Thursday, June 23, 2011

Rockford Town Council Minutes June 1, 2011

Mayor Micki Harnois brought the meeting to order after the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.  Council members present were; Clint Stevenson, Steve Meyer, Jim Oshanick, Stan Seehorn and Thomas Smith.  Public Works Operator John Goyke and Clerk/Treasurer Darlene LaShaw were also present.

Minutes
Minutes of the June 1, 2011 Council meeting were approved as submitted.

Project Updates
Randy Noble of Thomas, Dean & Hoskins was present to update the Council on the Town on going projects
1.      Chlorine storage buildings – Notice of Award was sent to the contractors.  A preconstruction meeting has been set for June 8th at 3:00 pm at the CDBG office.
2.      Reservoir – the contractor started work by chipping limbs and etc at site.   At the next meeting the Change Order #1 for the Frisbie booster pump will be submitted to the Council for approval. 
3.      Lagoons 1, 2 and 3 – bubbles in both.  John reported that the pumping has made a difference in pond # 2.  He also reported that the bubble in pond #3 contains water.   Randy informed the Council the DOE would like to set up a meeting to discuss the situation.  The meeting has not yet been set.  He will look for grants to help fund project that will resolve the problem.
It was the consensus of the Council to pay for one person from TD&H to attend the meeting with DOE.

Steve asked Randy if TD&H has worked on a booster pump for the south end of town.  Randy reported that the grant cycle is in the fall and the Town could apply at that time.  He also reported that the Town could also apply for a low interest loan with Public Work trust fund. 

Micki asked what had been done to the water line crossing Mica Creek during construction of the bridge.  Randy reported the line had been taken out of the creek and hung on the bridge.  The line on the bridge is an 8” line but reduced down to a 4” at the hydrant.

Steve also asked Randy about placing a check valve at the bubble in the lagoon.  Randy suggested asking the DOE for their thoughts and/or approval at the up coming meeting.

GIS mapping
Lon Ottosen was present to talk further to the Council on his proposal for GIS mapping for the Town’s water/sewer line, valve, hydrant and street mapping.  The basic cost would be an approximately
$ 800.00. 

Micki informed Lon that the Town’s water fund committee should meet first to review and
discuss the water fund before proceeding with anything. No decisions were made at this time.

Code Enforcement
Terry Liberty was present to update the Council on the on going cases she has been working on.
Frednecks – still working on their site.
N. 104 First – more time has been giving for them to comply.

321 N First – Terry met with a person regarding scrap metal.  It does not appear that there is enough metal to pay for all the clean up at the site.  The Council thought that it would be an improvement to at least get the cars out of there.  Terry will continue to talk to Leanne Pierce.

Eric Larson – She had seen him outside but once he was in the house he would not answer the door.

Moyers – Terry is trying to explain to Cathy that it would be more expensive to try to fix up the trailers on Second and Third Street than it would be to replace them with other models.  Terry has been telling her that something needs to be done by September.

Bentons – Terry had been told that Paul Benton does not want to meet with her.  He has stated that he plans on moving to St Maries.   Terry spoke of the options that the Council could do.  Take the matter to civil court or if abatement, to superior court.  Once there – the Town would be dealing with property rights and the costs of the procedure.

Terry asked for a direction form the Council.  Regarding the Pierce residence at 321 N First, Terry will wait until she receives a quote for the cost of the clean up.  For the remaining cases, those who do not try to comply Terry will proceed with civil actions.

Checks
 Clint made a motion to approve and disperse checks # 10,973 – 10,999 in the amount of  
 $ 39,093.53.  Thomas seconded the motion; motion carried.

               Claims - # 10,973 ,10,974, 10,983 – 10,999                              $   29,579.10
               Payroll - # 10,975 – 10982                                                        6,514.43

               Total                                                                                                $  36,093.53

Public Comment
Ivan questioned the amount of expenditures in the water fund.  He voiced his concern of the lack of funds to pay for the expenditures.  Darlene informed him that he had received the fund balance from the April’s Treasurer Report.  May’s report has not been completed.  The current expenditures are for the 1st of June and there is June’s revenue to be received.  It is hopeful that there is enough to cover the bills.  Darlene further explained that is the reason why there is a water fund committee, who will soon be meeting to review the fund to help direct the Council with a solution for the fund.

Alene Willmschen noted that she had wished people would have known before about the water fund.  Darlene stated that it was nothing new.  It had been spoken about before at the budget hearings, budget workshops, the Council retreat and other meetings.  John followed up by noting that the issue had been coming on for a few years.

Mayor’s Comments
Micki reported that there are three Council positions up for re-elect this fall.  The sign up period is this next week – Monday through Friday at the County Election Office. 

Darlene advised people that they could register on line or fill out a form and mail it in.  They didn’t have to go to the Election office.  The office had some forms available.

Micki reported that the Mayor Pro-tem would have to be chosen at the next meeting.

She further mentioned that the Council had talked in the past about increasing the Council’s wages.  The Council will review what other neighboring Town’s pay their Council members.

Micki explained that the WA State Fair Commission’s black & white ribbon was being passed around through the local community. The Commission gave the ribbon to the community for its work and dedication to help with the organization of the fair.

Micki reported that there had been approximately 35 people that helped with the Park Clean Up Day.  Several barrels were painted and then placed behind the food booths. Since then several had been reported missing.

Public Works
John reported that when the recent power outage occurred the alarm system with the telemetry system worked.

He had copies of the report from American Leak Detection available for the Council.  John briefly informed the Council that American Leak had gone through all the fire hydrants.  One had a small leak but not big enough to fix. 

Jim asked about the number of meters the report stated that can not be read or are broken.  John further explained the difficulties with reading the meters through out Town.

Stan asked if the sand on East Emma will be cleaned up.  Stan advised John to let him know when he wanted to schedule the clean up.  He will get one of the fire trucks and a few bodies to help with clean up.

John added that the Public Works had cut back on hours.

P&Z
There had not been a quorum at the Commission’s last meeting therefore there was not a recommendation for Jeanette Buckle’s fence permit application. 

Clint made a motion to approve Jeanette Buckles’ fence permit at 103 NE Stringham Rd.  Stan seconded the motion; motion carried.

Old Business
Micki will continue to try to reach Tom at Primeland regarding the lease agreement with the Primeland Park.  It was the consensus of the Council that Micki could sign the agreement if Primeland did not have an issue with the Town not being able to add CHS Inc as an additional insurer onto the Town’s insurance coverage.

Darlene reported she spoke with Suzanne Tresko of Spokane Solid Waste Systems plans on speaking with the chipping company to find out what can be done with the pile of debris that was left here after the end of the Town’s chipping day.

The Town will send a letter to the Martin’s on South First regarding the boat trailer parked along the street.

Micki reported the Town’s website domain will expire towards the end of June.  She has been trying to set up a meeting with the Webmasters to learn about the options for the Town’s site.  Micki asked if people would review the websites of the towns of Palouse and Millwood.

John reported the gray one ton pick up sold for $ 1,000.00.

John also reported that he looked into funding possibilities from RCAC for the roof repair on the SW reservoir.

Meeting adjourned.


__________________________________                       _________________________________
Darlene LaShaw, Clerk                                                        Micki Harnois, Mayor


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