Still working
on the ATV/ORV ordinance.
OLD BUSINESS:
Resolution
No. 2013-09: accepting terms of AWC EBT Interlocal Agreement:
This was read in its entirety at last council meeting and tabled for
more information until tonight’s council meeting. The questions that council had were answered
by AWC – A 6 month notice would have to be given to AWC in order to withdraw; they
considered themselves to be fully funded based on projections even for catastrophic
events. Also, we sent it to Atty. Bishop
and he said it looked fine.
Councilmember Jones MOVED
to adopt Resolution No. 2013-09, seconded by Councilmember Schorzman. There are no changes to employees’ coverage
with this resolution. Motion carried
unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS:
Ordinance
No. 906: Budget amendment to Cemetery and Sewer Capital Improvement:
Mayor read aloud the ordinance in its entirety. Cemetery’s hours came in a little higher than
anticipated so we are increasing the fund budget by $500. For Sewer Capital Improvement, we went over
budget. PW had so many problems on the
Wall Street project that the estimated hours it would take to compete was not
enough. So we are increasing the fund budget
by $2,500. Discussion ensued. Mayor read the ordinance aloud again by title
and number only. Councilmember Jones MOVED, seconded by Councilmember
Newman, to adopt Ordinance No. 906.
COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Finance,
Property, & Equipment-Tim Jones, Chair: Councilmember
Jones MOVED, seconded by
Councilmember Schorzman to adopt the Third Quarter 2013 Financial Report. CE is quite low because we’re awaiting grant
payments and our second half property tax income. There is concern that we are budgeting the
cemetery fund so close. Council reviewed
and discussed the preliminary budget for the enterprise funds - Water and
Sewer.
The
2014 budget projections for Water and Sewer:
Water
fund is doing well and expected to have a good ending balance. Water is reserving funds for future projects
identified in the Water System Plan.
Water System Reserve is the fund that built our well. It makes principal and interest for the loan.
The final payment will be made in 2019.
The
sewer fund is still paying off some debt - 2014 is the last payment for the Breedings
Addition interfund loan from the Water fund.
Any Breedings connections that come in will go towards that debt, with
the balance being paid by sewer operating.
The sewer plant loan will be paid off in 2016 so three payments are left
and those payments are made through fund 441 Sewer Facility Reserve. Fund 440 Sewer Capital Improvement buys the material
and pays salaries for projects and repairs throughout town. It receipted $9,600 for a Breedings sewer
connection in 2013 and in the year 2020 all homes there who haven’t hooked up
would be required to. Also if any of the
homes change hands or their septic system fails they would be required to hook
up to the sewer system. The LOCAL loan
for the sewer press has one payment left in 2014. Fund 441 makes the payment for the sludge
press and also the payment to the sewer loan upgrade (about 17 years ago; the
one that will be paid off in 2016). As
far as the state is concerned when the annual report is sent in, we have one
sewer fund and one water fund, but for our purposes, we use separate funds by
function for budgeting and planning. Motion
carried unanimously to accept the third quarter 2013 Treasurer’s report.
Water
& Sewer-Connie Newman, Chair:
Policy
& Administration-Bo Ossinger, Chair:
Personnel
& Pool-Norm Schorzman, Chair:
Parks,
Cemetery, & Buildings-Alison Webb. Chair:
Police,
Fire, & Safety-Rick Wekenman, Chair:
Streets
& Sidewalks-Senja Estes, Chair: Senja, Mayor, and Supt. Griffin are meeting Friday
with Avista to discuss the street light project.
OPEN FORUM:
Aaron
Flansburg for the skatepark project. Based
on discussions he has heard/had, there is opposition not to the skatepark but
to placing the skatepark in the Hayton Greene park (city park). This led him to investigate alternative
sites. Stating that for the project to
be successful, we need to come up with a location that pleases the largest
number of people. There are two areas of
public property he would like to look into.
One area is to the north of Main Street between the sewer plant and the
park. Aaron’s comment - the space is
under-utilized with a walking trail through grass where the original plantings
didn’t survive. The second site is on
the north side of Whitman Street, below the Public Safety Building. One negative to this sight is it’s somewhat
off the beaten path and there are some challenges because of trees and vegetation
there. Aaron would like to pursue both
of these sights and get public feedback over the next few weeks.
Mary Estes
commended Aaron for his efforts and gave him a big hurrah about either of those
new locations. She has been opposed to
it being at the park, but not opposed to the skatepark. She is also concerned about any insurance
costs to the city. Aaron spoke with the
city’s insurance provider who said it would be covered under the city’s policy
with a “negligible” cost, perhaps about $100.
Councilmember
Jones still favors it at the park because he thinks recreational uses belong in
the park. But he recognizes that Aaron
would meet less opposition if he moves it.
Of the two new proposals he prefers the one next to the sewer plant on
Main Street. He reminded all that years
ago we developed a tennis court off the beaten path and all we hear is that it
was a bad location. Therefore, he thinks
it would be the same with putting a skatepark on Whitman Street. Councilmember Jones asked council for preliminary
approval for the location next to the sewer plant so Aaron doesn’t have to keep
resubmitting plans for different sites.
Councilmember Wekenman stated that all projects should be
scrutinized. Discussion ensued.
Councilmember
Newman thinks next to the sewer plant is a win-win for various reasons –
Increased visibility for increased usage and police patrols; access to the
restrooms; good entrance points and the skatepark could draw more people to the
nature trail (goes from sewer plant to the river). She thinks the Whitman Street site has too
many drawbacks such as being close to residences.
Chief Neumann
doesn’t think Whitman Street is feasible.
Regardless of what the neighbor says now, he may not say that next
week. However, on Main Street, next to
sewer plant, older kids could go to skate park, young kids could go to
playground, and mom could watch. And from
a policing perspective, it’s much better for patrolling.
Supt. Griffin
warned that there are underground utilities on the Main Street site. With fiber optics, natural gas, water, sewer,
etc. Councilmember Jones stated that
utility location is part of the design process not part of the
feasibility. Identify the sight and make
the features not damaging to the present utilities. Aaron is going to start by calling for locates
at both sites and do a little more groundwork to present to council.
MAYOR’S REPORT:
The city received
a PRR from Steve McGehee for all of the email the Mayor has sent and received since
January 2013.
City Staff
(Joyce and Ann) are responsible for retaining all of the Mayor and council’s
emails because they are public records. Deputy
Clerk Ann is attending a Washington State Archives workshop in Spokane tomorrow
on electronic records management.
David Mayhan
has filed a lawsuit against the City of Palouse for negligence in the
investigation of his son’s death. We
have turned it all over to CIAW (our insurance carrier) and we will be meeting
with them next week. Everything has been
well-documented.
ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember
Jones MOVED that the bills
against the city be allowed.
Councilmember Estes seconded the motion and the motion carried
unanimously.
ADJOURN:
Councilmember Jones MOVED
to adjourn. Councilmember Estes seconded
the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
The council meeting adjourned at 8:47 PM.
The following
checks are approved for payment:
Payroll Paid
9/30/13 Ck. #5177-5196 & EFT $39,653.56
Claims Paid
10/9/13 Ck. #5197-5220 & EFT $15,344.35
APPROVED:
________________________________
ATTEST: ________________________________
