DRAFT ONLY. Without council review or approval.
REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING
August 9, 2011
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Echanove called the Council Meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
ROLL CALL: Council members present: Cecil Floyd; Tim Jones; Connie Newman; Norm Schorzman; Jeff Snook; Rick Wekenman. Absent: Mike Milano is on vacation. Councilmember Snook MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Newman to excuse his absence. Motion carried unanimously. Also present: Public Works Superintendent Dwayne Griffin; Police Chief Jerry Neumann; Clerk-Treasurer Joyce Beeson; Deputy Clerk Ann Thompson; Atty. Bishop; & Commissioner Greg Partch. Public present: Pete Hertz; Doug Willcox.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Councilmember Schorzman MOVED to adopt the minutes of the Regular Council Meeting of July 26, 2011. Councilmember Wekenman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
PUBLIC WORKS REPORT: Finished asphalt patching on Church Street; prepared for county to chip seal Church and Bridge. The county chip sealed the patches on Fairview. Next year we’re hoping to chip seal Fairview from shoulder to shoulder.
POLICE REPORT: Chief Neumann submitted July activity log. There have been five known bee swarms this summer along Main Street. The public needs to be aware that honeybees are very different from wasps; they are docile while swarming, they are an asset, and just want to be left alone. Please don’t spray or harm the honeybees. Report a swarm to City Hall.
OLD BUSINESS:
Resolution 2011-09: Interim policy for allocation of expenses. Mayor read aloud the resolution in its entirety. The state auditor has mandated we have a policy for allocation of expenses, whether we continue with percentages or go to actuals. This resolution will allow allocating payroll to actual hours and allocation of indirect costs to the best available documentation until a policy is developed and approved. Councilmember Schorzman MOVED to adopt Resolution 2011-09, seconded by Councilmember Snook. Councilmember Wekenman voted nay. Motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS:
Whitman County Hazardous Mitigation Plan Update. Whitman County put together the current plan, which includes other entities (cities, towns, fire districts, school districts, etc). They could either join or develop their own plan so the City of Palouse joined. Each community received their own annex to the plan. The plan is good for five years and is now being updated. The City of Palouse has been asked again if they want to continue with the update. The federal government tied this plan to FEMA funding. Mayor would like Rick Wekenman to be the primary contact for this. Councilmember Schorzman MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Newman, authorizing the Mayor to sign the letter of intent to join the coalition. Motion carried unanimously.
BROWNFIELDS UPDATE, Doug Willcox: Doug distributed a written report reviewing the city’s goals, and reviewing DOE administrative pathway from this point forward. The latest developments include a Prospective Purchaser Agreement (PPA), which limits liability as desired in advance of property acquisition. Another development is that the EPA has offered 100% financing rather than 90% State Ecology and 10% EPA. Estimated timeline: PPA and EPA funding commitment by early October; Property acquisition by end of October; Cleanup Plan design by engineering firm, November 2011 – February 2012; Clean up late summer 2012. Brownfields Committee activity will start up again after October 2011. The primary function for them is to work on site reuse/marketing. Little has been possible with marketing during past year due to cleanup strategy/funding uncertainties; Doug estimates the committee getting more involved this fall.
COMMITTEE REPORTS/REQUESTS:
Parks, Cemetery, & Buildings-Tim Jones. Chair: Presented an example of the sign the PCD is making and installing at the Palouse Native Plant Walk. PCD is planning a Palouse River cleanup and maintenance of the Palouse Native Plant Walk, August 27th from 9 to 1, with BBQ.
Streets & Sidewalks-Cecil Floyd, Chair: Palouse SD has pledged to split the $5,000 match of the proposed TIB grant for Mohr Street project. Councilmember Floyd will submit the application by August 31st deadline.
Discussion ensued about what the city wants to do with the Cove Road project. The cost was estimated at $400,000. There was talk of splitting the project into 2 phases: 1) Bridge St to Union St.; 2) Union St to city limit. It was agreed that phase 1 would be a huge improvement in safety. Councilmember Floyd will consider putting together an application for this year, however, grants are expected to be available for next year.
Police, Fire, & Safety-Rick Wekenman, Chair:
- Committee met and discussed the possible combining of the police vehicle and police equipment funds to allow more flexibility in budgeting for large items such as vehicle purchase. The police equipment fund is used to purchase equipment for the vehicles anyway.
- Discussed HP and Palouse Days; minor street closure adjustments.
- Finance committee needs to look at possible pay raises for all city staff.
- Main and Bridge Street intersection is still a big issue. The stop sign and flashing red light aren’t seen well; not uncommon for people to not stop because they simply don’t see it. Possible solutions: painting a warning on the highway, strip lighting, and extending the sign out on an arm. It’s a state highway and the state isn’t enthusiastic about doing anything because they go by percentages and we haven’t had any “serious” accidents there yet. The committee will have a joint committee meeting with Streets & Sidewalk to brainstorm ideas.
OPEN FORUM:
Norm Schorzman presented a map of the landscaping he wants to do between the health clinic and his home. The work will be done by a professional landscaper. It is the Schorzman’s property but the city has legal right-of-way. Homeowners need to remember they can beautify property but since it’s a right-of-way, if the city needs to access the property with heavy equipment, saw down a tree, etc., they can and will and there is potential for damage to the landscaping. Councilmember Newman MOVED, seconded by Councilmember Snook, approving the landscaping plans submitted by Norm Schorzman. Councilmember Schorzman abstained. Motion carried unanimously.
Commissioner Partch explained that the TIB has $50 million more available this year for sidewalks or overlays only. The county has $46,000 to spend in trainings for Public Works employees.
ALLOW PAYMENT OF BILLS: Councilmember Schorzman MOVED that the bills against the city be allowed. Councilmember Jones seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURN: Councilmember Snook MOVED to adjourn. Councilmember Schorzman seconded the motion and the motion carried unanimously. The council meeting adjourned at 8:46 PM.
The following checks are approved for payment:
Claims Paid Ck. No. 3360-3387 & EFT $16,262.90
Payroll Paid Ck. No. 3331-3359 & EFT $49,969,49
APPROVED: ________________________________ ATTEST: ________________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment